Connecting with new and old friends at TBEX travel blogger conference.
The life of a Teacher-Traveler:
I administered final exams to my 150 seventh grade students Monday through Friday, then hopped on a plane to fly across the country to Colorado for the 800-person TBEX Travel Blogging Conference.
Was it worth it?
Wowza, yes! What a fun, productive, and fascinating weekend the conference was!
Here are lessons the Education world (or really anyone in any realm) can learn from the success of TBEX 2012:
Keystone, Colorado: What a beautiful place to have a conference!
1. Belonging to a community is an essential human need, and true communities CAN form online.
The online travel world is ridiculously tight-knit, so TBEX is actually a joyful family reunion.
Even though we’re on different continents for most of the year, travel folks constantly chat online via social media.
Embraces flew fast and furious this weekend, seeing dear friends (from the online world) in person at last!
The TBEX closing speech by Christopher Baker, famous travel writer.
2. Networking is THE important job skill in 2012.
We MUST explicitly teach our students how and why to network, or they will miss out on career opportunities.
This weekend was a master class in networking. Before the conference, TBEX set up an online “speed dating” system through which marketing companies and bloggers could arrange meetings to discuss business partnerships. During the weekend, we also used any free moment to informally (but often passionately) network.
Informal networking during lunch at TBEX. Keystone, Colorado is stunning!
Me, I met with at least twenty different companies, laying the foundation for possible sponsors of the Meet Plan Go Career-Break Travel Conference (for which I’m the Boston coordinator), as well as my two websites. Networking is thrilling, a little scary… and a massive piece of adult life that kids must learn.
3. You need mentors to excel.
We’re all pretty cool, but there’s always someone more adept or experienced who can teach you more. Take every opportunity to find and cultivate such people in your life. I’ve already written a whole article about this, so just click here to read “Why You Need a Mentor… or Fifteen!”
TBEX sparkled with informal Mentor-Mentee relationships.
Formal "speed dating" business meetings between bloggers and travel companies.
4. Be friendly; you never know who the person is next to you.
I can’t tell you the number of times at TBEX that I randomly chatted up the quiet, unassuming person next to me and then suddenly realized: “This person is… WHOA!” Shyness is cute in bunnies, but in humans at a conference (and in life in general), it’s something to be surmounted, or you miss out big-time.
5. Niches pay off. Find yours.
The view out of our hotel room door in Keystone, Colorado. Wowowow!
There are hundreds and hundreds of travel bloggers, but there are only a few who specialize in vegan travel, or Antarctica travel, or fashion, or (ahem!) the teaching-traveling combo. You can either be a small fish in a big pond (and get ignored and/or eaten), or find your area of specialty and become a happy fatty fish!
Meeting with the travel companies at TBEX, I was actually shocked at the gapingly empty niche they’re missing: Teacher travel! We teachers are in the only profession that has 3 months a year of vacation. Cater to us, travel companies! And, well, you know which blogger might be able to consult with you on how? Google search the term Traveling Teacher and see who is the #1 search result in the world. 
6. Twitter is the new note-taking… and it’s better than notepads because it’s collaborative.
Some of the top travel bloggers and companies, chatting at the TBEX shindig!
I’ll be the first to admit that I have a 2012 attention span, meaning I can focus for about 3 seconds before wanting to pull out an electronic device. At modern conferences, however, that’s actually fine, because the expectation now is that everyone live-Tweets remarks about the speakers in large-group events using a specific hashtag (like #TBEX) that everyone is following in a stream.
I LOVE live-Tweeting. It’s much more engaging to listen to an hour-long speech that way because it’s interactive. Plus, it’s useful and often hilarious to read the Tweets of your fellow audience members. It also allows folks who couldn’t be at the event to follow along remotely.
The tunnel leading to the TBEX conference. Loving the art.
7. Channel your insane passion into obsessive workaholism, and don’t give up. Success WILL come, eventually.
All the keynote speeches at TBEX emphasized this, but perhaps the most striking illustration came from Rand Fishkin of SEOmoz’s speech when he projected the Google Analytics of his wife’s travel blog.
Click here and scroll to #22 to see: Her blog remained at a plateau of visitors for years, but she didn’t give up. She kept loving it and working hard… and the graph shoots upward a few years in!
I yearn for all students and adults to know this: Hard work and persistence pay off!
8. One key to success in the new economy is human emotion.
Here’s an example of this from TBEX: Humans like funny and fresh things, right? Well, Expedia.com brilliantly sponsored a cowboy-themed party and bought us all (yes, all 800 of us) Expedia cowboy hats.
