Travel and Social Media Presentation, HK Social

Last Friday morning, I spoke about Travel and Social Media at the monthly HK Social Meetup. Moderated by Rudi Leung, digital marketing and social media specialist, I was joined by Janice Leung of e_ting (you'll recognize her from the Blogging 101 talk we did together in February 2012) and Ali Bullock, Global Digital Marketing Manager for Cathay Pacific.

Here are the video recordings of HK Social's Travel and Social Media, in case you were curious.

The panel discussion begins at 7:10 and I start my introduction at 9:10.

In Part 2, we take a closer look at how social media is changing the way we travel, connect with others, deal with travel-related sponsorships, and cope with the "glamorous life" of travel blogging.

Part 3 continues with Ali discussing how social media is forcing the travel industry to rethink their marketing strategies, followed by Janice and I reiterating why it's so important for bloggers to remain honest to their readers and provide disclosure about sponsored reviews.

Thanks to my fellow panelists for a great discussion! To view the rest of HK Social's Meetup on Travel and Social Media, refer to Jay Oatway's YouTube channel.

Now that you've heard me speak about how social media is changing travel, in what ways do YOU think social media is effecting travel?

© Connie Hum 2012

I Want to "Go with Oh" to Venice

The wonderful people over at Go with Oh have an amazing competition for travel bloggers that they've invited me to enter. My first thought was, "Free accommodations for a month in Europe doing what I already love to do?"

I'm IN.

Out of the ten destinations available, and choosing a favorite was extremely difficult, my top choice would be glorious, sinking Venice.

I spent a week in Venice in 2005 and to this day, I still recall the wonder that filled me as I strolled, and inevitably got lost, in the small streets and back alleys of that incredible city.

Getting lost in Venice, 2005

To have another opportunity to visit Venice, nay, to be able to stay in a local apartment, would simply be a dream come true for me.

Here are the top five things I would do and experience in Venice:

1. Blow glass - The streets of Venice reveal shop after shop of Murano's famed blown glass. I remember being so enthralled by the intricate creations during my first trip to Venice, marveling at the skills involved. Given time and the opportunity, I'd love to learn what the process of blowing glass is and hopefully, even get a chance to blow my own!
2. Travel through time - There's no doubt that Venice has been the sight of many significant historical events. As a history enthusiast, I'd love to not only learn more about Venetian history, but also have the experience of recapturing it while I'm physically there. I can imagine myself exploring Venice for the birthplaces of Marco Polo, Antonio Vivaldi, Giacomo Casanova, and the like, not to mention exploring the names and namesakes of Venice's calli, campi, and campielli. These lanes, squares, and "little squares" are all named after events that took place at that very spot, or from the jobs held by the residents of those lanes, squares, and "little squares." A lot of fun history to be discovered and I'd soak it all in!
3. Attend the Venice Film Festival - If the timing works out, I'd love to attend the Venice Film Festival, the oldest running film festival in the world! Even if I couldn't manage to snag tickets to this prestigious and popular event, just being there for the glitz, glamor, excitement, and celebrity sightings would be thrilling enough.
4. All things culinary- It's easy to just sit back and eat. I would be in Italy, after all! However, I wouldn't be content with just that. I have every intention of eating as much Italian food as I can fit into my belly, but I want to enhance my food experience. I would find a willing soul to take me in and show me how to properly prepare and cook truly authentic Italian meals. The whole she-bang, and, once I'm done learning and mastering my authentic Italian meal, you bet your ass I'm going to be cooking and sharing up a storm when I (reluctantly) leave Venice.
5. Photography - I could very easily spend my days and nights walking through every crevice of Venice, snapping away. From wide-angle shots of honeymooners enjoying their customary gondola ride on the Grand Canal to extreme close-ups of crumbling palazzo foundations, I would photograph just about every inch of Venice that I could!

If you're a travel blogger and interested in entering the competition, more information on the Go with Oh competition can be found on their website. I only ask that if you win and you heard about this contest through me, you bring me along as your guest!

Not a travel blogger? You can still win amazing prizes from Go with Oh through their Facebook page.

Retweet my post and leave a comment below to help me improve my chances of winning! Thank you in advance and hopefully, I'll be blogging from Europe with Go with Oh soon enough!

© Connie Hum 2012

Video: Blogging 101

Recently I posted my Social Media Week Hong Kong Wrap-up blog. Here are the video recordings of my portion of Blogging 101 during Social Media Week Hong Kong, in case you were curious.

