#everplaces

[daredo]

My thoughts on my last day as CEO of Everplaces

Today is my last day as the CEO of Everplaces. It feels like strange even saying it. 

I have so much faith in Chris and Angie so I know for sure that great things will continue to happen in the two new setups, Everplaces-the-app and TripTale. But as I hand over the torch, I wanted to say thanks to all the people who supported us, and was a part of the journey up till now.

We achieved so much. 

We created beautiful products that won acclaim from the most prestigious tastemakers in the world, such as Apple who featured at least one of our apps every single week of 2014. (We’ve been blessed with so many Featurings we gave up keeping track)

We excited people all over the world, proven by the countless loving and passionate emails from users who told us how Everplaces helped them explore their own cities, as well as the rest of the world, better. 

We enabled a new class of visually focussed travel content, and as a consequence built up the most beautiful travel database in the world. 

We halved the cost and time it takes to build travel guide apps, with clever technology which in turn enabled destination marketing organisations to give families, couples, art lovers and explores and a greater experience in their hard earned holidays. 

We build a brand which is synonymous with quality and innovation - recognised throughout the travel industry. We did this with virtually no budget and no other tools than our resourcefulness and creativity.

We overcame some dark times, and enjoyed some amazing times, together. I am so proud of the spirit and attitude that everyone  showed, especially when times got tough, deadlines came fast and money ran low.

Thank you

I would like to thank everyone who was involved. The committed team, the supportive investors, my dedicated cofounders of course. But also all of you in my network who helped.

My network, friends and followers share a big part of the credit for getting Everplaces so big. The countless introductions, the feedback, the candid sharing of experiences, championing our products, liking our stuff, recommending talent etc. Thank you for that. Plugging out  

                            Now I’m going to disconnect for a month. Go sit on a beach to figure out the world (two weeks should be plenty for that, says my friend and investor Oliver;-). 

I am going to spend a bit of time with my family, explore Myanmar before it gets to touristy with my boyfriend and join a yoga retreat on a beach in Sri Lanka all by myself. I plan to return wise and worldly.  

I am taking that time to get be sure I am spending my time on the things that matter most to me. So I choose correctly in what to do next. 

What do you think I should do next?

I’ve received some amazing offers for my next gig. From offers of instant funding, to positions created just for me, to be a part of starting a new fund, several new companies and taking some game changing companies to the next level. One brave guy I never even met sent me an email with an offer to be the CEO of his company. I am humbled and honored. 

In the month of January I’m going to be pondering my options so if you have something you’d like me to consider, do get in touch. Send me an email or a tweet and I will consider that too.

I am considering four things

Starting something new

Join a young company as CEO to take it to next level

Join a just-about-to-explode company as CMO

Get a real job

Option three comes from my passion for building brands. I believe most companies totally underestemate the importance of strategic marketing, communication and branding, and that they invest too little in commercialisation in general. So I would love to build a killer growth-engine-marketing-machine somewhere with the right product, enough ressources and strategic commitment to build a household name brand. 

Any cool opportunities spring to mind? Let me know. 

I hope you’re finishing 2014 with the same happy and optimistic feelings as I do - and that you have the commitment to make 2015 your year. 

Merry Christmas

Tine

[everplaces]

Everplaces rebrands to focus on app-making-platform for travel brands and DMOs

For the last year, Everplaces has been powering two products simultaneously, the well-known travel tool app simply called “Everplaces” and a B2B tool for companies to make travel apps in a faster and better way.

  From 1 January 2015 this will change, as we make changes in our business to split the products, and move focus to the app making platform. 

  Everplaces the app, which is used and loved all over the world, will continue running to support the community of travellers to find the very best insider tips for places to eat, sleep and play. It will retain the name and brand "Everplaces" and will be run by our wonderful designer cofounder Angelica Vargas, who will also find the time to work with other startups and brands to develop amazing designs, especially on mobile.

  This strategic move enables us to focus our efforts inside the company on one product, rather than two. This is good news for all of our clients, such as German National Tourism Board, Urban Adventures, Epoque Hotels, etc., whose amazing travel apps are built on the platform. It will enable us to create travel related apps with even more advanced features, faster, easier and cheaper than ever before.

