Previous Story
Highlights Of TBEX Athens Travel Blogger Conference – Photo Report
Posted On 27 Oct 2014
Some of the world’s most influential travel bloggers and leading digital content creators from all over the world were in Athens, Greece, during 23-25 October, to attend the Travel Blog Exchange European Conference – TBEX Europe 2014.
This year’s conference brought over 800 delegates to Athens from 50 countries. The majority of guests were from North America (32 percent), Europe (38 percent) and Asia (11 percent).
As TBEX is all about “the future of travel media,” it included media of all kinds: bloggers, podcasters, videographers and photographers. TBEX attendees also included travel industry representatives such as destinations, PR agencies, tour companies and travel products.
The multi-day event was held at the Megaron Athens International Conference Center and combined workshops, inspirational keynotes and educational breakout sessions with plenty of business networking opportunities. Included within the schedule of events were also two sessions of speed networking between travel bloggers and industry professionals, as well as plenty of social events.
Highlights of TBEX Athens – Photo report
-
- Athens Mayor Giorgos Kaminis stressed how important the TBEX exent is for Athens. "In the past we had unfair treatment from the press due to riots and demonstarations... But that is not everyday Athens."
-
- "We hope the travel bloggers of TBEX feel Athens as a home away from home," said Panos Livadas, Secretary General Greek National Tourism Organization.
-
- Mary Jo Manzanares, conference director of TBEX.
-
- TBEX Athens: welcome & opening keynote.
-
- TBEX Athens: welcome & opening keynote.
-
- TBEX Athens: speed networking area.
-
- TBEX Athens: speed networking area.
-
- "Do you think Athens has what it takes to make it as a city break destination?" GTP's newseditor, Nikos Krinis, asked Rick Calvert, the CEO of TBEX. "Absolutely... There is so much to do here. This city has what it takes to make people come and stay..." Mr. Calvert replied.
-
- Athens Convention Bureau Marketing and Sales Director Alexia Panagiotopoulou.
-
- TBEX Athens educational breakout session.
-
- TBEX Athens educational breakout session.
-
- TBEX Athens educational breakout session.
-
- TBEX attendees.
-
- Rick Calvert, CEO of TBEX; and Daniel Nahabedian, freelance travel photographer.
-
- "Hopefully with TBEX and all these travel bloggers here talking about the city, Athens will get a boost. That's what it's all about. Helping the economy and the Greek people," TBEX's director of marketing, Deb Cole, aka “Coach Deb,” tells GTP's newseditor Nikos Krinis.
-
- Laurence Norah, photographer, writer and traveller; and Daniel Nahabedian, freelance travel photographer.
-
- TBEX Athens: Warriors at the Thai stand.
-
- TBEX Athens: Warriors at the Thai stand.
-
- Dimitris Serifis, CEO & founder at Nelios.com; Vassilis Polyzos, head of digital marketing at Nelios.com; and tourism professionals, Pigi Plessa, attended the TBEX Athens educational breakout session on the Destination Specialist Program "This is Athens."
-
- Coach Deb filming the winner of the Eurorail competition for travel bloggers at TBEX Athens.
-
- Auston Mattar, the editor of travel blog Twobadtourists.com, won a free two-moth eurorail pass in a competition for travel bloggers at TBEX Athens. He is seen here with Willenmijn Van Den Broek of Eurorail.
-
- TBEX team: Songi Kim, conference manager; Susan Schwartz, show director; and Mary Jo Manzanares, conference director.
-
- Rick Calvert, CEO of TBEX and Tim S. Leffel, publisher and author.
-
- Lauren Moreno, public relations manager for Tripit.
TBEX Athens: Workshops, keynotes & educational breakout sessions
During the opening keynote of TBEX Athens, Chris Christensen, host of the Amateur Traveler, a popular online travel show that focuses primarily on travel destinations, and Jaume Marin, the marketing and promotion director for the Costa Brava Girona Tourist Board, held a very lively discussion about blogging, social media, and the tourism industry in Europe. Mr. Marin’ team was one of the first to work with travel bloggers in Europe.
Quote: “The best way to communicate a destination is through a storyteller (travel blogger).”
-
- David Farley gave tips for freelancers during TBEX Athens. He is a Contributing Writer at AFAR magazine and his work appears in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Bon Appetit, and National Geographic Traveler. He teaches writing at New York University.
