So, on my way back from a great time at the Adventure and Backpacking Industry Conference in Sydney. Unfortunately, I don’t feel like I gave my best presentation ever - probably aimed the content a bit too technical and never got a grip on everything. Plus my leg was exhausted but that stage and my good leg would not stop shaking with the weight.

You can download the presentation, plus the extra bits here, which hopefully will make sense more.

One thing to make a comment on - in my speech I gave the throw away comment that Chris from Hostel Book had worked for me in Europe - since discovered same name, same relative age, both in Poland - but different people!! Sorry about that.

The actual conference day was great and really good speaking line up. Claire Hatton from Google followed me up and I asked her about duplicate content as per my earlier post this week. She confirmed that she would expect that sites could get devalued if it was perceived that their content was duplicate and that larger more established sites (e.g. Hostel World, STA etc) could be perceived by the Google algorithm and being the originator based on their age, size, ranking algorithm etc. It is essential that travel companies rewrite their content when they are syndicating across numerous travel sites.

I am giving a presentation at the 2007 Adventure & Backpacker Industry Conference in Sydney next month and one of the session topics is beyond Web 2.0. This has got me thinking a lot about Web 3.0 for want of a better term.

While working on my presentation I realised that Web 2.0 from a marketing perspective is certainly well documented - but from an operational perspective there is still so much all businesses can do to capitalise on the new technologies of Web 2.0. The underpinning thought revolves around the use of data to make your business better. We recognise that marketing in the new Web is about giving your customers better access to information - real information, information they can use in the decision-making process. Whether that be reviews from fellow traveller, tag categorisation of items by other web users, your address loaded directly onto a Google map for useable direction or opinions directly from the company on a blog - the underlying concept being a better presentation of data and user generated data - in other words, not corporate marketing bullshit.

Yet in most business operations the idea of better use of information (data) based on leveraging Web 2.0 technologies is poorly executed. I won’t go into it here - but over the next two weeks as I flesh out my presentation I will keep you updated with snippets.

Anyway, this thinking about using Web 2.0 technologies such as RSS for faster information flow, open source solutions for company management and wikis and blogs for project collaboration has helped me clear up in my own head what I think the next-next web will be.

I have talked before with the guys here at Xebidy about the Web as an application. Indeed, I believe that the travel planner we are developing under our own steam is a small step toward this. It allows the user to traverse a website collecting items of interest on a scratch pad which they can then manipulate onto calendars, maps, social media such Facebook and through a raft of booking systems all using web services. The planner users multiple windows more akin to a desktop application and allows the user to manipulate the data through drag and drop to create their own information. This I believe is what real Web 3.0 will be.

If Web 2.0 is about users creating the content, Web 3.0 will be about users using the content to create their own information solutions. In Web 2.0 we refer to mash-ups as the creating of a new piece of functionality by combining two or more pieces of independent data - say mapping hostel locations onto a Google Map. But this functionality is inevitably created by your web developer - not your average web user.

In Web 3.0 I believe the user will be able to traverse the Internet at large collecting data as they go and combining into their own information architecture; a destination guide from Lonely Planet, Wake Up hostel in Sydney, Auckland Central backpackers in Auckland, combined with a Virgin Blue flight, stored on my Google Calendar and displayed on a multi-map map - information gathered from many independent sites and “mashed” together by the user to create their very own travel planner.

I am very interested in an MIT project called Piggy Bank, which is a plugin for the Firefox browser and is supposed to allow a user to gather data in exactly this way from a variety of websites (LinkedIn and Flickr in particular) and strip that data of presentation to be used in a new ways.

Wikipedia starts by referring to Web 3.0 as the Semantic Web - where content is associated with meaning not just text with tags. I see this as being a bit too philosophical - how about a definition of the “Web as an Application”

I am to give a presentation to the Queenstown Business Network tonight on e-Marketing. That is a very big subject and one could talk for a whole day rather than the one hour I have.

The plan is to give an overview introduction starting with a general roundup of some of the elements of SEO and then go into some more marketing focuses topics such as online advertising, getting links, and so on. Time permitting then the plan is to look at some alternative channels of attracting customers such forums and review sites, mainstream grouping sites, and user generated content; finishing up with a look at how familiar technologies such as surveys, newsletters and emails can be used.

Of course, like anything we do as XSD the whole presentation is underpinned by the theme of Web 2.0.

Attached is the full presentation for all to download - I expect to rush over large parts of this - so by downloading it, you are getting the full schmoozel.

As you will know if you follow my blog posts, I was in Cairns last week so could not attend the Trenz trade show. But nonetheless, I had an intrepid reporter on the scene, Celia Schollum from Stray and Spaceships fame. Here is her report:

We just got back from TRENZ 2007 (Tourism Rendezvous New Zealand) and I have to say that out of the four TRENZ’s I’ve attended it has to have been the best.

This year TRENZ was held in Rotorua for the first time and they certainly put on a show. The theme was ‘Rotorua – birthplace of New Zealand tourism’ with Maori culture and the history of tourism in the area integrated throughout the week. It was great to show more of this side of New Zealand to the overseas visitors. My favourite evening function was at the Blue Baths with art deco surroundings, swimming pool, historic museum and synchronised swimming all rolled together to make a cocktail party with a twist!

There were about 450 exhibitors this year with some very impressive displays of products; as always it was great to catch up with all the operators we work with through the Stray bus and Spaceships. Everyone seemed pretty positive about the industry as a whole, with most having record numbers this summer. There were quite a few new companies exhibiting this year however there was a disappointing lack of innovation or anything truly new or creative. One company that did stand out for making an effort and trying to do something different was Hotel So - it will be interesting to see how they go once their first property opens in Christchurch in September.

It was obvious that there were fewer agents than there has been in the past (which is to be expected with the consolidation of so many agencies and the increase in web direct business); thankfully for Spaceships the lack of quantity was definitely offset by the quality of agents. Word is spreading about Spaceships and its unique features, with many agents saying that they had colleagues who had visited NZ and then on their return had insisted that someone meet with us at TRENZ. Having an actual Spaceship vehicle parked inside for the first time definitely helped to fully explain the concept and quality features and there was very positive feedback overall

The final gala night topped off a great week with a huge party. Music from the Black Seeds, Jordon Luck of the Exponents, and Spacifix got everyone (including lots of the overseas agents) dancing for hours.

I am today flying to Gold Coast and Tweed Heads for the ATEC conference. ATEC is Australia’s main tourism promotion body and the annual symposium attracts over 500 delegates.

As part of this year there will be a breakout day for the backpacker industry, which is being held in Byron Bay. I am speaking on Internet Marketing and Web 2.0 along with presentations by Martin Kelly of Travel.biz and Paul Fisher of Total Travel.

Looking forward to catching up with old friends also, I will post any exciting happenings I discover during the rest of the wekk.

You can download the notes (with the extra freebie bit) and powerpoint presentation here.