iSawNEWS » Bloggers

SEO: Five Tips To Get To The Top Of Search Engines

Admin — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 03:41:18 +0000

During the early days, SEO or search engine optimization relied on meta-tags in optimizing web pages. However, the downside was that it was sufficient enough to spam the title, keyword and description with many keywords to be able to rank highly in search engines. But as time passed by, and with the coming up of new algorithms for search engines as well as ethical rules, many factors have begun to be considered in processing a fully optimized website.

Search engine optimization has long been considered very time consuming, but it has a lot of rewards. Presently, many experts can help in charting strategies and creating desired results like ranking highly in search engines, but this process would entail a lot of money from website owners. Here are some tips which should help website owners like you.

1. Those who want to make their website more SEO-friendly should have the perspective of a search engineer. For one, they should learn to submit to different search engines. Those who are having difficulty in gaining back links must pass their website to as many search engines as possible. Do not just pass back links to the major search engines. Submitting to other search engines could definitely make a difference.

2. Another good tip which you should consider would be promoting your website via blogging. Asking bloggers to review your website and give their blogs a link in exchange. Getting good reviews from other people will enable your website to rank highly in various search engines.

3. It would also help you if you submit links to the most number of directories as possible. While many of the directories usually hold Google Page Ranks while rarely sending traffic, these directories however can provide free back links, helping your site to get good position in various search engines. You should submit casually to directories and not to exceed five submissions in a day to ensure that Google would not have your submissions in their spam folders.

4. It is also important that you write informative content only. If you post and write good quality content, there is a good chance that you will figure well in the algorithm levels of search engines, as well as the design level of PPC campaigns.

5. Lastly, you have to use keywords efficiently. Using a couple of keyword phrases which are likely to be sought by users would help you figure well in various search engines. Also, never overdo it. Remember to ensure that all your keywords are included.

Link building for effective search engine optimization (SEO)

When you begin the task of acquiring quality and relevant backlinks to your website there are many factors that can increase or decrease your search engine rankings . This article outlines the difference between good and bad backlinks. A quality backlink pointing to your site should be in the same category and relevant in content to your website. The page where your link is located should be indexed by Google and the page should also have a Google page rank. The webpage where your link is located should also contain no more than 30 other out-going links to other websites. Link pages with more than 30 out-going links are less relevant to the search engines. Having your link posted on this type of webpage can affect your search engine rankings in

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We demand his full Jackass List!

Admin — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 18:48:36 +0000

In the past, I have solemnly vowed to my readers that they will never learn anything from this blog, and that though they search the entire blogosphere, they will never find anything less relevant.

So imagine my embarrassment now that bloggers are writing about whether President Barack Obama called that jackass Kanye West a jackass.

What can I possibly do to match that? I got nothin’ less relevant. I don’t know which is most disturbing:

That anybody might think West ISN’T a jackass
That the president would have time to form an opinion on this
That Obama is the only person on earth whose Jackass List is off-the-record

Wait! I’ve got it! I will be the only blogger NOT to include links to the VMA clip, the audio of Obama saying “jackass,” the screen-grab of the Twitter message, the video of Obama killing that fly, the audio of Obama mentioning PETA…

I have now invented Linkless Irrelevance, and the world will thank me for it. Okay, what the heck, here’s the jackass audio…

Join the Oddly Enough blog network

Recording artist Kanye West drinks from a liquor bottle at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards in New York, September 13, 2009. REUTERS/Eric Thayer

West takes the microphone from best female video winner Taylor Swift as he praises the video entry from Beyonce at the awards. REUTERS/Gary Hershorn

More stuff from Oddly Enough

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Why I believe in the link economy

Admin — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 22:40:36 +0000

The following is a guest column by Chris Ahearn, President, Media at Thomson Reuters.

“Do unto others”

It’s a simple standard my mom taught me when I was a kid – yours probably taught it too. It isn’t always easy, but in business it’s a good guiding light if you don’t want your company to be evil.

