10 Social Media Trends to watch in 2015

The #1 Social Media Trend in 2015 is that Content Marketing will get more social.  This is followed closely by #2:  Real Time Social Media Marketing will become a buzzword.  These are two of the 10 Social Media Trends to watch in 2015 as identified by Business2Community.com (Full article here: 10 Social Media Marketing Trends to watch in 2015).  Here is a handy Infographic outlining the Top 10:

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Chris M Morales
MarCommTO

chris.morales@bell.net

647 393 3855

Linkedin:  Chris M Morales 

The opinions expressed on this blog are my own and are not associated with any other group or organization

Winter Running

Who likes running outside in the winter?  True confession:  I do! But it takes me a couple of weeks to get used to the cold before I can honestly say I enjoy running outside in the winter.  

I actually prefer the minus double digits temperatures because I get to use all my deep freeze running gear:  Socks, double layer of tights, full head balaclava, mitts. Getting dressed and undressed is a real pain though and Sally is unimpressed with the room I take up in our guest bathroom with all my drying gear.  Ahhh...the pleasures of apartment living.

Here's my mantra for running outside in the winter:

See you outside in the cold!

Until next time...
ThatRunninGuy

Global Tourism Overview

Tourism is big business.  Just ask those Destinations that depend on Tourist $'s for their livelyhood. Here are some statistics that give an overview

Global Tourism Overview	Values	Statistic
Total contribution of travel & tourism to global economy	$6,990.3bn	Details →
Number of international tourist arrivals worldwide	1,087m	Details →
Number of European tourist arrivals	563.4m	Details →

International Tourist Expenditure	Values	Statistic
Global international tourism revenue	$1,159bn	Details →
International tourism expenditure of the United States	$86.2bn	Details →
China’s market share of tourism expenditure	11.1%	Details →

Lodging and Accommodation	Values	Statistic
Global hotel industry total revenue	$457bn	Details →
Average price of a hotel room in Europe	$185	Details →
Average price of a hotel room in North America	$119	Details →
Daily hotel rate in New York	$309.86	Details →

Online Travel Market	Values	Statistic
Percentage of travel bookings made from the U.S.	39%	Details →
Online travel bookings revenue worldwide	$340bn	Details →
Online travel agencies’ share of total hotel industry revenue in the U.S.	8.4%	Details →

Cruise Industry	Values	Statistic
Market volume of the cruise industry in North America	$17.46bn	Details →
Revenue of the cruise industry worldwide	$37.1bn	Details →
Average cruise revenue per passenger worldwide	$1728	Details →

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Chris M Morales
MarCommTO

chris.morales@bell.net

647 393 3855

Linkedin:  Chris M Morales 

The opinions expressed on this blog are my own and are not associated with any other group or organization

Where have you run?

Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia

Where have you run?  

I've been very fortunate.  Over the years on both business and personal travel, I've been able to run in some fabulous places.  These are some of my favourite runs:

• It's been very cold in Toronto since the start of the year.  I mean frigid!  Even with the -20 C windchill factors, it's not the coldest run I've ever been on.  That distinction goes to an early morning run in Regina in February.  The air temperature was -40 C.  There was wind...it blew in from the Rockies one province over and got the effective temperature down to -60 C (that's what I heard on the radio when I got back in).  It wasn't a long run...I made the rookie error of going out with the wind against my back and turned to run into the wind on my return...I barely made it back to the hotel!  
• There are not a lot of open spaces in Hong Kong.  Correction:  there are no open spaces in Hong Kong on either the Island or Kowloon Side.  Kowloon Park was right outside our hotel. It's a small rectangle tucked amongst roads and high rise buildings.  It's crowded and noisy even early in the morning.  And humid!  I had to run multiple laps to get in any real workouts. I loved it!
• Everyone in Sydney, Australia loves physical activity.  OK, maybe that's an exaggeration but on Coogie Beach (next beach down the coast from Bondi Beach) I had lots of company running along the beach front and trails that extend north and south of the main beach area.  And what a route:  from the sandy beach up rugged cliff trails, the pounding surf was never far away.  I loved the sunrises!

I've had other great and memorable runs in Paris, France; London, England;  Waikiki, Hawaii;Negril, Jamaica and cities and towns throughout Canada and the US too numerous to mention.  I still have a few destinations to check off the running bucket list including Central Park, Himalayas, Death Valley...

Until next time...
ThatRunninGuy

Twitter drives Endurance Event Registration

The best way to reach potential registrants to an Endurance Event (Marathon Running, Triathalons, etc) is via Twitter:  71% of the Twitter Chatter occurs before the event...this is the key to growing registrations.  Especially for Destination Events where participants have to travel to attend (Reaching the $6,000 Runner through Social Media) The conversation revolves around anticipation of attending the event and preparing for it.

For a deeper look at this, the following Infographic provides a good overview:

This Infographic was published originally in this blog post from Eventbrite and Mashwork.  Here is the link to the original article:  Endurance Event Twitter Chatter.

