Jennifer Frahm Collaborations

Greetings all,

This is a personal tale, but one that has some lessons for consumers and those in organisations still wondering if they should engage in social media.

Friday morning, my day started with a distressed email from my good friend Renae. Renae’s wedding was meant to be in 3 weeks, but the package provider had gone broke, and she and her parents had lost a substantial sum of money (eg the vendor had requested upfront payment).

I know at least half of you that read this blog are US, Canada and UK based — so by way of explanation I’ll provide the back story.

 

Renae and Matt initially wanted a sailing wedding in the Greek Isles. Who wouldn’t hey? Well with all of the devastation done to the Queensland Tourism Industry with Cyclone Yasi, they decided to spend locally to assist the rebuilding efforts. They booked a package with a Whitsunday private yacht company which included 7 days sailing, and a ceremony at Henning Island, with a reception lunch and and accomodation for themselves and parents at Hamilton Island.  The yacht company asked for payment in full and confirmed all bookings and issued accomodation vouchers through Renae & Matt’s  fab travel agent Fit4Travel.

 

 The Whitsundays is a glorious area — and Hamilton Island lovely. For those of you who followed Oprah’s travels down under, it was the place where they witnessed the frisky koala, and drove around the palm trees in buggies.  Who would not want to get married there? I grew up in the region, and can say without a doubt the most wonderful and relaxing holiday I have ever taken was a chartered yacht holdiday around the Whitsundays. I saw the Year 2000 in on Hamilton Island (and yes, I recall it well!).

Anyway, the vendor went bust on Monday. Yes, Renae and Matt did have travel insurance but there is a little bitsy clause in it which excludes insolvency for certain reasons. Natural disaster would be part of it.

Anyway after a week of unsuccessfully trying to find out their position with Hamilton Island, they find out that Hamilton Island never got the accom vouchers. So Renae asks me if I have a contact at Tourism Queensland.

So at 10.40 I tweet:

jenfrahm jen frahm

Oh dear. A friend has lost $10k booking a wedding in whitsundays to support qld tourism. Biz closed down Monday. Wedding in 3 wks. Ideas?

6 May

at 10.42 @QldWhitsundays respond

@QLDWhitsundays Whitsundays Online

@jenfrahm Jen, I am sure I can help your friend out up here - have already been in contact with some folk re her situation

A lesson for business - it is never too early to set up listening platforms (searches, software etc) for keywords in your industry.  Even if you are not sure how to engage at this stage, and what content to include, get listening.  Whitsundays Online were extremely quick off the mark and proactive, which meant I could let my followers know the situation was inhand and prevent a bad news tweet travelling further. This became positive promotion for @QldWhitsundays when my followers RTd the good news. A big thank you to @GeoffBarbaro, @ClaytonTFord, @Merendi, @SusanLambe, @Auntie_ABC and @marketingisus for their RTs and encouragement.

About 22 tweets later, James from @QLDWhitsunday (Whitsunday’s Online) and Phil Batty  had worked extremely hard to rally the local industry and ensure there were alternatives. They stayed in frequent contact with me  to assure that the local industry was very disturbed by this, and there were many offers of help coming in. One gorgeous marriage celebrant @CelebrantWhit had offered her services, and take a look at her gallery — how truly divine!

At this point we don’t know what the status of the accomodation at Hamilton Island. The @HamiltonIsland team have been silent, as have any other contacts there  – this may be that they do not have the freedom to engage with stakeholders without permission, or that they are just trying to ascertain the size of the problem (eg it may be more than Renae and Matt). Either way, the lack of engagement is disquieting, and may be quite unnerving for those who have accomodation vouchers for Hamilton Island.

Update 8 May 3.24 pm. Apparently Hamilton Island advised Fit4U on Friday afternoon that they would not be honouring the accomodation vouchers : - (

Update 8 May 4.31 pm @HamiltonIsland twitter account gets in touch and apologies for the delay and explains they’ll have to speak with Reservation Manager in the office. Thanks @HamiltonIsland, we appreciate this.

Update 10 May 1.00pm Hamilton Island reservation offered the same rooms at a reduced rate, but unfortunately as Matt & Renae have already lost the $10K plus, they are not in a position to outlay anything else. It’s over to Whitsunday Online and Phil Batty to see what help they can get in alternatives.

It is also interesting that none of the official accounts for Queensland Tourism or Whitsunday Tourism have engaged with the discussion. Given they are putting a lot of money into advertising to bring people back to the area, you think they would want to reassure that it is safe to invest in.

For the benefit of these social media teams, try  David Park’s e-book Reputation Renegades and David Meerman Scott’s e-book on his new best seller  Real Time Marketing and PR.  Immediacy of response matters.

So where are we at?

Renae and Matt are incredibly grateful for the efforts of James at Whitsunday Online and Phil Batty. Renae and Matt run the Brisbane Run Squad, and it is looking like there will be a ‘Thank You Whitsundays” Run organised after the happy event and it is rumoured the Bride shall be running in white ; - )

Here in Australia, it is Mother’s Day and Renae and Matt’s mums are hoping they will get some good news on their accomodations, and not notification they have lost their money…fingers crossed ladies!!

If you are planning a vacation or holiday, then The Whitsundays is still a most glorious place to visit. Yes, the industry has been dealt a blow with the cyclone and floods, but it is  for the most part a resilient, and industrious community who are working 24/7 to ensure that visitors have the happiest of memories. It may pay at the moment to book direct with vendors at the moment, rather than use package deals. And do check the small print in the travel insurance. I don’t believe the risk of booking something in the Whitsundays is any greater than booking something in the Greek Isles.

 Update 14 May: I am informed that if the business who you book through is a registered tourist business and something like this happens, then you will be able to access a fund that has been set up for this type of thing. Unfortunately for Renae and Matt, the vendor who they booked through was not a registered tourist business. Ask the question and check before you pay the $$!

Fingers crossed on the accomodation, I’ll update with new as it comes and hopefully some lovely wedding pics in about 3 weeks time…

Update 14 May: So Whitsundays Online and Phil Batty have organised accomodation at the very lovely Airlie Apartments for all concerned,and  something special for the whole party via Voyager IV the day after the wedding. I believe there is a yacht being organised to take them to Henning Island for the actual wedding. Onya James and Phil and three cheers for Airlie Apartments and Voyager.

After this blog was posted, Renae sent a link with a letter to Jan Jarratt, the Minister for the Whitsundays. The Minister rang Renae very soon after receiving it, and has been in frequent contact as has now the CEO of Whitsunday Tourism.