My talk starts at 4:15.

Remember that I mentioned Nokia_Connects presented me with a free Nokia Lumia 800 Smartphone? Watch my reaction! Plus, find out what I was doing BEFORE I "became famous."

For all the Blogging 101 video recordings of the panelists: film critic; James Marsh of Marsh Attacks, food blogger; Janice Leung of e_ting the world, and Razlan Manjaji of You Got Me Blogging, refer to Jay Oatway's YouTube channel. 

Now you've heard me talk about what inspires me to travel, but the big question is: What inspires YOU to travel?

© Connie Hum 2012

Social Media Week Hong Kong Wrap-Up & Blogging 101

Last week, I participated in my first international Social Media Week as both observer and speaker for the Blogging 101 panel. I thoroughly enjoyed the Social Media Week Hong Kong events I managed to attend; How Social is Empowering Global Movement was especially inspiring and thought-provoking.

Speaking at Blogging 101 was incredibly fun, even if I get really self-conscious when I have to speak in public. Yes, I AM aware I say "um" a lot, which makes me even more self-conscious and then I say it even more! Public speaking is a work in progress for me...

Speaking at Blogging 101, photo courtesy of Matthew Chong

The Blogging 101 panelists were tasked with discussing the various ways in which we started our own blogs, gained our audience, and what blogging tips we could advise other bloggers. To be honest, I wasn't sure what sage advice I would be able to bring to the discussion, but I spoke from the heart and my best piece of advice was that other bloggers do the same.

Here are some other interesting comments and blogging advice made by the Blogging 101 speakers:

Speaking with fellow Blogging 101 panelists (from left to right): film critic; James Marsh of Marsh Attacks, food blogger; Janice Leung of e_ting the world, and Razlan Manjaji of You Got Me Blogging

• Marshy00: "Don't just broadcast - build a conversation! e_ting feeds us great blogging advice at Blogging 101!
• waphle: "Story ideas are everywhere... don't be afraid to look at others for ideas" says Marsh00
• BonzaPie: Use catchy titles and key words so that people can search and find you (but no pathetic blog titles) says e_ting
• waphle: "If you want to be a famous blogger,you must have great content" says razlan79
• hypercasey: Know your audience, be timely, relevant and respond, interact, encourage. Blogging tips to live by Marshy00  
• waphle: "Adding ads takes away from what I want to do, which is inspire" says connvoyage (I know e_ting would agree too!)
• karinchiu: Stats and analytics- it's about the quality of the clicks, not just the numbers says e_ting
• waphle: "A blog cannot survive without interaction with your readers" wise words from connvoyage
• yeoa: So true!! 'You don't have to be a techie to be a blogger' says razlan79
• connvoyage: "Reply to all comments, don't be afraid of negative comments," says Marshy00 at Blogging 101
• waphle: "As much as you love blogging, you MUST get offline to meet your readers" says razlan79
• waylandlee: Big theme of #SMWHKblog: You gotta love what you blog! e_ting razlan79 Marshy00 connvoyage  
• lexiphanic: How to get readers? Easy! Be social (online and offline), guest blog, share, interview and learn from others advices connvoyage
• karinchiu: Friends, word of mouth, twitter and facebook are vital tools of promotion says Marshy00

I also received a very special surprise from the folks at Nokia_Connects during my presentation. Knowing that I was currently using an ancient Blackberry as my mobile device, the nice guys from Nokia presented me with a brand new Nokia Lumia 800 SmartPhone! I was completely shocked and surprised, not to mention excited to be given the opportunity to live in the present!

Out with the old and in with the new, thanks to Nokia_Connects

Thank you again to everyone who joined us for Blogging 101! It turned out to be a great event and sounds like some people left with some good insight and inspiration, myself included!

• lexiphanic: connvoyage inspires me to get my travel blog going properly again
• waphle: Wow, okay, Blogging 101 panel was definitely one of the best of #SMWHK. Kudos e_ting razlan79 connvoyage Marshy00

If you are interested in watching the recording of Blogging 101, or any of the other Social Media Week Hong Kong events, check out Jay Oatway's Youtube channel. At the time of posting, the Blogging 101 videos have not yet been uploaded but Jay promised that they would by this week.

**Update** Jay has posted the Blogging 101 videos for viewing. Catch them HERE!

A special thank you to Casey Lau for organizing the event and inviting me to speak on the panel!

*All photos, unless otherwise noted, used with permission by Yon Chung of Very Photography. To view the full album from Blogging 101, please go to Very Photography's Facebook page.

