Hanging up my BOOTs

Dear Readers - It is time for me to hang up my BOOTs.

My first posts were published in June 2006.  Six years later I have more than a 1,000 stories that have been viewed  400,000+ times.  I have met hundreds of people, formed scores of business contacts and dozens of close friends directly as a result of this site.  I made Bloggers "blogs of note list". I have travelled to conferences across the Americas and Asia Pac talking about ideas and company gossip. And I have bored my wife with endless stories of how to travel, what to pack, what to wear and how horrible business travel can be. The writing of the BOOT was the single best thing  I ever undertook for professional development.

But it is time to pause. I won't say shut down as you never know what will come next.  However for now, the BOOTs need to be hung up and the posts to stop.  You can still follow me on Twitter (@hughestim).  Also feel free to stay in touch by email at timsboot [at] gmail.com.

I want to thank you for taking the time to read my rantings.  In particular I want to thank those that have contributed through tips and comments.  Finally I want to thank Madame BOOT and the anklets.  One day (just maybe), I will remerge in social media under the guise of the (old) COOT (consumer of online travel).  Until that time - happy travels.

Thanks to daryl_mitchell for the image via flickr

Travel Massive June 12 / FED night June 19

Two interesting and engaging events coming up in the next few weeks in Sydney.

On June 12 at Bar 333 in George St Sydney there will be TravelMassive Sydney. Details here. More background on TravelMassive here.

On June 19 I will be moderating/chairing and Fourth Estate Domain (FED) night.  Two very interesting speakers at this event. John Butterworth, CEO of AIMIA and Paul Fisher, CEO of IAB. Lots to talk about around online advertising and media in Australia and elsewhere.  Shelbourne Hotel cnr Sussex and Market street from 6pm.  Details here.

Both will be great events.  See you there.

Tour of the 787 Dreamliner with Qantas and Jetstar

Photo montage/essay below of my tour of the Dreamliner 787 visiting Sydney. Thanks to Qantas and Jetstar for the invite

TravelMassive - great meetup group for travel industry people

If you are interested in regular meet ups with travel people - then I recommend you check out TravelMassive.  This is a group that organises informal networking sessions across the world to talk travel, travel tech, marketing, supply and more.  I have attended half a dozen in Sydney.  Each one is different and interesting based on the mix of people attending.  The next one in Sydney is today (May 23).  Then London, Gold Coast/Brisbane and Melbourne on Friday 25, New York on May 29. Between now and the end of June meetings are also planned for Toronto, Colorado, Milan, Vienna and Bibao.  Full details here. 


For more background I asked Travel Massive Co-founder Alicia Smith a few background questions on the organisation.  Here is the exchange

1. when did travel massive start

Travel Massive (formerly Travel Tribe) was started in 2009 in Sydney, Australia by Ian Cumming (getflight.com) and Alicia Smith (WorldNomads.com), two newly-minted Sydneysiders looking to connect with other people in the local travel industry.

2. what's the aim

The purpose of Travel Massive is to connect people in the travel industry locally, bringing together travel brands, startups, bloggers and socially engaged travelers. From attending the Travel Massive over the past two and a half years, the one thing I have realised is that we have truly created a pocket of people, who, in an otherwise bustling, too-busy-for-thou city, opens its arms to anyone who cares to sit and have a beer, swap travel experiences and share their ideas about the travel industry.

Since we have events globally, and we know that people who attend the meetups are often on the road (for both business and pleasure), the idea is that they can drop in to a Travel Massive event in another city they may happen to visit. This serves as an instant network, a like-minded crowd, where otherwise they may be on their own. 

3. how many cities

We are currently up and running in 20 cities, with a few more on the horizon. New cities tend to spring up from word of mouth, people who have visited a Travel Massive event in another city and come back to their own to start one. In the case of France, the Paris  travel industry started a Travel Massive, as they couldn't let Marseilles have all the fun. 

4. great anecdote about a meeting

When we first heard that two travel companies were working together, that a partnership had been formed, after meeting at a Travel Massive event - that's when we realized we had something special on our hands. Since then we have had numerous cases of travel bloggers, companies and start-ups and individuals collaborating in all of our global meet-ups. We like to think that we've created a network that is bigger than each city, but links the travel industry across the world (or at least in 20 cities). Which may just be why there's a bit of a competition going on among members, to see who has visited Travel Massive events in the most cities - I think Gregg Tilston (https://twitter.com/greggtilston) on Flight Centre holds the current record of 5 cities.

Stuck on a plane with a violin, trombone, trumpet, recorder and a bunch of hippies - what could possibly go wrong

A Canadian Airlines plane is delayed on the the Lemon Bucket Orchestra pulls out their instruments and goes all folk crazy in the da house. Love this. Watch the video and enjoy

Hat Tip the Consumerist

The BOOT live at the Fourth Estate (FED) night on online travel, daily deals, social media, search and more

On May 2 I was part of an interview/Q&A session at the Fourth Estate (FED) series of Sydney interviews of digital people.  Video for the event is now live here.  Check out the Video to see me talking about online travel, daily deals, search, social media, Apple, start ups in Australia and much more.

The BOOT live in Sydney May 2 as part of FED networking event

If you are in Sydney on May 2, then join me at a  Fourth Estate (FED) networking event at the City Hotel, 347 Kent Street Sydney from 6pm. Journalist Brad Howarth will be interviewing me and leading a Q&A as we talk through online travel, the daily deal sector, social media, search and more.  Here is the official speil

"The Australian retail sector is crashing down around our ears but travel and deals are booming.  Offline and On – Australian's cannot get enough of buying travel and especially travel deals.  Can it last and what can other sectors learn from the explosion in growth in online travel?  Tim Hughes of the BOOT and Getaway Lounge will discuss on May 2"

The event is free to attend.  Register here

The Fed was conceived by Mike Walsh and Sally Mills.