We spent our first night visiting at the opening party. Christian Giannelli snapped a picture of us with many of the individuals we work with for our state association sites. It was fun to see all of them!

From left to right, Beth Logan, Pat Detwiler of Florida association, Jeff Logan, Sara of New Mexico and Adobe Nido, Steven, Jeanna of Nebraska, Pat Fischbeck from Wisconsin Association and Speckled Hen Inn, and our Pat.

Steven, Jeff and Katie did a joint presentation on Beginning and Advanced Blogging, broken into two sessions over two days. The sessions were well attended, and we were able to share some of our favorite techniques on how innkeepers can make a blog successful.

We enjoyed the “night on the town” where we toured the BedandBreakfast.com offices while enjoying margaritas and cold Lone Star beer. There was a BBQ dinner and dancing at the spectacular Long Center, which was just across the river and had one heck of a view of the city! As Northwesterners, it was fun and refreshing to be out in the warm night air – compared to home where you can never go outside at night without your sweater.

We shot off to the famed 6th Street for some local culture after the dinner with Niles and Annie Deneen of Deneen Pottery, along with some of the PAII staff and David Hiler of Hiler Hospitality. We had a hilarious evening watching “live band karaoke”. David was even brave enough to go up onstage and for a couple songs. Way to go David!

Overall, it was a great trip and a wonderful show. We look forward to next year in Charleston South Carolina!

The Home of Paul Revere

On the opposite shore walked Paul Revere.
Now he patted his horse’s side,
Now he gazed at the landscape far and near,
Then, impetuous, stamped the earth,
And turned and tightened his saddle girth;
But mostly he watched with eager search
The belfry tower of the Old North Church,
As it rose above the graves on the hill,
Lonely and spectral and sombre and still.
And lo! as he looks, on the belfry’s height
A glimmer, and then a gleam of light!
He springs to the saddle, the bridle he turns,
But lingers and gazes, till full on his sight
A second lamp in the belfry burns.”

-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

We were excited to attend and participate in the first New England regional PAII trade show and conference earlier this month in Nashua New Hampshire.

The Three Musketeers of InsideOut Solutions in Boston Commons

Flying into Boston on a Sunday evening, Jeff Logan, Pat McCauley, Katie Pate and Steven Dunston took some time on Monday to learn about the history of American Revolution activities that took place in Boston and the surrounding area. We saw Paul Revere’s home in Boston, now surrounding by a bustling Italian neighborhood, and the Old North Church. Outside the city, we explored the “Battle Road”, the infamous trek that Revere made to warn the future American citizens that “the Redcoats are coming!”  We took a small detour to see the famous Waldon Pond from Throeau’s “On Waldon Pond” and also saw the home where Louisa May Alcott wrote Little Women.

Katie & Pat at Waldon Pond

We arrived in Nashua Monday afternoon and began setting up our trade show and getting ready to see innkeepers. Fortunately for us, we were across the aisle from some very talented coffee roasters from Vermont. It was great to have Mocha Joe’s fresh coffee and aromatic presence throughout the trade show!

About 10 minutes before the opening reception in the trade show, the internet went out. And it didn’t come back until Tuesday afternoon. Wow! This was a big surprise for us, but we had planned ahead. Handing out reports for all the attending innkeepers with their search engine ranking ended up being a great conversation starter, and we were able to make due without the web.

The show was a huge success, we met with over 50 innkeepers, including some of our current clients like Pat & Vince Toreno from the Ashley Manor, Frank Wilson from Ten Acres Lodge, and Judi & Johanna Hauer from the Maine Stay Inn. We are so far away from these clients on a day to day basis, seeing them at the show was a real privilege.

Jeannine of On Cranberry Pond Bed & Breakfast won our iPod touch giveaway

On Tuesday morning Katie, Jeff and Steven presented panel-style on “Blogging 2.0: Finding Great New England Content”. As you can imagine, it was a little more difficult than we expected to talk about finding content on the web without and web access! Again, the InsideOut team was prepared with many screen shots and windows that had been left open from early morning internet sessions at Starbucks and Panera Bread (by the way, in case you were wondering, ’cause we were, “Panera” means “Bread Box” in Spanish). The presentation was great; there were about 70 attending innkeepers, and their questions were informative, well-targeted and engaging.

We hope that PAII will continue the New England Show; it was a fun time and also a great experience for us from the West Coast. We loved learning about our American History, and seeing the charming and lovely New England countryside.

We had set up a feature on our web site several weeks before the event inviting attendees to sign up for personal web consultations. These appointments ended up being a very valuable tool. We were able to spend a quality 30 minutes with the innkeepers, discussing their online marketing goals and current position on the web.

We also enjoyed seeing some of our current clients. Since InsideOut has expanded over the last 10 months and we had new team members to introduce. It is always wonderful to put a face to the voice on the phone and the messages in emails.

The opening night of the show we had a chance to socialize with many of our clients during the Conference Kick off Cocktail Party that InsideOut sponsored.

The InsideOut team also enjoyed a little Southern hospitality while in Atlanta. Our SEO tech Katie Pate posed with one of her literary idols, Scarlett O’Hara.

On the last day of the event, Jeff Logan spoke with George Newman of Third Millennium Marketing about how to make the most of online marketing with Google. The two shared their knowledge and research on the most effective Search Engine Marketing methods.

We were able to give out some pretty great show specials and look forward with working with new clients throughout the country.

Our own Jeff Logan will be speaking on how to get going with Google, the worlds largest search engine, responsible for 65% of all search engine traffic. Google is how the world is finding information online.

Success sure tastes sweet!

The wonderful thing about using Google to market your business is that most of the services Google provides are free.

If a 45 minute presentation doesn’t seem like quite enough for you, then sign-up for a personal web consultation session with an Insideout team member. Talk to a Search Engine Marketing expert for free and get an in-depth explanation about what is right and what is wrong with your site, as well as suggestions and ideas about how to market your business and brand across the web.

We hope to see you in Atlanta soon, make sure to stop by booth #1015 and say hello!

There will be a variety of activities, speakers and programs during the 3-day event. PAII will be holding programs for master innkeepers as well as aspiring innkeepers. Look forward to a variety of important speakers and workshops covering valuable information for every innkeeper. Topics will vary from customer service to overcoming stress to making artisan bread!

See you in Atlanta!

Of course our own Jeff Logan will be speaking on search engine marketing. We will also be vendors at the trade show and look forward to seeing some or our current clients as well as meeting new innkeepers!

Individual Marketing Sessions

During the trade show, we are also going to be offering individual sessions for innkeepers. This will be a chance for innkeepers to speak with one of the InsideOut team (Jeff, Steven, Pat and Katie will be attending the conference) for 30 minutes about their web site and their options for Internet marketing. Look for more information soon about our one-on-one sessions and online sign ups.

The PAII Conference will be an invaluable event for every innkeeper who is looking to learn about the newest trends in the industry and collaborate with other innkeepers and vendors about making your inn a successful tourism destination!