WIT 2009 Over for another year

The always excellent WIT just wrapped up its 5th Year session in Singapore last week.

The show was excellent in quality of content and debate. For once the professor is going to show his real self in the attached picture. This was taken from the Roost. I sat through much of the sessions in the Roost with the young Tweeters.

Also congrats to Mario and Morris of Circos for the Tweet app they built for the questions.

On to next year. It promises to be just as challenging and just as informative. If you want to get a firehose of knowledge/opinion and have a great time - Sign up

Cheers

Mobile Space - Its Not About the Booking

Brett Henry (Abacus and actually quite a good guy!) - made a major statement at WIT Ideas Lab - Mobile is not about the Pre-booking issues - its all about the service element - the Post Booking experience. PC is better for the pre and in buying experience.

So I will challenge that just a little we can make some simple bookings (for non-critical elements of the trip such as a taxi) via mobile. But trying to force stuff down that thin client pipe requires a change of thinking.

And then there is the real problem. Ear Eye.

Just think about it.... Watch how many times you move the handset from your ear to your vision area. Pain in the rear agree?

Cheers

The Professor at PhocusWright Next Week

Greetings readers and friends.

The Professor will be at PhocusWright next week. I will be speaking at the Blogger's Summit on Tuesday with 2 sessions one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Moderated by Siew Hoon of WIT, the panel (which will run twice) which I will sit includes other expert travel bloggers from all over the globe including Stephen Joyce, Travel & Tourism Technology Trends; Kevin May, Travolution Blog; Ben Mutzabaugh, USA TODAY's Today in the Sky; Alicia Whalen, Couple of Chicks e-Marketing and yours truly. The 2008 PhoCusWright conference attracts over 900 delegates many of whom are online marketing leaders in their fields.

See you there.... come and throw pastries or cash at me if you wish - or even heckle.

Active participation is definitely encouraged.

The Gap Between Experience and Common Sense

During the WIT 2008 Conference in Singapore last week - Azran Osman Rani who is CEO of Air Asia X the long haul version made a startling if somewhat revolutionary statement that really took me and gave me a wow moment.

Up till now I thought I was the strange person who seems to think that simplicity saves money for users and airlines – it seems that I am not alone. Air Asia has done a lot that’s right – so I think that they deserve some credit and definitely there are a number of items that we can take away from this.

For those of you who are Newsweek readers – the conventional wisdom column is always a good indicator of where to be. In this instance everyone should just take a moment and consider where common sense can be applied. An example – Unbundle pricing actually creates complexity. So let me just focus on that issue for now.

Low Cost Carriers have made a killing in the market by simply being better at making what works go well and eliminating the unnecessary elements of the product. For the network carriers unbundling actually doesn’t work so well. Why???

The first reason just needs common sense. The more complex the product the more elements. Therefore assuming that you can take a 25 feature product and market it the same way you do a 5 feature product is – well – stupid. But that is what the legacy carriers want us to believe. And this will be their downfall.

Bear with me – let me tell you a story of similar dimension.

When I worked at Microsoft – one of my long time friends came to visit from the UK. Choice in the Microsoft Cafeteria was always a big thing. You could choose from Asian to Salads to sandwiches to whatever was on offer that day. So my friend – chose Sandwich. Off he went. He was gone rather a long time. He came back and when he returned he was shaking his head. He blurted out – “Do you know how many questions I was asked? 16 he continued. I was astounded. All I wanted was a sandwich. It took them longer and frankly I was not sure I really got what I wanted.

So let that be a lesson. Does experience really beat common sense as the legacy carriers would have us believe? Perhaps unbundling a complex (legacy) product is not necessarily a good thing. It really does defy common sense. So what do you think?

Cheers

The Professor Returns

The Professor is back!

Sorry I was away – I just spent 4 days in Indonesia where for some strange reason both Gmail and my blog entry were restricted. But back to normal – I hope.

While I was in Asia – I spent quite some time listening to what is going on. The growth and contractions of day to day business. Some anger at the USA – this time for causing the meltdown. Many think Greenspan is to blame. Huge optimism for Obama and everyone wanted to know who the Professor would be voting for next week.

The WIT show, ITB Asia and the other conferences held in Singapore also gave an insight into the heart of Asia. Simply put they are poised for growth yet are still attached to the rest of the world’s general economic health. Clearly the fall off in demand has affected everyone from Cab drivers in Bali – to Limo drivers in Singapore. Hoteliers in Beijing, Resort managers in Phuket, to Boat operators in the Spice Islands to the Low Cost Carriers.

A refreshing set of views. Unique yet part of the whole. Decidedly Asian.

Cheers

WIT Blog live

Log onto the WIT blog and see live as things progress

The Professor and others are blogging insights there

http://www.webintravel.com/abacus_blog_central/

Cheers

Fire Questions at the Professor and Other Notables

OK - Shameless plug time (been doing a lot of that lately).

WIT - web in Travel is on October 21-22 in Singapore. This is the 4th year for the show - it is a great congregation of non-commercial comment and analysis with a great cast and audience.

This year - I shall be doing double duty as a moderator and a panelist. Plus I get to do a stint as a debater. And if you stay for the party - I hope to suitably embarrass myself in public.

For more details - please go to www.webintravel.com.

Tim Hughes - who writes one of the better blogs and one of the few that I read everyday will be firing questions so if you want to come along and join him in a form of twisted fun - please feel free.

http://tims-boot.blogspot.com/2008/10/ever-wanted-to-ask-questions-of.html

Siew Hoon let's me read the comment forms after the events and they are indicative of the quality she puts into the show's organization and selection of talent.

So if you want to be inspired and challenged this is the place to come (even if its all the way to Singapore!). There are two other shows going on at the same time HSMAI and ITB Asia so you can really benefit. If you are going to be in Asia or if there is one event set you want to attend then this is a must be place.

Cheers

Got Startup Pitch? Here's a chance to make yourself heard

Web in Travel Asia 2008, aka WIT the Premier Asian Travel Conference, is taking a leaf out of partner's PhocusWright's playbook and will offer an opportunity to get a pitch in front of investors.

So if you think you have what it takes - Read on...

Be part of WIT’s "The Start-Up Pitch" and get your ideas heard by investors
Always wanted to run your own start-up? Got a great idea? An idea that you think is unique and differentiated in the online travel space? An idea that will make potential investors sit up and take notice?
If so, this could be your chance to be heard.
What: WIT-Web In Travel 2008 (Oct 21-22, 2008) is organising “The Start-Up Pitch” as part of its conference programme this year. Three finalists will be given a chance to pitch their ideas in 5 minutes each to a panel of investor judges.
Vote: The audience will also get a chance to pose questions of the finalists, after which they will vote for the winning idea via SMS.
Win! The winner of WIT's Start-Up Pitch will win a Professional Development Program (PDP) voucher from the Cornell-Nanyang Institute of Hospitality Management (CNI) worth US$2,500 (valid for 2009) as well as the opportunity to take their winning idea to the next level with the investor judges.

For more details go here:

http://wit.verve.com.sg/fliers/start-up-pitch.html

Cheers

Timothy