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Chris M Morales
MarCommTO

chris.morales@bell.net

647 393 3855

Linkedin:  Chris M Morales 

The opinions expressed on this blog are my own and are not associated with any other group or organization

The Toothache that stopped the Running

Yeow!

@#$%!!!

It started on December 30 with a toothache.  Then developed into a Tsunami of Pain that stopped ThatRunninGuy in his tracks.  And with no end in sight until next week, he's one cranky guy!  The story.

On Tuesday, December 30, I experienced a mild pain below one of the molars in my lower jaw.  I figured it was nothing special and didn't think to go to the dentist that day.  "Heck...it was a day before New Year's Eve...I can wait until the new year".

By Tuesday evening I had graduated to Ora gel and Extra Strength Ibuprofen to manage the pain. Even though the pain was more intense I still figured I could manage it with over-the-counter pain medication.

I had a rough night Tuesday evening with getting up every every 4 hours to pop a couple more painkillers.  By Wednesday I was taking them like candy!  Still I figured I could manage until after New Year Eve...We had New Year's Eve party plans with friends and the kids were coming over New Year's Day for brunch.

Through all this I stopped running.  Bouncing up and down in the severe cold weather didn't seem a smart idea...the only smart one I had displayed since delaying a trip to the dentist.

By Wednesday evening, New Year's Eve I was in constant pain.  I had one beer at dinner with our friends and barely ate supper...a delicious combination of Chinese and Indian.  I hoped to hold out until midnight but that was not to be.  By 10:30 pm we said good by and headed home.

January 1, 2015 dawned brightly but that did not match my mood.  It was clearly apparent that I had more than a tooth ache.  I struggled through the day barely conscious of brunch with the kids.  I think I had a glass of wine and some soup but the rest of the meal was a blur.  The pain peaked that evening and by them I was chewing Tylenol 3's like Smarties.

Fortunately Friday morning my desperate call to the Dentist yielded an emergency appointment.  I have never been happier to visit a Dentist that I was that morning.  The news wasn't good:  I had a broken tooth, a really big abscess and a dead tooth!  The dentist prescribed Antibiotics first then a root canal and filling.  OMG!

Today should be the end of the toothache that stopped my running...Root Canal later today.  With that behind me, I have planned my official start to 2015 for January 14.  Even though that means we'll be 14 days behind for the rest of the year, starting the year right with a bottle of bubbly and playing Auld Lang Syne will do the trick.  Then it's back running.

Until next time...
ThatRunninGuy

How to engage more effectively with Social Influencers

The heart of Social Media Marketing is getting Influencers to 'spread the word'.  Establishing and improving Social Media Engagement requires work but is fairly straightforward as laid out in the chart below:

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Chris M Morales
MarCommTO

chris.morales@bell.net

647 393 3855

Linkedin:  Chris M Morales 

The opinions expressed on this blog are my own and are not associated with any other group or organization

And on we run

I almost gave up running last year.  After over 30 years of running...with the last 3 plagued by foot injuries...I was convinced it was time to tie up the laces one last time.  I'd grown tired of just slogging along;  I wasn't interested in racing;  I was fed up!

Things got to a low point at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon when I spent the Saturday at the Race Expo talking to runners about their race on Sunday.  I wasn't registered to run on Sunday...not even the 5K...and was totally bummed out.  Speaking with a female racing snob who spoke with disdain about 'slow' runners was the last straw.  On my way home that evening I had decided to quit running once and for all.

Then a funny thing happened.  As I reflected on my running over the years I was drawn back to my early competing years when 10K races were all the rage.  In those years in Toronto, Rock Station, Q107 in conjunction with Coors Light (see, even then Beer and Running were friends) held a series of 10K races in Toronto every summer.  I must have raced in every one of them over a couple of years and had my PR (42 minutes) at an overcast late summer race that ended by the water in downtown Toronto.

It slowly dawned on me that what I really liked to do was run in 10K races.  The current fads are the Ultra's and Half Marathons.  While I've run in a number of Half Marathons, I have zero interest in Ultras.  With one exception:  I've followed Navin's exploits in Ultras including how he added 8 km's to the full marathon distance at Reggae Marathon last December so he could brag that he'd run 50K that morning.  Love his enthusiasm but I'm NOT doing that!!

10K races are the perfect race distance for me.  It takes about an hour now for me to finish...I suppose if I pushed it I could get to 50 minutes but why?  At the hour pace I'm comfortable, get to listen to runners talking as they run and get to take in the sites of the city.  For 2015 I have three 10K's planned:  The Toronto 10K and the Sporting Life 10K in the Spring.  Both run downhill so I have a good opportunity to get close to the 50 minute mark without trying too hard.  And a big finish for the racing year at the 15th Reggae Marathon in Negril, Jamaica in December.

I feel re-energized already.  I'm looking forward to training runs again...heck, I'm looking forward once again to just running.

Until next time...

ThatRunninGuy

PS:  I got inspiration from my friend Dan Cumming who recently shared his thoughts on the pleasures of running:  What?  It's 2015? already!?