Recently there has been a rising crescendo of finger-pointing, shrieking, braying and teeth-gnashing about the future of the news. In the last couple of weeks there have been many comments on the AP’s proposals, Attributor’s proposals, Ian Shapira’s story and fair use.

After some of the AP commentary, I posted a tweet directed at Jeff Jarvis that prompted some members in the community to ask me to be more outspoken, asking me to be blatant about it, to post a public statement. For those who know me, I usually don’t need to be asked.

To start, yes the global economy is fairly grim and the cyclical aspects of our business are biting extremely hard in the face of the structural changes. But the Internet isn’t killing the news business any more than TV killed radio or radio killed the newspaper. Incumbent business leaders in news haven’t been keeping up. Many leaders continue to help push the business into the ditch by wasting “resources” (management speak for talented people) on recycling commodity news. Reader habits are changing and vertically curated views need to be meshed with horizontal read-around ones.

Blaming the new leaders or aggregators for disrupting the business of the old leaders, or saber-rattling and threatening to sue are not business strategies – they are personal therapy sessions. Go ask a music executive how well it works.

A better approach is to have a general agreement among community members to treat others’ content, business and ideas with the same respect you would want them to treat yours.

If you are doing something that you would object to if others did it to you – stop. If you don’t want search engines linking to you, insert code to ban them.

I believe in the link economy. Please feel free to link to our stories — it adds value to all producers of content. I believe you should play fair and encourage your readers to read-around to what others are producing if you use it and find it interesting.

I don’t believe you could or should charge others for simply linking to your content. Appropriate excerpting and referencing are not only acceptable, but encouraged. If someone wants to create a business on the back of others’ original content, the parties should have a business relationship that benefits both.

Let’s stop whining and start having real conversations across party lines. Let’s get online publishers, search engines, aggregators, ad networks, and self-publishers (bloggers) in a virtual room and determine how we can all get along. I don’t believe any one of us should be the self-appointed Internet police; agreeing on a code of conduct and ethics is in everyone’s best interests.

Our news ecosystem is evolving and learning how it can be open, diverse, inclusive and effective. With all the new tools and capabilities we should be entering a new golden age of journalism – call it journalism 3.0. Let’s identify how we can birth it and agree what is “fair use” or “fair compensation” and have a conversation about how we can work together to fuel a vibrant, productive and trusted digital news industry. Let’s identify business models that are inclusive and that create a win-win relationship for all parties.

This is not code for some hidden agenda – it is an open call for collective problem solving. Let’s do it wiki-style and edit it in the public domain. Let’s define the code of conduct and ethics we would all like to operate under.

My suggestion is we start with “do unto others” as our guiding spirit – I bet it would make all of our mothers proud.

Post your comments below (good, bad or ugly) or send me an email. You can reach me directly at chris.ahearn@thomsonreuters.com or via twitter @cjahearn.

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YouTube’s mythbusters: When blogs attack

Admin — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 12:58:49 +0000

It’s taken a while but YouTube is officially pushing back at the various estimates on how much money it costs parent Google by satisfying our collective hunger for million of video clips every day. Google paid $1.65 billion for YouTube in 2006, when it bought the site from Chad Hurley and former CTO Steve Chen (pictured).

Various YouTube executives we’ve spoken to privately over the last year have bristled at the idea that they are an expensive experiment for Google without a clear profit-making business model. Google CEO Eric Schmidt took the first step in a change of communications strategy in an group interview with reporters at the Sun Valley conference two weeks ago, and to more listeners on the Google earnings call on Thursday. His central point was that everyone’s favorite video site is on the path to profitability.

On Monday, two of YouTube’s PR executives hit back at some of the myths about YouTube’s business with a blog titled “YouTube myth busting.” These include claims that it only features short-form, grainy user-generated content when in fact it has deals with Hollywood partners and features HD content. They also said more than 70 percent of AdAge Top 100 marketers ran campaigns on YouTube in 2008.

