Love Eastbourne? Love Twitter?



One of my own tweeted sunrise photos!

 Managing the VisitEastbourne twitter feed each day, I read hundreds, if not thousands, of tweets on a weekly basis from a variety of people and businesses who love Eastbourne! From posting dazzling photos of sunrises to recommending the best places for coffee - it's really inspiring to read tweets from those who are genuinely passionate about the town.

This got us thinking and we want to use that twitter and Eastbourne passion to put a call out to put together a network of people who love Eastbourne and love social media to act as virtual greeters and offer recommendations online for those planning visits to the town.

On our busy twitter feed, we regularly receive tweets from visitors planning a trip to our south coast destination and with visitors asking for tips on what to see and do in Eastbourne, we want to launch a network of virtual greeters to act as ambassadors for the town and share their own recommendations with visitors.

We want to launch the Virtual Greeter scheme in time for English Tourism Week from 10 – 18 March and are calling for anyone interested in becoming a virtual greeter to come along to the VisitEastbourne tweetup on 15 March and find out more.

The tweetup takes place from 4pm – 7.30pm at the Winter Garden’s Congress Suite and businesses and individuals can drop-in between those times. RSVP now! For those who are unable to make the tweetup but are interested in becoming a Virtual VisitEastbourne Greeter, they should send us a tweet on twitter!

Emma

Celebrate Eastbourne’s Photography Talent

We’re constantly amazed here in the office at the fabulous photography our local snappers have been posting to our VisitEastbourne group on Flickr. So much so, that we just had to display some of it on VisitEastbourne.com for all you guys to see!

So for those of you with a keen eye, keep a look out each week as we add a new photo to our home page in the top rotating image graphic. Each photographer is credited in the image caption and we’ll be posting their names on our Facebook and Twitter pages each week.

This week it’s the turn of ActivEastbourne who snapped Eastbourne town centre during last year’s snow on 3 December. As we fast approach the anniversary and with today’s chill in the air, surely another festive dollop could be on the way soon.

The shot also appears as a portrait version in the new 2012 Eastbourne Holiday Guide and feels extra special as the snow appears completely untouched like a blank canvas – how rare once the Christmas shoppers get going – so well done to ActivEastbourne for capturing the town centre at such a serene moment.

There’s lots more fabulous snowy pics to see of Eastbourne and the South Downs, so do take a look if you get time, or share some of your own (please note that for us to publish them you need to enable downloading).

In the meantime I shall get practicing with my own camera and check out Channel 5’s re-run of How to Take Stunning Pictures (Tuesday’s 7.30pm) for some top tips.

Tracey
Promotions Manager

Why visit Eastbourne? The complete A to Z!

Well who would have thought an A to Z Challenge to come up with reasons to visit Eastbourne would prove so popular? We certainly hoped it would get fans talking on our facebook page and hoped that it would attract new fans too but the fantastic results have surpassed all expectations! More than 90 VisitEastbourne fans took part sharing over 630 suggestions of reasons to visit our sunny south coast destination - wow!

It's been a tough job whittling down the suggestions to come up with a definitive A to Z but we've finally done it. So, here it is, a Visit Eastbourne A to Z - compiled by our fans!

• A… has to be AIRBOURNE! - Submitted by Daniel Jarvis
• B… Balls – the tennis variety! - Submitted by BJ Events Ltd
• C… Chelsea (of the Little variety), Culture, Carefully Clipped and Cultivated gardens and lawns, Crocuses in the Spring at Hampden Park - Submitted by Bertie Bassett
• D… Definitely Devonshire Park - the loveliest place in the world! - Submitted by Mike Linane
• E… Extreme - Proof that Eastbourne is so much more than a place to retire to! - Submitted by Tonya Coletta
• F… Fort Fun in Eastbourne, the family fun park, which provides outdoor and indoor fun for kids of all ages with thrilling rides - Submitted by Jeanette Bull
• G… Grand Hotel, glorious views and sunshine, Gildredge Park - Submitted by Joan Norris
• H… Horizons! From the striking Victorian pier tops, the gleaming promenade lights, the glistening sea in the sunshine, to the hills and dips of the outstanding Seven Sisters cliffs and the summit of Beachy Head. Eastbourne boasts a beautiful horizon. - Submitted by George O’Meara
• I… Ice cream Fusciardi’s - Submitted by Joanne Lancaster
• J… Jogging along the seafront. Not that I do. - Submitted by Andy Baker
• K… Kids playground - lots to do - Submitted by Sam Sweiry
• L… Lighthouses...Beachy Head and Belle Tout, both beautiful - Submitted by Andrew T. Love
• Plus special mention to Langham Hotel who sponsored the competition.
• M… Musicals as we have some great West End shows that come to the Congress. Can't wait for Sister Act next year - Submitted by Jenny Horridge
• N… National Park - The South Downs! Heaven! - Submitted by Courtney Fables
• O…Open air concerts at Eastbourne Bandstand - Submitted by Eastbourne Bandstand
• P… Pretty Pier - Submitted by Denise Forrester Deary
• Q… Quidditch World Cup - filmed for Harry Potter on the Downs! :-) - Submitted by Shirley Moth
• R… Redoubt Fortress - Submitted by Graham Ridley
• S… Sunshine, sea and smiles :) - Submitted by Joanne Bradshaw
• T… T is for TONIC! George V1 used to bring his family (the late Queen Mother and their daughters, our present Queen Elizabeth and the late Princess Margaret) to Eastbourne for holidays in the healthy sea air, so Eastbourne has the Royal seal of approval! - Submitted by Pamela J Keeley
• U… Unmissable season of events from Magnificent Motors to Eastbourne Beer Fest - Submitted by Jayne Howard
• V… Visit Eastbourne - a very good way to keep in touch with the town be it visitor or resident - Submitted by Daphne Holmwood
• W… Wedding licence on the Bandstand - Submitted by Rosalind Ball
• X… Xxxx's on postcards to loved ones - Submitted by Sheila Walkom
• Y… It has to be YOGA!! Eastbourne has two wonderful yoga studios, Yoga-Life studio and Natural Fitness Centre with packed time tables for classes everyday. So check them out. - Submitted by Lucy Newport
• Z… ZILLIONS of reasons to visit Eastbourne, ZERO reasons to stay away. - Submitted by Tonya Coletta

