Podcast appearances and mentions of rick calvert

In this episode of Travel Matters, join hosts Palle Bo and Rick Calvert as they sit down with travel blogger Mike Shubic from Mike's Road Trip at TBEX North America 2023 in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. They dive into Mike's journey from early tech adoption to exploring the latest in AI tools, sharing invaluable insights for content creators. Tune in to hear about Mike's adventures, the transformative power of AI in the travel industry, and how technology is shaping the future of content creation. Key Points AI Tools for Content Creation: Mike Shubic discusses various AI tools like ChatGPT, Luminar AI, and others, highlighting how they can enhance content creation, marketing, and video production, offering new revenue opportunities and audience engagement for travel creators. The Evolution of Travel Blogging: Mike shares his journey from starting Mike's Road Trip in 2009 to becoming a travel influencer, discussing how early adoption of video and new technologies like AI have transformed his career and the travel blogging landscape. Future of AI in Travel and Content Creation: The conversation explores the potential and challenges of AI, including its impact on white-collar jobs, the importance of maintaining human creativity and artistry in content, and how AI can be a valuable tool without replacing the authenticity of personal experiences.

In this episode we speak with Fierita Catalano about how he livestreams wherever he goes – to a huge following. Fierita is the winner of the 2021 MoJo Travel Journalism prize from Agencia EFE, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya and Vueling. Fierita Catalano went from a 20-year career in mainstream television in Argentina (that included hosting game shows and a sports broadcaster) and shifted to an interactive travel format through his Decidilo website and Social Media. Fierita has travelled through 39 countries with no external funding, and he built up a community of more than one million followers. We speak with Fierita about the benefits of livestreaming, including how to use it to build your community. This episode of Travel Matters was recorded at TBEX Europe in Marbella, Spain and hosted by TBEX CEO, Rick Calvert and The Radio Vagabond, Palle Bo.

In this episode we speak with Francis Tapon who is an extreme traveler. He spent five years visiting every country in Africa – and climbing the highest mountain in each country. Now he's writing a book about that journey. You can see more about him on ftapon.com and follow him as ftapon on social media. We also have Michael Collins from TravelMedia.ie back for a conversation about social media. This episode of Travel Matters was recorded at TBEX Europe in Marbella, Spain and hosted by TBEX CEO, Rick Calvert and The Radio Vagabond, Palle Bo.

Rachel Heller of Rachel's Ruminations and Shobha George of JustGoPlacesBlog did a session called Promoting Responsible Tourism in Content Creation at TBEX Europe in Marbella, Spain. This is a big, important, and interesting topic that we had to have a conversation about. We're four people in this week's Travel Matters and more or less four different opinions. And you might not agree with any of us, so we'd love to hear what you think. So, join the conversation on TBEX on Facebook. This episode of Travel Matters was recorded at TBEX Europe in Marbella, Spain and hosted by TBEX CEO, Rick Calvert and The Radio Vagabond, Palle Bo.

In this episode we first talk about Rick leaving California after having lived there his whole life. He and his family are moving to Utah. Before two interesting interviews from TBEX Spain, he tells us how that happened. Then we speak to Fuse who comes from a background of teaching SEO to photographers as she has been a photographer for a decade. Now she's the first and (according to Rick) only TBEX volunteer helping out with photography and so much more. She also has her own travelblog, FuseTravels.com and you can follow her on TikTok, Instagram, and Pinterest. We also have an interesting conversation with Alastair McKenzie. He has been a travel journalist/editor since 1989, originally in local, then national radio before moving online just before the millennium.  He's been an active member of the travel blogger & social media community since it started, a regular speaker at social media travel conferences, and write about social travel. He's also a member of the Captivate Digital Media collective, and the British Guild of Travel Writers. His blog MechTraveller.com is a niche blog about geeky travel, attractions, history, and transport. At this conference he moderated a keynote panel on the big stage and in this episode of Travel Matters he shares his thoughts on the travel media industry – and the difference between traditional media and travel blogging. This episode of Travel Matters recorded at TBEX Europe in Marbella, Spain and hosted by TBEX CEO, Rick Calvert and The Radio Vagabond, Palle Bo.

Leo Long is a travel writer from China and a first timer at TBEX. Hear what he thinks about being here just a few hours into TBEX Europe in Marbella, Spain. In this episode we also talk to Kerwin McKenzie. Kerwin is originally from Jamaica, and is an ex-airline employee who is now a travel content creator, author, and public speaker. He's worked in various capacities at four U.S.-based airlines for 14.5 years, flown 181 airlines, and visited 137 countries/territories (105 UN). Today, he runs Passrider.com for airline employees, Cruisinaltitude.com with information about airline travel, Unfamiliardestinations.com with details about 365 under-visited destinations, and DiscoveringHouston.net, which provides travel information for Houston, Texas. He also cooks Jamaican food at CookingWithkerwin.com. Kerwin has attended 17 TBEX conferences, again here at TBEX Europe he did the first timers' briefing. What is the best way to get the most out of a TBEX conference? We're also talking to Kerwin about Black Travel Alliance, a professional non-profit organization, created in 2020 to encourage, educate, equip and excel black travel professionals in education, media, and corporate positions. You can follow Kerwin on TikTok and on Instagram as @LoyaltyTravels. Also, you can follow TBEX on TikTokand on Instagram. This episode of Travel Matters recorded at TBEX Europe in Marbella, Spain and hosted by TBEX CEO, Rick Calvert and The Radio Vagabond, Palle Bo.

We're just hours away from TBEX Europe in Marbella, Spain. We have The Travel Camel, Shane Dallas, Conference Director for TBEX Europe, as a special co-host as we talk about what to expect the next two days – and much more. This episode of Travel Matters recorded at TBEX Europe in Marbella, Spain and hosted by TBEX CEO, Rick Calvert and The Radio Vagabond, Palle Bo.

In this last episode recorded at TBEX North America in Tri-Cities, WA, we speak with Candy Krajangsri from Amazing Thailand. Candy is working at their Los Angeles office, and we talk about what to expect when we go to TBEX Asia in Phuket in November. Then we're also joined by our good friend Michael Collins from TravelMedia.ie – a full-service public relations, marketing, events, communications, and travel trade representation company, founded in 2006, and managed by Michael Collins. Hear how he managed to travel during the pandemic. See y'all in person at TBEX Europe in Marbella Spain tomorrow. This episode of Travel Matters recorded at TBEX North America in Tri-Cities and hosted by TBEX CEO, Rick Calvert and The Radio Vagabond, Palle Bo.

In this week's episode, we have a conversation with Jen Ruiz from Jen on a Jet Plane about how we as travel content creators should use TikTok. And then Rick Calvert also shares some of the highlights for the upcoming TBEX Europe happening in Marbella, Spain next week. This episode of Travel Matters was recorded at TBEX North America in Tri-Cities and hosted by TBEX CEO, Rick Calvert and The Radio Vagabond, Palle Bo.

The first TBEX conference since the pandemic changed everything was taking place in Tri-Cities in April.  At the conference, Palle Bo talked to a few first-timers, and after that, he and Rick Calvert spoke to one of the Conference Directors, Tomiko Harvey.

We have missed you! Listen to this episode of Travel Matters, and read the newsletter from Rick below:  We hope you have been safe and healthy throughout the last year and are looking forward to traveling again soon. We are very optimistic about the future of travel and TBEX events. This is going to be a long one but there is good news so please stay with me.  The last several months the vaccine distribution here in the US has been going very well. At our peak, we were vaccinating as many as three million people per day! All signs and trends point to domestic US travel being the first sector to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic along with all related travel restrictions and safety protocols. Based on the status of Covid 19 pandemic right now, here are our current plans: TBEX Tri-Cities Washington, October 12-14, 2021 is ON! If you would like to join us in Tri-Cities, please register HERE  If you registered for TBEX Lafayette in 2020, you should have already received an email from us offering to transfer your ticket over to the Tri-Cities event or to  Lafayette in 2022. If you have already replied we have noted your request and made those changes. If you missed that email please reply directly to me here rick@tbexcon.com  About a month ago we emailed everyone who had registered for TBEX North America 2021 in Tri-Cities and everyone who had registered for TBEX North America 2020 in Lafayette and let them know we were considering new dates for TBEX Tri-Cities. We asked them if they could attend Tri-Cities in October and if they would feel safe and comfortable doing so. 70% replied yes they definitely plan to attend. 20% told us they needed to wait a bit longer to make sure conditions are safe. Another 10% said it would still be some time before they were making plans to travel or meet with large groups. Thank you to everyone who responded. Your feedback was critical in helping us finalize our decision to confirm our new dates for TBEX Tri-Cities October 12 to 14 of this year. I was in Tri-Cities for a site visit last week and the Tri-Cities team is working hard to put together an amazing program for all of us. It is going to be GREAT! Being able to share our love of travel and see each other again will bring out lots of emotions.   Stay tuned for lots of updates coming the next couple of weeks TBEX North America in Tri-Cities with speaker announcements, evening events, Pre-Bex and post TBEX FAM Trips.  TBEX Europe 2021 in Catania Italy has been postponed.   Our host partners in Catania really wanted to reschedule TBEX Europe for this November, but as you may have seen or as some of you are living through it; Europe is experiencing another wave right now. Vaccine distribution there is ramping up quickly and things should be improving soon. Because of the current conditions, we have notified our friends in Catania that we cannot produce TBEX Europe in 2021. We are working on new future dates with them now.    There will be TBEX Europe in 2022! We will have an update for you with dates for TBEX Europe 2022 very very soon… Keep your eyes and ears on Travel Matters and get the news here first!   TBEX Asia Phuket, Thailand has been postponed to 2022. We have agreed with our partners in Thailand that the best course is to postpone until 2022. We are coordinating new dates with them right now and are planning to announce those new dates any day now. If you registered for 2021 Thailand, your registration will be automatically transferred to 2022. TBEX North America, Layfette, Louisiana October 14-16, 2022 is ON! You can register for TBEX North America 2022 HERE. We know this global crisis is over just yet. We will suffer more setbacks and losses before it completely ends, but for the first time in a long time, there is real hope.  I am so looking forward to seeing you all again in the not-so-distant future and celebrating our life of travel again. As we begin to roam the world again we will find the TBEX experience shaped and changed by this pandemic -- We cannot wait to learn, grow, and socialize safely together with all of you while we help our beloved travel industry rebuild.    See more on TBEXcon.com Travel Matters is hosted by The Radio Vagabond, Palle Bo and TBEX CEO, Rick Calbert, and produced by RadioGuru. If you have questions about any of our events and current plans or need anything please email Rick Calvert directly rick@tbexcon.com 

