4 Simple Reminder Apps to Get Moving

http://blog.spafinder.co.uk/health-and-wellbeing/how-to-live-longer-4-simple-reminder-apps-to-get-moving?utm_source=&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=6775

Conference Time for SpaGypsies Blog!

I'm preparing to go to the PhoCusWright Conference this November in Phoenix.  It will be my 13th or 14th conference.  I've gone as speaker, attendee, exhibitor, sponsor and press.  This year I hope to go as Press again and will be reporting on new companies from the Travel Innovation Summit..a really good roundup of the up and coming online travel companies who compete to win funding as well as the prestigious recognition of winning, or even placing in this contest.  While the smallest and earliest of stage companies also participate, the big mega companies present their latest as well.  I don't think there is any bias towards the larger organizations, expect for the entry price, which is $10,000 (ouch!).  I've seen some great companies present there, many pre-launch or in early launch phases.  It's a great event and I am amazed that my friend Philip Wolf was able to make it as important as it is today.  When he first launched it, running prior to the most important online travel conference in the world, The PhoCusWright Executive Conference, few attended, and most that did had meetings and networked during the event.  Not so today!  The conference room is packed with impressive attendees.  The judges are well, lively, and in most cases, very knowledgable about the online travel space.  I did get a big chuckle last year when a woman VC judge told Rearden Commerce's new travel app DEEM, for small business or individuals team that she was "glad they had done something with all that money".  I don't think she was very knowledgable about managed business travel or she would have known how much money goes into managing the large enterprises for travel.  Made me chuckle.  

When the main event begins on Wednesday afternoon, it's quite the spectacular.  Philp Wolf is magnificent and his whole team is top notch.  So far, being bought out my Northstar Travel Media has not changed the event.  I hope they never do.  It is by far, the best show in town for the industry and the  big guys attend.  Like Richard Barton, Founder of Expedia and Zillow, Bill Marriott, Barry Diller, Jeffrey Boyd, and so many more.  Great content, great presentation and the best networking, deal making event there is.   I have personally brought more than 1 company to the show, as consultant or employee, introducing them to the travel industry.  Getting  a CEO or top executive face-to-face with the best in the industry.  

This year, my focus is reporting--blogging, tweeting and sharing.  While I'm soon to launch my new venture, SpaGypsies, a revenue generating niche social network, directory and review site for those who share a common passion for spas, health &wellness, beauty, spirituality and travel, the time is not right.  I wish I had the budget to pitch it at the Travel Innovation Summit--maybe next year.  

Here's Philip from the opening Monologue last year:

In the meantime, I'll keep you posted from Phoenix.  If you're interested in the online travel business, check out the event here:

The PhoCusWright Conference

Travel Exports Continue to Outpace Overall Export Growth in 2012 :: Hospitality Trends

Travel Exports Continue to Outpace Overall Export Growth in 2012 :: Hospitality Trends

The Best Hotels & Resorts in the World : Condé Nast Traveler

Fascinating list, of the brands, Four Seasons wins hands down for number of properties in the list.  Charleston had 3 of the Top 100.  I've stayed in a very small percentage of this list, but will use it as a reference point when planning travel to any of these destinations.  The Best Hotels & Resorts in the World : Condé Nast Traveler

SpaGypsies new website is slowing launching.  We went live this morning with more spas in our directory and another other spa listing website online.  And we've just began.  We have the major spa markets in now, and will have the rest of the 20,000+ spas in the directory very soon.  You can write a review now, but not all states are there yet.  We have New York Metro, Southern California, Northern California, Miami, Dallas, Atlanta, Phoenix, Chicago, DC and more.  I'll let you know when they are all loaded.  

We'll be announcing contests and rewards for posting reviews of spas on the site.  It will be Spa Gift Certificates, dinners at fine restaurants in your area and much more.  It should be fun!  

We hope you will love SpaGypsies and will be as excited about it as we are.  We now have a staff of 3 full-time employees!  

More details to come...there's much more than a directory and review site to launch...

Remember... We are all wonderers!

Peggy Lee

Chief Spa Gypsy

http://www.spagypsies.com

Welcome to SpaGypsies...Launching very soon!

