CRITICAL REFLECTION #3

The decision mid semester to combine each individual features magazine into one had a profound effect on my role as Editor of WINOL Travel and Adventure. In my previous Critical Reflection I outlined the pros and cons of maintaining a magazine in relation to it's navigation and target audience. With my initial struggle to manage and upload content on a regular basis, I supported this decision wholeheartedly.

Near the start of the semester, www.winol.co.uk ranked *1,309,425 globally and *38,579 in the UK [16.10.2013] peaking on Thursday 10th October with *67 page views. This was most likely the result of the weekly WINOL News bulletin aired on the Wednesday prior. Compare this to the end of the semester and we see a steep decline (see graph 2). According to www.alexa.com, however, WINOL's Global Rank has increased to *773,133 and *30,063 in the UK* From my point of view, "Here & Now" has played a specialised role in maintaining this. 

(1) Number of page views 9th-16th October (Google Analytics).

(2) Number of page views 25th November - 1st December (Google Analytics).

WINOL’s relaunched “Here & Now” magazine* has worked hard to improve the organisation of Features as a whole, with the installation of a modernised, user friendly ‘Gabfire Theme’ for WordPress (which I will have to be familiar with for my fast approaching Final Year Project). Each market now has its own subcategory, with the main slider situated at the top of the page. Being its most redeeming feature, this aims to promote some of the websites top highlights. Like with News, there is constant competition between magazines to get their pieces mentioned in the ‘barkers’ as they act as the highest form of promotion. You can see in the image below, both the Paintball package and the World Travel Market overview have appeared under the slider subcategory of “Events” and if you scroll over the “Travel” tab further above, invested in the world of adventure are a number of written articles, as well as a couple of video packages managed, produced and edited by myself*

Indoor Skydiving Feature.

Images taken with Canon 650D Digital SLR.

Watching Wind Tunnel.

The Adventure Team.

James In Flight.

Filming On Location.

Find below the final video package feature for WINOL Travel and Adventure Magazine. 

Also, some of the most recent Adventure triumphs have been mentioned in the "Best of" SUPERWINOL Features package, with Travel and Adventure in the Top 3 (17 mins 20 secs approx.)

Find more content here.

Adventure Podcast (26.11.13)

Check out the podcast below for an insight into some of Europe's most beautiful Christmas destinations and much more. I'm leading the podcast, along with special guests Andrew McHarg and Hannah Hayesmore.

See the original script below. This had to be tweaked to fit the less scripted and more spontaneous conventions of a radio features bulletin.

World Travel Market 2013.

[SLIDER IMAGE]

Caption:

WORLD TRAVELMARKET: 

A BRIEF LOOK INTO ONE OF LONDON’S MOST EXCLUSIVE GLOBAL TRAVEL EVENTS.

This year saw a variety of international tour operators and travel professionals gather in the confines of the Excel Exhibition Centre for World Travel Market; one of London's most exclusive global travel events. As my first time visiting, it was overwhelming to see its increasing popularity as a place to network with other like-minded experts within the field of leisure and tourism. The open area hosted uniquely stunning exhibits that had been divided up into different continents of the world and a mixture of sit in cafes and restaurants meant universal cuisine was readily available.

A range of educational seminars were held upstairs in a number of different conference rooms; including a lecture regarding the Youth Travel Industry. David Chapman, Director General at the WYSE Travel Confederation, outlined the company's most recent 'New Horizons' survey, that measures the travel profile of young people around the world, comparing the desires of an average "backpacker" to that of the more upmarket "flashpacker." He revealed "what we've seen is a very significant growth in the over 30 age group" whilst continuing to add "this reflects that the youth travel market is getting progressively older." Their findings showed that there was a decline in the original "backpacker" tradition, making way for the rise of the contemporary "flashpacker" as people look to find more value for money when it comes to planning their journey. "We're often asked, what is the difference between a hotel and hostel? And the answer is the 's' which stands for social" said Chapman. The report further states that youth travellers now make up 20% of international tourism*.

WINOL Radio.

Check out the podcast below to hear an update on current content concerning the WINOL Travel and Adventure Magazine. I was interviewed alongside Editor Hannah Hayesmore.



Structure; HAS TO BE TIMELESS.

1. Paintball as upcoming feature (in studio discussion). 

Who? WINOL Team/Group. 
What? Ambush Paintball. 
Where? Travelled to Southampton.
How? Go Pro's and Sports Cam.

   2. WTM Excel London (include soundbites).

World Travel Market is an annual exhibition held at the Excel London. I went and spoke with Mary Rance, the Chief Executive of UKinbound, about what this global event means for her company. 

  3. Coming Up.

Indoor Skydiving Video Package Feature.

Further promotion included a short paintball package mentioned in this week's Access Winchester bulletin (approx. 4 minutes in.)



All exciting things to look forward to on @AdventureWINOL.

English Heritage Photojournalism.

[SLIDER IMAGE]

A THREE PART PHOTOGRAPHY PROJECT:

AMY MOORE TAKES US THROUGH SOME OF ENGLISH HERITAGE’S MOST BEAUTIFUL AND HISTORICAL SITES IN AND AROUND WINCHESTER.

NETLEY ABBEY

Images taken with Canon 450D Digital SLR.

Experimentation with focus points/close up.

(TEXT FROM BOTTOM)

“Today much of the abbey is in ruins but it still remains one of the best preserved and most romantic Cistercian abbeys in the country.” (40 seconds)

(FROM TOP)

“Cloister became a courtyard with the fountain at its centre. The narrow slit windows of the old monastery were enlarged to create windows more suited to a Tudor long gallery.” (3:35 minutes)

WINOL Adventure; A Work In Progress.

For the second semester running, my role as Editor of WINOL's Travel and Adventure Magazine means that over the past few weeks I have been working closely with the Web Editor to make the website more user/navigator friendly (outlined in my Critical Reflection) and making it one of WINOL's most viewed magazines to date (see post). 

As the magazine is very much "picture led", the decision to keep the main slider (above) aims to advertise all the best features in a way that is very valuable in grabbing the audiences attention. When it comes to improvements, we have added less subtle side tabs that lead to the main WINOL news site and to all the latest Adventure features content.

From the main slider, you'll be transported to the written website (we're working on adding video - baby steps) which has undergone a major overhaul. The live Twitter feed has been added and as you can see at the top of the page, there are tabs aimed to make the website more specialised and structured.