© Connie Hum 2012

Social Media Week 2012

February 13-17 marks the third annual Social Media Week, a unique international platform that celebrates and reflects on the impact that social media has on culture, social change, economics, and politics. Expanding to 21 cities in just three years, Social Media Week is a growing global event that creates dialogue and discussions around the world on emerging trends in social media.

I'm pretty excited that Hong Kong is one of the cities in which Social Media Week 2012 has expanded to, and even more excited that I'll get the opportunity to take part in Social Media Week Hong Kong on Friday, February 17 for Blogging 101, a panel discussion on getting started with (you guessed it) blogging!

Joining me will be lifestyle blogger; Razlan Manjaji of You Got Me Blogging, food blogger; Janice Leung of e_ting the world, and film critic; James Marsh of Marsh Attacks.

It's a fabulous group to be speaking with and to be honest, I'm not even sure how I ended up on such an esteemed panel, but I'm pretty psyched nonetheless!

If you're in Hong Kong, be sure to attend Blogging 101! There are other fabulous events happening in Hong Kong, as well as the other 20 cities participating in Social Media Week, so get out there and get social!

© Connie Hum 2012

Sh*t Hit the Fan, Or Why I Haven't Been Blogging

Many of you may have noticed the lack of, ahem, original content in my blog in recent weeks.  I sincerely apologize for this. My only excuse is that my life has been slightly more than chaotic and stressful that I haven't really been able to string together a proper sentence together, much less an actual post.

Having a bad day

As you have probably read my three-part "Love Story" blog series, I guess I should start by saying that M and I have broken up. Out of respect to M and our relationship, I'll leave it at that. It's a sad time for sure, I mean, not only did I break up with a good guy, but I also lost my best friend. I would just like to say that I am doing okay and looking optimistically toward my future adventures, whatever they may be.

For the time being, I'm staying put in Hong Kong while I decide where I want to go next.

This strange place I call home: Hong Kong

This is the exciting part.

Where to go next?!?!?

I don't think I will staying too long in Hong Kong. I do enjoy this city but I just cannot seem to align myself comfortably here. I find teaching English here less fulfilling than I would like and part of why I left New York City in the first place was to contribute and make a difference in the world. I just don't feel like I'm doing that in Hong Kong. Or perhaps the reason I left NYC was a little naive? I certainly hope not as I still have every intention to continue trying to help make this world a better place!

I've had this conversation with so many people about what it is about Hong Kong that I can't seem to find my place here, especially when I managed to make myself feel at home just about everywhere else. I really don't know what is it, except I know that, out of all the places I've ever lived or traveled to, I am the least happy here. I'm sorry, Hong Kong. It's not your fault and it's not mine, it just wasn't meant to be.

So back to the exciting part. WHERE TO GO NEXT???

I honestly have no idea, but all those extra pages in my passport are beckoning to be filled, just as my sense of adventure is screaming at me to get back out on the road.

So many passport pages to fill in!

So far, I know that I will be taking a ME trip in the first week of October. Again, to where? I have no clue.

I also bought a flight home to New York City and San Francisco for the month of November. I'll spend my birthday with my glorious friends in NYC before heading home to San Francisco for Thanksgiving with my family. I'm really looking forward to November because it's been TWO YEARS since I've been back! TWO YEARS!

I've got a date with pumpkin pie in November!

I hope that you can forgive me for the lack of interesting travel-related posts in the recent weeks. I promise I'll get back into it soon!

So, where do YOU suggest I go on my ME trip in October??? What about AFTER Hong Kong???

© Connie Hum 2011

Happy Two Year Anniversary!

Tomorrow, March 10, marks the two year anniversary of my first blog post on ConnVoyage! Wow! I honestly cannot believe that I've been blogging on the road for two years now!

Blogging in a hostel in Pune, India

I originally started ConnVoyage as a way of staying in touch with my friends and family after leaving EVERYTHING behind in New York City and California. I wanted to share my experiences of living in Istanbul, and whatever other travels I had, with my loved ones. I never thought that two years later, I'd still be traveling the world and blogging about it!

Blogging to a wider audience in Hong Kong

I never even ONCE considered turning ConnVoyage into an actual "travel blog," which is quite evident from my first blog post! Not even a single photo! No wonder my friends and family weren't interested in what I had to say.

ConnVoyage has come a long way in the two years since 2009 and I want to continue making it even better!

What suggestions do you have to help improve ConnVoyage?

© Connie Hum 2011