Outside The Star

Will the real China please stand up?

How ironic that on the same day I read a McKinsey Quarterly article about the emerging middle class in China, I also saw this Time Magazine story about slave labor in Chinese brick kilns.  Very disturbing article and photo.

At the very least, it should raise questions for all of us in the west about the origins of anything with a "Made in China" label on it.

The Great Turtle Race

The Great Turtle Race is on! I'm cheering for "Turtleocity", a newcomer to the competition, but she seems to be heading a bit off course here on Day 3.   Maybe, being the inquisitive traveler that she is, she's making a sidetrip to check out the Panama Canal.

Cheer on your favorite leatherback as they race across the Pacific ocean from Costa Rica to the Galapagos Islands.  Check it out here and get race commentary at myspace.com/mrleatherback.

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April 17th is Ben & Jerry’s Free Ice Cream Cone Day!

"Ben & Jerry’s Free Cone Day is an annual event, held in late April or early May, in which Ben & Jerry’s scoop shops give out free ice cream cones all day. According to the Ben & Jerry’s web site, the free ice cream will be available from noon until 8pm. The site also has a handy tool to help you find a shop near you." [via Get Rich Slowly]

Find the Ben & Jerry's location nearest you.

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3D Image 'Plug-in' Debuts for the WEB

http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/15/fotowoosh-will-turn- any-picture-into-3d-image/

I think we're looking at the future with this one.  Very, very cool stuff and I suspect a huge market for it provided it can be made cost effective.

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The New Old Ballpark

It opened as The Ballpark in Arlington in April, 1994.  In 2004, the Texas Rangers signed a 30-year, $75 million agreement with Ameriquest and it became Ameriquest Field in Arlington.  Today, in what's probably another sign of impending trouble for big mortgage companies, the team has severed its relationship with Ameriquest.  The "temple", as the HardLine guys on The Ticket call it, is immediately renamed Ranger Ballpark in Arlington.  According to reports, the Rangers ultimately received only about $7.5 million from the deal.

In an article by Evan Grant in the Dallas Morning News, owner Tom Hicks is quoted as saying,  "It's worth more to us to have our brand back than it is to have the relationship [with Ameriquest]," Hicks said. "You never say never, but as far as I'm concerned, it's going to be Rangers Ballpark for forever. It's going to be 'Welcome to baseball at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.' "

Yeah, right -- forever, or until another company with $75 million comes along... whichever comes first.

If it's January, it must be Demo time

Not sure how it got past me but Demo started yesterday.  There's a preview in eWeek.

I have a dear "old" friend and former co-worker who LOVED to attend this conference every year.  I'm certain, though, that it was as much about the golf as it was the conference.  We miss you around here Gary!

Aaa.. Aaa... Chooo$5000!!!

Think you're creative?  Pick up an easy $5000 prize for designing a tissue pack.   More than any industry, travel sounds like a perfect fit for tissue-based ads.

Just imagine all the travelers either on their way to a flight, already on a flight, or getting off a flight with a common cold, not to mention (God forbid!) the flu.  Plus how many unsuspecting "victims" they'll be sharing their viruses with!  Sounds like something airlines should be handing out to ALL passengers knowing they'll be carrying them everywhere they go for a few weeks or months.

Cool idea!

New Travelocity capabilities

In case you missed it, there was an article about the Travelocity ExperienceFinder^sm beta in last Saturday's Dallas Morning News.  It's been really exciting to watch the development of these capabilities that focus on themed activities for travelers.

Because prices like airfares are so easy to shop and sort on, it's no surprise that most online travel shopping and planning tools (including airline and hotel sites) have evolved around the price component.   It gets more attention than it deserves a lot of the time, though, especially by leisure travelers going to experience-rich destinations like Las Vegas.

Great work Travelocity!  Looking forward to seeing what you do with Hawaii and other destinations.

Feeding the Ad Monster

Kudos to Jeff Glueck for raising questions about the danger of a Google dominated advertising world -- Travelocity to Google: Stop dissing multi-million dollar ad clients! by ZDNet's Donna Bogatin -- Why Paid Search May NOT Be the Best ROI For Your Incremental Dollar.   I voiced my own concerns last November by questioning whether travel suppliers really understood the nature of the monster they were feeding.

Maybe Jeff's willingness to share Travelocity's insight on what pays vs. what doesn't will be the wake up call some travel suppliers need to begin questioning their own choices.  If not, they may suddenly realize one day that their Total Cost of Sales consists of nothing more than Google keyword spending.

I don't have a problem with ad spending in general.  What I can't help but question is the sanity of  diverting a greater and greater percent of budget away from channels that have proven to be just as, if not more, profitable.

Who knew Louisville was so leading edge?

Looking at the digg front page this morning, I noticed an article with 49 diggs about a new hotel, 21C, opening this week in Louisville, Kentucky.  You'll just have to read the sneak peak to believe some of the things 21C is doing to stand out.

If this is the shape of things to come with hotels, especially in terms of men's restroom design, we are headed for a very strange future...

(NOTE: In the few minutes I took to write this post, the diggs on the article went up to 224 with 40 comments -- is that what you'd call "diggbuzz"?)