This weekend, travel bloggers from around the universe (granted, most are from Earth) will descend on Vancouver, Canada for the annual Travel Blog Exchange (TBEX) conference. Workshops will be held, the industry will be discussed and, ideally, bloggers will acquire some tools that allow them to deliver richer and higher quality content for all of you readers out there. If you happen to be attending TBEX, you’ll notice that Gadling is very well represented on the many panels. We don’t like to brag (we’re too busy being good looking to boast), but we’re thrilled to be talking shop with so many wonderful writers.Our fearless leader, Grant Martin, will be on the “Keep it Churning” panel with fellow Gadlingers Paul Brady and Pam Mandel. Here’s hoping that this panel does, in fact, teach us all how to make homemade butter. Paul will also be on the “Non-Narrative Travel Writing” panel, while Pam will be on the “Narrative Travel Writing” panel. We fear that they might end up feuding West Side Story-style (Paul’s a Jet).
Our features editor, Don George, also happens to be the godfather of travel writing. He joins Pam on the “Narrative Travel Writing” panel. David Farley will cover that topic, as well, and he is often mistaken for the Godfather of Soul.
Annemarie Dooling is an unseen force here at Gadling. She helps us with social networking (you know we have a Facebook page and Twitter account, right?). She’ll be on the “Branding & Niche Expertise” and “Non-Narrative Travel Writing” panels.
Lastly, yours truly will be there on the “Monetization Reality Check: Get Creative” panel. I plan to dress and act like Matthew Lesko. I’ll also be joining some PR folks for the “Blogger + Industry Jam Session,” at which I will demonstrate my human beatboxing abilities.
Rumor has it that Gadlingers Jeremy Kressmann and Eva Holland will also be attending TBEX. We suggest that you find them, give them big hugs and buy them cocktails.
We’re thrilled, flattered and honored to be representing Gadling at TBEX. It should be a tremendous weekend and we hope that we can share some of our knowledge with everyone in attendance. The other speakers are fantastically talented and it’s humbling to be joining them on these panels. You can view the full TBEX schedule and speakers list.
We can’t wait to see everyone there and encourage you to say hello if you see us. Just don’t bother Eva if the Stanley Cup Finals are on.