The Importance of Face-to-face Networking for Writers
Today’s travel writing success post is a story behind a photo. This blurry photo above.
Pictured there are Jennifer Miner, me, Beth Blair, Sheila Scarborough, Ramsey Qubein, and Kara Williams. Many of us met each other for the first time four+ years ago in Kansas City at a travel writing/destinations meet-up event called Travel Media Showcase.
This next picture here was snapped while we were attending TBEX this past summer in Toronto, at a party Expedia sponsored. (The other two were there, but it’s not easy to find everyone in a crowd of 1,000 to snap a group photo).
Between those four years, here’s what happened:
Kara wrote for me for several years at Practical Travel Gear and for a while at Hotel Scoop. She reviewed my latest edition of The World’s Cheapest Destinations over at The Vacation Gals.
Ramsey has been my business gear writer for several years at Practical Travel Gear.
Beth got my input for a book she was writing and I’m quoted a few times in it: Break Into Travel Writing.
I got some input from Jennifer Miner and quoted her in Travel Writing 2.0—the book behind this blog. She and I were on a blogging panel at a NATJA convention a couple years back.
Sheila Scarborough was the first person I hired to be a blogger at Perceptive Travel and happily she’s been still with me as we won a Lowell Thomas Awards Gold from SATW.
At the TBEX convention in June, I saw Beth Whitman of Wanderlust and Lipstick for the fourth or fifth time, someone I’ve put together joint advertising deals with. I caught up with people who have interviewed me, like Johnny Jet, Laura Bly, and Adam from BootsnAll. I met former, current, and hopefully future advertisers. I connected with PR people who may invite me on a trip someday, plus some I’ve traveled with already.
In other words, I got more done in a day and a half from a connections standpoint than I usually do in two months of farting around on social media and e-mail. That’s how it often is with conferences. They’re crazy, crowded, and overwhelming, but they’re places to make real connections face to face.
I think I’ve been to seven conferences this year, actually, which feels kind of excessive. But great things have come out of every one of them. And they’ll keep paying off for years. See you at the next one!
About Author
Tim
Tim is the author of Travel Writing 2.0 as well as several other successful books. His work has been recognized by SATW, NATJA, and the Solas Awards. He has contributed to more than 50 publications as a freelancer and is the editor of five websites and blogs, including the "Best online travel magazine" and the popular Cheapest Destinations Blog, established in 2003.
Hi Tim,
Agreed, face-to-face networking is key in our business to keep connected with fellow writers, editors and public relations contacts.
Sorry to have missed you at VEMEX this year in San Francisco!
I love these photos and the story behind them. Agree 100% that in-person meetings, even brief ones, have been keys to my success over the years. Best to you, Tim!
Thanks for this, Tim; it’s been a pleasure to work with you all these years and reconnect in person when we can. I didn’t even know that about Ramsey Qubein, either!
Tim, I am sorry I missed meeting you at TBEX in Toronto (I attended Spain and Dublin as well), but hope to meet up with you some day, some where! I briefly met Shelia in Toronto (and think I met a partner of hers at a conf. table in Dublin) and met your writer Kristin Mock, recently, so I get how important it is and how the people you meet can make a difference in your life (work and personal).