Molweni! Velkommen til del 3 af min episke roadtrip over det smukke Sydafrika. I denne episode starter vi, hvor jeg slap i del 2 og forlader de lokale bungy jumpere ved Bloukrans Bridge og fortsætter mod Port Elizabeth. Men ikke længe efter var tilbage på N2 motorvejen tog jeg en afstikker til en af ​​Sydafrikas sjældne perler. Den smukke Tsitsikamma National Park ligger på sydkysten af ​​Sydafrika og udgør en del af Garden Route National Park. Med de høje bjerge, hvor voldsomme bølger i det varmere Indiske Ocean rammer de dramatiske kystlinjer, er dette virkelig et smukt sted. Så jeg besluttede at parkere bilen og tage en hurtig vandretur for at udforske noget af den rå natur. Efter min hike fortsatte jeg de sidste 200 km mod Port Elizabeth og efter endnu en naturskøn køretur ankom jeg til mit vandrehjem sidst på eftermiddagen. Og efter en begivenhedsrig dag med vandreture og kørsel, besluttede jeg at det skulle være en tidlig aften, så jeg kunne samle energi til at udforske Port Elizabeth den næste dag. Port Elizabeth er en malerisk by med venlige mennesker og endnu en smuk kystlinje. Jeg har hørt at det kan blive ret blæsende i denne del af landet, men det var nu dejligt vejr, mens jeg var der.   INTERESSANTE FAKTA OM PORT ELIZABETH Port Elizabeth ligger i en kommune, der hedder Nelson Mandela Bay. Det er faktisk Sydafrikas næststørste by – hvis man kigger på arealet. Efter befolkningstallet – 1,2 millioner, er det den 5. største by i landet. Sydafrikanerne kaldes byen ”PE” og den er også kendt som ”Den venlige by”. Byen har 40 km uspoleret kystlinje (bestående hovedsagelig af strande). Glem alt om Route 66 – PE har noget, de kalder ”Route 67”. Spredt ud over området, kan du opleve en samling af 67 kunstværker, der symboliserer Nelson Mandelas 67 års arbejde. Selvom min tid i PE var kort, lykkedes det mig at tage derfra med en god fornemmelse af byen og dens mennesker. Om eftermiddagen afleverede jeg min trofaste følger (den lejede Toyota Corolla) tilbage og hoppede på et fly mod Durban. Ja, jeg ved, at en flyvetur teknisk er snyd på en roadtrip, men afstanden fra PE til Durban er næsten 1.000 km og vil være en 12-timers køretur. Så meget tid har jeg heller ikke til min tur, så jeg tog beslutningen om at hoppe over et par byer langs kysten for i stedet at have mere tid til den sidste del af turen op imod Johannesburg. Og det viste sig at være en god beslutning.   DURBAN I ZULU-LAND Jeg landede i King Shaka International Airport lige uden for Durban om aftenen, og sprang hurtigt i min næste lejede bil (endnu en Toyota Corolla), og kørte mod mit vandrehjem i byen. Der er mange, der har advaret mig om at køre bile i Sydafrika efter mørkets frembrud. Jeg havde også hørt, at, hvis jeg kommer til et rødt lys (en ”robot”, som de kalder trafiklys her) om aftenen, og hvis der ikke er andre, skal jeg bare køre over for rødt. Hvorfor? Fordi ”hijacking” er almindeligt i Sydafrika, og når man holder stille ved et rødt lys, er der større risiko for at det sker. Med denne tanke kørte jeg forsigtigt ind i Durban – men med mere spænding end angst. Da jeg var i flyet, læste jeg, at Durban betragtes som Sydafrikas 'mellemste barn', hvor Johannesburg er ambitiøs og fuld af sjæl, og Cape Town er smuk og alles yndling. Durban overses ofte af turister, selvom den også har meget charme. Durban ligger på østkysten og er den største by i KwaZulu-Natal-provinsen og den 3. største by i Sydafrika. Det er en pulserende, multikulturel by og hjemsted for den største containerhavn i Afrika. Med en befolkning på næsten 3,4 millioner mennesker i storbyområdet er Durban også hjemsted for den største befolkning af indere uden for Indien. KwaZulu-Natal (tidligere Natal) er hjemsted for Zululand, en traditionel region i den nordøstlige del af denne provins. Det er her Zulu-folket stammer fra, og hvor deres kongedømme var i 1800-tallet. Durban er også hjemsted for det ikoniske Moses Mabhida Stadium, der blev bygget til Fodbold-VM i 2010. Bygningen dominerer Durbans skyline fra lang afstand og har plads til 56.000 mennesker (kan udvides op til 85.000). Det mest genkendelige ved dette stadion er en 350 meter lang bue, der holder taget oppe. Buen er 106 meter over banen på det højeste sted. De tilbyder en masse forskellige attraktioner: stadionture, Segway-ture, ”adventure walks” (hvor man kan gå op til toppen af ​​buen) og så har de noget, der hedder ”The Big Rush Big Swing”, som vi kommer tilbage til senere. Der er også en Sky Car-sporvognen, der kan tage dig op på toppen af ​​stadionets tag.   EN SNAK MED UDSIGT Efter en kop kaffe hoppede jeg om bord på en Sky Car og op på toppen. Her fik jeg muligheden for at sludre med min guide, Nkonzo. Nkonzo ligger på toppen af ​​stadionbuen med udsigt over det enorme Indiske Ocean og den spredte by Durban, og fortæller mig, hvor langt hans by er kommet i de sidste 10 år. Men der er stadig mange ting, der kræver yderligere udvikling. Som et godt eksempel nævner Nkenzo, at den tidligere præsident, Jacob Zuma blev fjernet fra magten uden vold på gaden.   EN POLITIKER, DER DELER FOLK Lad mig fortælle dig lidt om Jacob Zuma, som blev tvunget til at træde tilbage efter en masse beskyldninger om korruption og en lang retssag, hvor han var beskyldt for voldtægt. Faktisk trak han sig tilbage bare et par uger før jeg indspillede denne podcast-episode. Han var en meget polariserende figur af sydafrikansk politik, selvom han engang var kendt som 'folkets præsident'. Men for mange er Jacob Zumas navn nu synonymt med ordet "korruption". Som teenager blev han en del af ANC (African National Congress) og tilbragte ti år som politisk fange på Robben Island sammen med Nelson Mandela. Efter sin frigivelse steg han i graderne i ​​ANCs militære fløj, Umkhonto weSizwe(Nationens spyd). Han var også en del af forhandlingerne, banede vejen for afskaffelsen af ​​Apartheid i 1994. I 1999 blev han vicepræsident for ANC, men blev hurtigt sparket ud af den daværende præsident Thabo Mbeki efter beskyldninger om korruption i 2005. Disse anklager blev senere henlagt, og som et andet comeback-kid, blev han udnævnt til præsident for Sydafrika fire år senere i 2009. Men hans tid ved magten var ikke uden et antal højt profilerede skandaler. I 2016, mens Zuma stadig var præsident for Sydafrika, sagde Højesteret, at han skulle sigtes for korruption på grund af hans indblanding i en hemmelig regerings-våbenaftale tilbage i 1999. Han stod også over for korruptionsanklager over sit forhold til den magtfulde Gupta-familie. Guptas er en velhavende indiskfødt familie med mange forretningsinteresser i Sydafrika, som har skabt et forretningsimperium, der spænder over computerudstyr, medier og minedrift. Gupta'erne er lige så synonyme med korruption og har været i fokus for omfattende kontrol på grund af deres nære bånd til Jacob Zuma under hans tid som præsident. De blev beskyldt for at have haft en stor indflydelse på sydafrikansk politik, og meget af det var gennem Jacob Zuma. Hans 8-årige tid som præsident anslås at have kostet den sydafrikanske økonomi en billion Rand (ca. 400 milliarder kr.) i korruption og ulovlig handel. Den dag i dag går han stadig ind og ud af retten omkring disse anklager.   PRÆSIDENT OG ... VOLDTÆGTSFORBRYDER? I 2005 blev Zuma tiltalt for at have voldtaget en kvinde i sit hjem og var i retten i flere måneder i begyndelsen af ​​2006. Kvinden, der beskyldte ham, var faktisk blot en ung pige, der var yngre end halvdelen af ​​hans alder, og i øvrigt en datter af en nær ven. Og han vidste, at hun var HIV-positiv. Under retssagen sagde han, at 'selv bad om det, fordi hun var iført en kort nederdel’. Og da blev han spurgt, om han brugte nogen beskyttelse, som han sagde, at havde han ikke gjorde. Derefter sagde han, at han tog han et brusebad for at mindske risikoen for at have fået denne virus. Ja, du læste det rigtigt. Forestil dig, at dette er et land, der kæmper mod en frygtelig HIV/AIDS-epidemi mere end noget andet land i verden, og deres leder siger noget så dumt. Det viste, hvor lidt han ved om overførslen af ​​HIV/AIDS. Hvad der gør dette endnu mere skandaløst er, at Zuma havde været leder af det nationale AIDS-program, i sin tid som næstformand. Denne udtalelse fik Sydafrikas mest berømte politiske tegner, Zapiro, til at tegne et brusebad over Zuma's hoved for at illustrere, hvor dumt dette var. Fra da af blev Zuma altid tegnet sådan i hver eneste Zapiro-tegneserie – og stadig i dag. Selvom han endte med at blive frikendt for voldtægt, ser mange mennesker dette som en åbenlyst uret. Men i løbet af de næste par år blev de voksende korruptionsklager mod ham for meget for hans eget parti, ANC. Det parti, han havde 'tjent' i 60 år, begyndte arbejde på at presse ham til at gå af.   ZUMA MUST FALL I uger trodsede han disse ordrer og viste ingen tegn på, at han ville fratræde, hvilket provokerede den allerede vrede befolkning. Men Zuma endte dog med at tage sit gode tøj og gå – et par uger før mit besøg i Durban. Dagen før mit besøg meddelte den offentlige anklager faktisk, at Zuma ville stå overfor retsforfølgning på 18 anklager om korruption, herunder mere end 700 tilfælde af bedrageri, afpresning og hvidvaskning af penge. Så du kan nok forestille dig, at dette var noget, der dominerede nyhederne, da jeg var i Durban. Og alle snakkede om Zuma ville ende med at skulle i fængsel. Offentligheden gav udtryk for deres mening med dannelsen af ”​Zuma Must Fall-kampagnen, som ikke kun fik national, men også global opmærksomhed.   TILBAGE PÅ TAGET, MED EN UDSIGT TIL FREMTIDEN Nu hvor det politiske støv endnu ikke har lagt sig (Zuma er stadig i retten her i 2020), forsøger lokale som Nkonzo at have en mening om det hele, og hvordan landet har brug for at kigge fremad i stedet for at at dvæle ved fortiden. Han fortæller, at Sydafrika er et land, der stadig har sine udfordringer. Nkonzo er Zulu, den største oprindelige stamme i landet, og Zulu er det mest almindelige sprog, der tales som modersmål af 23% af sydafrikanere (efterfulgt af Xhosa og Afrikaans). Faktisk er engelsk kun det fjerde mest almindelige førstesprog i landet, men det er det dominerende regeringssprog og det, der primært bruges i medierne. Der er ti officielle sprog i Sydafrika og mindst 35 oprindelige stamme sprog. ”Jeg skal være i stand til at tale engelsk for at kunne finde arbejde i dette land, hvilket er svært for mange mennesker, der vokser op fattige uden ordentlig adgang til uddannelse. Mit modersmål er Zulu, så i det land, hvor jeg blev født, har jeg været nødt til at lære et andet sprog for at skabe mig et liv”, siger han. Nkonzo er glad for sit job, men har drømme om andet (end at tale med danske nomader på toppen af ​​ikoniske fodboldstadioner). Han håber at kunne dedikere sit liv til musik som rapper. Nkonzo går under scenenavnet Dat Boy Mreppa og hans er faktisk supergod – døm selv i slutningen af episoden. Opdatering: Jeg talte med Nkonzo i forbindelse med redigeringen af denne episode, og her fortalte han mig, at han er i gang med at indspille et helt album, som udkommer til november i år. Han fortalte mig også, at han vil udgive et par singler inden da, så vær på udkig efter en af ​​Durbans nyeste musikalske talenter. Det er alt for denne episode. I den næste episode hopper jeg af taget af Moses Mabhida Stadium på verdens højeste gyngetur. Gisp…!   TRAVEL MATTERS Hvis du er interesseret i rejseblogging, vil du sikkert også være interesseret i at lytte til TBEX-podcasten, der hedder Travel Matters. Det er en anden podcast, jeg producerer og medvært på, med TBEX-direktør, Rick Calvert. I den seneste episode taler vi med den legendariske rejseskribent Tim Leffel. Tim lavede netop en undersøgelse om, hvornår og hvordan sådan nogen som os, der laver rejseindhold i forskellige medier, begynder at rejse igen – og hvornår destinationer begynder at invitere os igen.   JEG VIL GERNE HØRE FRA DIG Jeg vil virkelig gerne høre fra dig: Hvor er du, og hvad laver du, når du lytter til denne episode? Du kan enten sende mig en e-mail på lytter@radiovagabond.dk eller udfylde formularen på Radiovagabond.dk. Eller ved du hvad der ville være sjovt? Send mig en talebesked via WhatsApp. På den måde kan jeg spille den i næste afsnit. Mit WhatsApp-nummer er +4540105105. Uanset hvad vil jeg meget gerne høre fra dig. Det er fedt at vide, hvem der er på den anden ende af højttaleren.   SPONSOR En særlig tak til min trofaste sponsor, Hotels25.dk, der altid skaffer mig den skarpeste pris på indkvartering, uanset hvor jeg er i verden.