Originally posted on my blog in February, 2010

SpaGypsies

We are all wanderers…

Welcome all Spa Gypsies…

Are you a Spa Gypsy? 

Spa Gypsies love to spend time in the tranquil environment of a spa. Whether it’s for relaxation, detoxification, fitness, nutrition and weight management or beautification, Spa Gypsies relish the ability to get away from it all and focus.  It can be a spiritual experience or a “get away and chill” adventure.  Whether it’s a destination spa like Canyon Ranch or The Norwich Inn and Spa, a great resort spa like Grand Waialua Resort, or a day spa like Elizabeth Arden’s Red Door, many of us can’t wait until our next spa experience and love to share it with other spa aficionados. 

My name is Peggy Lee and you can call me the Chief Spa Gypsy.  The concept of Spa Gypsies came to me in November 2001.  I was attending The PhoCusWright Executive Conference, an online travel industry conference in Miami when a hurricane was projected to hit South Florida.  The combination of post-9/11 fears of travel and an impending hurricane made South Beach look like a deserted oasis with raging winds and ocean waves.  I had flown in a day early, as I often tried to do, to have some R&R time and catch up on my work before the conference.  I was staying at The Tides, which is a short walk to the Omni where the conference was, and also a short walk to The Delano, and the Aqua Spa.  As was my custom, I called The Delano spa and made an appointment for a massage that Sunday evening. 

I was the CEO of a dot com called b-there.com, and I traveled often and was required to be “on” most of the time.  Either networking with industry executives at events like this PhoCusWright Conference, meeting potential customers or press, attending functions, dealing with a 100+ staff, or dealing with investors and a Venture Capital controlled Board of Directors, I was always under the gun.  Going to a spa while traveling became my sanctuary. 

That night as I signed into the spa appointment, the typical “profile form” had to be filled out.  They always ask you what your occupation is.  In the past, I put “Internet Company”.  It being 1999-2000, I found that most of the spa therapists were eager to have a conversation with me about the Internet and my dot com.  That was the furthest thing from my mind when I went into a spa while on the road.  I didn’t want to talk to anyone, much less talk about the Internet, a topic that consumed about 90% of my waking hours every day.  So I had started writing “Computers” or “Software” as my occupation.  The response to this change was just as bad.  Therapists would ask me questions like “Do you have email? “ , “What kind of computer do you use?”  or want to tell me all about their experiences with email and computers.  So as I sat there, it came to my mind that at this particular point in time my occupation was “Spa Gypsy”.  So I wrote that down.   No one ever asked me anything about my occupation any more.  For whatever reasons, the therapists didn’t care to have a conversation about it.  That was great.  Mission accomplished.  Peace and quiet and tranquility at a spa!

 By the way, there was no one at Aqua Spa that night, just me, the massage therapist and the receptionist.  It was pure bliss.  So I booked myself for services for the next morning.  It was still deserted with the travel thing, the hotel was empty, and the hurricane—no locals were even getting out.  I was pampered and totally rejuvenated by the time my conference began that night!

Since I understand the web quite well, I quickly began to think about what I would like to do on the Internet realize to spas.  At the time, only SpaFinder had any content about spas, and none of it was from people like me—Spa Gypsies.  So I thought how wonderful it would be to build a place where like-minded people like me could congregate, communicate and collaborate about spa experiences—health and wellness et al.  Back then, I was too busy with b-there to build it. 

After I sold b-there to other company, I often thought about building SpaGyspies.com and making it a Community with information from sites like Spa Finders, but also where other Spa Gypsies could post spa reviews, tips, comments, and also educate others on the industry.  I also wanted a marketplace for services and products to be available for buyers and sellers of the industry’s unique products and services. 

Please join me and share your experiences, services and products with other Spa Gypsies!

Warmest Welcome!

Peggy Lee

Chief Spa Gypsy & Founder

Drifting through Life in a Spa….

The NEW SpaGypsies Website is coming very soon.

Stay tuned for good things about Health, Wellness and Spirituality to come.  SpaGypsies new site will give you a lot of new ideas, reviews, and much much more.  Phase 1 to launch this month.  Look for contests and giveaways...."Build it and they will come!"