But two disputed myths that raised the hackles of the tech blogosphere were related to 1) estimates of YouTube’s cost structure and 2) the “oft-cited” stat that YouTube only monetizes 3-5 percent of the site, which the PR execs said was “old and wrong.” The bloggers wanted some numbers and they didn’t get any from this YouTube’s blog

Here’s Henry Blodget of Business Insider:

Enough already. We’re glad that YouTube has not turned out to be a disaster. (We weren’t among those who thought it would be). But we can’t stand this attitude. If Google is tired of people “picking any number to fit any theory,” then they should just publish the facts.

Peter Kafka of AllThings Digital calls it ‘modest boasting‘:

So really, the big takeaway here is that the Google folks are feeling ever more confident about YouTube’s prospects, enough to do some public chest-beating. But not enough to actually talk about those prospects in concrete terms. YouTube says that estimates that the site can sell ads against only three percent to five percent of its video inventory, first asserted in a well-reported Wall Street Journal piece a year ago, are “old and wrong.” But the company won’t say what percentage of the site it does sell.

Paid Content thinks it’s “myth-spinning” by YouTube and wasn’t convinced either:

The only interesting part comes here: “The truth is that all our infrastructure is built from scratch, which means models that use standard industry pricing are too high when it comes to bandwidth and similar costs. We are at a point where growth is definitely good for our bottom line, not bad.” Which gives credit to this analysis by RampRate last month, which said the costs of video delivery for YouTube are a lot lower than what analysts have previously estimated.

(Photo: Reuters)

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Monday media highlights

Admin — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 03:08:23 +0000

Here are some of the day’s stories on the media industry:

‘Tonight Show’ Audience a Decade Younger (NYT)
“In Mr. O’Brien’s first month as host, the median age of “Tonight Show” viewers has fallen by a decade — to 45 from 55, a startling shift in such a short time. This audience composition means advertisers can now address almost exclusively young viewers on “Tonight,” and NBC is already contemplating a shift in how it sells the show,” writes Bill Carter.

Springer’s daily Welt dreams of going international – again (Reuters)

“German publisher Axel Springer plans to launch an international weekly edition of its flagship daily, Die Welt, in a 48-page tabloid format starting February 2010. Springer is still mulling distribution options but the paper will likely be available from airlines,” writes Nicola Leske.

Just the Messenger: Mediaite.com Focuses on Celebrity of Journalism (WP)
On the newly launched website, Howard Kurtz writes: “Mediaite paints with a colorful palette, even if its hues will appeal mainly to journalists and those who obsess over them. By hiring bloggers who worked for Mediabistro and the Huffington Post, Abrams has put together a sassy critique of media missteps and foibles, an overall take not driven mainly by ideology.”

Cubs sale finalized for TribCo (Crain’s)
“Tribune Co. has finalized a deal to sell the Chicago Cubs to a bidding group led by bond salesman Thomas Ricketts. Documents describing the fully financed deal were sent to Major League Baseball over the weekend, a source familiar with the negotiations said Monday. The value of the deal is between $850 million and $900 million, the source said.”

Food Network magazine is media’s next wave (MarketWatch)
“Hearst executives are very pleased with the magazine’s progress. The company started out by printing 300,000 copies last fall. Hearst now projects the publication’s rate base, the circulation figure that publishers promise to advertisers, will climb to 900,000 later this year and to 1.1 million in 2010,” writes Jon Friedman.

Hulu plans September bow in U.K. (Variety)
Steve Clarke writes: “Hulu, co-owned by News Corp., NBC Universal and Providence Equity Partners, is believed to be offering broadcasters equity stakes in the U.K. service plus a share of online advertising revenues. (Disney has a deal pending to become a co-owner.)”

In other news:

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Sports Fans Won’t Score Big Savings by Canceling Cable (Washington Post)

Admin — Sun, 10 May 2009 02:12:28 +0000

Pity the — literally — poor sports fan. Cinephiles can forsake their premium cable subscriptions in favor of a cheap Netflix package and a library card. Frugality bloggers can provide free or low-cost placebos to the scripted-TV addict. Articles and blog posts exhorting people to cut the cable…
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Hey buddy, don’t knock my newspaper!

