Canada-e-Connect 2011 Spotlight on Erica Ehm

Reading Erica Ehm's résumé makes me tired. She's crazy! (in a good way). Erica has been in the public eye in Canada for a couple of decades (and she's still young).

"Erica’s career in television spans two decades. She was co-creator, writer and host of Yummy Mummy, a parenting show for the music video generation. Other shows include Baby and You - Rogers Television, Popstars: The One - Global, Real Life with Erica Ehm - Life Network, Power Play - Discovery Channel, and The Company - TVO. Currently, Erica is the host of the ongoing television specials Live at the Concert Hall broadcast on Bravo. Ehm's talents extend to songwriting. She has won two Junos, three Country Music Awards and three SOCAN Awards. She co-wrote the theme for the film and series Pippi Longstocking. Love Me Even More was the theme song for the film Some Things That Stay." YummyMummyClub.ca

Ms. Ehm is a tireless creative entrepreneur who understands communication. Social Media being all about communication, so it's no surprise that Erica has become one of the best users of Social Media to do business, to communicate with friends and fans and to increase her standing as an influencer in the Canadian marketplace. Her current focus is women with children, the Yummy Mummies (and thereby their DelishDad husbands). We all know that, when it comes to travel decisions, women have the final word (according to various studies women influence between 85% and 90% of all travel decisions). Paraphrasing Woody Allen as he put it in a movie when talking to his son: "Well, no, I am the boss, your mother just makes all the decisions." Erica understands her audience very well and has surrounded herself with like minded, brilliant women. I think her YummyMummy Club was a brilliant idea.

See Erica's blog post about her Banff vacation

Erica Ehm will be one of the distinguished panellists on the "Building a Social Media Department" session at the Canada-e-Connect eTourism Strategy Conference next week in Toronto. I very much look forward to meeting her in person.

Jaime

What I'm looking forward to at the Canada-e-Connect eTourism Conference 2011

The Canada-e-Connect eTourism Strategy Conference 2011 is around the corner. This will be the 4th edition of Canada-e-Connect and it promises again to stimulate thought and conversation and to encourage attendees to take a fresh look at their current strategy vis a vis the ongoing digital/social revolution and the tourism sector. These are the sessions I am very much looking forward to:

Geo-location Meets Social: The Business Case

Explore the integration of geo-location applications within social media, from lessons learned to the values and benefits of location-based social networking service in helping clients explore the world around them.

This session will deal with one of the hottest tools in social media marketing today, geo-location services. If you don't use them as a consumer or as a business, at the very least you will have heard of them - e.g. Foursquare, Facebook Places, Google's Places App, Gowalla and others. The session's panelists/presenters are Sarah Best, Social Media Strategist for Chicago Tourism and Andy Elwood, Director Business Development for Gowalla. The moderator will be a good friend of Canada's Tourism Industry, the affable Jim Brody from TripAdvisor. Don't miss this session. In my opinion, Geo-location services will be the biggest thing in social marketing in 2011 (followed by Group Buying services like Groupon, Wagjag, LivingSocial, etc - unfortunately we won't have a session on Group Buying, but there's always CeC 2012).

Online Video: Luncheon & Panel Presentation

Join session moderator Jaime Horwitz as he explores the world of online video applications with an impressive line up of experts who have applied this innovative technology to generate positive results. An opportunity to ask questions on the value and worth of incorporating video into websites; the return on investment and the dos and don’ts.

I'm moderating this session, so naturally, I'm very much looking forward to it. We all know the power of the moving image. However, implementing a video strategy is very daunting to many tourism businesses. It is much easier to start a Facbook page and a Twitter feed than to start a video strategy. First, there's the cost and then there's the knowhow. And most importantly creativity: how to use video and digital video technology to achieve organizational goals. We will address this topic during the session and we will also talk about the latest developments in this space. We have four terrific panelists from 4 different companies working with video and digital technology. Kulin Strimbu, President and CEO of TripTelevison, Abe McCallum CEO Clikthrough, Todd Pasternack, Director Technology Group Pointroll and Bob Kane, TV Producer and Principal Entertainment Travel Consultants and the Creative Alliance Network.

Panel Discussion: Building a Social Media Department

Re-thinking your social media strategy? This panel session will consider some of the administrative realities of running an in-house social media department. Topics will range from human resources issues to establishing practical social media guidelines, as well as other considerations to keep in mind when implementing your strategy.

Ah, social media, the Holy Grail - getting society to do your marketing for you - going viral - everybody's new dream. But someone has to be in charge. Someone has to Tweet. Someone has to update the Facebook page. Someone has to manage the Foursquare specials. Etc. How do you keep up? How do you establish an in-house social media department "without breaking the bank" as Joel Peters (Tourism Toronto) put it? This session will deal with this challenge. The panel couldn't be better. Moderated by Troy Thompson of Travel 2.0 consulting, Ed Lee, Director Social Media DDB Canada, Sean Moffit of Agent Wildfire and Wikibrands fame, and Erica Ehm, Creator/Publisher/Entrepreneur The YummyMummyClub.ca. I am sure this will be one of my favourite session at the conference.

Finally, I am also looking forward to the closing Keynote with Amber MacArthur aka Amber Mac, technology host, journalist, strategist and social media guru author of "Power Friending" a book that has been widely praised by Canadian and international media (my review coming soon on this blog).

Check out the entire Canada-e-Connect 2011 program to see what sessions appeal the most to you. And register if you haven't already. Hope to see you there.

Jaime Horwitz MBA,

Digital Marketer, social Media Strategist, Canadian Tourism enthusiast

From the great women at the YummyMummyClub - watch this video, get inspired!

We've talked about generating conversational capital in the past. This is an example of an event that creates great conversational capital, but also is a great example of how to use social media and the physical world to inspire people. "Social Media for Social Good." Enjoy (grab a facial tissue first).

J