Downtown New Bedford Food & Web 2.0 usage

A list of Food from the downtown New Bedford brochure & what they offer in terms of internet connections/web 2.0 {bolded refers to sites with web presence from previous search}:

Brick

• no website, but information on yelp & urbanspoon

Cafe Arpeggio

• website with email to contact

Candleworks Restaurant

• website

Catwalk Bar & Grille

• website with email to contact

Cobblestone Restaurant

• no website, but information available on urbanspoon & yelp

Cork Wine & Tapas Bar

• website
• facebook
• Twitter

Destination Soups

• website

Dunkin' Donuts

• company website

Freestone's City Grill

• website

Ginger Grill

• no direct website, but information available on yelp & urbanspoon
• Twitter

Hibernia Irish Pub

• website
• myspace
• facebook
• information available on yelp

Miguel's American & Portuguese Restaurant

• no website, only information available in Downtown New Bedford brochure

No Problemo

• website
• information available on yelp & urbanspoon

On A Roll -Specialty Sandwiches

• Facebook
• information available on yelp

Pic-A-Deli Convenience Store

• no website

Rose Alley Ale House

• website
• Twitter

Spicy Lime Thai Cuisine

• website
• information available on yelp

The Celtic Coffee House

• website
• Facebook
• information available on urbanspoon

The Green Bean

• no specific website, but information available on yelp & urbanspoon

Waterfront Grille

• website with email to contact

Downtown New Bedford Shopping & social media usage

The evaluation on shopping will focus on the list of five stores with a web presence, however here is a look at the stores listed in the downtown New Bedford brochure & how they rank {the bolded shops refer to those with a web presence in my previous search}

Artificial Marketplace

• yelp

be jeweled

• no website, but discussed on general New Bedford tourism websites

Biltmore Package Shop, Inc {liquor store}

• nothing available

Calico

• website
• blog {also on bloglovin}
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Youtube
• myspace

Carter's Clothing

• website

Celia's Boutique

• no website, but discussed on merchantcircle.com

Christian Science Reading Room

• nothing available

Converse Photo Supply

• website with email to contact

Elaine's T-Shirts & Costumes/Home of the Black Whale

• website with email to contact

Moby Dick Retail

• website with email to contact

The Bay/The Cottage

• nothing available

The Bedford Merchant

• website with email to contact

The Crystal Garden/The Doll's Closet/The Green Lantern/This and That

• nothing available

Travessia Winery

• Twitter
• Facebook
• blog
• website
• delicious
• yelp

Vetu Gifts & Fine Consignment

• website with email to contact

New Bedford Antiques at the Cove

• website

Breaking It Down

So, my 10 charts are done {there are 12 travel sites, but if you read the post below you know that 2 sites offer no travel suggestions for New Bedford} & now I can start breaking down the information from them to determine the level on online exposure for potential New Bedford visitors to explore. Here's are the sites {historical/cultural/leisure & shopping & food} located in the downtown/National Park area that were suggested from these travel sites {in order of most mentioned to least - but at least once}:

Historical/Cultural/Leisure

Whaling Museum {8}

New Bedford Art Museum {6}

Buttonwood Zoo - including the veteran's memorial {6}

Seamen's Bethel {5}

Zeiterion Theater {5}

Rotch-Jones-Duff House & Gardens {5}

New Bedford Whaling National Historic Park {4}

ArtWorks! {4}

Gallery X {4}

New Bedford Fire Museum {3}

Fort Taber {3}

Your Theater {2}

AHA! {2}

Schooner Ernestina {2}

Ocean Explorium {2}

New Bedford visitors centers {2}

Moby Dick Marathon {1}

New Bedford City Hall {1}

New Bedford National Historic Landmark District {1}

New Bedford Whaling Research Library {1}

summer walking tour program {1}

Whalemen's Memorial {1}

working waterfront {1}

W.H.A.LE {1}

architecture {1}

New Bedford Free Public Library {1}

Crowell's Fine Art {1}

Arthur Moniz Gallery {1}

Food

Freestone's City Grille {4}

Cafe Arpeggio {4}

No Problemo {3}

Cobblestone {3}

Rodman Candleworks {3}

Miguel's Restaurant {3}

Waterfront Grille {3}

Cork Wine & Tapas Bar {2}

Destination Soups {2}

Cafe Balena {2}

Spicy Lime {2}

Catwalk Bar & Grille {1}

Dunkin Donuts {1}

The Green Bean {1}

Brick Pizzeria {1}

Rose Alley Ale House {1}

Ginger Grill {1}

On A Roll Sandwich Shop {1}

Shopping

Travessia Urban Winery {3}

The Bedford Merchant {1}

The Black Whale {1}

This and That {1}

Converse Photo Supply {1}

Be Jeweled {1}

The Crystal Garden {1}

New Bedford Antiques at the Cove {1}

Calico {1}

Artificial Marketplace {1}

Charts

Today, I met with my thesis advisor to go over chapters {content & sequence} & then I got to work finishing the research/compiling material for my social media marketing chapter. This is the one I'm making all those charts for...