Admin — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 21:36:46 +0000

The 24/7 Wall Street blog’s list of newspapers that it teed up as going out of business this year is making a certain group of people rather unhappy — the people who run those papers. Two of them are so hopping mad that they have aired their complaints to the public.

You can read the whole list on 24/7 Wall Street, but here is what it said about:

New York Daily News:

NY Daily News is one of several large papers fighting for circulation and advertising in the New York City area. Unlike The New York Times, New York Post, Newsday, and Newark Star Ledger, the Daily News is not owned by a larger organization. Real estate billionaire Mort Zuckerman owns the paper. Based on figures from other big dailies it could easily lose $60 million or $70 million and has no chance of recovering from that level

And the Philadelphia Daily News:

The Philadelphia Daily News. The smaller of the two papers owned by The Philadelphia Newspapers LLC, which recently filed for bankruptcy. The parent company says it will make money this year, but with newspaper advertising still falling sharply, the city cannot support two papers and the Dally News has a daily circulation of only about 100,000. The tabloid has a small staff, most of whom could probably stay on at Philly.com, the web operation for both of the city dailies.

New York Daily News Editor Marc Cramer unloaded on the blog and Editor Doug McIntyre, as you can see in this story in his big rival, the New York Post (which must have enjoyed the writeup).

Brian Tierney, who runs the Philadelphia papers, put his skills as a seasoned public releations executive to work and issued this press release:

On Monday, March 9, 2009, Time.com posted a blog entry titled, The 10 Most Endangered Newspapers in America, which included the Philadelphia Daily News at the top of its list. First, let me say that I like catchy Top 10 lists as much as the next guy, but the Daily News is not going anywhere. It is beloved by its readers for its Philly attitude toward sports, entertainment and politics. I agree with my good friend, Marc Kramer at the New York Daily News (also on the list) who called the report, ‘unfounded and baseless.’ The fact that this “report” can get such widespread coverage is a case study in why we need to preserve institutions like The Daily News, which has reporters who actually call sources and editors who actually check facts. If we hold up this type of blog “reporting” as journalism, God save our democracy.

The blog had a number of wrong assumptions and factual errors. First, The Daily News is profitable. Our newspapers made $36 million last year. The Daily News is the 91st largest newspaper in America in the fourth largest media market. There is ample room for two newspapers in Philadelphia. Second, the blog assumed The Daily News journalists could be absorbed into philly.com. The Daily News has 107 journalists. It would be quite a squeeze to get them all into the philly.com offices, where we have about 10 content producers. Maybe they could share chairs and desks?

The public needs and expects journalism to be accurate and factually correct. To do otherwise is a disservice to them.

At least he didn’t say that bloggers aren’t journalists. That’s a step toward the future!

(Photo: Reuters)

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Blogosphere not kindled on Kindle 2 launch

Admin — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 22:44:25 +0000

Resembling a larger, whiter, thinner, but not-as-sexy iPhone, the Kindle 2 got its high-profile launch on Monday by Amazon, the Seattle-based online retailer.

Analysts, media and gadget hounds filled New York’s Morgan Library to hear Chief Executive Jeff Bezos touting the slimmer, faster new version of the e-reader that at $359 is still hardly a steal.

The press conference even featured an appearance from horror author Stephen King, whose novella “Ur” — about a college instructor who orders a Kindle (no joke) to frightening consequences — is only available on the Kindle.

But despite the advance hoopla — read Reuters’ preview of the Kindle launch here — the blogosphere was surprisingly low-key about Monday’s unveiling — perhaps given leaked photos of the supposed device that could be seen on the Internet beginning last fall.

“Wow, even Amazon is jumping on the iPhone-killer bandwagon,” said one blog, http://www.boygeniusreport.com, adding that the new Kindle is 25 percent thinner than the iPhone. Gizmodo, calling its new design a success, wrote: “It looks like Amazon got a few clues from Apple and Braun’s design guidelines.” The www.Techcrunch.com blog summed it up even more succinctly: “It’s much less ugly.”

Bloggers praised its thinness, more storage, better battery life, better display and faster page turning, but some still griped at its price tag and design, with one blogger saying the new Kindle is “still not pretty.”

