If you haven’t noticed, this blog is all about what I run into… personally and professionally. I had the opportunity to attend the LA Times Travel & Adventure Show last month for work! Here are a bunch of photos from my HTC EVO phone and my Canon 870.
First up, Visit Japan‘s booth. The expo wasn’t just about fun but also about what was going on at the moment. I was really glad to see there was a charity component to the expo.
Visit Japan's booth
Learn to dive at the above-ground pool. Seriously. This was presented by BeADiver.com.
Learn to be a diver!
At the back of the expo was the Global Beats Stage which featured dancers and music. Sorry, I didn’t catch where these dancers were from.
Global Beats Stage dancers
Pulling tea at the Tourism Malaysia booth. Delicious!
Pulling tea
Tons of AAA representatives at the ready
California was totally represented here. There was an entire aisle dedicated to California destinations.
Sliver of CA booths at the Show
Did you know these were our sister cities of Los Angeles?
LA's sister cities
You could learn to zipline at one end of the expo. I watched as people squealed and screamed as they whooshed across the hall. It looked quite fun! Now imagine ziplining outdoors! 😛
Ziplining!
One of the things I’m really interested in is QR codes in social media marketing. I was so exited to see the Anaheim/Orange County CVB post it at their booth as part of their contest/giveaway, I took a photo of it. 😛 </nerd hat on>
Anaheim OC CVB and their QR code contest
Part of my job at the PR firm is to meet bloggers and tweeters. (I freaking love this part of my job, especially because they’re people I actually like – what a concept.) I had the opportunity to meet many travel bloggers the night before at the TBEX LA meetup at the Biltmore Hotel in DTLA. (If you are blog about your travels, you should really consider joining TBEX. This is a non-paid endorsement.) I ran into travel bloggers, naturally, at the show.
I met Spencer Spellman the night before. I’m a totally lame ass for not remember the woman in the middle. <head hanging in shame> She gave me her card and I’ve left her card at the office. Abbie Mood is the woman on the far right. She’s got her own blog, and she is 1/3 of the LA Consortium of Online Travel (LACOT). (You should come to the next meetup on May 12th!)
Visiting travel bloggers at the Show
At the end of the show, my colleagues and I headed over to the Grammy Museum for the After-Show Exhibitor Event. There, I was able to take a break from being on my feet and grab a Coke and some food.
Then I attacked Samantha Brown. I jumped on the chance to meet her at this event. My colleagues teased me and called me a stalker. I LOVE Samantha Brown! She’s one of the few tv travel hosts I’ll watch, and she’s so snarky. You don’t get to see too much of that since the Travel Channel is so PG-rated, but I’m positive she’s as cutting as Bourdain is to food.
Squee! Samantha Brown and me!
And that is the end of this long post of photos.
Disclosures…
I’m not sure how much I should disclose because I’m not giving anything away. But because my job is pretty public and this is a personal blog, I want to make sure I’m transparent in my endorsements.
- LACOT and I work together professionally via the firm I work for. There is no compensation for my endorsing them here on my blog.
That looked like it was so much fun!