Brilliant marketing: We couldn't help but take cowboy hat pics.
Do you know how much fun we had posing for photos with the hats, then Tweeting and Facebooking them? Well played, Expedia. Random, but effective.
In another example of this, the wonderful Passports With Purpose initiative to raise money for global causes created buzz (both in the air and of the sugar kind) with elaborately decorated free cupcakes around their information and sign-up table at TBEX.
9. New media and innovation are completely reshaping how business is done, and YOU can be part of it.
“This weekend at TBEX,” said BlogWord CEO Rick Calvert in his closing remarks, “so many of you came up to me and said how professional and well-run this conference has been. Well, you deserve that, because you have proven that you are professionals. Travel bloggers have changed the travel industry forever.”
Cheers erupted through the crowd. It feels so good to be acknowledged for passionate work!
Yesterday: Colorado horses and TBEX. Tomorrow: back to Boston teaching!
And the world can expect even more greatness from us travel bloggers in the years to come, bolstered by our unity.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I must sleep.
My alarm will go off at 5:35am so I can take three buses to work and teach sweet Boston students again tomorrow.
The kids will be very excited to hear about Colorado, and a lucky student may even get the cowboy hat for academic excellence.
Thanks so much for a stupendous weekend, TBEX crowd!
Amazing tips you learned! I hope to attend TBEX this year in Toronto…hope I learn as much as you did last year!
I shall see you there!
I think you’ve helped me make my decision. I’ve not been to an expo before but I found out that the next one is going to happen while I’m in Spain. I think I’ll take a few days out of my Camino and head south to experience it for myself.
Honored to have influenced your decision! Tickets may be sold out, but there are always folks selling theirs because at the last minute they can’t come. Enjoy it for both of us, as I’ll be teaching in Boston at that time, but perhaps see you at TBEX Toronto!
I just picked up my ticket. Looks like there are 22 left at the $100 price point then you can only get them at the door. I’m excited but a bit freaked out as I’ve been traveling/living internationally for years but not blogging about it. I think it’ll be a great learning/networking experience. Anyone who is going, feel free to drop me a note, I’d love to meet ya!
Sweet! Don’t be freaked out; you will have a GREAT time and meet AMAZING people. Let us know how it goes!
Great messages and great little niche you have secured
Cannot wait for TBEX in Spain. Going to be so much fun and so many people to learn from and meet. Look forward to (hopefully) meeting you there.
Thanks! I’ve been reading and stumbling your articles recently and would love to meet you, too. As of now, I’m not sure if I can make TBEX in Spain (school starts in early September), but will keep you posted!
[...] that positivity will come back to you in major ways. Lillie from Around the World “L” shares 9 Education Lessons from TBEX Travel Blog Conference from attending the best (to date) TBEX session held in the Colorado Rockies. Rocky Mountain View [...]
I’m just now catching up on all the TBEX round ups. The more I read your stuff, the more I enjoy your writing and personality. Great takeaways from the conference. Believe it or not, I have always been one of those shy and quiet types. I am learning to break out of my shell a little more and engage. Networking is a lot of fun but sometimes is a little more work than I’d like it to be.
Thanks so much, Jeremy!!!!! Keep networking it up!
[...] 9 Education Lessons from TBEX Travel Blog Conference [...]
Great post, Lillie! And awesome to finally meet face to face, even for a second!
There was some brilliant advice given at TBEX and much of what I retained is what you discussed here. The niche part can be a tough one to determine, but the advice some of the speakers gave on branding was spot on.
Keep up the great work! And oh – I just noticed I’m in the lunch scene photo! Ha!
Love it!!!
I can’t tell you the number of times at TBEX that I randomly chatted up the quiet, unassuming person next to me and then suddenly realized: “This person is… WHOA!” I love this quote because this happened to me many times over the weekend. It was fantastic to meet so many awesome people!
Thanks for writing this. Really wish Q & I got to attend. Have to ask. What were your main takeaways from the speed-dating networking session?
Good question. My main takeaways from the speed-dating was that companies are really acknowledging the impact travel bloggers have in the industry, and that it’s much more effective to pitch to companies if you have: a) A distinctive niche, and, b) Concrete statistics (visitors per month, Twitter followers, etc.) that are significant. Other TBEX attendees, what were your takeaways from speed-dating?
Wow Lillie. It looks like you got every penny and every moment’s worth out of TBEX. That is how you are supposed to attend a conference. You work it; HARD! This great post and real valuable takeaways you listed show that is exactly what you did.
