Month: December 2018

Tourist Tuesday – Monterey County

Tourist Tuesday is on Wednesday this week, due to Christmas Holiday.

“Monterey County, CA, December 18, 2018 The Monterey County Convention & Visitors Bureau (MCCVB) has joined two initiatives that will further its goal of ensuring Monterey County is one of the worlds leading sustainable destinations by both setting ambitious goals and measuring long term impacts.

The first is with Positive Impact, a global not for profit which exists to provide education and collaboration opportunities to create a sustainable event industry and a vision to address the role of plastics in this industry.”

Here is the second: “Measuring success is also critical to MCCVBs mission. The organization joined the Global Destination Sustainability Index (GDS-Index) initiative, an alliance focused on helping destinations, convention bureaus, and businesses promote sustainable practices. The GDS-Index does this by measuring and comparing sustainability strategies, policies and performance of participating destinations and by sharing best practices from around the world.

GDS-Index recently released its yearly survey of global destinations at the International Congress & Convention Association (ICCA) annual meeting in Dubai in November. Monterey County scored 52% on the sustainability index just behind Geneva and ahead of U.S. cities like Washington, D.C. and Houston. The scoring allows MCCVB to set a benchmark and improve in the coming years.”

Ultimately, protecting our destination is every bit as important as promoting it, said Rob OKeefe, Chief Marketing Officer for MCCVB. These initiatives contribute to our long term viability as a top tourism destination plus they are essential to the balance we seek to foster between visiting travelers and the residents who call our beautiful region home.”

The latest Global Destination Sustainability (GDS) Index has shown Scandinavia leading the way, with the top six destinations all coming from countries in the region.

Gothenburg was the overall winner with a score of 94% on the GDS Index, a rating system designed to recognise responsible practices in the business tourism and events industry.

This is done by measuring and comparing the social and environmental sustainability strategies, policies and performance of participating cities around the world.

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Here are the figures/breakdown for Monterey County:

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This is the link to the GDS Index report specifically to Monterey, however if you explore this website, you will see how we compare to the others: https://www.gds-index.com/destinations/explore/view/monterey-county/united-states/2018/68

Monterey County has a long way to go to compete with the Scandinavian Countries. At least now, we know where we are starting.

 

 

Winter Solstice, 2018

The longest night and shortest day of the year…and I reflect on what this year has brought into my life, and I feel blessed. It has been challenging, at times, but not as difficult as other times in my life. I have friends and family that are close and far, but all dear and they help to carry the weight of these challenges with me. I am powered by the sun…my being…my household…my sleeping and waking patterns. Tomorrow the light is reborn. I celebrate this Yule time with you. Whatever one’s religion, we can all agree that the lengthening of the days that begins tomorrow is reason to celebrate. I wish for us all lengthening days and stability in our world. Blessed be.

Dave Egbert posted this on his FB page, and it fits with this day and how I feel about it, so I borrow it for the day. Thanks, Dave.

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Geotagging & Meta Data

I am following up on yesterday’s Tourist Tuesday on geotagging. Many people are under the mistaken idea that if they simply don’t #hastag the photo with its location, they are doing their part to not #geotag. That is unfortunately, not true.

First thing you need to do, before following the advise below, is go to settings on your phone and make sure you are not broadcasting your position every where you are. You can turn off location settings for all apps except those needed. For example, I have location settings turned off for all but maps and a very few others that I use as maps, such as yelp. I don’t need facebook or twitter or whatever to know where I am. Do you?

Did you know that most cameras embed hidden information, called metadata, into every photograph taken? And when you share those images, say by uploading them to a social network, or instagram, or wherever you do, that hidden information often stays embedded? And that people can view said information for almost no effort at all?

This metadata is called EXIF data (Exchangeable Image File Format) and is harmless in most cases, but can be used for nefarious purposes (NSA uses it with OUR photos!) and to find the location where you took the photograph. So, in effect, you are geotagging every photo you upload, IF you do not “scrub” or remove the EXIF data or Meta Data.

If you use Windows (I do not) here is a link that explains how to remove the meta data via Window, GIMP, or even via mobile app: https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-ways-to-remove-exif-metadata-from-photos-and-why-you-might-want-to/

If you take most of your photos on your phone, then it may make more sense to use an EXIF-removing app instead so you don’t have to involve your computer in the shoot-edit-upload process.

Before you install a third-party app, first check your Camera app’s settings to see if you can disable EXIF data generation. Some camera apps may only let you disable location inclusion, while others may not allow you to disable EXIF at all.

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Still need an EXIF remover? You can try Exif Eraser for Android or Metapho for iOS. Both are free to download, but Metapho requires an in-app purchase to unlock the ability to remove metadata, edit date and location, and share safely to social networks.

Download — Exif Eraser for Android (Free)

Download — Metapho for iOS (Free, Premium for metadata removal)

I downloaded the Metapho for my iPhone, and then went ahead and paid the $3.99 cost for the ability to remove ALL meta data for any photos I will upload, unless it is clear I am posting about specific spots on Highway One that I am otherwise identifying. To me, it is worth that minimal cost to make sure any and all photos I post on WordPress, FB, twitter, and instagram are scrubbed of all meta data.

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