 Posted by Gio Palatucci How do you conduct travel research? Do you... pick up a guidebook? Call a travel agent? Send a tweet out into the Twitterverse? A recent report released by IBM’s Institute for Business Value indicates that more people are doing the latter. In fact, “twenty-eight percent of travelers begin their search with social media, travel opinion websites, and general search engines.” Social networking sites, like Twitter, can be great for trip planning. And you don’t have to limit yourself to asking the people on these networks that you know personally. I’m planning a spring trip to Portland, Oregon, and although I haven’t purchased a plane ticket yet, I’ve already amassed a laundry list of things to see and do just by crowd sourcing on Twitter. Here are five ways to use Twitter to plan your next trip:
How do you use Twitter or other social networks to plan your trips? Share your stories with me in the comments section below. GP
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 Photo: Gio Palatucci In Case You Missed It (ICYMI): A weekly digest of interesting news stories about social media, travel, and tech. Today's #FriFotos theme is "local." Browse a few of my favorite local spots in DC, added to my Pinterest board:
 Posted by Gio Palatucci Yesterday I was featured on About.com's Online Business Guide, speaking about ways to build an engaged social media community. Check it out! About.com Thanks Bryan!
 Photo: Gio Palatucci Posted by Gio Palatucci Last week D.C. played host to Social Media Week-- a global conference featuring panel discussions and workshops about trends in social and mobile media. As part of the week’s events, the D.C. Social Media Club put together a panel discussion called, “I’m Just Not That Into Your Profile,” featuring image, dating, and relationship experts discussing the ways in which your online profile might be sabotaging your search for love. What does online dating have to do with social media strategy? I asked myself that same question as I sat down at the start of the evening. But soon after the experts began to speak, similarities began to emerge. The goal of both online dating and social media strategy is to form strong relationships. Just as you might craft your online dating profile to attract potential mates, companies must refine their profile and messaging to attract followers and readers. So let cupid be your guide to social media success. Here are three expert online dating tips that apply to building an engaged social media community:
GP Let’s work together. Email me at giopalatucci@gmail.com
 Riding horseback through a vineyard in Chile (Photo: Gio Palatucci) In Case You Missed It (ICYMI): A weekly digest of interesting news stories about social media, travel, and tech. Today's #FriFotos theme is "special moments." See a few of my favorite pics on Pinterest:
Paperwork submitted by Apple to the US Patent & Trademark Office have some speculating that the company is trying to revolutionize the travel booking space in the same vein it transformed buying music online. See what this app could look like:
 Live-tweeting an event is a great way to engage followers and expand your audience past the number of seats in a venue. The flurry of tweets can also spice up your Twitter content while letting your audience know that there's a real person behind the brand. All you really need is a handle and hashtag to get started, but here are five tips I picked up from live-tweeting several events for Nat Geo that will help make your live Twitter event a knock-out success.
What's your secret to successfully live-tweeting an event? Share your tips with me in the comments section below! Related resources: Live-tweeting Best Practices via Twitter
 Black sand beach in Vik, Iceland (Photo: Gio Palatucci) In Case You Missed It (ICYMI): A weekly digest of interesting news stories about social media, travel, and tech. Today's #FriFotos theme is sand. See some of my favorite sand pics on Pinterest:
Hmm, maybe this Pinterest thing can actually be useful:
For more stories, follow me on Twitter: @giopalatucci
I committed to a year-long photography project on a whim. How did it happen? Last year I noticed friends on Facebook posting photos using the tag #project365. After some research, I discovered the tag was part of a daily photo project, where each snap is meant to capture something significant, memorable, or even mundane happening in your life. At the end of the year you can look back on this “album” and remember all things good and bad that occurred over the last 12 months. Cool, right? Although I loved the idea of this project, I’d forgotten all about it until I saw my friend, travel blogger @MiddleSeatView, post her first #project365 photo on New Year’s day. When I spotted the hashtag, I had a flash of inspiration. Without really thinking (or devising a long term plan) I snapped a shot, tagged the photo, and uploaded it to Instagram. From that moment on, I was all in, and I haven’t missed a day since. I've stayed committed because the whole process is making me a better iphoneographer-- I now think about things like lighting and composition, for example. I’m also happy that I’m documenting a big year-- I left a full-time job to start my own business. When I look back next January, I hope to have captured some pretty significant and wonderful moments in my life. Struggling with your own #project365 or want to get started? Here are a few tips I picked up after a month of shooting & sharing one photo a day:
Follow my #project365 journey on my Tumblr: giopalatucci.tumblr.com More #project365 resources: Project 365, take a photo a day (Photojojo) A beginner’s guide to project 365 (The Next Web)
How I went from a job in magazine publishing to starting my own social media consulting business. Today I’m happy to announce the launch of my new venture: giopalatucci.com. I’m jumping into the world of social media consulting to help individuals and companies build or re-energize their brand online. I made this decision because I live for social media. What excites me every day is using these tools to share and discover great stories and information online. I want my career to be about teaching others how to build a community, make connections, and ignite meaningful conversations. But how did I get here? My path started in somewhat of an unlikely place: print. In May 2009 I graduated from the George Washington University with a liberal arts degree. It wasn’t a great time to be a college graduate: the economy was tanking and unemployment numbers were spiking. Most of my classmates were moving home to live with their parents. Lucky for me, my phone rang and the editor in chief of National Geographic Traveler magazine was on the line to offer me a job as his assistant. I accepted. Friends and family thought I was crazy. Print was dying. I was repeatedly asked, “Why do you want to work for a magazine? It’s not going to be around in a few months.” Although print and the economy were in decline, deciding to join Nat Geo turned out to be perfect timing. Traveler was reinventing itself from words on a printed page to a global, digital brand. I had the opportunity to observe and participate in this transition from the beginning. During that transition I came to refer to myself as a digital storyteller-- someone who could craft clear and clever copy on a variety of platforms including tablets, blogs, online, and social media. I found myself gravitating toward blogging and social media because I loved having real-time conversations. It was fast. It was now. Over time, I was able to move from my position as assistant to the editor to blog editor and social media manager. In less than a year at the reins of Traveler’s social platforms, I doubled our Twitter following, tripled our Facebook fans, and boosted our blog’s pageviews. Why was I so successful? At its essence, social media for me was (and is) about storytelling-- the hallmark of Traveler magazine for over 27 years. I was able to take everything I had learned about great storytelling and apply it to social media. Whether it was a 140-character tweet, a photo posted to Instagram, or a Facebook gallery, it had to be a great story. Stories are meant to be shared, and as our followers and fans started to read and share what we were posting, our social brand exploded. And that brings us to the present. Managing a social media community and building a new social media community are two very different things, and I’ve missed the experimenting, risk taking, and strategy that come with the latter. Therefore, I left National Geographic to start giopalatucci.com and share my mantra of community, conversation, and connections with individuals and businesses looking to jump into the social media game. I can’t wait to get started! GP Let’s work together. Email me at giopalatucci@gmail.com
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