In the last 48 hours, almost every single travel twitterers I follow has been tweeting or retweeting about Travel Blog Exchange (TBEX), the travel social network built around a “Travel Blogger Meet-up” in real life. Kim Mance, editor-in-chief of Gogalavanting,  is  one of the people behind the site and the event. She kindly answered the questions I sent her.

Kim Mance PortraitVoyageek : You are organising a Travel Blogger Meet-up in Chicago in July. What can a travelblogger expect from the event ?

Kim Mance:  The meetup is co-hosted by myself and Debbie Dubrow of DeliciousBaby.com (a great family travel site), and we tried to think of the most pressing topics on many travel bloggers’ minds so we can have lively discussions. We’re planning to have some veteran bloggers and travel industry folks give their advice on topics ranging from how to keep a blog alive when you’re not out traveling, to balancing ethics with PR freebies.
We’ll leave plenty of room for discussion and questions because we know everyone has something they can contribute, as we all have unique experiences. We also won’t assume Americans are the experts on everything and will draw on bloggers around the world for their expertise. There will also be time set aside for straight-up networking.
Being technology progressives, we’ll also use every new media option available to keep those who are too far from the in-person meetup connected to others in the group in Chicago. We’ll livestream the meetup in real-time, have an archived copy available and recruit a few Twitter-users to live-tweet the meeting, among other things.

Voyageek : The site created for the event seems to have grown to a full Travel Bloggers social network. Were you surprised by how fast the site grew ?

Kim Mance: We were definitely thrilled and surprised by how fast the TBEX site grew, it became a bustling community over the course of one weekend with over 100 blogger profiles in about 48 hours. A few other community owners have remarked that their sites took months to get to 200 members, and it looks as though we’ll have that many within a week of launching. A remarkable number of substantive groups have been created by the users themselves and lively discussion threads started. I think it really shows the need there was for an active community for travel bloggers to not only connect with one another, but to show off their blogs. There is so much great content out there on the web that can help travelers have a wonderful experience in any given destination. It’s great to have a place for readers (and advertisers) to find those blogs.
We had an inkling there would be a big response, so we structured it in a way that some Galavanting gals could be there to manage the infrastructure and make sure the site doesn’t fizzle out in the future. Carrie Williams , an award-winning travel blogger, is serving as the community manager and Maren Hogan, a Galavanting producer and I have been behind the scenes trying to keep everything going smoothly as well.
As for the Chicago meetup event, the group of attendees is growing quickly too. That’s very exciting!

Voyageek: You are the editor-in-chief of Gogalavanting. What advice would you give to an aspiring travel-writer or travel-blogger?

Kim Mance: I think the best advice I could give is for aspiring travel-writers and bloggers who would like to do some freelance writing to set aside a certain amount of time each week to pitch story ideas. It doesn’t matter how great your writing or advice is if no editor ever sees it. Most of the legwork in getting published is in the pitch. Keep it short, to the point, and on-topic. Know what the site or outlet publishes, and be relevant. Never, ever, ever, ever dump a manuscript into an email without an introductory paragraph, and always address it to a specific editor (no mass-submissions to multiple outlets). Be sure not to include an entire essay or article if the submission guidelines say they only want story ideas. They will not be overwhelmed with joy about your awesome writing, they will be annoyed you didn’t follow instructions.
Being unique, or having a new angle on an old story is something that can particularly excite editors too. This is not to be confused with something fluffy though. For instance, writers who aren’t published yet might be most successful in pitching a service piece first rather than trying to land a feature story. Try taking something you learned on a recent journey and retelling it in a fun and fresh way. This is especially helpful for online outlets, as they tend to be in a more casual writing-style (like Galavanting). If it took you three days to figure out how to use the Paris Metro map, retell the story while peppering in helpful advice on the right way to do it, along with useful links.
Having an updated blog is essential if a writer hasn’t been published before, so keep it alive. And hey, joining TBEX and getting one’s name out there can’t hurt either!

Picture : Courtesy of Kim Mance