A community needs a common passion or value, something that brings the members together. The Contiki Community is not about a passion for travel. It’s not about the product either. Much in the same way that you are not simply “buying a tour,” the Contiki Community is about the Contiki experience. It’s about the hunt for the perfect trip, the rush of making the decision and booking a trip, the buildup as you get closer to your departure, the letting go and immersing yourself in a new culture with new people, the high after you return where you can’t stop talking about what you saw and did, and the burning desire to do it again; or rather it’s about all the feelings you have as you go through the lifecycle of doing a Contiki.
– Allison Beckwith, Planet Argon, on the design vision for the new community pages
What began as a vision between Contiki and the Planet Argon Team became a reality this week as we launched the new Contiki Community pages. With the intent of creating an “experience,” we designed and built a “place” for people around the world to connect with each other, share experiences, and gather information to help form lasting relationships with each other and with Contiki.
The community pages added new elements and features to Contiki, allowing members to follow other members, share information, post comments, upload photos and more, making it more interactive, and, well, more of a community. We brainstormed ideas with Contiki and developed a list of needs to create the first wireframes…
…that got us where we are today: a robust social network allowing users to share their activity and keep up-to-date on the activities of those they follow. Users can check out the latest with their own Contiki Feed…
…easily share and organize memories with photo galleries…
…and keep track of Contiki trips (upcoming, past, and future).
Check out the new community site (here’s Contiki’s profile to get you started). Or if you’ve been thinking of going Contiki, this might be the time to become a member, find new friends around the world, and ask them what tours they love!
Stay tuned as we launch more features throughout the year!
p.s. Here is Robby’s profile.