Kevin caught up with the lastminute.com chief executive shortly after his discussion with TW Group publishing director Simon Ferguson, and asked whether there was anything else he'd like to have covered...
There's a player featuring all the video we've shot over on Travel Weekly's ITT Conference page.
Wednesday, 11 June 2008
Ah, the mass queening...
It's various ITT bods performing Queen's Don't Stop Me Now, intercut with the Cadbury's 'airport race' ad.
Trevor Harding does the "whoa, whoa, whoa explode" bit, which you can argue is to this song what "tonight thank god it's them instead of you" is to Do They Know It's Christmas.
So, all has become clear on the 'mass queening'. Well, to an extent.
In closing, Steven Freudmann adds -
Trevor Harding does the "whoa, whoa, whoa explode" bit, which you can argue is to this song what "tonight thank god it's them instead of you" is to Do They Know It's Christmas.
So, all has become clear on the 'mass queening'. Well, to an extent.
In closing, Steven Freudmann adds -
There are elections coming up, so use your votes wisely...Great stuff.
A hard act to follow...
...but ITT chairman Steven Freudmann has to close the conference after an awesome speech by Ken Robinson.
But he rounds things off in the usual fashion, thanking all the speakers ("and what a way to finish with Sir Ken"), sponsors, organisers DellarDavies, and us, the TW Group!
Thanks, Steven!
And of course, Tim Hames, Times deputy editor and the moderator of the conference.
That's all for now. More titter-tatter later.
But he rounds things off in the usual fashion, thanking all the speakers ("and what a way to finish with Sir Ken"), sponsors, organisers DellarDavies, and us, the TW Group!
Thanks, Steven!
And of course, Tim Hames, Times deputy editor and the moderator of the conference.
That's all for now. More titter-tatter later.
Ken Robinson on creativity - specifically, ours...
Ken Robinson asks for a show of hands
- How creative are you, on a scale of one to ten?
- How intelligent are you (same scale)?
For creativity, one hand goes up for ten; a few for nine; it peaks at eight; and after that it's downhill all the way.
For intelligence, two hands go up for ten (Kevin leans over to say that one was Steven Freudmann), and the curve proceeds in much the same way.
The follow-up question is whether you gave yourself different marks for each quality - and that demonstrates, says Ken, that we've divorced creativity from intelligence.
Interesting that he goes on to talk about how creativity can build compelling services around a product on the Starbucks/coffee model. Implications for travel, particularly in the agency space?
Sir Ken wooing a receptive audience
Hugely entertaining address by innovation and creativity guru Ken Robinson.
Almost nothing to do with the travel industry, per se, but hey, it's the last session of the conference and it's time to wind down.
He raises a few fascinating points, however:
Most companies are operating as if they are still in the industrial revolution and need to think differently about human resources.
His focus, quite rightly, is on education.
Companies need to address how they inspire staff to release the inner creative talent within.
It's deep and meaningful stuff, interspersed with rather funny anecdotes and one-liners.
Paraphrasing here:
A child is in a class, sketching something on a piece of paper. The teacher asks what it is the child is drawing. The child responds: "It's God." The teacher suggests to the child that no-one has ever seen God. "Well, they will soon when I've finished this," quips the child.
And a personal favourite:
Almost nothing to do with the travel industry, per se, but hey, it's the last session of the conference and it's time to wind down.
He raises a few fascinating points, however:
Most companies are operating as if they are still in the industrial revolution and need to think differently about human resources.
His focus, quite rightly, is on education.
Companies need to address how they inspire staff to release the inner creative talent within.
It's deep and meaningful stuff, interspersed with rather funny anecdotes and one-liners.
Paraphrasing here:
A child is in a class, sketching something on a piece of paper. The teacher asks what it is the child is drawing. The child responds: "It's God." The teacher suggests to the child that no-one has ever seen God. "Well, they will soon when I've finished this," quips the child.
And a personal favourite:
I wanted to find myself, so I thought I'd go to India, where I thought I might be.
Schott nuggets: travel trends and cruise terminology
Ben Schott isn't directly relevant to travel throughout, but he is fantastic ("it was my idea, not Steven's," clarifies Tim Hames afterwards).
He reeled off a list of new travel trends, a few of which I noted down...
He reeled off a list of new travel trends, a few of which I noted down...
- Staycations
- Euthenasia tourism ("not necessarily something you can market," he admits)
- Procreation vacations
- Girlfriend getaways
- Hedonism (including 'gun breaks')
- Dark tourism
- Gadget tourism (Ben knows someone who went to the US to buy the new iPhone)
Ben Schott on Dubai
Quoting Samuel Johnson on the Giant's Causeway, author Ben Schott has this to say about Dubai:
I thought it was quite funny, myself.
Worth seeing, yes, but not worth going to see.Cue gasps and a general that-was-not-very-amusing feeling from the delegates.
I thought it was quite funny, myself.
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