Andy and Anna's Cuban E-xperience

Please post your questions for Anna and Andy about their e-learning experience in Cuba in this thread. Focus on hospitality and tourism related questions, especially as it pertains to e-communication.

This thread will close at noon EDT, September 27, 2007.

Just for Fun: The Challenge of Communicating in English

Dear E-marketers,
Marketers e or otherwise must overcome the communications challenge everytime we create another marketing piece. The sentences below are punny (not puny). Hope they make you smile!

A backward poet writes inverse.

In a democracy it's your vote that counts; in feudalism, it's your Count that votes.

A chicken crossing the road: poultry in motion.

If you don't pay your exorcist you can get repossessed.

Show me a piano falling down a mine shaft and I'll show you A-flat miner.

When a clock is hungry it goes back four seconds.

The guy who fell onto an upholstery machine was fully recovered.

A grenade fell onto a kitchen floor in France, resulted in Linoleum Blownapart.

You are stuck with your debt if you can't budge it.

Local Area Network in Australia: The LAN down under.

He broke into song because he couldn't find the key.

A calendar's days are numbered.

A lot of money is tainted: 'Taint yours, and 'taint mine.

A boiled egg is hard to beat.

He had a photographic memory which was never developed.

A plateau is a high form of flattery.

When you've seen one shopping center you've seen a mall.

If you jump off a Paris bridge, you are in Seine .

Bakers trade bread recipes on a knead to know basis.

Santa's helpers are subordinate clauses.

Acupuncture: a jab well done.

I uploaded this sample video from Microsoft to help you understand rich media or media rich advertising: Any online ad that enables transactions (let's you buy), streaming media (that's when you watch a live concert on the 'net or the movie above), and interactive communication directly in the ad space without leaving the page where the ad is viewed. (text book definition)

Your assignment this week is to explore travel websites and identify rich media. Post the URL and tell us what the media does, and how you understand its role in the organization's marketing mix.

Please have your contribution posted by Friday at Noon, EDT - September 21.

5 characteristics of the Internet

1. The Internet is a peer-to-peer system which means that everyone using the Internet is equal to everyone else using the Internet as long as the user has an IP (Internet Protocol) address.
2. The Internet is an interconnected network of computers that allow interaction through its peer-to-peer desing. This interconnectedness and ability to interact in real time has made possible: real-time reservations systems, banking and financial transactions.
3. The Internet has hyperlink capabilities, which allows text and information to be linked in such a way that a simple click will lead you to the next level of text or information - according to our textbook.
4. The Internet is an open architecture network, which does not confine users to one type of technology or software - the bad news is that the ability to create what you want means that what you design may not be compatible with activities built by others.
5. The Interent is not platform dependent - it is platform independent - you don't have to use one kind of computer or operating system - Mac or PC - you choose.

Glossary of E-Marketing Terms

Domain Name System
The manner in which Internet addresses are organised for easy identification. According to our text book the domain name is "The address identifying a specific site on the Internet."
The Domain Name for my blog is HOST41032007, followed by the domain in which it resides blogspot.com - the extension com indicates that the page is a commercial entity.

URLs are comprised of domain names: http://www.georgebrown.ca followed by the extension, in this case - .ca which identifies that this domain name is Canadian.

Domain Name:
Textbook definition: The address identifying a specfic site on the Internet. Domain names are derived from a heirarchical system with a host name followed by a top-level domain category.

E-mail (Electronic Mail)
Textbook definition: A system of electronic transmission of digital messages over the Internet.

E-mail address:
An email address is comprised of name of the person or entity to whom the e-mail is addressed followed by the @ sign, followed by the domain name.

E-commerce
The textbook definition: A system of conducting business activities using the Internet and other information technologies. Refers to using computer networks to conduct business, including buygin and selling online., electronic funds transfer, business communications, and other activities associated with the buying adn selling of goods and services online.

Human versus Machine: The Technology Dilemma

I look forward to reading your posts to this thread.

http://www.commoncraft.com/video-social-networking is an interesting site with a video about social networking and a blog.

Professor Prisca

The Challenges of Blogging

Two classmates are out of the country trying to keep up with the classwork. They are finding it very difficult, because they do not have full access to the Internet, and because the first assignment uses a web service that is not active in the country where they are currently residing.

We write in English, because it is the language in which George Brown College expects its students and teachers to work. Some of you did not learn English as a first language. That can make blogging very challenging, especially when spelling is essential to credibility.

Those of you who write English well may still find blogging a challenge, because personality must shine through. That can be terrifying to write so that people recognize your personal voice.

Technical difficulties contribute to the challenges of blogging. I had a power outage in my neighbourhood today. I could not get on to answer your questions.

Timeliness is another important aspect of successful blogging. Keeping a blog up to date can become quite a chore, because your readers come to expect regular posts with new points of view or information.

Please feel free to add any other challenges that you have identified or have experienced, by posting to this thread.