Topic > Questions about consumer-generated media and hotel articles/services

• Hospitality companies can obtain feedback on their operations through blogs, discussion forums, hotel review sites, social networks, etc. These are an example of what type of media? This type of media is called Consumer Generated Media (CGM). Today's customers look online for feedback on accommodations. “Approximately 300 million public comments are posted online every day around the world” (32). Customers read previous guest experiences published on the web to choose which accommodation facility to visit. Negative online reviews spread faster than positive ones. Reputation software can monitor online conversations and minimize the impact and visibility of negative search results. Consumer-generated media is word of mouth in the age of the web-fortified consumer. CGM describes a variety of new online information sources that are created, initiated, disseminated, and used with the intent of consumers educating each other about products, brands, services, personalities, and issues. Online word of mouth is still owned and controlled by consumers and often carries much higher credibility and trust than traditional media. CGM is also measurable. Online word of mouth leaves a “digital trail”, allowing its contents to be identified, classified, analyzed for basic data and trends, emotions and experiences. CGM provides an unimpeded, real-life entry into the minds of consumers, more so than traditional types of market research. Jump To The Beat – Hotelsbycity.net In 2009, when user-generated social media campaigns were first becoming popular, HotelsByCity.net launched an online campaign that encouraged users to submit photos of themselves jumping on hotel beds was an immediate success on the Internet and was also picked up by the mainstream media. The premise was simple: go to a hotel; ask someone to take a photo of you jumping in mid-air on the bed; post it on the website called BedJump. (http://goo.gl/uINvTM) As the example above demonstrates, the hospitality industry is already using CGM to market their products and establish an interactive relationship with their customers. The way companies and brands are advertised and marketed has changed significantly. Using CGM as a one-stop platform for advertising can be a low-cost way to share your business. The content, however, must be creative and worthy of being recommended by customers and shared with their friends. This UK website http://goo.gl/YEHucQ lists the SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGNS: HALL OF FAME of 2010. • Which system, which assesses one or more biological traits, can be used in conjunction with a timetable system and presences to eliminate friends? unauthorized early and late clockings and clockings?