What John's clients say about his speeches and workshops...(All comments on file at HPR Offices).



 Timberhill Athletic Club:

John, just wanted to thank you for the great social networking workshop you provided for me and the Timberhill Athletic Club staff on July 13th.  2010. We all learned a great deal more about the social networking process and how we can take advantage of it to build and retain membership.  The workshop also kept our interest for the entire time and enjoyed the material presented.

Randy Huber
Owner
Timberhill Athletic Club


City of Corvallis, Half Day Social Media Boot Camp for City Departments (June 2010)
"John recently conducted a Social Media seminar for the City of Corvallis. The seminar was well received, focused and beneficial to the participants. Governments should be using Social Media to connect with citizens in numerous ways and John can help make those connections."
 Charlie Tomlinson, Mayor City of Corvallis.


City of Roseburg, Umpqua Community College (May 2010)

"We had the pleasure of hiring John Hope-Johnstone to teach a seminar entitled "Grow Your Business or Organization Through Social Media". John did a great job of keeping the audience's attention with his humor and solid presentation skills while delivering some cutting edge information about a new and important marketing tool. John did a great job for us at Umpqua Community College and I would highly recommend him to others looking for a dynamic marketing presenter!"
Pete Bober, Director, SBDC and Workforce Training at Umpqua Community College

Participant's comments:
"Should have been a full day not half"
"Excellent presenter!"
"Excellent in delivery and knowledge"
"Great fun, wonderful speaker"
"Bring back John, please please please!!!"
 Wonderful material, a bit overwhelming! for the time"
"Thank you ,GREAT!"

Travel & Tourism Research Association's Greater Western Chapter Symposium (April 2010)

 John's social media seminar is outstanding. He's an energetic, entertaining speaker with a great sense of humor. The information and insight he provides is excellent, and I found myself learning something new, despite having attended a number of seminars on social media previously. John has excellent experience as a travel and tourism marketer, and he draws on that experience to give real-life examples. I enthusiastically recommend his seminar to those who want to excel with social media as part of their marketing efforts.
 David M. Williams
Deputy Director
Utah Office of Tourism
President GWTTRA Board

Northwest Festivals & Events Conference (March 2010)

On behalf of the Northwest Festivals & Events Conference joint committee, Washington Festivals & Events Association and Oregon Festivals & Events Association, thank you for presenting the Social Media Boot Camp as the Pre Conference workshop featured at the Northwest Festivals & Events Conference.

We are delighted with the overall results and comments from our attendees.  Our attendees felt they received great value and workable tools to take away from this workshop. 

Some of the comments included:
“John presented the mysterious social media topic in down-to-earth fashion so even I could understand” 

“This social-media boot camp was the best presentation I’ve been to – not only did I learn about the mediums, but how to plan and use the appropriate tools” 

“John Hope-Johnstone is an amazing presenter, with just enough storytelling to keep us interested, and plenty of how-to so we can actually use the information” 

“I didn’t think I could actually ever grasp this stuff – I get it!  Thanks John!” 

The committee appreciates your service from the simple and straightforward negotiations process to the preparation of our attendees and delivery of superior product!  Because of the popularity and demand this portion of our conference, it actually was a profit center for the conference.  Thank you!  

We hope to enlist your services again in the near future.  Thank for your bringing your stellar talents to our industry conference.

Jill Ingalls
Executive Director
Northwest Festivals & Events Conference Producer
Oregon Festivals & Events Association                    

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Albany Convention & Visitors Association (February 2010): A Social Media workshop with John Hope-Johnstone is always fun, interesting and educational. He is a dynamic speaker and presenter and has a way of keeping his audience engaged while presenting information that is up to date and applicable to your business.  Jimmie Lucht CEO Albany CVA.

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Northwestern Ontario Tourism Association: (September 2009)
 We were taken with John's ability to impart a great deal of valuable information about tourism marketing in the 21st Century, and the use of social media for small businesses, in a very engaging fashion.  John is knowledgeable, witty and creative.  Our delegates increased their knowledge on both topics substantially and had fun at the same time.  We thoroughly enjoyed having him take part in our Sunset Country Tourism Marketing Forum.
Our delegates evaluated John's "Marketing in the 21st Century" session as extremely useful with a mean score of 4.5 out of 5.
One of our delegates commented, "I really enjoyed my one-on-one session with John.  He answered my questions and gave me some great ideas to help my specific situation.  He was very easy to talk to." 
Harald Lohn and Jerry Fisher, Forum Co-chairs Northwestern Ontario Tourism Association and the Kenora District Camp Owners Association; Mike Loewen Executive Director Patricia Regional Tourist Council; Gerry Cariou Executive Director Sunset Country Travel Association.

