Media Marketplace with Visit Florida in Toronto…and a Tropical Rain Shower

I was standing on the patio at the Drake Hotel with other Toronto Travel Massive members pitching my blog to a variety of media members from Visit Florida and their partners, when the sky suddenly went dark and the clouds opened up above and poured water down on us. There were flashes of lightening and loud rumbling thunder and I thought “this is just like Florida in the summer! How did they do that?” Ok, so Visit Florida didn’t plan the tropical shower in the middle of the event, but no one let it dampen the mood or stop the media mingling.

After some welcome cocktails we were invited to mix and mingle with members of the Travel Media Association of Canada (TMAC) in a media marketplace of Visit Florida partners.

Visit Florida brought a number of co-hosts to the event, all with tables and materials to share with Travel Massive attendees. Club Med Sandpiper Bay – Florida, The Beaches of Fort Myers & Sanibel (www.fortmyers-sanibel.com), The Florida Keys & Key West, Visit Orlando, Visit Pensacola, and Visit St. Petersburg Clearwater were all interested to hear about our travel sites and convince us that Florida was a destination we wanted to add to our list.  On the other hand, we are Canadians, so it doesn’t take much convincing to plan a trip to Florida, especially after our last few Canadian winters.

Media mingling wasn’t all that was on the menu for the night. The Drake Hotel served up some incredible appetizers throughout the night. Quesadillas, Pulled Pork Sliders, Ceviche and other delicious nibbles were passed around all evening long. Then an amazing Taco bar was set up with grilled shrimp, pineapple and a variety of fixings to make our own delicious variations of tacos.

The best parts of our Toronto Travel Massive events are the amazing friends I’ve made over the past year. Yes I can’t believe it, but it has been a year since my first Travel Massive event! In one year, I have been fortunate to collaborate with some amazing travel bloggers and writers, who give me their honest opinions about my work, tell me when something goes wonky on my site or join me on a group blogging venture. I feel like I’m part of the greatest team of bloggers, writers and photographers and because of these Travel Massive events I don’t have to go it alone anymore!

When I started DreamTravelMagazine.com it was just a silly dream. I wrote for two years and all my friends thought I was crazy and wasting my time. But now, because of this amazing Travel Massive community my blog has grown into a community of travel dreamers just like me! Every month is a new opportunity to network, connect or learn. I’ve made some great connections with industry professionals and with every event I attend I expand my rolodex of new potential travel partners to work with.

With the members of TMAC sharing the event we had lots of people to meet and create even more lasting partnerships!

Sharon Mendelaoui has been a member of Toronto Travel Massive since 2013. She is a travel writer, blogger, and photographer based in Thornhill, Ontario and founder of Dream Travel Magazine, an online travel magazine specializing in Caribbean all-inclusive getaways and turning dream vacation destinations into reality. You can follow her on Twitter at @dreamtravelmag or on her Facebook page.