Posts Tagged ‘twitter’

Recap of Southwest Air Tweet-Up Breakfast at Disney

Feb 10, 2010 Orlando, life, tech stuff

I happened to be doing my daily quickscan of Facebook and Twitter for topics to write about when I spotted that Southwest Airlines was holding a “Tweet-up Meet-up” at the All-Star Music Resort at Walt Disney World.  I happened to have the morning free, so I signed up to attend. I tried to get some friends to go, but either they had to work or they bailed on me last minute.

Well, today was the day of the event, so I got up and took Rhon to work by 6am, then went back home for a quick nap. The event started at 10:30am, and I got there at just that time, but it seemed I was one of the last to arrive.

To be honest, the event was kind of lackluster. Breakfast consisted of a few pastries, some bread pudding and some sliced fruit with a yogurt dressing to drizzle over it. I generally don’t like sweets for breakfast – would it hurt to have put out some scrambled eggs and bacon??  Or at least bagels and cream cheese? I decided on the fruit with a small blueberry muffin and washed it down with cranberry juice.

Most of the crowd there were families, so I didn’t really have anyone to chat with. I just sat in a booth and ate, watching the steel drum band they had for entertainment.

But at least it wasn’t a total bust. Just for showing up, I ended up taking home a $25 Disney gift card and a Southwest Air-branded laptop accessories kit that had a wireless mouse, thumb drive and a 4-slot USB hub extender. I had actually been thinking of purchasing a similar kit, so it was cool that I got one for free. Not a bad investment for an hour of my time.

After the event was over, I drove around the All-Stars and took some photos for possible future stories and went home. And now I’m blogging it all to you. LOL

Here’s a photo of the breakfast layout:

021010-swawdw-bkfsttray

And one of my take-home goodies:

021010-swawdw-goodiebox

Oh and the funniest thing was even though it was a Twitter meet-up, not only did I seem to be the only person actually Twittering about it, I had to ask three Southwest employees what their Twitter handle was before I found someone who actually knew. Go figure.

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Disney Says No More Holiday Light Archway at Epcot

Nov 12, 2009 Orlando, travel

One of my favorite parts of the holiday displays at Walt Disney World is the archway of lights that greets visitors entering the World Showcase. Well, it seems that WDW has decided to retire the decoration as of this year.

Walt Disney World :: Epcot Holiday Decorations 2008From the official Disney Twitter feed:

Note: The Lights of Winter at Epcot has been enjoyed for years. But tech to operate the lights is obsolete, prompting us to retire the lights

That’s right. No official notice, just a quick Tweet that one of the most beloved displays of the season will not be put up anymore, as of this year.

I don’t know about you, but I really enjoyed sitting along the walkway and watching the lights dance to the holiday music. I know the Osbourne lights at Hollywood Studios do the same thing, with more oomph, but there was just something so graceful and even timeless about it being done with this archway of lights.

I certainly hope they change their mind and bring it back. Not sure about their “tech” reasoning – if anyone can figure out a way to upgrade the “tech,” it’s Disney – but if it’s about the funds to run it, how about installing solar-powered LED lights or something. I’d even settle for lights that didn’t dance. I just really like the archway all lit up.

What do you think about the absence of the Lights of Winter arch?

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Has Twitter Just Become a Popularity Contest?

Mar 14, 2009 tech stuff

I’m a fan of Twitter. I’ve been using it for several years. I use it to alert people to new articles and posts. I use it to cull information for upcoming articles. I use it to communicate with people I find interesting. I use it to interact with people I may never meet face-to-face. I use it to randomly post things I encounter in my travels, as well as my daily life.

But in recent months, I’ve noticed that others have started treating Twitter as just another sales tool, and even worse, as a popularity contest.

You know what I’m talking about.

The people who sign up to follow thousands of people and then unsubscribe from them in order to spam them with endless Twitters with their URL or business info. The people who Tweet “can I get to 20,000 followers? Free (insert prize) given away if I reach that amount by the end of month”.  Let me clarify that I’ve got nothing against Twitter contests, but not if it’s for the sole purpose of collecting followers. Take a look at the first page of the profile. It’s easy to tell the ones who are having a contest just to boost their numbers from the ones having a contest amongst various other things they Tweet about.