Molweni! Welcome to Part 3 of my epic road trip across beautiful South Africa. In this episode, we pick up where I left off in Part 2, leaving local bungy jumpers at Bloukrans Bridge on my way to Port Elizabeth. But not long after I hit the N2 national highway I made a scheduled stop at one of South Africa's rare gems. The exquisite Tsitsikamma National Park is nestled along the southern coast of South Africa and forms part of the Garden Route National Park. With dramatic coastlines of towering mountains meeting the pulsating tides of the warmer Indian Ocean, this is truly a beautiful place. So, I decided to get out of my car and take a quick hike to explore some of the raw natural scenery. After my hike, I got back into my car and continued towards Port Elizabeth, almost 200km away along the East coast. After a scenic drive, I arrived at my hostel late in the afternoon and after a long day of hiking and driving, I had an early night and decided to take Port Elizabeth by storm the next day. Port Elizabeth is a quaint city with friendly people and a beautiful coastline. It gets rather windy in these parts I am told, so I wore a hat so I wouldn't have a bad hair day!     INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT PORT ELIZABETH Port Elizabeth is in the Nelson Mandela Bay municipal area. It's actually South Africa's second largest city – with regards to its area at least. If you go by the population count – 1.2 million, it's the 5th largest city in the country. The city is nicknamed “PE” by South Africans and is also known as ‘the Friendly City'. The city has 40 km of unspoiled coastline (consisting mostly of beaches). Forget about Route 66 – PE has something they call ‘Route 67'. Spread out around PE, you can experience a collection of 67 artworks symbolising Nelson Mandela's 67 years of work. Although my time in PE was short and sweet, I still managed to come away with a good feeling about the city and its people. In the afternoon I handed my trusty steed (Toyota Corolla) back to the car hire shop and jumped on a flight headed for Durban. Yes, I know that flying is technically ‘cheating' on a road trip, but the distance from PE to Durban is almost 1,000km/12-hour drive. My time here is short, so I made the decision to cut out a few cities and towns along the coast to instead have more time for the last bit towards Johannesburg – and to play around in Durban. And it turned out to be a good decision.   DURBAN, HOME OF THE ZULU I landed at King Shaka International Airport just outside of Durban in the evening, jumped in my hired car (another Toyota Corolla), and made my way to my hostel in the city. Everyone here dispenses with friendly reminders and warnings about driving cars in South Africa at night. For instance, a few people told me that if I get to a red robot (they call traffic lights ‘robots' here for some reason) at night, and if nobody is around, I should just drive through. Why? Because hijacking is common in South Africa, and when your car is stationary at a red light is when potential hijackers take chances. With that sobering thought, I cautiously entered the city of Durban - but with more excitement than intimidation. While on the plane, I read that Durban is considered South Africa's ‘middle child', with Johannesburg being ambitious and soulful, and Cape Town is picture-perfect and the apple of everyone's eye, and Durban, despite many charms, is often overlooked by tourists.  Durban, the biggest city in the KwaZulu-Natal province and the 3rd largest city in South Africa, is situated on the Eastern coast of the country. It is a vibrant, multicultural city and home to the largest container port in Africa. With a population of almost 3.4 million people in the metro area, Durban is also home to the largest population of Indian people outside of India.  KwaZulu-Natal is home to Zululand, a traditional region in the north-eastern section of present-day KwaZulu-Natal (formerly Natal) province. It is the home of the Zulu people and is the site of their 19th-century kingdom.  Durban is also home to the majestic Moses Mabhida Stadium, the city's iconic soccer stadium built for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, dominates the Durban skyline from afar. The stadium has a capacity for 56,000 people (expandable up to 85,000) and the most recognisable thing about this stadium is the arch. It's a 350-meter (1,148 ft) long arch that holds up the roof of the stadium. The top of the arch rises to 106 meters (348 ft) above the pitch. They offer a lot of different attractions when you visit: stadium tours, Segway tours, adventure walks (where you walk up to the top of the arch), and they also have The Big Rush Big Swing and the Sky Car tram that takes you to the top of the icon rooftop arch of the stadium.    ROOFTOP CHATS WITH A VIEW After a cup of coffee, I jumped in the Sky Car and made my way to the summit. Here, I got to chat more with my guide, Nkonzo. Perched at the top of the stadium arch overlooking the vast Indian Ocean and sprawling city of Durban, Nkonzo tells me about how far his city has come in the last 10 years. But there are still many things that require further development. As a good example, Nkenzo mentions that the former president, Jacob Zuma was removed from power without violence in the street.   POLARISING POLITICS Let me tell you a bit about Jacob Zuma, the former president of South Africa, who was forced to resign his presidency under a cloud of corruption and a lengthy rape trial. In fact, he resigned just a few weeks before I recorded this podcast episode.  A deeply polarising figure of South African politics, he was once known as ‘the people's president' but for many, Jacob Zuma's name has now become synonymous with the word “corruption”. As a teenager, he joined the ANC (African National Congress) and spent ten years as a political prisoner on Robben Island, alongside Nelson Mandela. After his release, he rose through the ranks of the ANC's military wing, Umkhonto weSizwe (Spear of the Nation). He was a part of the negotiations that brought the end of Apartheid in 1994. In 1999, he became Deputy President of the ANC but was soon kicked out of office by then-president Thabo Mbeki over allegations of corruption in 2005. These charges were later dropped, and like any comeback kid, he eventually became president of South Africa only four years later in 2009. But his presidency was not without a number of high-profile scandals. In 2016, while Zuma was still president of South Africa, the High Court ruled that he should face corruption charges over his involvement in a secret government arms deal back in 1999. He also faced corruption charges over his relationship with the politically shady and powerful Gupta family. The Guptas are a wealthy Indian-born family with numerous business interests in South Africa, forming a clandestine business empire spanning computer equipment, media, and mining. The Gupta's are just as synonymous with corruption and have been the focus of widespread scrutiny because of their close ties to Jacob Zuma during his presidency. They were accused of having a big influence over politics in South Africa, and a lot of that was through Jacob Zuma.   During his 8-year rule as president of the newfound democracy of South Africa, it is estimated to have cost the South African economy R1 trillion (approximately $60 billion) in corruption and illicit dealings, and to this day he is still going in and out of court to face these charges.   PRESIDENT AND... RAPIST? In 2005, Zuma was charged with raping a woman in his home and stood trial for several months in early 2006.  The woman accusing him was a girl less than half his age and a daughter of a close friend – and he knew she was HIV positive. During the trial he said that ‘she was wearing a short skirt and was asking for it'. And then he was asked if he used any protection, to which he said that he didn't. Then, he said that after having the supposedly ‘consensual' sex with the victim he took a shower to lessen his chances of contracting the virus. Yes, you read that correctly. Imagine that, this is a country battling a terrible HIV/AIDS epidemic more than any other country, and their leader says something this dumb. It showed how little he knows about the transmission of HIV/AIDS. What makes this even more outrageous is that Zuma was the Head of the National AIDS Program when he was deputy president. This stupidity made South Africa's most famous political cartoonist, Zapiro, sketch a showerhead over Zuma's head to illustrate just how stupid this was. From then on, Zuma was depicted like this in every single Zapiro cartoon - even to this day.  Although he ended up getting acquitted from the rape charges, many people see this as blatant injustice. But, over the next few years the mounting corruption charges against him became too much for his own party, which he ‘served' for 60 years, and so they began nudging him out of office.    ZUMA MUST FALL For weeks he defied those orders, showing no indication that he will resign which further infuriated the already-angered public. But sanity prevailed soon enough, and Zuma got his marching orders – a few weeks before my visit to Durban. Actually, the day before my visit the Director of Public Prosecutions announced that Zuma was facing prosecution for 18 charges of corruption, including more than 700 counts of fraud, racketeering, and money laundering. So, as you can imagine this was all over the news when I was in Durban. And everyone was speculating if Zuma would go to jail. The public made their opinions known with the formation of the Zuma Must Fall campaign which garnered not only national but global attention.   BACK TO THE ROOF, WITH A VIEW OF THE FUTURE Now that the political dust has somewhat settled (although Zuma is still being summoned to courtrooms to face corruption charges), locals like Nkonzo are trying to make sense of it all, and how the country needs to surge forward rather than dwell on the past. He tells me South Africa is a country that still has its challenges. But what does that look like on an individual level?  Nkonzo is Zulu, the largest indigenous tribe in the country with Zulu being the most common language spoken as a first language by 23% of South Africans (followed by Xhosa, and Afrikaans). In fact, English is only the fourth most common first language in the country but is the dominant language in government and the media. There are ten official languages in South Africa and at least thirty-five indigenous languages. “I have to be able to speak English to be able to find employment in this country. Which is difficult for many people who grow up poor without access to education. My mother-tongue is Zulu. So, in the country of my birth I have had to learn a different language in order to make my way” he says. But Nkonzo has bigger dreams than speaking to Danish nomads on top of iconic football stadiums. He hopes to dedicate his life to music as a rapper. Nkonzo goes by the stage name Dat Boy Mreppa and his rhymes are tight!  Update: After recently catching up with Nkonzo, he told me that he's in the process of recording a full album that will be released in November of this year. He also told me that he will be dropping a few singles before then so be on the lookout for one of Durban's freshest musical talents.  That's all for this episode. In the next episode, I jump off the roof of the Moses Mabhida Stadium on the world's tallest swing. Yikes!    TRAVEL MATTERS If you are interested in travel blogging and other content creation about travel, you might be interested in listening to the TBEX podcast called Travel Matters. It's another podcast I produce and co-host with TBEX CEO, Rick Calvert.  In the latest episode, we have legendary travel writer Tim Leffel on the show. Tim recently just did a survey about when and how travel content creators will start travelling again – and when destinations are going to start hosting us again.    I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! I really would like to hear from you. Where are you and what are you doing as you listen to this episode? You can either send me an email on listener@theradiovagabond.com or go to my brand new website TheRadioVagabond.com. Or you know what would be fun? Send me a voicemail on WhatsApp and I can play it on the next episode. My WhatsApp number is +4540105105. Either way, I would love to hear from you. It's so nice to know who's on the other end of this…    SPONSOR A special thank you to my sponsor, Hotels25.com, who always provide me with the best, most affordable accommodation wherever I am in the world.

