WHO DO YOU SUPPOSE THE EXHIBITORS ARE WHO DON'T LIKE BLOGGERS?

Hmmm. Good question!

THEY HAVE UPPED THE NUMBER OF VISITS!!

Here is my original email. 

Dear Ms. Appell,

I am writing to you from Italy as a PR/Media Relations consultant and blogger. My business partner, Klementina Koren, and I would like to inquire about press credentials for the NYC Fair in February.

We have a blog in Italian called OUR CHILD'S WORLD (www.ourchildsworld.blogspot.com) as well as one in English called International Communicator (www.internationalcommunicator.blogspot.com).

As we have recently started blogging together and focusing on issues facing families, parenting, and communications issues in the toy industry, we do not yet have the minimum number of visits required to enter as journalists according to the form on your website. We would love to attend the fair together and report on it (we are attending the fair in Nuremberg at the end of this month,too) in both languages.

For this reason, I would like to ask you if we could enter with Press Credentials. It is our hope, of course, to increase readership so that next year this will not be a problem. 

Thank you in advance for your help.

Sincerely,

Karoline Steckley

001 39 3498666667

The answer? None. 

Try number two. 

Hello Again, 

Regarding the email below, I am writing to you in the sincere hope that you can help us get Press Credentials for the NY Fair. While we can still enter with an exhibiting company, we would prefer reporting on the Toy Fair as Bloggers writing specifically about women's issues (my blog is in English, Klementina's is in Italian). 

Our presence as bloggers was very much appreciated at the fair in Nuremberg this last week, and we would love to be able to repeat the experience in New York. As an American living in Italy and working on International issues, I feel that my voice could be interesting and give the fair a new perspective and visibility. 

Please let us know as soon as possible. 

Sincerely, 

Karoline Steckley 

http://internationalcommunicator.blogspot.it/

Klementina Koren

Ourchildsworld.blogspot.com

Here is the answer:

Hi,

You will need to go online and try to register. All bloggers must have 2,500 uvms per month (this number has been raised at the request of many exhibitors).

Thanks, A

Can HAPPINESS Sell Too?

This is Huggy Buddha. The company is owned by a woman-- a grandmother who wanted to be able to wish her new grandchild a happy life with a soft Buddha.

This is what she came up with. I saw him by chance and had to stop and hug him. Target: Babies and grown-up women.

Thank you for giving us something new.

For every Huggy Buddha sold, the company makes a donation to the Make-a-Wish Foundation.

This is the company I like.

May you have happiness and great success, Huggy B!

This is What They are Telling our Girls.

Sorry it's sideways. You get the idea. This is the motto for 2014 for Mattel. What do you think?

I am not impressed. In fact, as a Woman, Mother, Sister, Aunt, Friend, and Human, I find it pretty annoying.

Can't we SPEAK TOO?

Toys are a Man's World-- Help ME Change it!

So I am trying to get into the NYC Toy fair this month as a blogger but it is nearly impossible. See, I don't have enough hits on my humble niche blog.

But here is what I am worried about. I told you I went to the Nuremberg fair as a blogger and it was a great experience. That being said, it was SHOCKING how few women there were.

The Press Room was full of MALE writers and photographers with just a sprinkle of women (often accompanying husbands).

The Press Tour (this is where companies can pay extra and have their wares paraded in front of the cameras before the fair begins) was full of pomp and ceremony with scantly-clad girls running around on the catwalk (dressed as Barbies. No need to talk more about that). Carnevale girls from Brazil - maybe - dancing something like Samba with feathers covering their nether regions (must advertise for the World Cup, after all!). In short, it was pretty nasty. There were two companies run by women in this press room, but they were stuck off in the corner waaaaay over on the other end of the room (small companies, btw, without all the backing and big money the other companies have, so kudos to you, girls!). It was really a show for the male buyers and distributors in attendance. Hmmm.

Now, I have been to a lot of fairs in my day, many of which were man-heavy, but none seemed as dangerous as this one.

Now I realize that my asking people to visit my blog to get some hits is not the way to change the situation, but, then again, if you need to have 2000 hits and talk about toys to be considered a blogger for this fair, then so be it.

Please help this feminist LION get into that fair and write about it with a different voice than the one we're used to.

Thank you! Please pass this on. Share it. I promise I will give you more info as we go along, especially about the companies that are doing the right thing to promote toys that leave the world a better place.

How to Learn a New Language

With all new things, you start and just don't notice the details. They escape your attention. Your eye doesn't know where to look. I felt that way when I learned to drive in Italy after 16 years of driving in the States. The stop lights were in the wrong places. While at home I was trained to look ahead for the signals, in Italy I had to look at the painting on the ground more, and stop lights are in line with where your car actually needs to stop in the road. So you may have to look ninety degrees to the right to see whether it is red or green. At some point, however, I knew where to look. It was about the time I understood how long the car was and how wide, so that parking became (relatively) easier.

The same is true (trust me on this one, I know it's a stretch) for languages. At first you learn the basics, and it is sort of exciting, until it gets frustrating. That is the moment when you realize this is going to be harder than you thought. Then we get angry, blame our teachers for not being very good, or not being this or not being that (it's always the teachers' fault, isn't it?). Most people stop here, when learning becomes uncomfortable. We have the feeling that all of the time and energy we put in (years of classes in some cases) were for nought. We don't understand a thing. We can't talk. Hmmmph!

Some people do not give up, though. They get determined. They realize that they need to have more contact with the language so that it can become more familiar to them, so they start to recognize expressions, speak them little by little until they get to the point where they understand most everything and can express what they want to say.