“If I’m going to spend $370, why wouldn’t I buy an iPod Touch or a Netbook and get way more functionality,” asked one posting. Another referenced the ubiquitous debate in cyberspace over open devices: “Where is the universal open device that consumers really want? Limited consumers just so you can direct all sales through Amazon will not play out in the long run.”

For an interesting read on how Amazon is currently cornering an underserved market niche, but how competition from tablet PCs could be an issue in the future, read here.

Few bloggers commented on the new “read-to-me” feature, which allows users to hear their content read by either a female or male voice — although one blog said it “should be fun.” That may steal away some sales of books on tape, but Kindle said the feature was still experimental.

Amazon won’t disclose how many advance orders for the Kindle 2 it expects — nor how many of the first version it sold. And still a mystery is whether or not the Kindle is cannibalizing sales from the company, whose highest margin business is physical book sales, according to Bernstein Research’s Jeffrey Lindsay.

Bezos said last month for every physical book an Amazon customer with a Kindle buys, he or she buys 1.6 to 1.7 Kindle books.

(Photo of Bezos/Reuters)

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Writing for your life at The New York Times

Admin — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 22:30:57 +0000

Who can blame a print reporter for wanting to get up to speed in the new media world, particularly at The New York Times? With ad revenue down and the future in doubt, it might seem worthwhile for reporters to keep themselves marketable. The union that represents the NYT’s reporters approves, but it suspects that some are making too many concessions. Here are excerpts from the memo:

The financial troubles at The New York Times have many Guild members looking over their shoulders wondering when the next round of layoffs may occur…As a result, many of our members are understandably operating in survival mode and scurrying to find a niche.

In this economic climate, the Guild more than ever encourages members to make themselves as valuable as possible. Embrace the web, which undoubtedly holds the key to our future. …

The Guild has learned that some employees are blogging on their own time, working through the wee hours of the night, with no additional compensation. Some are receiving compensation, but only a small portion of what they are owed. Others are simply getting to leave a couple hours early in exchange for their work on the web. As a result of this “Let’s-Make-a-Deal” environment, some employees are taken care of and others are taken advantage of, which is not what being part of a union is all about. …

Management told the Guild during recent negotiations that they needed more flexibility in the workplace if the company is to survive. The Guild understands that it is in our best interest for the paper to thrive and not be so set in our ways. But at this point, it appears as if our members are the only ones who are being flexible and are giving their services away in the process. If overtime budgets are tight, bloggers should be given time during their normal shift to complete an assignment rather than be expected to do it pro bono or play, “Let’s-Make-a-Deal” with their livelihood. The time has come for management to stop preying on our members’ fear and vulnerability, pay our members what they are worth and schedule them appropriately.

When will those layoffs happen? We’re depending on you, New York Times reporters, to tell us. Tips always welcome.

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The Vacation Bloggers

Admin — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 17:11:17 +0000

Aloha! Welcome to the Vacations Blog for UpTake- your first step to a great trip.

You may find yourself reading this blog and wondering who all of these fascinating people are. They’re us! We’re a group of road-tested individuals that have vacationed all over the place and lived to tell about it. We are here to share the best, the worst and everything in-between.

Whether you are looking for family fun, romantic getaways, trips with the pooch or travels on a limited budget, we have what you need.

For press information on UpTake please visit: Press & Blogger Information.

Contact the Vacation Team

And now, your Bloggers of Leisure:

Whit Honea

Whit Honea is an award-winning writer in the greater Los Angeles area. He is a husband of one, a father of two and the lifeline to many relatively tame creatures.

Whit’s writing can be found at FameCrawler, AOL’s StyleList, Green Daily, DadCentric and the Disney Blog. His personal site, Honea Express (Honea sounds like pony), is an eclectic mix of family fun and foul-mouthed tirades.

Whit’s Favorite Vacation: My favorite vacation would either be the trip I took to Europe one summer while I was is in college or the time that my wife (when she was still my girlfriend) and I went to Walt Disney World in Orlando.