I’m not sure if you or anyone else noticed but I got a little choked up when I told the community they deserved this event. When I got to number nine on your list it made me tear up reading it. For all of us to be a part of this new media revolution is a deeply moving thing for me. Every time I read a post like yours it reminds me how lucky I am to be a part of it.
Thank you.
Rick, I am HONORED by your comment, both on this post and at TBEX! I did notice you got choked up, because most of us in the audience did, too! THANK YOU!
Hi Lillie!
Thanks for mentioning Passports with Purpose – we appreciate every mention we get on every blog, big or small.
And it was fun to meet you in person. I hope you enjoyed your cupcake
Michelle (aka WanderMom)
Your photo of Keystone is gorgeous! I also had a fantastic time, but it passed in such a blur.
Lilli, it was great to meet you even for a brief moment. You were able to hit the major points from TBEX 2012. Overall, very impressed with the event and came back very inspired! I hope to see you at TBEX 2013!
Great article. You’ve just convinced me to book my ticket for next year’s!! Thank you….
Super cool! Thanks for reading, and maybe I’ll see you next year!
Thanks for the fantastic round-up Lillie! Hopefully next year I’ll be in a position to get to a travel bloggers conference myself.
I love the horses. Back when I was a little kid, I used to ride a horse but I don’t now since I am too old. I love the brown horses! I like how the horse jumps up and down because it is like a roller coaster. My birthday is on June 29th and I want to ride a horse for my birthday present from my parents this year. They won’t let me because they don’t know where to find a horse and it is expensive to buy a horse.
It looks like you had a nice lesson in Colorado!
Love this!
Awesome review L! I have not heard a bad review of TBEX yet. Compared to last year, this is night and day. Glad you went. I think people will be truly excited for 2013.
Indeed! And even more excited if you can come this time! <3
Meeting friends from the internet is always fun. A lot of bands that I like don’t really have a big fanbase that are around where I live so a lot of the fans keep in touch through social media, just like TBEX.
Hearing Rick Calvert’s quote that you mentioned in #9 gave me goosebumps the first time he said it, and again reading it here. We DO deserve it, don’t we?! It was so great to see the passion and enthusiasm that powered this weekend and I loved the recap of all of these important lessons.
Helpful! You did a great job sifting and sharing what you heard.
Aloha!
Loved your article…a bit of an ah ha moment for me.
Our little travel journal has just be sitting because we’ve been at a cross roads….
do we keep it just for family and friends or move forward and take it more seriously.
I’ve read a lot of travel blogs to try and figure this out.
#5 was the light bulb moment..find our niche. And that is our problem.
We don’t fit into any other travel blogs I’ve read.
We are not backpackers, flashpackers, we will never crash on a couch
We don’t have kids
We don’t have pets
We will not quit our jobs
We are not ex pats
We are not teachers
We don’t repeat destinations over and over (so it wouldn’t be a destination specific)
We are not soley Luxury Travelers
We are savvy travelers in our 40′s, that have up to 6 weeks and alot of weekends to travel the world
with our disposable income.
So any additional ideas on how to find our niche?
A hui hou!
Karen
So glad #5 was helpful! An interesting challenge you’ve posed us with, but totally solve-able. It sounds to me that what you specialize on is mid-budget vacation travel. That could appeal to so many people, as a lot more folks take vacations than career-break travel! Also, it might allow you some interesting press trips. Other readers, what are your suggestions?
I don’t know if this would be appropriate for you, Karen, but here’s a niche I haven’t seen yet: a blog focusing on romantic travel for couples. How can couples use travel to recharge their romance batteries, especially if/when they have busy, stressful professional lives? Or…are there themes that seem to crop up for you over and over in your travels? Like, do you enjoy visiting certain types of places everywhere you go (microbreweries, art museums, live theater, live music, etc.)? Do you tend to go to places with beaches? Are there certain aspects of your travels that seem to resonate the most with people when you start talking to them about it? Maybe that will lead you toward a niche.
I think you’ve just defined your niche – maybe come up with a catchy phrase (like they did for articles – DINK (double income no kids)) that’s catchy and go for it. Other than pets, I’m in a similar boat as you and haven’t found a ton of folks similarly writing.
Or focus on what you find yourself drawn to every vacation (food/wine? amusement parks? antiquing?) because then your voice will be most genuine and you won’t get bored with it in a few month’s time which is what I see happen to a lot of bloggers….
I just wanted to thank all you for your suggestions this has been so helpful.
I feel like I’m getting a little closer to this..
One thing I’ve noticed compared to other blogs is we are Type A (size 72 font with that) researchers and organizers.