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Southern Oregon Wine Institute, February 2008
Dear John,
Just a quick note to say thank you and commend you on the great job you did as our keynote speaker for The Southern Oregon Wine Institute’s annual winegrowers marketing event, “From Cellar to Seller”!
You had the right balance of humor and information which proved to be just the lift people needed after lunch.  People came away from your presentation refreshed and ready to embrace the remainder of the day with enthusiasm!  I thought the music was a great touch and added an additional dimension to your presentation.
Your evaluations were outstanding and I couldn’t help but the notice that there were was no shortage of folks who wanted to talk further with you after your presentation.
As usual you were the consummate professional, easy to work with and well prepared.  Your attendance at some of the earlier sessions was especially helpful and gave you the opportunity to incorporate reinforce some of their key points and really helped to reinforce the importance of the overall message we wanted to communicate to conference attendees.
Please do not hesitate to use me as a reference.  I would be happy to share with others how your presence and engaging personality made a difference at our event!
Sincerely,
Pete Bober
Director of Workforce and Community Education Umpqua Community College

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Oregon Association of Convention & Visitor Bureaus 2008:
"John, thank you!!....We received excellent comments from our members regarding the content and quality of your presentation on The Future of Tourism Marketing on Web 2.0 "

Oregon Society of Association Management Conference, Portland Oregon. 2007

  • "Very interesting and useful!"
  • " He's dynamic!"
  • "Wonderful!"
  • "John is a great presenter. Great session!"
  • "Absolutely dynamic!" Your sense of humor is an absolute joy!"

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Attractions Ontario, Annual General Meeting & Conference
"Hope-Johnstone has excellent credentials to fire the public mind. The son of a British film star, a broadcaster during his teens, Hope-Johnstone has had a wide variety of marketing experience rising to Vice President for several hotel companies. He is truly a speaker you don't want to miss."

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Anne McCall, Director Tourism Marketing Ontario Ministry of Tourism and Recreation
"We have frequently recommended and in fact contracted the services of Mr. Hope-Johnstone, particularly for presentations and seminars dealing with future trends and how they may affect the tourism industry."
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What People say about his Book...

"How to Market Tourism in the 21st Century"
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Bill Geist of Zeitgeist Z-News for Tourism Trends has reviewed the book and says:

"It's been said that everyone has at least one book inside them. The trick is finding the time to let it come out to play. Two DMO pros have just released new books...and the thumbs are up here at the Zeitgeist ranch.

 John Hope-Johnstone (Visit Corvallis OR) has penned a sensational look into the new strategies that Destination Marketers must embrace if they are to succeed in this rapidly disintermediating world. "How to Market Tourism in the 21st Century" is just what the title implies...a no-nonsense toolkit that kicks off by explaining how marketing has changed (requiring a wholesale shift in how we must respond)

 "Rather than viewing markets as places where destinations seek out visitors and try to sell them as much as possible, successful players will recognize that we are increasingly participating in 'reverse markets' where visitors seek out potential destinations when it is relevant..."

 From that mallet to the head, John takes his readers on a content-rich ride through advertising, sales, distribution, PR, branding and social networks. And, he closes with some great suggested add-ons to DMAI's performance measures. PCAs (Potential Conversion Actions) are John's way of including "soft measures" into the accountability equation.

 It's something I've been stressing for a couple years now...that "soft measures" are just as important as bookings for DMOs that don't own the product being sold. As "destination brokers," sometimes all we can do is place our destinations into consideration. Indeed, that's the Durham CVB's over-arching goal...to insure that Durham is on the consideration list. PCAs are a great suggestion as we start to embrace soft measures as valid.

 It's a great read...made even more important a work by the fact that John will be constantly updating the book online! Very cool, my friend. And congratulations."

Thanks for being a member of the Zeitgeist Family. http://www.ZeitgeistConsulting.com
BOX 45445 . MADISON WI 53744 USA
 608-836-8876


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Curtis Wright, Marketing Consultant:

Is attracting more tourism business to your destination important to you and your stakeholder community? You want this book. Is cracking the code for new media communications with would-be visitors something you’d like to master? You need this book. Would you like to maximize your marketing ROI in these times of tsunami-like changes in travel economics, visit information-gathering, and destination decision-making? You must have this book.

Intelligently written. To-the-point.  Informative. Thought-provoking. Covering every aspect of how to market in today’s (and tomorrow’s) world of tourism marketing: from mile-high strategic planning issues to down-in-the-trenches keyword picking for optimized search results. As the author states, “ It is not a textbook; it is a practitioner’s notebook.” As such, you’re sure to find it will become one of the most dog-eared, sticky-noted, highlighted, and underscored books in your professional life. Get this book. Now.

Curtis Wright
Marketing Communications Consultant

 

Note: No one was paid, and no truths were harmed in the writing of the foregoing endorsements.


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