When reading a menu in an unfamiliar language, Google Translate is usually your best friend. But in the Netherlands, the literal English translations of some Dutch staples will leave you scratching your head.
For these five Dutch foods, Google Translate is no help at all…
Read the rest on the G Adventures blog
Social media compliance: Three words that can strike fear into the heart of any marketer in the regulated industries. At its most basic, social media compliance simply means following the rules when using social media to engage with the public.
But the truth is that social media compliance is hardly ever that simple. The rules are a complicated mix of industry regulations and federal, state, and local laws. Marketers using social media for regulated industries need to understand their compliance obligations. They need to work within the rules to use social media as an effective and appropriate marketing tool…
Read the rest on the Hootsuite blog
As I walk under the mango tree at my hotel in Wellawaya, Sri Lanka, I hear a loud rustling. Looking up, I see a long tail.
"That's the naughtiest monkey,†says a passing hotel employee, looking ruefully into the branches. He says the monkey takes the fruits before they're ripe, eating just a bite or two before throwing the hard green lumps on the ground in disgust. "We never get to eat the mangoes.â€
Read the rest on the Vancouver Courier website
Karuizawa, Japan, and Whistler, Canada, will mark 20 years as sister cities in 2019. To celebrate, we've compiled 20 superlatives to highlight the bonds between these charming mountain towns.
Karuizawa, located an hour by train from Tokyo, hosted the debut Olympic curling competition for the Nagano 1998 Winter Games, while Whistler hosted Olympic sliding and skiing events for Vancouver 2010.
Visitors can ride the world's fastest ice track at Whistler Sliding Centre, home of the 2010 bobsled, luge, and skeleton competitions, or learn to curl like an Olympian with a lesson at Karuizawa Ice Park.
Read the rest on the G Adventures blog.
My short piece about missing the West Coast of Canada from Amsterdam appears in the latest issue of SAD Magazine.
A well-crafted buyer persona (or customer persona, audience persona, or marketing persona) allows you to personalize your marketing on a large scale by humanizing core target groups of your customer base.
From crafting the right message for the right consumers to targeting your social ads effectively, personalization is simply a must in the social media world.
Read the rest on the Hootsuite blog
Lying on stacked cushions on the roof of a lodge in Jordan's Dana Biosphere Reserve, I watch a beam of green light shoot into the sky as our guide circles a constellation with the most powerful laser pointer I've ever seen. "That orange star, that's the womanizer,†Ali says. "He's always chasing the seven sisters.â€
This is the Arab legend of the triangle in the east, Ali tells us: the seven sisters, the womanizer, and the bodyguard, forever chasing each other across the night sky.
Read the rest at WorldFootprints.com
My feature story “Deep in the Heart of Jordan” appears in the fall issue of Canadian Traveller Magazine.
Best known as a wine destination in B.C.'s Okanagan Valley, Oliver has plenty to offer foodies too. Local vineyards are getting creative with their cuisine, showcasing the abundance of the area's farms and fields in addition to award-winning grapes. From a quick lunch break to world-class dining, these wineries combine acclaimed wines with uncommonly delicious food, each in a vineyard setting that provides a feast for the eyes…
Read the rest at BCBusiness
Conducting a social media audit is a key part of developing—or updating—an effective social media marketing plan. Before you can think strategically about your social media use, you need to document and evaluate your existing efforts.
This allows you to determine what's working and what's not, while also identifying impostor accounts, outdated profiles, and new opportunities for social engagement.
Put all that learning together and you'll be well equipped to make the most of your social budget and maximize ROI. We've laid the process out for you step-by-step, complete with a template to make sure you keep track of all the important details…
Read the rest on the Hootsuite blog