WHAT IS THE TRAVMEDIA SUMMIT?
We bring together Australia's leading and most influential members of TravMedia from the tourism industry, to share ideas, learn from leaders & each other, and be inspired to improve communications within the travel industry.
Date
Thursday, 27 February 2020
Venue
Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbour
Our Target Market Is
Travel editors, Freelancers, tourism destination regional directors and board members, destination marketers, tourism and travel PR professionals, hotel marketers, PR companies
Partners / Sponsors
Presenting Conference Partner
AccorHotels
The Event Style
A half day conference style event with a range of speakers and panelists
5 x 30-45 minute sessions
Includes lunch, afternoon tea and cocktail party
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Barry Neild
Barry Neild is the Global Editor for CNN Travel, supervising all travel-related content across CNN’s platforms. Based in London, he helms a team of staff reporters and international freelancers, working closely with CNN Travel’s teams in New York, Atlanta, Bangkok and Hong Kong.
Neild joined CNN in 2006, working for its digital news operations before switching to its Travel team in 2015. Prior to working at CNN he worked as a correspondent for the AFP news agency, reporting headline news stories from destinations including Afghanistan, Indonesia, China and Iraq.
AGENDA
Slam with Travel Editors
What are travel editors looking for and how can you make their jobs easier? Learn how to create pitches that sell stories, how to uncover new angles on old destination and how to ensure your voice is heard amongst the fray. Hear examples of the good the bad and the ugly.
SPEAKERS
MODERATORS
Insights into the world of Modern Tourism and Travel PR
What are PRs looking for when they invite media on famils? Why do PRs invite the same people time and again – what are they doing that you are not? What to do and not to do to get yourself on the famil invitation list. Why are airlines becoming fussier about providing free seats and what can you do to ensure your seat at the front of the plane.
SPEAKERS
MODERATOR
Press Trips: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (45 mins)
What are the hallmarks of a successful press trip? What constitutes a compelling itinerary? What are the do's and don'ts of hosting? How can media improve their chances of being hosted? In this candid, warts-and-all session, you'll learn what works (and what doesn't) from two of the industry's leading PR professionals plus hear what the media is looking for in a successful press trip.
- What are the key ingredients of a successful press trip?
- How do you avoid a press trip disaster?
- How can PRs and media work together to create trips that deliver for everyone?
- What can journalists do to improve their chances of getting on trips?
SPEAKERS
Rewriting the press release
Forget everything you know about press releases. No, really – all of it. Georgia Rickard is here to redefine your idea of an effective press release – and she has the science, and the studies, to back her argument up. You won’t want to miss this one... trust us.
SPEAKERS
SPEAKERS
Barry Neild
Barry Neild is the Global Editor for CNN Travel, supervising all travel-related content across CNN’s platforms. Based in London, he helms a team of staff reporters and international freelancers, working closely with CNN Travel’s teams in New York, Atlanta, Bangkok and Hong Kong.
Neild joined CNN in 2006, working for its digital news operations before switching to its Travel team in 2015. Prior to working at CNN he worked as a correspondent for the AFP news agency, reporting headline news stories from destinations including Afghanistan, Indonesia, China and Iraq.
Emma Sturgiss
As Global Manager - PR, Broadcast and Advocacy, I am responsible for the management and operation of Tourism Australia's global PR function which includes the organisation's media and broadcast hosting programs, our advocacy and influencer marketing programs and our global press office as well as providing PR and communications direction for global marketing campaigns. I also provide strategic advice and support to Tourism Australia's regional PR teams in 15 international offices to assist them develop and roll-out their own public relations activities.
Kim McKay
Founder + Director of Klick Communications. A communications collective with offices in Sydney, Los Angeles and Honolulu. Representing clients across retail, lifestyle and travel; including Mudgee Region, Gold Coast Tourism, Tourism Events Qld, Saffire Freycinet, Henry Jones Art Hotel.
Rob McFarland
Rob McFarland is an award-winning travel writer who divides his time between Australia, the US and the UK.
He is a regular contributor to the following publications:
Traveller (Sydney Morning Herald, Sun-Herald & Melbourne Age)
Escape (News Corp's national Sunday newspaper travel section)
The Australian
GQ
Qantas magazine
Voyeur (Virgin Australia's inflight magazine)
International Traveller
Luxury Travel
Mindfood
He is a member of the Australian Society of Travel Writers (ASTW) and has won six writing awards including ASTW Travel Writer of the Year.
Writing Courses
Rob regularly runs travel writing workshops for aspiring travel writers in Australia plus offers a correspondence course and a story review service.
He also runs PR writing workshops for travel PRs and marketing professionals that include advice and feedback from 30 of Australia's leading travel editors. See www.robmcfarland.org
Georgia Gregerson
Nick Wayland
Nick Wayland pioneered the technology that created global newswire service TravMedia in 1999, and ATE, IPW, Brand USA and SATW press rooms and trade platforms.