The trip to Europe consisted of museums, drinking, hearts and heroes. There may or may not have been jail time. Walt Disney World was romantic and relaxing and by a random act of spontaneity, the spot where I proposed to my wife. I better go with the latter.

Jay Romeo

J. Edward Romeo has 16 years experience in software development and team management. He was the founder of New Jersey Online Travel and served as the director of Redbank.com before they were acquired by Banyan Vines along with ePresence, where he worked on the design and development of Switchboard.com, YourHomeDirect.com and the original Survivor site for CBS.

Presently he serves as the Director of Fire Services at Emergency Software Products , as well as the co-host of the Parentograpy Podcast. He spends his free time photographing his travels and maintains a personal blog Triple Venti.

Jay’s Favorite Vacation: This dramatically changed in 2006, when I made my first trip to Walt Disney World in Orlando Florida, where I had the opportunity to become a kid again and experience it with my wife and daughter for the first time. Sights, activities, everything that both young and old could enjoy to a point of exhaustion. We had originally planned it as a “once in a lifetime” trip, but found that the happiest place on earth doesn’t allow you to escape with just one visit, so we will be returning.

Britt Reints

Britt Reints has been blogging at Miss Britt since 2005. Offline, she has a fancy title that includes words like “VP” and “marketing” – which essentially means she sells stuff. Online, she’s entirely too open about her personal life and has embraced the motto, “Dignity is Overrated.” She neglects to tell any of this to her editors at her paid blogging gigs where she portrays a very responsible working mother, childcare expert and travel aficionado for the entire state of Florida.

Britt’s Favorite Vacation: I’ve been fortunate enough to visit numerous white sandy beaches and European destinations, including Switzerland and Italy. But my favorite vacation experience was a three day trip to New York City. I traveled alone, leaving my husband and kids at home and meeting friends upon my arrival in the Big Apple. I spent less than $500 on the entire weekend and jammed an exciting tourist experience into 72 hours. Beaches are fabulous for rest and relaxation, but nothing gets my blood pumping again like a full body immersion into city life.

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry, CEO of Blogging at Childsplayx2, has been chronicling the highs and lows of parenting twins since he knocked up his wife in 2004. Childsplayx2 has been featured in Parents Magazine, the New York Daily News and his mother’s annual Christmas newsletter. When not battling twins, Matthew is an executive for the YMCA who enjoys exercising, reading and eating fine desserts – not necessarily in that order.

Matthew’s Favorite Vacations: My favorite vacations include ones where there are plenty of sandy beaches and crystal blue waters. However, when traveling with toddler twins, I believe that successful vacations are the ones when nobody gets killed. As a child, my own mother took me and my brother on a train trip across Canada and we once crisscrossed Mexico via bus, train and burro. It is my hope that I can introduce my own kids to those same experiences through travel. Well, maybe not the burros.

Joe Romano

Joe Romano works in in the field of corporate communications and has worked as a freelance writer and blogger since 2005. His blog, Hey Joe, is a collection of random bits of flotsam concerning life, his family, dead celebrities and other miscellaneous drivel that strikes his fancy.

Joe’s Favorite Vacation: To me a great vacation should provide abundant opportunities to relax. As much as like seeing new sights I never feel that a vacation was a complete success unless I managed to finish at least one book. Therefore, beach trips (Anna Maria Island, Florida comes to mind) have to rank up there as some of my favorites. They offer both the time to relax and time for fun with the kids. When we manage to get away sans kids, my wife and I enjoy exploring the many cozy coastal locations of California.

Charles A. Downs III

Charles A. Downs III has been blogging at The Goat and Tater since July 2008. Tales of misguided youth/adulthood are evenly balanced by heartwarming ramblings of days spent with his two daughters, the Goat (age 7 and ruler of all things pink and horsey) and the Tater (age 1.5 and ruler of all things 36″ and below). When Charles isn’t reading “The Lady with the Alligator Purse” for the 27th time or getting hustled in a game of Sorry, he enjoys fly fishing in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, writing, reading, or letting the current of one of Kentucky’s scenic waterways pull him into destinations unknown.

