I have the pleasure to help a friend in a charity fundraiser. He’s training to run an Iron Man on his 50th birthday and uses this to raise funds for a children’s home in Belize City. The media package includes video, stills, website, facebook and presentations to attract sponsors.
First step: The website is online.
Started the morning with a photo shoot at the Dorothy Menzies Child Care Center. My friend Jim is running a cause together with the Rotary Club of Belize. The photos are for fundraising and the website.
I’ve worked with kids in Belize before but shooting in this children’s home (built for 50 and full with 80, some with obvious signs of a history of abuse) was tough.
The next shooting was completely different: The first Strongman and Strong Woman competition of the Bodybuilding and Fitnes Federation of Belize.
Another shoot that came up spontaneously was another charity shoot (believe it or not). There was a bikini car wash and I took some pictures to be used for another charity bikini car wash in june.
BTIA needed to be able to maintain the wordpress website by themselves so I put together a handbook with illustrations for the most common work flows needed.
A while back I was asked to look at BTIA’s website. It was a few years old, joomla based and badly maintained for various reasons, mostly because content was missing.
I installed and customized a wordpress page as a proof-of-concept to show what is possible and what should be done with a new website, mainly
When I presented this to the board, the answer was: “Why don’t we use that as our website”.
After some time fine tuning the site, it was launched yesterday.
I think the site is a great start for a new chapter in BTIA’s online strategy. WordPress is simply the best choice to use as a basis for a website in this use case. Granted, I am no designer and will never be. So maybe at some point someone will make a nice header or add professional photography. We’ll also add more functionality such as a member directory.
But for now BTIA has a new website that is up to the standards of 2012.
Mystery shopping at a top resort in Belize. Guest service excellence, process efficiency, guest experience review.
As part of a strategic workshop, the Caye Caulker branch of the Belize Tourism Industry Association approached me and asked if I was willing to produce a promotional video to be used at the Belize Tourism Expo. I did. This was by far our biggest project yet.
Deliverable: Marketing video for the tropical island Caye Caulker, showcasing atmosphere and local businesses
Work: main shooting weekend (3 days from 5am to midnight, 40 shootings, 5 models), 3 additional shootings. 4 weeks of net editing.
Tools: Cameras, Final Cut Pro, Photoshop, Coffee and Beer
Did a new wordpress installation today. This one. Took less than 30 minutes.
Pro bono entrepreneurial consulting with regard to tourism product development, packaging, marketing and pricing.
I’ve been looking for a way to
- keep my CV and project list up to date
- keep track of all I’m doing in order not to lose focus.
So here is my work log.
Attended a workshop/training on carbon footprinting, reducing GHG outputs in tourism and financing instruments in Tobago.
BTIA met with the minister of police of Belize and his CEO to discuss the crime situation and the impact it has on tourism along with suggested projects. I was asked to facilitate.
Pro bono consulting intervention: Workshop, audit, 1-on-1 interviews, result presentation, personal coaching.
Favor for a good friend – keynote as part of a product launch. Focusing on personal and corporate success through making strategy work.
Attended a “public mass shaving” at the University of Belize where students and professors showed their solidarity with Belize’s first lady by getting their heads shaved.
Created some buzz on facebook with the photos.
When BTIA joined the Caribbean Carbon Neutral Tourism Programme, I was assigned to the project to help with data collection. I worked with Dillon, the consulting company contracted to conduct the data gathering by taking one of their consultants around, organizing and facilitating face to face meeting with industry representatives and following up on the data gathering.
Pro bono project – promotional video and entrepreneurial/marketing consulting in return for free zip-lining and beer.
BTIA is the chair organization for the Belize Coalition to Save our Natural Heritage- an association of NGOs fighting offshore oil drilling in Belize.
When a People’s Referendum was conducted to get the people’s vote on offshore oil drilling, I respesented BTIA together with a colleague in a very political part of the country – included project and event management, logistics, TV and radio interviews and ballot counting. Also included being bitten by a dog and not sleeping for 2 days.