  Till now, the app-making-platform has lived a life somewhat in the shadow of its larger sibling, Everplaces, a position it has now outgrown. The product will now get its own name, brand and resources. In this process, cofounder Christoffer Kaalund is stepping up as CEO. Christoffer is the technical mind behind the app-making-platform and knows it better than anyone else. Current CEO Tine Thygesen has decided to move on, and will only be involved in a non-operational capacity going forward.

  Sometimes when you have two good things you have to make the hard choice to separate them, so each can grow and develop in its respective way. This is what this split allows us to do, and we are thoroughly convinced that it is the best way to serve our investors, clients and community. In fact, we are very excited about the new stage.

  Don’t hesitate to be in touch if you have further questions.

  Tine Thygesen, Christoffer Kaalund and Angelica Vargas Cofounders, Everplaces

More info: Everplaces travel app: everplaces.com, and Apple App Store.  App-making-platform: business.everplaces.com

[everplaces]

Share the most memorable place you've stayed at and be in to win a free hotel stay

Have you ever stayed in a cool or unique hotel or do you know of any in your city? A beautiful design hotel, a romantic escape, a place with extraordinary service, a room with great views, you name it. Share the most memorable place you have stayed at and enter our competition to win a EUR160 voucher for a free stay, in any city where Hotel Tonight is present.

All you need to do is add the hotel to Everplaces and share it with us. All entries should include images and notes explaining why they were a special/unique place to stay, and you can submit as many places as you know :)

We'll be putting together a collection with unique places to stay around the world based on the best entries of the competition. 

Deadline is: Friday, June 27th. 

To enter the competition, you can post the link to your hotel on our Facebook page or send the link to Ani, our Community Manager, at [email protected] before June 27th. 

The winner will be announced by June 30th.

Looking forward to seeing all those beautiful places!

ADD A PLACE

[everplaces]

Big news: Commerce comes to maps

In the recent Google Maps update a hard-to-spot new feature was included, which is in fact a huge step for the location-based vertical - commerce has come to maps!

The new version allows users to "Book Uber" (this is a taxi from the american taxi corp. of same name), from inside the navigations menu. This little button is a huge milestone, because it marks another shift in location-based technology. 

Why does it matter?

The last 5 years has seen a silent shift in the way we find information: from traditional information to map-based information.

It all started with "nearby", the fact that the map opens in your current location, which your guide book (if traveling) or Yellow Pages (if at home) did not. This made it easier for consumers to find nearby services, restaurants and companies if they opened Google or Apple maps, than if they used the guide books, brochures and listing services previously favored. This started getting people to search directly inside the Map apps, rather than in the mobile browsers, because they would get better results as it would take location into consideration too. 

Since then, Google Maps in particular has continued to include a million small bits of information to each place, which totals to a gigantic improvement in usefulness. They've added opening hours, contact info, reviews, photos and descriptions of the places. Combined with the new trend that people travel less prepared this was a killer advantage compared to static form info.

And today, we're seeing the next step for maps to step out of their supporting role, and into a lead role, because this is the first clear opportunity to start buying directly from the map interface.   

We've been talking about this in our talks at conference about travel and mobile, and you can see more of our predictions in our knowledge center.

More about the new features rolled out here

Context beats all, especially on mobile

Context and relevance is the new frontier in marketing, as you've probably already heard. And mobile has an amazing advantage when it comes to contextual search, because we automatically know more about the consumer than we do when they search on web, as an example

- your exact location - time of day - weather where you are

This enables us to offer more contextual and relevant offers (rather than generic spammy offers). With commerce in maps, you can easily imagine that we start linking our current needs to commerce; such as sunblock for beach goers, lunch offers at mid day, m-tickets if near an attraction. Anything which you can add the words "required right now" in front of, is a perfect option for contextual, map based commerce.  

It's a brave new world. Of maps. 

[everplaces]

Crisis management: How mobile can help travel companies help customers stuck in an emergency

The recent coup in Thailand has brought a question to many travel companies minds; how to we prepare for crisis management when an emergency effects a country we've got customers currently in.

Whether you're a hotel group, DMO or travel agency, you've got a duty to help people who happen to be in countries hit by natural disaster or political instability. But how do you do that? Mobile can help. 

