In the big smoke to keep up to speed with social media

Well - here I am - out of my comfort zone of little ole Dumfries and Galloway. I've headed down to the big city, the big smoke - you know London, to the SES social media and marketing conference at the Queen Elizabeth II conference centre.

Why?

Well in order to keep our pencil sharp and keep up to speed with all the latest trends and analytics in the on line world I needed to come to hear the likes of Bruce Daisley MD of Twitter UK and to hear from Google as to the importance of Google +

One of the areas that many of you with web sites will need to be aware of is the need for your site to be responsive ( ours is just being re built thanks to Kyle the Designer ) to make sure it can cope with the mobile and tablet world. 60% of purchases on line and hotel bookings are now done by a tablet device. Considering the first iPad didn't come out until 2010 that's quite an amazing statistic.

So some of the things to look out for in the next year are the growth of google +, ok google and google now. Google ads words will still play an important part in your on line campaign but there will be an increase in image ads as we process image data 60,000 times faster than text.

China now incidentally have 60% of users on mobile devices and only 40% on desktop PCs - what are you reading this on ? I'm typing it on an iPad.

So armed with all this information I and my media marvel buddies Giles and Bruce are running a 2 day workshop next month. You can come as a residential guest or as a day delegate - full details are on the web site just follow the link here http://www.selkirkarmshotel.co.uk/events/social-media-residential-course-11th-and-12th-march-2014/

Galloway wee wildlife wanders - strolls around town

 Pam Woods is a regular customer with us here at the Selkirk and we appreciate her business. But you never really know your customers that well and I was surprised and delighted a wee while ago when she told me all about her Wildlife wanders. The principle is simple - you book a knowledgeable nature guide for a short stroll of your choice of 4 walks in the beautiful Stewarty district of Galloway.

The walks can be from half an hour to as long as you fancy and are all based around the towns of Kirkcudbright, Castle Douglas or Gatehouse of Fleet.

So what are you looking for ? The trick is learning how to look and most walks are suitable for families and disabled as they are on the flat

You can get in touch and have a natter with Pam on 07754801697 or e mail her at woods.pam55@yahoo.co.uk or follow her on twitter @gallwwwanders

Prices are from £6 pp - you'll be surprised what you see and as I was surprised what you find out.

Here's a lovely painting currently hanging for sale at the hotel by local artist Jane Gibson - I just love seeing Deer out on walks - such majestic creatures