Postcard from Bishkek

During April 2014 the range of topics covered in the postcards included the following topics:

There’s a big controversy in the marketing about the value of using Social Media as channel – the likes of Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Trip Adviser, Youtube, My Space, Classmates, VKontakt, Tumbler, Pininterest, Beebo and Instagram … to mention just a few of the more common outlets. Some people think of Social Media as an extremely valuable […]

One of the mantras associated with responsible tourism runs: “Take only photographs, leave only footprints!” There is another saying, that photographs make the best souvenirs … although, personally, I have some doubts about that.  This is probably because I am not very good at taking them.  I tend to take the the more aesthetic view […]

During March 2014 the range of topics covered in the postcards included the following topics:

Here at ianbek.kg I sometimes get some interesting feedback from readers … and it is interesting to note what points people decide to pick me up on. But then, as one person put it, “at least it shows that someone has read the postcard!”. There is an opportunity for people to post comments at the […]

One of the most difficult questions I face is trying to decide when and where to place my advertising budget. One of the maxims of marketing is that it is supposed to bring in new business – and different figures are often quoted for that value of that return on investment … and although I […]

They say that you only get one chance to make a good first impression – so work at it. First impressions can be misleading.  You need to think hard about how to present yourself and what message you want to get over.  Let me illustrate with a story: One of the most memorable day trips […]

A few weeks ago I got a call from a journalist who wanted to take an interview about the book 100 Experiences of Kyrgyzstan. The idea behind the book was to produce a mini, pocket sized photo album, that could serve as a “sampler”, presenting a selection (100) of “experiences” of that a visitor might […]

I remember that when I was learning Russian, I had to ask my teacher for help … in answer to a question that she had posed, I was trying to say that “the weather is warmer today than yesterday” when I realized that although I knew the basic vocabulary, (weather = pagoda, warm=tyeplo, today=sevodnya and […]

Technically, a tourist is someone who spends at least one night away from home. That’s the lower limit.  There is an upper limit as well, but that tends to depends on who’s definition is being used.  One definition talks of someone travelling for up to a year, but more generally it seems to be up […]