In this episode with Colleen Michaelis and James McClenahan we discuss Shatterproof which has become a National Force for families who are dealing with addiction and need help and support.Colleen talks about her experience with Shatterproof last year and the incredible support their family received after their sons Tommy McClenahans death. In 4 1/2 weeks they raised over $ 11.000 and were the second largest fundraiser for Shatterproof in Dallas. Parents, students and teachers of the school Colleen teaches at, as well as many friends participated.The speakers at the event had a humongous impact on the kids and several 5th graders did their year end projects on addiction. Colleen is proud that they are spreading the word in little bits and pieces. Colleen spoke to a book club about Dopesick and tells us that none of the parents knew the link from hydrocodone to heroin. She was also interviewed by the Dallas Morning News about the Han Gil hotel after it was raided. Rick Calvert the federal prosecutor came out to speak to everyone in Coppell, TX about this situation. The Han Gil, once a nursing home and then a hellhole off Royal Lane only blocks from Herbert Marcus Elementary, was a place where meth and coke were manufactured and sold. Where women were trafficked. Where people were beaten, burned and shot. Where young men and women overdosed, their corpses dumped in faraway locations.Even though there is no proof that Tommy was ever at this hotel, but the story is important to get out how disruptive and awful addiction is.The Coppell Police contacted Rick Calvert because 3 kids from Coppell died and the drugs were traced back to the Han Gil Hotel. When it got raided 80 % of the license plates of the cars there were from Coppell. The district got a lot of backlash when Rick Calvert came to speak because it made a lot of people uncomfortable. Parents were upset that now their children would know where to go to get drugs. Colleen says No - now they are armed with the knowledge where to stay away from.She tells us how she talks to as many students possible and how she was interviewed by Michael Molthan from M2 The Rock and he came out on Team Tommy Day and how incredibly powerful and special that was.We learn that now the drug dealer gets charged with manslaughter if someone dies of an overdose. Colleen tells us when she personally met Nic and David Scheff from the movie Beautiful Boy. She got to tell them about Tommy and their mission to end the stigma.Colleen highly recommends that every child from the ages of 12 on and their parents read the book "HIGH" Everything you want to know about drugs, alcohol and addiction. If we educate kids they are going to be armed with information when they are faced with the decision. Colleen wants every school district to adopt this book for mandatory reading. 97% of heroin users started with a prescription medication, which was either prescribed to them, or taken from a friend or someones medicine cabinet. Colleen shows us her new tattoo and reads us a letter she just found that Tommy wrote to her when he was 19 years old and in his first rehab treatment center. It is beyond powerful and Colleen is so incredibly brave to share this letter with everyone. She wants other parents going through this to know that it is not their fault and not to let guilt consume them. We are in awe of Colleen and James's special friendship and how they have managed to support each other through the worst of times as ex spouses. Colleen says that everyone wants someone to blame, yet that is not going to bring Tommy back.Colleen is very thankful to all the people that have allowed her to speak, their family and friends, their community and her school district. She is happy to say that we as a nation are becoming more aware. You can find Colleen on facebook under Colleen Michaelis and on instagram under coll727.