A special award goes to Graham Huntley for thinking outside the box and amusing us with his witty suggestions like:

Christmas Markets in Eastbourne (oh sorry, that’s NOel)! – suggested for L

Yellow ball that seems permanently in the sky over Eastbourne - suggested for Y

And another special award to Carters for somehow managing to come up with a Carters related reason for every letter of the alphabet!

But the overall winner goes to Joanne Bradshaw for Sunshine, sea and smiles :) - we thought this summed up Eastbourne perfectly!

The challenge was intended to drive traffic and raise the profile of the VisitEastbourne facebook page. The number of new fans increased by 300% over the course of the challenge compared to the previous month, with feedback on wall posts up by 381%.

Thanks to everyone who took part!

Emma

Promotions and E-Marketing Officer

Thanks for your top tips at our first VisitEastbourne Tweetup!

Well last night we held our very first VisitEastbourne tweetup and I have to say, I think it went pretty well. If our sign-in sheet adds up correctly then it looks like we had 43 tweeps attend in total - fantastic! It was great to see some new faces and bring together a different network of people.

I have to thank Jenny @ConferenceEB for her help in arranging it and sorting out the venue, as well as Callum @ConvexLeisure who provided some delicious canapes and wine!

A board set up by @EastbourneCan asking what people would like to see in Eastbourne certainly seemed to attract quite a bit of interest and I'll be watching their blog with interest to see what comments they got.

Thanks for everyone's feedback on yesterday's tweetup - it's really useful to know what you thought and I think we'll definitely look to organise another VisitEastbourne tweetup in the new year.

Yesterday was also a chance for us to hear your top twitter tips. I'm forever reading different articles on good protocol for tweeting, best times to tweet, best tone to tweet etc. but it was really interesting to hear your twitter tips, which many of you posted at the event. So, here it is - a guide to twitter by Eastbourne tweeters...

@bamb_bamb - Tweet pics of your work but write about life

@eastsussexmusic - Make the story interesting and amusing (if you can)

@stephdoesrunnin - Tweet as if you're only talking to one person, others can be more likely to respond

@bournebreaks - Don't just try and sell!

@laptop_station - Retweet to help promote others, they will/should return the favour!

@David_Ruddle - Be consistent. Don't try and sell.

@Stella_Holman - Networking on twitter. Be interested in the other person.

@eccn_news - Have a sense of humour and always tweet like a human. (by the way, I can definitely vouch that @eccn_news had a great sense of humour!)

@121fs - Have a web browser favourites folder titled 'twitter'. Add in your links to twitter, bufferapp, Sky News, BBC News etc... Open all links early in the morning and load up your buffer app with stories to save you doing it during the day. Saves me hours!

@BlinkTankTweets - Create separate accounts for different sections of your business and follow relevant people.
@hey_tc - If you tweet a link always include a few of your own words.

And we have one more tip that we need claiming as the person forgot to label them with their twitter name!

Be yourself - even if you're a business, people will follow you anyway.

So there it is - a guide to twitter by you! Let me know what you think of these tips by sending us a tweet @VisitEastbourne and if you didn't contribute then tweet us your tip! Plus make sure you follow us to find out who has won the pair of tickets to Beyond the Barricade at the Congress Theatre on 9 December!

Thanks again to everyone for coming and here's to the next!

Emma

Promotions and E-Marketing Officer