Comments

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  BuzzInRome October 27, 2010 at 1:54pm

  Rome Under the Spotlight Of The World of Cinema: 5th Film Festival Starts
  
  

  

  
  It is not as glamorous as the Cannes, not as original as the Sundance, not as old as Venice’s, but Rome’s International Film Festival is getting better every year and it has now become the world’s fourth most important event of its kind. The fifth edition of the Festival will be held from October 28 to November 5 in the beautiful surroundings of the Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome, the architectural complex realized in 2002 by Italian architect Renzo Piano.
  
  This year’s competition will have many anticipated films such as “Last Night”by the Iranian director Massy Tadjedin, starring Keira Knightley and Eva Mendes, or “Rabbit Hole”, Nicole Kidman’s first production.
  
  The “Window on the World/Focus” section will be dedicated to Japan’s cinema and culture and there will be a showing of the restored version of Akira Kurosawa’s key work “Rashomon”, for the centennial celebration of the Japanese film master.
  
  But the Festival will also attract children with its premiere of the second Winx film “Winx Club 3D – Magica Avventura” in which the Italian cartoon favorite explores 3D for the first time.
  
  The complete program and tickets are available here.
  
  
  
  By BuzzInRome
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  Lynn Rosen October 27, 2010 at 8:09am

  Jeesh. How funny, how true, how sad.
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  Evelyn Kanter October 27, 2010 at 3:40am

  This is a very funny (and some of it sadly true) cartoon video spoof on wanting to be a travel writer.
  
  http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/7327535/
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  Joy Lawrance October 26, 2010 at 12:22am

  Credibility. When tarnished, it's difficult to regain. While TripAdvisor may be of some help, it's like any other resource with content populated by travelers...to be taken through several filters. If one discounts the best and the worst reviews, what's left can offer a modicum of insight. However, not removing dated information is definitely troubling.
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  Northeast News October 25, 2010 at 11:53pm

  The New York Times reports that a reputation management company may sue TripAdvisor on behalf of several dozen clients. Reviews that accuse hotel staff of theft, assault or discrimination, the company says, don't belong on the site because they are "allegations of criminality.”
  
  "Some hoteliers believe that TripAdvisor has gone beyond the neutral role of host through actions like sending e-mails highlighting “hotel horror stories” — in effect, endorsing those opinions.
  
  "Other complaints are that TripAdvisor is unwilling to remove questionable reviews from the site, declines to retire older reviews (even when a property is under new management) and screens owners’ responses more vigorously than members’ comments."
  
  Reputation management is what I used to do for a living, so I'd like to know: What do you travel writers think of all this?
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  Sam Scribe October 24, 2010 at 11:08pm

  Allan, every magazine and website writer I know (not just travel writers) should paste your penultimate paragraph over their desks and on their mirrors so they read it every day. Talking to friends after I posted my questions (below) and then read your reply, I realized that they're all either in court or in despair over unpaid fees. Not much of a business model.
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  Allan Lynch October 22, 2010 at 6:01pm

  Sam,
  
  Was this publisher a start up? I have only twice not been paid by publishers. One was a victim of the economy. I like him, but his magazine was launched at the end of high flying times and he got caught. The mag died before my piece ran. Fortunately, it was a department piece and not a lot of money.
  
  The other is European based and had an investor pull out which has left it scrambling for cash flow. Again, my exposure is very small (the previous issue's work paid that month's living expenses). Fortunately, the owners are keeping in touch with freelancers and trying to get their financial house in order to pay us.
  
  They have personal history and career experience behind them. But so many new start ups have nothing but dreams as a foundation.
  
  I've launched start ups, so have a soft spot for them, but before I take on a new client, I want to know who they are, what their business is, if they have an actual business and experience. I can't afford to help just anyone. So I limit my exposure by doing only small assignments for the first few issues to see how well they handle my work and me.
  
  Funny timing, I was just interviewed by a journalism student on start ups.
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  Sam Scribe October 22, 2010 at 5:51pm

  Yesterday yet another friend of mine had to take a publisher to court because that publisher never paid her for her writing and freelance editing. As some of you know, I'm a ghostwriter whose work is mostly memoirs and autobiographies, not travel stories, so all these instances I see of colleagues not getting paid for their travel writing shocks me.
  Am I naive?
  Or are my friends in the travel writing biz doing something wrong?
  Is this sort of thing really so prevalent today?
  And if so, what are you doing about it?

  http://me.Am/

  See related links to what you are looking for.
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  Kitty J. Pope October 22, 2010 at 5:11pm

  Hey Sally,
  Love your website. Let me know if you need any food articles from Caribbean and/or Africa. Check out my website AfricanDiasporaTourism.com. Please join our mailing list.
  Kitty
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  Sally Hammond October 22, 2010 at 3:12pm

  Great idea, MsBehaving! I have bookmarked it and here's hoping it saves me a few red faces!