In this episode of Travel Matters, Rick Calvert talks to Michael Collins from TravelMedia.ie. TravelMedia.ie is a full service public relations, marketing, events, communications and travel trade representation company, founded in 2006, and managed by Michael Collins. The company is one of Europe’s leading travel media companies – specialising in PR, events, media buying, strategic advice, industry consultancy, digital communications and social media within the travel industry for both trade and consumer – delivering measurable results for clients. Watch Michael's conversation with Sante J Achille about advanced SEO and structured data by clicking here. Travel Matters is hosted by Rick Calvert, CEO of TBEX and Palle Bo, The Radio Vagabond and produced by RadioGuru.

Welcome to the second episode of Travel Matters.  Rick Calvert and Palle Bo talk about TBEX North America 2019 in Billings, Montana. How did it go, and how was it different than previous events? Rick reveals that there were more older people than usual.   TIPS FOR FIRST TIMERS There were many new faces again this year, and we talk to Kerwin McKenzie who did a pre-session for TBEX first-timers.  Kerwin is an Amazon.com #1 best selling author, speaker, and ex-airline employee who travels on average over 250,000 miles a year. He writes up-to-date airport, destination and ground transportation guides plus airline flight and hotel reviews with a mission to motivate airline employees to use their travel benefits at Passrider.com. He’s flown 176 airlines and visited 125 countries and teaches travelers how to be loyal to travel brands at Cruisinaltitude.com and shares 365 unfamiliar destinations at UnfamiliarDestinations.com. Kerwin has been to 17 TBEXs, and he knows that going to a conference like this one is all about the network and building relationships, so one of Kerwin’s advice was always to sit next to someone you don’t know.    CREATOR OF THE MONTH In this episode, we feature Lauren from Misadventures of an Outdoorsy Diva. Hear her story, what she does, and how she works with brands in this episode. We also talk about her podcast and how SEO has helped her blog after taking a course with Gemma and Laura of MakeTrafficHappen.com.    PAID OR TRADE? Angie Orth did a session on how to work with brands called “Paid or Trade? When (and How Much) to Pay Influencers for Content.”  Angie is a recovering agency publicist with more than 15 years in the marketing industry and 13 years as an award-winning content creator. She created AngieAway.com to chronicle a yearlong round-the-world trip that accidentally became a career. She currently produces and co-hosts The Jet Sisters, a video series focusing on Millennial travel. At the closing party, we talked to the two Jet Sisters, Angie, and Rachel.  Angie wrote a fascinating blog post called “The 17 Essential Commandments of Influencer Marketing” that you should read.    In the next episode, we talk to Michael Collins from TravelMedia.ie. Travel Matters is hosted by Rick Calvert, CEO of TBEX and Palle Bo, The Radio Vagabond and produced by RadioGuru.

This is the first episode of Travel Matters, the official podcast from TBEX. Here we introduce the two hosts, Rick Calvert, CEO of TBEX and Palle Bo, The Radio Vagabond.  We also speak to Travel Camel, Shane Dallas, conference director of TBEX Europe about what is coming up on the conference in Catania, Sicily, Italy in March 2020.  And of course a bit about the upcoming event, TBEX North America in Billings Montana this week.    Travel Matters is produced by RadioGuru.  

DANSK UDGAVE: Søg efter “Radiovagabond” (ét ord). We take a small break from the regular travel podcasts to bring you another interview with an interesting person in the travel media industry.  So if you're interested in the nomadic lifestyle and thinking of becoming a travel blogger, YouTuber or travel podcaster, you might find this interesting. Palle Bo: "Rick, you're the head honcho of this game." Rick Calvert: "Grand poobah, is what we like to call it. Palle Bo: "How long time have you been with the TBEX. Because it wasn't from the very beginning, as far as I understand." Rick Calvert: "Since 2012, when we bought TBEX. I actually started another event before that, called "Blog World" in 2007. So I've been actively involved in blogs since 2000, with travel blogs since 2007 and with TBEX since 2012." Palle Bo: "What's your background? How did you get into the whole game of travel blogging?" Rick Calvert: "I was a conference organizer. It was my job, I've done really really big events like a hundred thousand people. I used to work for a place; you may have heard of, called Comic Con. And I was a political blogger. I started a blog about politics, and this was again very early days, there weren't a lot of people doing that, and I wanted to go to a blogging show, and it didn't exist. So I started doing the research, and I'm like 'oh people would go to that?' And I created what we called Blog World. But we knew from the very beginning we identified these different segments that would be really important and political blogs was one of them and travel blogs were one of them. And we had a track for travel at Blog World. But Kim it started TBEX. And she's a travel blogger. So all the travel bloggers were going to TBEX. And in 2012 it was Gary Arndt the told me you should talk to Kim. You know I think Kim wants to sell TBEX and that's when we got involved." Palle Bo: And in recent years a few other similar or somewhat similar conferences have propped up...". Rick Calvert: "Imitators we call them." Palle Bo: "Do you see them as competitors or just extra angles on what you're doing?" Rick Calvert: "There are there's no other event that's the size of TBEX, that has the history of TBEX, that has the breadth of education is TBEX. So no, in that way no. Of course, there's always competition. You can only take so many trips a year, you've only got so much time. So yes that's competition. But we're friends with all those people and a lot of them got their start at TBEX." Palle Bo: "I didn't get the memo, that you can only do so many a year. I think I'm doing four this years. Plus two Nomadic Cruises. Yeah, I'm going all in this year. I don't know exactly how that happened. But for people who've never been to a TBEX, can you describe what goes on? It takes place in two days." Rick Calvert: "Yes, the conferences two days. You know, it's education. We have breakout sessions, some keynotes like today with Cory Lee was an incredible inspiration. And then there's speed networking where there are business meetings between the bloggers and the DMOs and the brands and very short eight minutes sit-downs. Who are you? What do you do? Do we have a good fit? Yes. Great, let's talk later. No. Nice to meet you. See you later. So you're not wasting time. And then there are trips that happened before the conference that the tourist board organizes, there are trips that happen after the conference of the tourist board organizes and then people apply to go on those different trips so people are on average for a TBEX attendee at a destination is ten days for the two-day conference. And obviously, a lot of people do stuff on their own. So like maybe you're planning a trip to New York already, said I'm coming there for TBEX, and I'll go to Niagara Falls while I'm there or whatever else." Palle Bo: "And there are around, as far as I know, 700 attendees?" Rick Calvert: "650." Palle Bo: "Is that is that the biggest?". Rick Calvert: "No, it's the biggest in North America in a couple of years now, were sold out. We couldn't have any more people here, and you can see how busy it is. Toronto was the biggest ever. That was 1200. But that was a bunch of Canadians because we were in a really big city and that was when everybody like just went "TBEX Crazy" that year too. But everybody said it was too big. So we've never wanted it to be that big again. We like this size. 650 is a good size." Palle Bo: I remember my very first travel bloggers conference was in Stockholm a week into my travel. And I thought "oh my god, I'm with my people." And since then I've been traveling fulltime, and now I'm one of the old guys here." Rick Calvert: "That's right. You're one of the grandfathers of travel podcasting". Palle Bo: How do you see the whole industry evolving from where we were five years ago, and where are we going?" Rick Calvert: "Well the first thing is that more creators are making a real living. There are a lot more people being successful that way. So that is fantastic. A lot more tourist boards and brands understanding the value and really wanting to work with them. By the same token, there are more new people all the time who are inexperienced and really don't know what to do. We help teach them and obviously that's a big challenge for tourist boards to figure out, who are the right people to work with. Even if a blogger is new doesn't mean they're not good. And so how do you determine if this person has good content and then that content is a good fit for my brand. And again that's kind of what we teach people here. It's not always the biggest numbers that are the most important thing". Palle Bo: "Right. Mike Huxley said that as well in the in the panel debate, and he was actually on one of the episodes, I did in TBEX Ostrava, talking about the whole thing that you should put a price and you should sell yourself. You shouldn't just take a free trip even though you only have maybe 5000 visits a month on your site." Rick Calvert: "Yes, Mike is one of those people, that are pushing in that direction is just for professionalism in the space, and I would say as a whole, that travel bloggers are far more professional than they were five years ago, and that will continue to happen. And the travel brands have a more of a system of measuring "who do I work with, how do I measure it, was it was a good deal for us in the end." So I think, that professionalism on both sides is continuing to improve." Palle Bo: "You get to travel a lot for these events as well. But you're not a travel blogger. But I'm curious to know, where are you going next year." Rick Calvert: "Haha, everybody wants to know...". Palle Bo: "I remember actually in Ostrava in the Czech Republic, we shared a taxi, and I was pushing us, and you said it was very close to being published and I still don't know where we're going." Rick Calvert: "It's still very close for Europe. We are going to announce North America tomorrow. So yeah. And Europe any day. Any day. And I'll tell you this is a country where they like to do things slowly. So that's why it hasn't been announced yet.". Palle Bo: "Is it a place where they say Manana." Rick Calvert: "Haha. It's not Spain. I can tell you that it's not Spain. Although we love Spain and in particular we love Costa Brava Catalonia." Palle Bo: "But we also like Greece?". Rick Calvert: "Love Greece. I'll tell you, this it's a country we haven't been to yet. It's a country and western Europe. So there's a couple of tips. Palle Bo: "OK. Interesting. It's, but it's already been announced that we're going to Zimbabwe sometime next year." Rick Calvert: "Yes. There is a conference going on in Zimbabwe right now while we're here. So you know. They had a government change - a coup basically, then an election which went well - as well as you could expect to think. But we're actually dealing with a private group in Zimbabwe called Rise Zimbabwe, not the government. This is a collection of hotel owners and tour operators who do business in Africa that are working out the logistics of hosting TBEX.". Palle Bo: "Rick, it's always a pleasure, thank you." I can reveal that the next TBEX North America is going to be in Billings Montana in September 2019.   Next Monday there'll be another episode from North Carolina where attend the Greensboro Pride and speak to a transgender woman and meet a guy with a cross trying to preach that being gay is a sin.  All this and much more next Monday. And next Friday you'll get another interview with a guy in the Travel Media Industry.  His name is Shane Dallas and calls himself The Travel Camel. He is the conference of TBEX Europe and the guy that booked me to speak about travel podcasting at the conference in Ostrava, the Czech Republic not that long ago.    Visit TBEX by clicking here.