Speed of communication is of essence

Mobile is an important tool in crisis management. When you're trying to help customers left in a unsafe environment where they may feel stressed or even scared the speed of communication is important, that makes mobile communication the superior choice, because they will have their phones on them, whereas they may not access the internet, or check for messages at the front desk.  

Direct notifications is most reliable form of communication

The best way in a crisis is to use direct notifications directly to each traveler, this should be delivered via SMS, so you're not reliant on wifi.

You should set up a SMS gateway system in advance, so you've got a system ready to use in case of emergency. These systems are easy to set up, and typically charge by SMS sent, so it will be a limited expense to set it up, think if it as insurance. 

Make them feel safe and supported

Here you can give a quick message to let them know that they are not alone, you're there to help, and link them directly to a page where they can find detailed information about how to get out of the place, the policies and all important phone numbers and addresses.

Link to a fast-loading, preferable offline info page

The emergency & policy info should ideally be put into your dedicated app, as it can then work offline once they've opened it the first time. If the situation develops into a real emergency its important that they always have the information at hand.

Alternatively the SMS can link to a mobile optimized webpage, but this means they wont be able to access it without internet, so if they are on the move it will be hard to access. 

Either way it is key that you build a page which loads as easily as technically possible, so no images, videos etc. This is important because the phone network is likely to be overburdened at the destination if everyone is trying to find out what to do. 

Make sure you have a CMS where you can make fast changes

Whether you choose to out the information in an app or mobile web page is it important that you have instant access to enter and publish the information. So choose an app/m.web set up which has a CMS system so you can add and update content it in fast and easily.

For apps there are CMS systems (like Everplaces') that allow updates to go directly to the users, by passing Apple and Google, so you don't have to wait for an app update. As an app update can take up to 2 weeks to be approved, it goes without saying that this is of key importance.

What ever you do, make sure you direct people to the exact page they need in case of an emergency, as they are likely to be stressed and impatient. 

Steps to prepare

1 - Systematically collect phone numbers for customers

2 - Set up an SMS gateway

3 - Keep accurate track of the location of customers (by looking at the hotel for example), and the date on which they travel. This means we at any time can pull a list of effected customers and concentrate our communication only on them. 

4 - Make sure you have either an app or m.web with a mobile web CMS where you can add and change info quickly

5 - Sit back and feel good knowing that you're ready for the worst case scenario. 

---

Tine Thygesen

CEO, Everplaces

Don't hesitate to contact us if we can help with your mobile requirements, whether they are for emergencies or good times.

[hitcoaching]

What I have learned with Tine Thygesen, CEO of Everplaces

What I have learned with Tine Thygesen, CEO of Everplaces

Here I am in this seminar called Portugal Tourism Challenges, first row, eager to learn something new… Suddenly, Tine Thygesen begins to speak and I just could not stop writing… So inspiring and moving she was…

For the first time in my life I looked upon a woman and I thought “Finally a woman who I can relate to. I need to talk to her!!!”. This might seem a little weird, but it is exactly what I…

View On WordPress

[everplaces]

Tell us the best places to eat in your city to win a free stay for your next trip

We've all tried them. Places, where the food is not just food, but a pure pleasure. Take us through a gastronomic journey of your own city and enter our competition to win a EUR160 voucher for a free stay, in any city where Hotel Tonight is present.

All you need to do is create a collection in Everplaces with the theme "Best places to eat in my city" and share it with us. Your collection should include at least 10-12 food related places and all of them need to have images and notes explaining why they made it to your collection.

Deadline is: Thursday, June 12th. 

To enter the competition, you can post the link to your awesome Everplaces collection on our Facebook page or send the link to Ani, our Community Manager, at [email protected] before June 12th. 

The winner will be announced by June 13th.

We can't wait to see all your delicious places!

START A COLLECTION

[iubenda]

Everplaces for Business

Everplaces is a travel/tourism/foodie app that helps out with recommendations. Check out an example view for Copenhagen.

The team behind everplaces offers its experience building solutions for the travel industry to interested parties in a product called everplaces for business.

We're happy that they've chosen iubenda as a solution for their privacy policy needs.