-
- Dylan Lowe (Travelling Editor) and Jen Leo (writer for the Los Angeles Times' Web Buzz column), gave very useful tips to travel bloggers during the session "How to Get the Most out of TBEX (or any event)."
-
- Daniel Nahabedian, a full-time freelance travel photographer and Laurence Norah, a photographer, writer and traveller, spoke to travel bloggers on how to turn a passion into a business, by monetizing photography content.
-
- Mitch Canter (R), a WordPress Developer and marketing strategist, spoke at a session on "Search Engine Optimization for Bloggers."
-
- Bret Love gave travel bloggers tips during a session entitled "Build a Better Blogging Brand: How a Unique Identity is Key to Blogging Success." Bret Love is the co-founder of Green Global Travel, an ecotourism/conservation-focused blog that has ranked amongst the Top 30 Travel Blogs in the World since 2012.
-
- Kerwin McKenzie, who provides travel solutions for travelers and helps travel bloggers improve their online presence, gave tips on "How To Network Without Becoming Annoying."
-
- Tim Leffel spoke to travel blogegrs on managing and prioritizing writing, social media, and business tasks in a session entitled "So Much Content, So Little Time: Productvity Tips for Bloggers." Tim Leffel is the author of five travel books and is an award-winning writer who edits Perceptive Travel, the Cheapest Destinations Blog (established 2003) and several other sites.
-
- Laurel Robbins, entrepreneur of the award-winning travel blog "Monkeys and Mountains" and a social media expert gave very useful tips to travel bloggers during a session entitled "Twitter Beyond the Basics: Tips for Advanced Users."
-
- Jason Falls, a digital strategist, spoke on "The Convergence Imperative: How Social, Content and PR Combine for Marketing Success On and Offline." Mr. Falls' strategies and ideas have touched iconic brands like General Motors, AT&T, Maker’s Mark, Humana and Cafepress among others.
-
- TBEX Athens’ Saturday keynote featured the editor in chief of Yahoo Travel, Paula Froelich, in conversation with Chris Staudinger and Tawny Clark, better known in the travel blogging community as Captain and Clark. The conversation included a discussion on the role of video in travel blogging, a style of story telling that Chris and Tawny have become well known for.
-
- The marketing and promotion director for the Costa Brava Girona Tourist Board, Jaume Marin, during a keynote session at TBEX Athens.
-
- Marissa Tejada, author, writer and journalist, was part of a panel about travel blogging in Greece, at TBEX Athens. She is a native New Yorker based in Athens, Greece and blogs for "my Greece, my travels," her travel photography blog.
-
- Becki Enright was part of a panel about travel blogging in Greece, at TBEX Athens. During the workshop, she informed the audience that "Athens has so much more to it than just the city center." Becki Enright is a British Press award winning travel blogger and writer and a Travel PR consultant at Borders of Adventure.
-
- Rebecca Hall was part of a panel about travel blogging in Greece, at TBEX Athens. She is a British travel writer who fell in love with Greece where she teaches English and writes.
-
- Colm Hanratty outlined a 12-month plan to building better blogger relationships, during a session during TBEX Athens.
-
- Danai Christopoulou, the editorial director of Daily Secret, informed industry specialists and travel bloggers on the City of Athens' new Destination Specialist Program “This is Athens.”
Speed Networking
Speed Networking is a structured networking activity that’s become fairly common in the travel industry. Bloggers and sponsors at TBEX Athens had meetings in timed eight-minute segments, each of which provided a chance to meet, start a relationship, and consider future business opportunities. Speed Networking was open to all bloggers, free of charge.
TBEX 2015 destinations: Costa Brava, Spain and Bangkok, Thailand
At the closing session of TBEX Athens, Rick Calvert, CEO of TBEX, announced that TBEX Europe will be held in April 2015 in Costa Brava (Girona/Catalonia/Girona) and TBEX Asia will be held in Bangkok and Thailand in October 2015.
TBEX Europe 2014 was organized by the Municipality of Athens, the Athens Development and Destination Management Agency (ADDMA) and the Athens Convention and Visitors Bureau (ACVB.
GTP Headlines was an official media partner of the TBEX Athens event.
It was a nice content useful for every travelers and travel seekers.
You are right Chris, sorry about that. Corrected! Hope you enjoyed our article.
One small correction, you mentioned “Amateur Travel” but that should have been “Amateur Traveler”
Pingback: TBEX Athens Created Opportunities & Fond Memories