Pro bono video promoting the People’s Referendum on oil drilling in Belize.
Video was done in less than 20 hours.
Pro bono for our friends Brent and Janet in return for an unforgettable weekend.
Consulting about guest experience, complaint handling, how to handle tripadvisor heat, process efficiency based on our hospitality excellence model.
In order to assess the potential of a recycling network to be implemented by BTIA, I organized and took a road trip for 2 days around Belize, meeting with close to 20 members of BTIA, discussing options for a recycling solution. We managed to sign up 100% of the businesses we talked to.
We also came across several “wild” garbage dumps – a horrible sight.
Cleaned up the organization’s file structure and implemented a new, project based structure.
BTIA was in a bit of a communication situation and needed to reconnect with the members, to show what the administrators do and how this benefits the industry as well as the country.
We worked with a very talented young man who interviewed the president for a school project.
First bigger video projects. Shot on Canon T2i, cut in iMovie.
Went on a field trip with hundreds of kids with the Red Cross as the “designated male adult”.
No broken bones or other hardship ensued.
Conducted an all-day strategic workshop with the Caye Caulker Chapter of BTIA. After A SWOT analysis had been done by another consultant, I facilitated the workshop during which the chapter deduces tangible projects with short- to mid-term results.
After extensive analysis of the membership structure (ranging from statistical analysis to interviews) and a review of the fee structure and cash flows, I facilitated the re-design of the membership structure. BTIA staff had to be (and were) very engaged in this process to make it stick. The new structure, introducing a service-based tier structure, was accepted at the Annual General Meeting in 2011.
Was designated as event manager for the annual sponsor cocktail. Went fairly well.
Pro bono: 2 articles in this new newspaper on the Belize Youth Chess Foundation and the Super Sprint Triathlon
Pro bono: Official photographer for a super sprint triathlon. High volume photography!
Facilitated the re-design of the BTIA sponsor categories – collecting value added services sponsors receive in return for their support.
This was done mainly by the BTIA staff with me supporting the process.
Free video in exchange for an awesome weekend at this spa.
Video hasn’t been released yet by the owners.
Pro bono video feature for a friend’s resort
Pro bono consulting in return for a breathtaking weekend: Customer experience, service delivery excellence, complaint handling based on our Hospitality Excellence Model.
(The Phoenix was voted the best hotel in the world shortly after by tripadvisor users – coincidence?) 
The small town of Benque Viejo del Carmen came together to start a tourism council. Though not a member of BTIA at that point, I was sent to the first three meetings to facilitate the drafting of a joint tourism strategy along a tourism product development maturity model.
After getting the show off the ground I handed it over to a US Peace Corps volunteer who has successfully run the project ever since.
Wrote a communications handbook for BTIA, outlining all communication channels, recipients, trigger events and a cross matrix showing appropriate handling. Also included a year-around communications schedule, templates for press releases and reports and specific communications plans for big events (i.e. Annual General Meeting).
Hosted a group of specialized travel agents on a tour across the country: Diving, hotel inspections, restaurant checks.
Learned a lot from them on the way about how to sell hotels and resorts.
Then a hurricane was about to hit us and I learned about evacuation procedures and crisis management from the universe.
Supplied all my photography to the agents to use in selling Belize.
Attended a training for owners of small and medium hotels that was hosted by BTIA. Had the role of BTIA representative, make sure things go smooth during the training but also took the opportunity to learn as much as I could.
Pro bono video feature
Pro bono – free video feature in exchange for horses.
A local chapter of BTIA had contracted a consultant to write a tourism development strategy. For reasons unknown to me the consultant did not finish the work in time, so I took the draft and finalized it. The paper included every aspect of a tourism destination strategy, i.e. marketing, product development, infrastructure, communications and advocacy.
Pro bono tourism destination video feature.