ENGLISH: Go to TheRadioVagabond.com   Vi tager lige en lille pause fra de normale rejse podcasts for at give dig endnu et interview med en interessant person i rejsemedie industrien.  Så hvis du er interesseret i nomade livsstilen og måske drømmer om at komme til at leve af at rejse, er dette en episode for dig.  Jeg kan hermed afsløre, hvad Rick ikke kunne da vi talte sammen: Den næste TBEX North America bliver afholdt i Billings Montana i september 2019.   Næste mandag er der endnu en episode fra North Carolina, hvor jeg deltager i Greensboro Pride og taler med en transseksuel kvinde og møder en fyr med et stort kors, der prædker, at det er en synd at være homoseksuel. Og på fredag er der endnu et interview. Denne gang møder jeg Shane Dallas, The Travel Camel, der er konference direktør for TBEX Europe - og faktisk ham, der hyrede mig til at tale om podcasting på konferencen i Tjekkiet fornylig.

From 2009: I love a good tradeshow. There’s something about all the people with common interests, gathered together in one location, eating overpriced, stale concessions while trading information and experiences, attending educational seminars, gossiping about their industry… That’s why I’m hoping that come October 2009, I’ll be one of the thousands in Las Vegas attending BlogWorld & New Media Expo.

TBEX is the world's largest gathering of travel bloggers and other social media travel industry pros. CEO Rick Calvert shares how TBEX began and why it is the most talked about event in the industry.

Welcome to Unlocked, the official podcast of Nancy Drew games by HeR Interactive. Voice-over artist Rick Calvert joins host Tammy Tuckey to discuss "Secrets Can Kill" and more!Visit us: http://www.herinteractive.comFollow us: http://twitter.com/HerInteractive'Like' us: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nancy-Drew-PC-Games/48636754130?ref=nfWatch us: http://www.youtube.com/user/HerInteractiveGamesJoin us: http://www.twitch.tv/nancy_drew_games

Click to Download Welcome the the first episode of Because of My Podcast. Its a podcast where people finish the sentence, because of my podcast_____. Today you're going to hear my story. I had been podcasting for 10 years. My background is in training, and I've been helping people understand technology and software for over 20 years. The current director of podcasting for the New Media Expo had stepped down and they needed a new one.  Behind the scenes, the man (Rick Calvert) that ran the New Media Expo approached Libsyn. Libsyn is a podcast media hosting and their VP of Podcast Relations knows everybody in the space. So when Rick asked Rob who he thought might be a good fit, Rob answered, "What do you think about Dave Jackson." Rick then went to Blubrry and spoke to their CEO and asked him for some names. Todd answered, "What do you think about Dave Jackson?". Rick then went to Spreaker and spoke with Rob Greenlee. What did Rob say? You guessed it, "What do you think about Dave Jackson?' How did these podcasting companies know me? Because they all listened to my podcast. The podcast positioned me as an expert. It allowed me to show I was competent, and it also allowed me to interview all of them in the past and start building a relationship. So why start a podcast? Be seen as an expert Establish relationships Next Episode Corey Fineran from the Ivy Envy Podcast thought his podcast was being shut down, but it turned out to be something completely different. Ready to Start Podcasting? Check out the School of Podcasting where you can find step by step tutorials, live Q& A coaching, and a private Facebook Group for networking.

These days, podcasting has many best practices. But podcasting is an open medium, not governed by any single person or entity. So, while following best practices can be helpful, do you ever take advantage of podcasting's openness and challenge the status quo? What does the status quo, as far as podcasting is concerned, look like? Join +Ray Ortega,+Daniel J. Lewis +David Jackson +Harry Duran and +Rick Calvert to discuss going beyond normalcy. You can subscribe to the podcast only RSS mailing list to get new Rounds delivered to your inbox automatically. Read the chat from this Round. Sign up to appear on a future Podcasters' Roundtable! Thanks and I can't wait to see you on a future Roundtable! Subscribe to Podcasters' Roundtable

Subscribe on iTunes SHOW NOTES: www.5dollarplanet.com/014 In the Rick Calvert episode: Head honcho for 2 of the largest trade shows in the business: NMX (New Media Expo) and TBEX (Travel Bloggers Exchange),  Rick gives us his insider tips on succeeding in the world of new media and cutting through the noise of an overcrowded online space. Feature Topics in this episode:  Why going to conferences is so important for business success Is new media better than traditional media? What are TBEX & NMX and why they could benefit you Why new media is interactive and inclusive How to network with people who are bigger than you How to cut through the "noise" of other online content Will there ever be a day when newbies simply can't rank on google? Content is king but community is queen Why TV is on its last legs Why friendly blogging communities are about to become enemies Is Organic reach on Facebook over? OR tweet suggestions to @5dollartravel or #5dollarplanet  Quotes: [tweetthis]In New Media content is King but community is Queen - Rick Calvert[/tweetthis] [tweetthis]Don't use content to market your blog. Create content & market that content.[/tweetthis] Weblinks from Rick Calvert Episode World Nomads Insurance - Specifically designed for digital nomads, flashpackers, adventure & long term Travellers - Get a 5% Discount with our coupon code: WN5DP Trusted Housesitters.com - Use discount code 5DP to get a 15% discount on membership How to become a housesitting pro in just 3 months. TBEX - The Largest Travel bloggers event in the world. NMX - Join the Media Revolution MONDAY TOOL: Onecardme.com - Digital Business card site Mentions: Cracked - B.S. News Stories   Odesk - Find Freelancers   Scott Eddy   Coach Deb Cole - Marketing Director NMX & TBEX Events   Deb Ng - NMX grateful dead reference - Your Right, It's Not the Same   Mark Cuban - American businessman, investor, and owner of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, Landmark Theatres, and Magnolia Pictures, and the chairman of the HDTV cable network AXS   Mark Burnett - Television producer and CEO of United Artists Media Group   Tom Webster - CVP of Strategy, Edison Research. Consumer insights, social media data and folksy analogies.   Chris Brogan - American author, journalist, marketing consultant, and speaker about social media marketing   Pat Flynn - leader in the areas of online entrepreneurship, digital marketing, and lifestyle businesses   Steel Panther - Kickass hair metal band that Tommo & Megsy Loooove!   Travel Massive - connects thousands of travel insiders to meet, learn and collaborate at free events all around the world.

