011 - Breaking News About TBEX Events

Welcome to the second episode of Travel Matters. Rick Calvert and Palle Bo talk about TBEX North America 2019 in Billings, Montana. How did it go, and how was it different than previous events? Rick reveals that there were more older people than usual. TIPS FOR FIRST TIMERS There were many new faces again this year, and we talk to Kerwin McKenzie who did a pre-session for TBEX first-timers. Kerwin is an Amazon.com #1 best selling author, speaker, and ex-airline employee who travels on average over 250,000 miles a year. He writes up-to-date airport, destination and ground transportation guides plus airline flight and hotel reviews with a mission to motivate airline employees to use their travel benefits at Passrider.com. He’s flown 176 airlines and visited 125 countries and teaches travelers how to be loyal to travel brands at Cruisinaltitude.com and shares 365 unfamiliar destinations at UnfamiliarDestinations.com. Kerwin has been to 17 TBEXs, and he knows that going to a conference like this one is all about the network and building relationships, so one of Kerwin’s advice was always to sit next to someone you don’t know. CREATOR OF THE MONTH In this episode, we feature Lauren from Misadventures of an Outdoorsy Diva. Hear her story, what she does, and how she works with brands in this episode. We also talk about her podcast and how SEO has helped her blog after taking a course with Gemma and Laura of MakeTrafficHappen.com. PAID OR TRADE? Angie Orth did a session on how to work with brands called “Paid or Trade? When (and How Much) to Pay Influencers for Content.” Angie is a recovering agency publicist with more than 15 years in the marketing industry and 13 years as an award-winning content creator. She created AngieAway.com to chronicle a yearlong round-the-world trip that accidentally became a career. She currently produces and co-hosts The Jet Sisters, a video series focusing on Millennial travel. At the closing party, we talked to the two Jet Sisters, Angie, and Rachel. Angie wrote a fascinating blog post called “The 17 Essential Commandments of Influencer Marketing” that you should read. In the next episode, we talk to Michael Collins from TravelMedia.ie. Travel Matters is hosted by Rick Calvert, CEO of TBEX and Palle Bo, The Radio Vagabond and produced by RadioGuru.