Here is what those people do.
1. They have patience with themselves and are confident the language will one day "make sense" if they just stick to it.
2. They create their own world with that language at the center.
3. They put their phone and other devices into the target language.
4. They make any t.v. watching deliberate and in the target language.
5. They watch movies with audio and subtitles in the target language and don't care if they do not understand. They know this is normal.
6. They listen to talk radio in the target language. They look at it as an exercise in intonation and musicality. They do not try to understand.
7. They read at least ten minutes a day OUT LOUD in the target language. Understanding is not important.
8. They speak the target language with anyone they can as often as possible. They do not worry about making mistakes. Sometimes they find a buddy to speak with.

Little by little the language becomes less gibberish. They start to understand little expressions, they can say things at certain times. The few things they say are understood. That gives them courage to continue.

These people understand that it is necessary to go through the period of not understanding before we get to the period of understanding and that is okay. They start to have those magic CLICKS of understanding. Sometimes they are big, sometimes they are small. But they happen.

Learning a foriegn language takes time, but it is one of the greatest feelings of pride and satisfaction that we will ever feel.

And if you think you are too old to learn a language, it is not true.

I learned English at birth.
I learned French at age 17.
I learned Portuguese at age 25.
I learned Italian at 30.
I am trying to learn Slovene at 40.

The process never changes, but with each new language we relax a little more and mind less feeling like a kid again. We even become more creative with how we express ourselves. Oh, I forget my languages sometimes. They do come and go depending on how much I use them, but they are still there and wake up when I really need them. I wouldn't trade them for the world.

My advice. Don't wait. Give a new language a try.

A Note to Hotels on How to Handle Tripadvisor

Dear Hotels,

Tripadvisor scares you a lot. I know this because of the relentless way you ask us to write positive reviews of your hotel to counteract the nasty ones that crop up and bring down your position on your city's hotel ranking.

I think, however, that I can offer you a little insight on how to handle this pesky situation so that you can both avoid nasty reviews in the first place, and deal with the ones you get in a more positive manner that reflects your problem-solving capabilities and top-notch dedication to customer satisfaction.

HOW TO AVOID NASTY REVIEWS ON TRIPADVISOR

1. Customer Service MUST be your absolute FOCUS.

Why do people write reviews? They are either deeply happy with the service or shockingly disappointed with the service. People will forgive you for almost anything if the hotel staff is nice.

2. No, Customers are not always right, but they MUST FEEL LIKE YOU ARE LISTENING.

Negative reviews on Tripadvisor are almost always because the person making the complaint TRIED TO TELL YOU BUT YOU WOULD NOT LISTEN.

3. DEFENSIVENESS is the same as NOT LISTENING. Taking a guest's complaint personally is a recipe for a bad review on T.A. Don't do it. EMPATHY IS YOUR BEST WEAPON.

4.  Think LONG-TERM RELATIONSHIP.

The problem with mediocre hotels is that they focus on the HERE and NOW. A world-class hotel wants you to COME BACK in the future. They also want you to bring your friends. They will do anything to make you happy, even if it means giving you a free breakfast or a discount or something that may cost them in the short-term but have a major R.O.I. in future stays and positive reviews on T.A.

5. If breakfast is not AMAZING, Don't bother.

People LOVE breakfast at hotels. It is the best part of the stay for most of us. In fact, we expect to stuff ourselves and skip lunch. It's human nature and we really can't help ourselves. That being said, we also have high expectations. If you cannot meet them, just tell us from the get-go and we will make other arrangements.

6. SNOBBISHNESS, ARROGANCE= PROVINCIAL I'm not kidding. That is what they will call you. Far from creating an "exclusive" atmosphere, you will come off like a hillbilly. This goes for people who are NOT staying in your hotel as well. Do not turn away someone who needs help (or a bathroom) merely because they are not a guest at the moment. Look at all people as potential clients or people who can give you a good (or bad) referral and treat them with dignity and respect, no matter who they are.

HOW TO HANDLE BAD REVIEWS ON TRIPADVISOR

Even the BEST HOTELS occasionally get a stinger.

1. READ AND WAIT.

Do not send your rebuttle in the heat of the moment. Too often, hotels, no, the GENERAL MANAGER of the hotel writes back a defensive email that communicates the following:
a. Rudeness is a top-down phenomenon at your organization.
b. You run a hotel but spend most of your time farting around on the internet.
c. The hotel is managed by a bully who is going to come and get guests if they write a bad review.
d.  You are more concerned with insulting the reviewer (your former GUEST) than fixing the problem.

Rule of thumb. If you cannot have a civil tone, write nothing.

2. REMEMBER THAT POTENTIAL GUESTS ARE NOT STUPID.

Most of us read the best and the worst review and then mentally throw them out anyway. After that we look at averages and priorities. Bugs are a no-no. The rest, like outdated rooms, is normally not too big a deal.

3. ANSWER THE COMPLIMENTS TOO!

Most responses hotels make are for the negative reviews to say "Oh that's not true!" or something of that nature. Why not take the time to thank the people who LIKE you. That may encourage a repeat visit.

4. USE A BENCHMARK FOR YOUR ANSWERS.

Choose a hotel that you equate with high quality and see how they handle complaints. The Waldorf Astoria gets complaints, too, but they are answered in a respectful, courteous way that encourages further dialogue to fix the situation. When I read a nice response like the ones they offer, I automatically have more respect for the hotel and understand that someone there wants me to be happy.

5. LOOK FOR THE TRUTH IN THE REVIEWS.

It may hurt, but complaints can be an opportunity. If you are getting repeat complaints about something, understand that it is unacceptable for your guests and change it. Improve, Innovate, and communicate those changes in a proactive way through social media or through your answers on Tripadvisor.