Charles’ Favorite Vacation: This must be broken down into two categories. Category one being the family vacation. Spent with my lovely wife, oldest daughter, and youngest daughter (in utero) in the pristine beauty of Kiawah Island, SC. Exploring marshes and wetlands, watching the Dolphins play under a setting sun, letting the surf tickle our legs, and doing absolutely nothing at all. Category two would be a trip to Europe to play soccer in the summer of 1989 where I came, just inches, from starting an International Incident at Checkpoint Charlie. Long story.

Kim Tracey Prince

Kim Tracy Prince is a television producer and freelance writer in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles. With two little boys under 4, she writes about the messy underbelly of family life at House of Prince, contributes to the colorful group of voices at Los Angeles Moms Blog, and guides parents to enriching activities at Being Savvy San Fernando. Kim also writes a column in the local newspaper The SFV News. When she and her husband can wrestle the kids into their car seats successfully, they enjoy trips within a 7-hour drive, max.

Kim’s Favorite Vacations: My favorite vacations are the ones that get me away from as many people as possible. My honeymoon, spent aboard a 32-foot Beneteau in the British Virgin Islands, was the most relaxing time of my life. That said, family trips to places that delight my children can be worth the crowds. A recent vacation to SeaWorld for the opening of Sesame Place now ranks up there among the faves.

Warren Toland

Warren Toland is a VP of Development and Public Relations for a non-profit located in Central Connecticut. Warren has been blogging for over three years at his personal site, mr big dubya, and is a founding member of the irreverent and very popular dad blog, DadCentric. He also contributes to The Whinery, My Wife Hates My Xbox, and Draft Day Suit.

Warren’s Favorite Vacation: My wife and I have always loved to travel – even more so now that we have children. My favorite vacation was a trip to Ireland several years ago just after we got engaged. We journeyed across the pond so I could be introduced to my wife-to-be’s extended family and receive the blessing of the Hynes family matriarch (I kid.). It was a 10-day, whirlwind tour spent in such fine locales as Galway, Dublin and Beleek. We are anxious to get back and introduce our children to the Emerald Isle.

Phil Corless

Phil Corless is a stay-at-home dad in North Idaho. He also homeschools his two kids, which makes it easier to make frequent road trips around the West as a family. He’s been writing about this unique life since 2004 at his blog, A Family Runs Through It. Corless received his Masters in Business Administration from the University of Idaho and his undergraduate degree from Cal State Fullerton.

Phil’s Favorite Vacation: Two years ago we had an extensive dream vacation planned in Western Canada, including stays in Banff, Alberta, and Victoria, British Columbia. A month before the trip, I realized I couldn’t find my birth certificate to get back across the border. Cancelling all those plans, I made some last minute arrangements at a resort in the Olympic National Park that I’d never heard of called Kalaloch Lodge. That trip turned out to be a family favorite. Five days along the gorgeous Pacific beaches of Washington. It was so memorable and enjoyable, we returned to the Lodge this past summer and had just as much fun.

James Grayson

James Grayson is a photographer that loves to write. He currently resides in Austin, TX, with his wife and kids who provide endless hours of humor in his life. He shares some of it with the world at his blog, Daddyshack. James and his partners at Quirkee Media also publish a humor and entertainment magazine at Quirkee.com. He loves to travel and plans on doing it more often as his kids grow older. He wants to discover more of the world around him with his family and capture the moments in photographs. See more of his photography at JamesGrayson.com.

James’ Favorite Vacation: One of my favorite and most memorable vacations was earlier this year when I went with my dad and uncles to Augusta, Georgia, for a Masters tournament practice round and Par-3 contest. I love to play golf and just stepping foot on the grounds at Augusta National Golf Club was an honor. When they first went in 1998, my grandfather was still with us and they were the foursome on that trip. I was able to fill his shoes this year and walk the course he had walked before me. That will always be a memorable vacation for me even if it only lasted three days.