TravMedia delivers the world's travel news to more than 25,000 registered travel journalists in Australia, New Zealand, Asia, the United Kingdom, Middle East, United States, Canada, Germany/Austria/Switzerland, South Africa, and new in 2014, Brazil. Nick understands the needs of media from his own experience as travel editor of Courier Newspapers for ten years and regular ski contributor to Australia's Sun Herald and Melbourne's Age Newspaper.
His knowledge of the travel industry and his contributions to the market segment are extensive. He is an active member of the Australian Society of Travel Writers and former committee member and co-founded the website. He is an annual judge for the Gourmet Travel Annual Awards and the Australian Hotel Management Awards. His company sponsors the annual ONE Travel Conference Travel Writer award for outstanding work in promoting U.S. travel, the Australian Society of Travel Writers Awards dinner and the British Guild of Travel Writers Awards dinner.
TravMedia are also members of the U.S. Travel Association, with the company powering the online press room for IPW, the most important travel trade convention on U.S. soil. The online press room for the Society of American Travel Writers is now in its fourth year, and TravMedia introduced an appointment setting tool for the Association last year. TravMedia moved into Canada in 2013 with a partnership with the Canadian Tourism Commission for GoMedia Canada Marketplace.
Sister company TravTrade provides the same connectivity and paperless communication for trade shows around the world, through U.S. Travel Associations Online Marketplace at IPW, Brand USA Pavlions at international trade shows , the Australian Tourism Exchange, AIME, and Luxperience, to name a few. Brand USA's extremely successful Megafam trips for travel agents from the UK and Australia in 2013 were powered by TravTrade.
Nick regularly assists tourism colleagues with functions to bring together travel and tourism partners and media, works with international rep firms of major U.S. companies to increase media reach, speaks on the topics of media trends and new technologies, and looks for new ways to connect travel journalists with public relations professionals. His most recent technology allows TravMedia clients to connect and follow travel journalists and buyers, read published articles and provide tailored information for upcoming efforts. Nick splits his time between his Sydney, London and New York offices, and by design never spends an entire cold winter or a hot summer anywhere.
Gaynor Reid
Gaynor Reid is Vice President AccorHotels Asia Pacific, based in the company’s Singapore regional head office. She has worked for Accor for 18 years, starting in the group’s Sydney office as Media Relations Manager and moving to Asia in 2013.
She oversees the group’s Communications strategy, Corporate Social Responsibility and Crisis Management to consistently articulate AccorHotels’ messaging to both internal and external audiences.
Prior to joining AccorHotels, Gaynor was Manager of Communications and Community Relations for the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG) and managed SOCOG’s Welcome the World project to prepare Australia to welcome all visitors from across the world for the 2000 Olympics.
With a background in journalism, she was also a reporter and editor for ten years before moving into Public Relations.
An award-winning communications professional, Gaynor was awarded Best Hotel PR of the Year 2013 (Hotel Management Awards), Communicator of the Year 2011 (Australian Society of Travel Writers), Best Hotel PR 2009 (HM Awards) and Best PR Member 2004 (Australian Society of Travel Writers) as well as being a multiple finalist in similar awards over the past decade.
She oversees communications for AccorHotels’ 1,100 hotels across Asia Pacific in 20 countries. Gaynor also sits on the group’s Executive Committee for Asia Pacific.
AccorHotels is a Group united by a shared passion for hospitality and driven by a shared promise to make everyone Feel Welcome. Over 280,000 women and men in 4,800 AccorHotels establishments look after thousands of guests every day in over 100 countries.
Amanda Bolger
Georgia Rickard
Travel journalist specialising in Australian travel.
Contributes to a variety of outlets including Tatler UK, AFAR, BBC, News.com.au, Fairfax, Jetstar Australia, SKY News and so on. Previously Tourism Australia's contributing editor, overseeing production of editorial for Australia.com, which enjoys a monthly readership of 1.6 million and @australia social features; has also held the editorship of Australia's biggest selling travel magazine, Australian Traveller for several years, during which she was shortlisted for both Editor of the Year and Magazine Of The Year at the Australian Magazine Awards.
At 23 she was Australia's then-youngest magazine editor, turning Healthy Food Guide into the nation's fastest growing magazine (2008).
Co-founder of The Travel Bootcamp and the Modern Travel Media Summit.
She is also an experienced public speaker with some television presenting experience; has appeared on CNN as well as all major local networks.
Georgia is also member of multi-award-winning Story(ation), Australia's specialist travel content agency, producing content on behalf of brands including Tourism and Events Queensland, Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia and Spirit of Tasmania in addition to Tourism Australia. Story(ation) is ranked as one of Business Review Weekly's 100 Fast Starters in 2017 and its work has won global recognition, most notably at the US Content Marketing Awards, the UK's CMA International Content Marketing Awards, US Content Council Pearl Awards and locally at the 2017 Mumbrella Publish Awards.