To me, the whole point of Twitter, when I first signed up, was to interact with people. To communicate and participate in an exchange of ideas. Not as a way to hard sell a product. And certainly not as a popularity contest to see who has the most followers.

Say you get to that magical number of followers…then what? What do you have to offer these people who are signed up to read your Tweets?  Don’t just treat Twitter followers like another notch on your belt. There needs to be a healthy exchange of communication for Twitter to truly serve its purpose.

Lately, though, I’ve seen so many people obsess over things like being “Twitter elite” or having the most followers, and it just feels like these people are more worried about being popular instead of actually having something to share with others.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m just as flattered as anyone when I get named to a list of people to follow or when I pop up on Twitter ranking list. I even have a Twitter grade button on this website. But I don’t go out of my way to get on these lists. I don’t give away expensive computers or video cameras. I don’t beg for people to sign up to follow me. I’d like to think that the people who follow me do so because they like what I have to say.  Which is the same reason I follow others. Or why I might choose to follow you.

Yes I’m a travel writer so I may Twitter about travel or post links to my articles. Yes, I like web design and social media, so I may Twitter about that. But I also may Tweet silly things about what’s happening in my life at that moment. I may engage in a Twitter conversation with someone about a TV show we both happen to be watching, even though we’re thousands of miles apart. I may even post a link to a cute photo of my dog.

And if you don’t like what I have to say, then feel free to unfollow me or not follow in the first place.

But I will never take for granted those that do choose to follow me. I will never treat them like just another notch in my Twitter belt. Another number in the popularity charts.

And to those that do choose to collect followers in a sole effort to become number one on these popularity lists, I’d really like you to ask yourself why it matters that you have so many people following you? Ask yourself what are you really offering these people in return for them taking the time out to read what you have to say?  Does the quantity of your followers really matter more than the quality of the experience of being on Twitter?

And if this post strikes a nerve with you, ask yourself why it does.

I know a lot of the readers of this blog also use Twitter, so I’m curious what you all think about this. Do you care about being popular on Twitter? Does it bother you when you see some people use things like contests just to get people to follow them? Do you care if you’re just another number to someone you’re following, instead of a real person with real thoughts and opinions to share? Does it matter that some people are only on Twitter to sell their product?

Sound off in the comments. I really would like to know what you think.

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twitter me pink

Dec 16, 2008 travel, writing

I got a wonderful start to the day this morning when I discovered that esteemed travel writer Chris Elliott named me to his list of “50 travel twitterers you should follow“. Wow! Color me tickled pink! Especially since I read his blog daily, as well as articles he writes for outlets like MSNBC.

I’m also honored because many of the others listed are people I also read regularly. Thanks a bunch Chris!

To those that are visiting this blog for the first time, please read my older post “welcome travel tweeters” for an explanation of why there isn’t a stream of travel articles on this site. I do post some personal travel-related stuff here, but my actual stories and articles reside elsewhere on the web. I hope you enjoy reading my writing.

In the meantime, here’s a quick round-up of some of my recent articles:

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welcome travel tweeters :)

Dec 1, 2008 tech stuff, travel, writing

twitter graphic courtesy of Siah DesignThe last few days I’ve been under an influx of Twitter followers, which surprised me since I normally only get one or two a day. Then I found out the reason: Merrill @Voyageek was kind enough to include me in a post entitled “Top 50 Travel Twitterers You Should Follow.”

To say I’m honored is an understatement, especially with the company I’m keeping on the list.

But I’m sure many Twitter folks are following the link here and thinking, “hmm…not a lot of travel stuff here.”  So, here’s the info you might like to know…

This site (zengrrl.com) is my personal blog. As such, it’s an amalgamation of everything going on in my life, not just travel.  But I do blog about travel at several other sites, most notably Budget Travel @ Suite101, Why Go? Las Vegas (formerly Las Vegas Logue), Orlando Metblogs (aka Metroblogging Orlando) and Crestline Living.  I’m also in the process of working out a few other blogging deals and will post the links when I’m fully on board.

I thank everyone who has followed me on Twitter and I’m trying to get through the list of new followers to visit all of your pages. :)   I do blog here often with links to certain stories, as well as posting them on Twitter. I also have a Friendfeed account that keeps track of all of my writing links, as well as my Flickr feed.

I hope you’ll enjoy my writings enough to keep reading. :)

And thanks again Merrill!

|: twitter graphic courtesy of Siah Design

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