07 Dec 2017
TravMedia today underlined the growing importance to journalists and PRs of Network, the site's social network, by releasing a flurry of enhancements in one of the company's largest-ever tech drops.
A key feature of the launch is Network Alerts, a daily email amalgamating new content from across each user's network, including Updates (instant posts), profile changes, Stories and Travel Plans.
The improvements are designed to accelerate adoption of TravMedia's instant 'Chat' feature, launched earlier this year. Chat allows users to instantly communicate within a 'messenger' pop-up window. The feature, available bottom right of any TravMedia page, reveals everyone a user can instantly chat with, based on their approved connection requests.
Another new feature allows users to set connection request management to 'Automatic' - meaning each time they accept an invitation to connect, TravMedia will instantly follow the requesting user back, creating a full connection. For those that prefer to decide each follow-back decision individually, 'Manual' remains the alternative setting.
A further option allows anyone (entering via travmedia.com) to set their landing page either to 'Feed', the site's comprehensive round-up of all breaking content (from press releases to Journalist Alerts, Updates to Stories) or instead land in 'Newsroom', home to all the industry's latest press releases.
TravMedia has also rebranded its successful Community section as 'Updates', merging it with the successful instant Updates functionality launched earlier this autumn. Users can issue an Update and mark it for 'Everyone', all 'Journalists', all 'PR Managers', or simply their 'Network'. When a User selects 'Network', the post will automatically feature on their contacts' new Network Alerts. Updates sent to 'Journalists' or 'PR Managers' will instead feature on the site's existing News Alerts.
Said Henry Hemming, TravMedia UK's Managing Director: “Network has gained considerable traction among journalists and PRs this year, so this tech drop promises two major outcomes. Firstly, we see our users treating Updates as an alternative to other instant networking channels such as Tweets. Secondly, we believe Chat will become a powerful new channel for instant journalist-PR communications, for example when a PR wishes to pitch a story idea to a leading industry writer.
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EDITORS NOTES
Originally created by a travel journalist seeking a better way to research and report travel news, TravMedia is dedicated to building thriving online communities of travel journalists and travel PR professionals worldwide.
The technology used by the sites has become an essential service for journalists and PR professionals in their day-to-day activities, as they connect and share information.
TravMedia currently operates in 11 regions: Australia, Germany, Dubai, United States, Canada, United Kingdom, India, Brazil, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Africa, and has amassed over 50,000 journalist and PR members.
In the UK, TravMedia and Food4Media are part of the family of websites that also includes Homes4Media.com and Property4Media.com, sites that are owned and operated by News4Media Ltd.
TravMedia has become the engine powering major global trade show media marketplaces and press rooms, such as U.S. Travel Association's IPW in America, AIME in Australia the annual convention of the Society of American Travel Writers, and many other white-label software solutions for organisations and events worldwide.
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For further information, please contact:
Louise Napier, Regional Director
TravMedia UK
T: +44 (0)20 3440 8915
E: louise.napier@travmedia.com
International Media Enquiries:
Lauren Michôd, Vice President, Communications & International Relations
T:+1 (212) 808-0811 ext 107