Mainly because I have severe chronic pain so we have learned to do this to maximize our time wisely
and not lose time if we need to switch to Plan B-Z.
For example on our where we’ve been page I give detailed sights to see lists, research links. if we did a cruise I have price list, menus. So, that kinda sets us apart.
Also, we didn’t need travel to save our relationship..travel was actually the catalyst that brought us together…. we have very easy going/balanced approach to travel, the romance is there 24/7 …
i’ve been a bit afraid that people might find that nauseating after a bit…even my friends say..
Your relationship happens once in a billion times, no one would believe it’s possible to be perfectly suited for each other, travel the world and not want to kill each other
Maybe our blog should be the hope that romance can just be there, it truly is the one thing we have never planned in our lives.
When we are travel we are drawn to the uniqueness that each place offers..we want to become a local. we dont worry about budget.
Too bad we weren’t doing this over coffee or margaritas…
If you are ever in San Francisco and let me know …my treat!
Why not focus on travel with severe chronic pain and describe how you cope with it, what you look for in planning, how you get around obstacles and still enjoy your time etc?
My father had a stroke a few years ago that left him partially paralyzed on his left side, and it makes travel much more difficult, but he’s found unique ways to get around problems. He actually lives in Asia now – go figure.
Nice article – definitely helps out those of us who weren’t there! We’ll try and apply these lessons in Europe in September!
Excellent!
Lillie,
. It was great to meet you. I’m the second to last person in the photo at the top next to Man on the Lam 
.
Great post. I resemble that remark about saying hello to the person next to you as that’s how we met
You are a prime example! A pleasure to meet you, and I look forward to being in touch.
I’m keen to know if people would recommend going to the Europe one or waiting till next year for the next US one?
Katherine,
Go to Europe; no time like the present. And if you can head to the next U.S. one, do so. This was my first TBEX, but I’ve been to other conferences such as BlogWorld. What I’ve noticed is the location of the conferences has a lot to do with the attendees you see. You tend to get a unique local flavor as well.
Strike while the iron is hot Katherine.
Nice overview! Have yet to make it to a TBEX conference (maybe next year!), so I love reading everyones afterthoughts.
Hope to meet you soon! Indeed, overview posts are fun to read. You know you’re a blogging geek when you can’t go to sleep until you’ve posted yours!
Wait, there was an art covered tunnel leading to the conference? How did I miss this??
Indeed, and awwww!
Do you know if the Spain one will be similar to the US one or smaller scale? Similar attendance too? Am really tempted – means I could go back to the UK too!!
Great question… Other TBEX folks who read this question, weigh in, please! I’d guess slightly smaller but still big and beautiful?
I asked TBEX staff this question. They are expecting closer to the 250 range and so far the bizes that are going to be there are all European bizes. But there’s a lot of time between now and then and that might change.
Hi Katherine,
Amy is right. We expect closer to 250 people in Costa Brava. However with the overwhelming response from attendees in Colorado and the amazing program Jaume and his team are putting together we may top that.
Great Post! Lots of good points and ideas.
~jd
Thanks! T’was an honor to meet you!
What a great post! TBEX was really great on so many levels this year. It was so nice to meet you in person.
Cheers and congrats!
Mike
Gracias! SO great to meet you, too. Don’t you look at these photos now and think: “Oh my gosh… we were there?! Beautiful!”
Thank you so much for this very insightful review! I missed TBEX but will attend in September in Spain! Can’t wait for it!!
You’re welcome! Hope to see you there!
Sounds like you had a fantastic time. So jealous – wish I could have been there. Some great notes though so thanks for passing on the information.
So glad it’s helpful! I’m in full obsessive travel blogger dork mode over here, wearing a WordPress shirt I got at TBEX, headed for minimal sleep before school tomorrow because I can’t help but do full social media publicity of this post before bed!
Sounds like the conference was really great this year! I’m so sad I had to miss it again — stupid foreign teaching contracts always end too late.
Hopefully I’ll be able to make it next year if I’m still in the States. Any idea where it’s going to be?
I hope you can! Well TBEX Europe will be in Costa Brava, Spain in September. Can you make that? I’m still calculating whether I can, but they had a HOT promotional video, and their reps were a delight.
For TBEX U.S. next year there are lots of places who’ve pitched and they haven’t chosen yet. I’ve heard rumors about Virginia or New Orleans, but nothing is for sure until they announce. Can’t wait to see you again, Sally!
Sadly, Spain won’t be possible for me. I start a new job back home in September. And I’ll probably be out of monies anyway after my traveling this summer.
Bummah! But we’ll unite again someday soon, somewhere in the world.