Darren Farrington

Darren Farrington is a theater manager and producer living in Connecticut with his wife and daughter. He got in on the blogging scene in 2005 as a daddy blogger and later incorporated posts into his professional consulting website DarrenFarrington.com. Darren began working in arts organizations in 1991, but took a much-too-long break for law school and legal practice in New York and Connecticut. Even then, his strength was writing and persuading readers to go (mentally at least) where he told them. As a big fan of vacations, he’s glad to be using his cultural and writing experience to promote travel and tourism.

Darren’s Favorite Vacation: Any vacation with my wife and daughter is a favorite, but we’re most drawn to sandy beaches and warm temperatures. Coastal New England in the summer (sometimes even into the early fall) fits the bill, but nothing beats cold-shouldering the snow and ice and taking off for the Caribbean in the middle of winter. We’ve all become fans of kid-friendly cruises where my wife and I get some adult time while my daughter spends a couple of hours each day in supervised kids’ clubs. Give me sand in my toes and the smell of sunscreen and I’m a happy man.

Ed Lamaze

Ed Lamaze has spent the better part of his life dreaming of someplace else and traveling less than extensively. Elated when offered the opportunity to be a part of the Vacations Blog team at UpTake.com, his wife flatly countered, “But you don’t take vacations.” “I know, that’s the beauty of it!” Ed is a Stay-at-Home father of five children having left a career as a Registered Nurse in a Children’s Hospital ER to tend to the scrapes and bruises of everyday life at home. Rest assured that when Ed speaks of a vacation destination, it’s been tested kid friendly.

Born and raised in Louisiana, Ed currently resides in a historical home (that means it’s old) outside of Columbus, Ohio where he will be writing of vacation adventures in America’s Heartland. His personal blog, Zoe’s Dad, chronicles some of the zaniness of raising five crazy kids.

Ed’s Favorite Vacation: My wife and I spent a carefree week in Jamaica before we were married in a little resort located just outside of Montego Bay. A private villa nestled along the shores yielded panoramic views of sunsets to the west and the lush greenery of the mountains to the east. For an entire week, we golfed, snorkeled, swam, hiked, dined and lounged in a near Utopian setting. We immersed ourselves in all that Jamaica had to offer. Best of all, not once during that week did anyone refer to me as Daddy! Good times.

Jason Roth

Jason Roth, a resident of Las Vegas, provides UpTake readers a local’s take on the hotels, restaurants, attractions and events that make for an ultimate family vacation in the City of Sin. A blogger for nearly four years, he also chronicles his journey as a husband and father under the pseudonym of VegasDad on his personal blog ivegasfamily.com. In addition to blogging, Jason is director of marketing and public relations for a private university in Southern Nevada. He has more than 10 years of experience in public relations, having served clients in variety of industries at firms in Southern California, Phoenix and Las Vegas.

Jason’s Favorite Vacation: My family and I enjoy any opportunity to take a break from the Las Vegas scene. Our favorite places to visit are large cities, such as San Francisco, New York and Montreal, where we take full advantage of the cultural experiences not available at home. We’re especially fond of culinary art and always make an effort during our trips to discover great restaurants.

James Austin

James Austin is a longtime Seattle, WA resident and Pacific Northwest native. A husband of 10 years and a first time father of an energetic toddler, James enjoys discovering and experiencing all the diverse beauty and wealth of exciting things to do within minutes of his Seattle home. James has been documenting his experiences as a new father for the past year on his dad blog “Luke, I am your Father.” In his free time, James enjoys managing people, as well as systems and operations, for a mid-sized office in a non-profit organization.

James’ Favorite Vacation: The destination is Kailua Beach on Oahu, Hawaii. Kailua Beach is just my speed. It is located on the windward side of Oahu, far enough away from the hustle and bustle of Honolulu to make you feel like you are actually on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, but close enough that you can do an excursion to the city for some night life, if you desire. Kailua Beach is a wonderful place to take the family. The sand is soft, the water remains shallow several hundred yards out, and it is not overly crowded. It is also a perfect place to wake early and watch the sunrise, which once complete highlights the stunning topography of the surrounding mountains.

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