Do you feel that you podcasting may be too hard, or complicated? Do you feel that nobody would listen? Are you nervous? Maybe a little scared? Well today we are going to talk you off the ledge. It's Time To Get Uncomfortable I've been appointed as the Director of Podcasting at the new media expo. This means I will help choose who speaks at the New Media Expo in April of 2015. This is a huge opportunity. It's also kind of scary. This means someone who really wants to speak won't get to, and I'm going to disappoint them. It also means I will get to meet a whole bunch of people, and get additional insights into podcasting, blogging, video, and more. It's a huge opportunity for me, and I'm blessed to be chosen. Today I walk you through stepping out the boat of comfort and why its a good thing to be scared and uncomfortable. We don't like to move when we are comfortable, but life is moving fast, and if we don't move we are actually going backwards in some instances. So I share some things that I was scared and had to work through. As a teenager I was very shy around strangers. My mother died when I was 24 and I had to go tell my Grandma she had outlived her child I had to work my way though college. It took twice as long, but I got my degree. I spent myself into bankruptcy trying to have a child with my first wife. Later we divorced. These are hard things to push through, but you come out better on the other side. Sometimes we need to ask, "What is the worst thing that could happen? When you get a dog, you're not tihnking, "Hey someday in the future we are all going to be sad," but its true. The pros outweigh the cons. Do I dread telling people they didn't get accepted? Sure. You have to take the good with the bad. For me, the benefits of podcasting outweigh the negative. Special thanks to Rob Walch (libsyn.com), Todd Cochrane (Blubrry.com) Rob Greenlee (podcastone.com) for recommending me to Rick Calvert of the New Media Expo.    Last 5 in 5 With Lou Mongello [15:47] Today we get some podcast recommendations from Lou Mongello who produces the WDW Radio podcast (A great podcast about Walt Disney World). I interviewed Lou back on the Power of Podcasting podcast that told his story about how he left his job as a lawyer and now does podcasting full time. Here are the last five podcast Lou listened to.   The Podcast Report From Paul Colligan Starve the Doubts by Jared Easley Podcast Answer Man - Cliff Ravenscraft Smart Passive Income - Pat Flynn Social Media Examiner - Michael Stelzner Saving For Events Going to events is a great way to fast forward your networking and knowledge. It can add up when you start thinking about travel expenses in addition to the price of attendance. One way is to look at your bank and see if they have a savings plan that will automatically move money into an account for you. I Use CaptialOne 360 (which actually lets you earn interest) and once a month it transfers money from my "normal" checking account into the online account. By using an account that you don't look at you are less likely to spend it. Mike Russel Launches Audio Producter Masters [20:34] Mike Russel of Music Radio Creative (the people behind my intro singers), has released a book on Adobe Audition in addition to an online community. The community has great tutorials as well as each month you get cool sound files for music beds, swishes, zaps, etc. Check it out at www.audioproductionmasters.com/sop If you're more of a reader he has also released a new kindle book filled with his massive knowledge of Adobe Audition.   Over Coffee Podcast Appearance [24:00] I was interviewed by Dott on the Over Coffee podcast. Check it out Cleveland Podcasters Meetup [26:32] If you plan on doing your own meetup, be sure to provide food, and have an agenda. The good news is there is no better way to connect then face to face. It was awesome to see everyone. FREE PIZZA (Because of My Podcast Part Two) Steve Stewart was in town so we went out for Pizza, and how weird was it that Philip Keller of the Blind Faith Live podcast. We had our own little meetup, and Phillip left. When we went to pay for our bill Phillip had already taken care of or bill. How cool is that? It was great to have two of my favorite people meet each other. Check out Phillip's show at www.blindfaithlive.com (real people, real miracles) also check out Steve at www.moneyplansos.com

Leave us feedback at 1-412-573-1934 or our SpeakPipe Page! Email us! thefeed@libsyn.com Quick Episode Summary: Intro :13 Promo 1: The Primal Scream Podcast 3:13 On the Libsyn Blog 3:41 Promo 2: The Independent Podcast 6:20 News, Feedback and other things 6:54 Voice Feedback from Dave Jackson 7:11 Snippet from the Adam Carolla Podcast about the patent troll 10:10 Promo 3: Random JB Musings 15:12 Rob and Rick Calvert 15:50 When is NMX? The purchase of the Podcast Awards and what does that mean? When the voting for the Podcast Awards will officially begin. NMX is now in April - and why that's the coolest thing ever. “It's geek heaven” says Rick Calvert If you are interested in speaking at NMX, submissions are open! There will be some incredible podcasting gear exhibitors at NMX The fundamental shift in mindset between NAB & NMX and why new media producers need to attend. When it comes to the Podcast Awards - how is the voting going to be done this year? We ask Rick! RICK wants feedback from YOU! New track leader for the Podcast Awards is….? Some personal history from Rob and Rick about days of old and why being at live events is super important. How you can be an ambassador for podcasting. Conclusion 42:04 Featured Podcast Promos + Audio The Primal Scream Podcast The Independent Podcast Random JB Musings Newest Articles on the Libsyn Blog and Podcasting Links Rockin' Libsyn Podcasts: The Special Mouse Podcast Rockin' Libsyn Podcasts: Hearts and Laserbeams Rich Eisen, Eric Stonestreet and Mike August on the Adam Carolla Show The School of Podcasting Speakpipe Amateur Traveler wins Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Competition! HELP US SPREAD THE WORD! We'd love it if you could please share #TheFeed with your twitter followers. Click here to post a tweet! If you dug this episode head on over to iTunes and kindly leave us a rating, a review and subscribe! Ways to subscribe to The Feed: The Official Libsyn Podcast Click here to subscribe via iTunes Click here to subscribe via RSS You can also subscribe via Stitcher FEEDBACK + PROMOTION You can ask your questions, make comments and create a segment about podcasting for podcasters! Let your voice be heard. Download the FREE The Feed App for iOS and Android (you can send feedback straight from within the app) Call 412 573 1934 Email thefeed@libsyn.com Use our SpeakPipe Page!

Leave us feedback at 1-412-573-1934 or our SpeakPipe Page! Email us! thefeed@libsyn.com Quick Episode Summary: Intro :13 Promo 1: The Primal Scream Podcast 3:13 On the Libsyn Blog 3:41 Promo 2: The Independent Podcast 6:20 News, Feedback and other things 6:54 Voice Feedback from Dave Jackson 7:11 Snippet from the Adam Carolla Podcast about the patent troll 10:10 Promo 3: Random JB Musings 15:12 Rob and Rick Calvert 15:50 When is NMX? The purchase of the Podcast Awards and what does that mean? When the voting for the Podcast Awards will officially begin. NMX is now in April - and why that's the coolest thing ever. “It's geek heaven” says Rick Calvert If you are interested in speaking at NMX, submissions are open! There will be some incredible podcasting gear exhibitors at NMX The fundamental shift in mindset between NAB & NMX and why new media producers need to attend. When it comes to the Podcast Awards - how is the voting going to be done this year? We ask Rick! RICK wants feedback from YOU! New track leader for the Podcast Awards is….? Some personal history from Rob and Rick about days of old and why being at live events is super important. How you can be an ambassador for podcasting. Conclusion 42:04 Featured Podcast Promos + Audio The Primal Scream Podcast The Independent Podcast Random JB Musings Newest Articles on the Libsyn Blog and Podcasting Links Rockin' Libsyn Podcasts: The Special Mouse Podcast Rockin' Libsyn Podcasts: Hearts and Laserbeams Rich Eisen, Eric Stonestreet and Mike August on the Adam Carolla Show The School of Podcasting Speakpipe Amateur Traveler wins Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Competition! HELP US SPREAD THE WORD! We'd love it if you could please share #TheFeed with your twitter followers. Click here to post a tweet! If you dug this episode head on over to iTunes and kindly leave us a rating, a review and subscribe! Ways to subscribe to The Feed: The Official Libsyn Podcast Click here to subscribe via iTunes Click here to subscribe via RSS You can also subscribe via Stitcher FEEDBACK + PROMOTION You can ask your questions, make comments and create a segment about podcasting for podcasters! Let your voice be heard. Download the FREE The Feed App for iOS and Android (you can send feedback straight from within the app) Call 412 573 1934 Email thefeed@libsyn.com Use our SpeakPipe Page!

Our guest today is the CEO and Co-founder of New Media Expo, so quite frankly I could have called him the Godfather of Podcasting and blogging. So I better be good on this episode, no pressure there then! Although an obvious entrepreneur in heart it wasnt always the case. He has been involved in the trade show industry since 1996 serving as sales manager and director of sales for three of Tradeshow Week's top 200 events.But his interest in blogging and online content really hit home during the explosion of the political blogosphere around the 2000 election season.Seeing content come online day after day, minute by minute, feeding comment and discussion worldwide, he knew that the future was all around us and it was time to get going himself.However every guest on “Join Up Dots” have found their path in life after a period of transition, and quite often it will be a lot longer coming than they probably would have considered was necessary looking back, and it seems to be the case here too.As even though he saw the positives, and excitement that new media could offer in 2000, he was finally inspired to launch his own blog in October of 2005.And it was a great success, even though he claims it was “unexpected success” and with his political blog gaining more and more ground online, he began searching for the blogging tradeshow to link it with. Amazingly he realized no such event existed, so he and his business partner Dave launched BlogWorld & New Media Expo in Las Vegas in November of 2007, and it went onto attract 1,600 attendees straight away.He had found his path and had started joining up those dots.So how did he do it?How did he manage to create something that was literally an overnight success? And more importantly, why did it take him so long to get started on the path to success that he was so obviously made for? Well lets find out as I introduce to you, the one and only Rick Calvert.  

This Week in Travel - Travel News Podcast. This episode was recorded live at NMX (New Media Expo).Regular hosts Gary Arndt, Jen Leo and Chris Christensen are joined by this week's guests:• Spud Hilton of the San Francisco Chronicle• Lou Mongello of the WDW Radio Podcast• Mary Jo Manzaranes and Rick Calvert from TBEX and NMX• Gary Bembridge, from Tips for Travelers and Better Blogger’s Podcast

This week Lon and Tim are joined by Rick Calvert, CEO of New Media Expo. Rick talks about the history of the annual gathering of independent content producers and how it's helped those producers grow their businesses. That plus the week's content news and a discussion on international monetization.

Enjoy this special peek into the New Media Expo provided by Rick Calvert! Rick co-founded BlogWorld and New Media Expo in 2007, and our host Chris Curran is looking forward to attending this year’s Expo in Las Vegas, NV on Jan. 4-6th 🙂 We discussed the extremely high caliber of attendees – actual influencers in the […]

Rick Calvert is the CEO and co-founder of NMX (the artist formerly known as Blogworld), and in that role he's seen all the changes in the industry since 2007 and before.  The evolution of blogging. The rise and fall and rise again of podcasting. The emergence of social media platforms. The changing opinions of how often you should create content for your social platforms. If you are a small business or marketer, you'll want to hear what Rick has to say about where he sees the industry heading in the next year, and how it impacts you. http://www.themarketingagents.com/24

Rick Calvert is a networking king. Name a new media person, and he knows that person.

Rick Calvert the CEO and founder of New Media Expo chats to us about the new media revolution. We discuss the line between new media vs. old media and NMX!Full show notes at: http://podcast.musicradiocreative.com/new-media-vs-old-media-podcast-episode-63/

Rick Calvert the CEO and founder of New Media Expo chats to us about the new media revolution. We discuss the line between new media vs. old media and NMX! The post The New Media Revolution appeared first on the Music Radio Creative.

In this podcast the topic of travel blogging is discussed. Joining me was Rick Calvert who is bringing TBEX to Dublin in October 2013. TBEX  ( Travel Blogger Exchange ) is the world's largest travel blogging convention. Rick discusses the growing influence of travel bloggers on destination choice, and how even traditional print channels are being impacted. Also in this podcast there is a report from Edwina Neilen on the recent IAPI Industry Census.  And towards the end of the podcast, LinkedIn expert Greg Fry gives me some top tips to use LinkedIn for marketing purposes.

For full details visit SocialMediaEdge.com Join hosts Ken Cook & Jason Crouch as they explore social media for newbies and grizzled veterans alike. Find a special guest interview each week with a luminary in the new media realm. @thekencook @jasoncrouch @mikemueller @TS_Elliott and @jb140 share tips, tricks and tools for using social media. Learn more about local and hyperlocal and how to maximize your online networking.

Hey folks, I was happy to get a chance to interview Rick Calvert who is the CEO and Co-Founder of BlogWorld & New Media Expo. The interview runs about 12 minutes and includes great information regarding how BlogWorld got started, how the Podcast & New Media Expo got rolled into BlogWorld, and why BlogWorld left […] The post 213 Podcast Answer Man – BlogWorld NYC 2011 Interview With Rick Calvert – Co-Founder and CEO of BlogWorld #BWENY appeared first on The Cliff Ravenscraft Show.

Blogworld/Depressed Fest, Book Expo, convention chicks, what is a blogger, Livefyer and their keg, Asphalt Warrior, Rick Calvert the CEO and Co-founder of BlogWorld, Steve the retro gamer, Rick HOTWListen live Mondays 8PM ESTVisit us at www.lunaticradio.comFacebook: www.facebook.com/lunaticradioTwitter: www.twitter.com/lunaticradioSubscribe with iTunes!Copyright 2011 Lunaticradio.com

Freedom Doors Ministries, spreading the Good News of Jesus. Here on Jesus in The Morning we bring information in many different ways to our listeners, but mainly through a different speaker with a fresh word from Heaven for the day.

John and Dave interview Dave Cynkin and Rick Calvert of BlogWorld Expo, and secretly (or perhaps not so!) try to convert Rick to the Mac. After the interview, Dave and John get back to MGG proper form and answer your questions and share your tips. Subscribe today and don't miss […]

Matthew Snodgrass from ADM and Lippe Taylor interviews both Tim Bourquin of TNC New Media and Rick Calvert of Blog World Expo about the sale of Tim’s New Media Expo to Rick’s Blog World Expo. Separately, the two conventions were delivering a wide array of content and attendees. As the scope of the two shows started to overlap, Tim and Rick realized that the community would be better served by a single – and greater – convention. You can find out more about the combined show at http://www.blogworldexpo.com. We also get Tim and Rick's thoughts on social media today and the use of it by corporations. Tim Bourquin is Founder and CEO of TNC New Media, Inc., an online media company that has developed, launched and grown several advertising-supported podcasting sites. Under Tim’s leadership, TNC New Media has also used podcasting and other forms of new media as a promotional tool for everything from corporate events and tradeshows to product launches. In 2005, Tim launched the Podcast and New Media Expo, a convention and conference for podcasters and online video creators. The event, was recently sold to BlogWorld Expo, is held annually and attracts thousands of podcasters who attend to learn how to create compelling shows and grow their audience. Rick Calvert is the CEO and Co-Founder of BlogWorld & New Media Expo. He has been active the trade show industry since 1998 working on three Tradeshow Week 200 events including the SEMA Show (#4), AWFS®Vegas (#39) and the DEMA Show #(97), as well as one of the nation’s largest consumer shows, Comicon. He has been a voracious new media consumer since 2000, launched his own blog in 2005 and formed BlogWorld & New Media Expo in 2007. For more information, check out these posts at Blog World Expo: http://www.blogworldexpo.com/blog/2008/12/09/blogworld-new-media-expo-now-one-super-huge-event/ http://www.blogworldexpo.com/blog/2008/12/09/blogworld-expo-acquires-new-media-expo/

We have guest Rick Calvert, who is the CEO and Co-founder of BlogWorld & New Media Expo. We will be discussing the first and only industry-wide tradeshow, conference, and media event dedicated to promoting the dynamic industry of blogging and new media. In addition to the only industry-wide exhibition, BlogWorld features the largest blogging conference in the world including more than 50 seminars, panel discussions and keynotes from iconic personalities on the leading-edge of online technology and internet-savvy business.Also joining us today is Kelly Curtis from Pass the Torch, who is both a published and accomplished writer. We will be discussing the ins and outs of how she's made the transition from blogging to mainstream media and print.Kelly Curtis is a professional speaker and writer, a school counselor with an MS in Counseling, and founder of Empowering Youth Inc., through which she publishes research-based educational products, and regularly speaks and writes about Developmental Assets® and youth empowerment. Kelly’s first book is due for release in 2008. Kelly blogs about her family life at http://2passthetorch.com.

We have guest Rick Calvert, who is the CEO and Co-founder of BlogWorld & New Media Expo. We will be discussing the first and only industry-wide tradeshow, conference, and media event dedicated to promoting the dynamic industry of blogging and new media. In addition to the only industry-wide exhibition, BlogWorld features the largest blogging conference in the world including more than 50 seminars, panel discussions and keynotes from iconic personalities on the leading-edge of online technology and internet-savvy business.Also joining us today is Kelly Curtis from Pass the Torch, who is both a published and accomplished writer. We will be discussing the ins and outs of how she's made the transition from blogging to mainstream media and print.Kelly Curtis is a professional speaker and writer, a school counselor with an MS in Counseling, and founder of Empowering Youth Inc., through which she publishes research-based educational products, and regularly speaks and writes about Developmental Assets® and youth empowerment. Kelly’s first book is due for release in 2008. Kelly blogs about her family life at http://2passthetorch.com.

Eric Olsen and Phillip Winn discuss BlogWorld Expo and the new BC Radio Network. Guests: Matt Welch (McCain: Myth of a Maverick); Brad Hill (Blogging for Dummies); Rick Calvert (BlogWorld Expo)