I decided on the top travel/trip planning sites to gather material for these charts. These were either websites that I knew of & had used before {trip advisor, lonely planet, etc} or ones gathered from a basic Google search {which is probably how people go about planning a day trip anyways}. Here they are {the number in parentheses refers to the amount of activities suggested for New Bedford - remember I'm focusing on day trips, so I'm leaving lodging out}:

1. Trazzler {3}

2. Yahoo Travel {49}

3. Visit New England/90 Things To Do in MA {1)

4. Trip Advisor {197}

5. Lonely Planet {8}

6. Yelp {321}

7. Mass Vacation {33}

8. Southeastern Massachusetts Convention & Visitors Bureau {25}

9. Virtual Tourist {12}

10. Travel Channel {0}

11. Short drives {3}

12. Frommers {0}

A number of sites {specifically, Travel Channel & Frommers} listed nothing for New Bedford. Clearly, a chart has not been made for these sites, but I will include that they had no suggestions because it is pertinent to the level of exposure New Bedford has on tourism websites - & these two are heavyhitters in that realm.

Family Vacation Critical

The trip planning website: FamilyVacationCritic.com has nothing listed for New Bedford, Massachusetts. When typed into the search bar options for Boston, Cape Cod, & Nantucket appear - including a Whaling Museum...the one in Nantucket.

Frommers

Today I am continuing working on making charts. Basically, I am visiting the top travel/trip planning websites & searching for New Bedford, Massachusetts. I break down what I find into categories {food, museums, leisure, etc. Leaving out lodging because I'm focusing on local tourism, so -day trips} and put it into a chart using iWork's Numbers {LOVE iWork by the way}. Then, within the charts, I am bolding the locations that are located within the downtown area & bolding & italicizing those located in the Whaling National Historic Park -since those are my areas of interest. Taking the top spots in these locations I will be evaluating their use of social media tools {facebook, twitter, etc}. Ultimately, trying to gain an insight into the self-marketing of these local businesses & how it affects the positive {or any really} exposure New Bedford has. Sounds kooky -hopefully it will pan out in the right way. I have 8 charts so far.

Anyways, I just messed around on Frommer's website & they have nothing listed for New Bedford {guess it's not worth visiting -sort of seems to be a popular, albeit wrong, mentality} except that it might be a good place to catch the ferry to the islands {Cape Cod, Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, Cuttyhunk, etc}. Not a bad idea, since it's easier & faster than going from Boston, but why not suggest sticking around for a few hours at least while waiting for that boat!

Side note: I think the whole Nantucket thing is a funny/interesting comparison to New Bedford. They were right up there with New Bedford for whaling back in the 19th century - really their whole economy/existence was whaling. When that died out they turned to tourism {early 20th century} & wanted to model their plan after New Bedford, who had successfully switched to manufacturing at this point. Now, a hundred or so years later, Nantucket is a popular play ground for the wealthy & a lovely day trip spot for those in the south coast area of Massachusetts, while New Bedford's reputation is, well, nonexistent outside of those in the city. I get the idea that this is beginning to change.... {for New Bedford. I don't see Nantucket's appeal changing any time soon...}

Change of Attitude

Loving these comments on a Trip Advisor forum on New Bedford. I just wanted to share a snippet with you all, but read the whole thing here. While I'm on this train of thought...does anyone out there know the rules for citing/quoting from blogs or forums like this? I would love to utilize this information, but definitely do not want to break any rules! I would love any & all opinions.

_______________________________

By KarrieB on August 30, 2009: "For over 30 years, despite living within an hour, at one time within 20 minutes of New Bedford, I rarely went there other than to go to one of a couple of good restaurants I knew of. But today was a day of amazement when Hubbie and I went to attend an Irish music session at a pub called Hibernia Irish Pub on William St. To our surprise, this old city looked pretty good, at least around William, North Water, Center and Union streets! The whaling museum looks rehabbed and much bigger, we saw some very upscale shops (thinking of tourists here), we chatted with the owners of the new Celtic Coffeehouse on North Water and felt a great new energy all around us. I feel like a travel guide but having discouraged people on TA from spending time in New Bedford, I now wish I hadn't! I now say- go, spend a full day checking out the cool cobblestone streets and stroll around enjoying some pretty decent looking eateries and historic sites. The architecture in places like the Pub and the Coffehouse alone were awesome and were typical of what we saw of rehabbed old brick buildings. I also saw a footbridge over Rt 18 from the Union St area over to the location where the Martha's Vineyard ferry is which must have been built specifically to encourage people to spend time in the historic part of NB before or after taking the ferry to MV. No, the whole city isn't for tourists and likely never will be but there is a large enough area in the historic downtown to make it worth your trip. Enjoy!"

First response by msar1076 on August 30, 2009: "Glad you enjoyed your trip to New Bedford. I have lived there all my life. Yes, NB has a bad reputation but like you have discovered it is worth a day trip. There are good things happening. A brand new hotel is opening down on the waterfront. There are several new restaurants opening.I hear the Waterfront Grill is excellent. The Whaling musuem and the surrounding area is now considered a national park. You must have come in on Route 18. In the works they are taking out the hwy and creating a blvd so that the waterfront and downtown area are not miles apart. The overpass over the hwy has always been there. The fast ferry to MV is rather new to NB. I'd say maybe 5 yrs or so. Why drive down the Cape when you can take the ferry right from there? They offer discounts for MA residents. Now all we need is the train to Boston. I doubt that is ever going to happen. Oh the possibilities."

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There is so much chatter going on about New Bedford all over the web! I really hope people within organizations working on New Bedford tourist realize it & get involved by reposting & commenting back! People don't go to travel agencies anymore - so this is the best way to create/alter your reputation...in my opinion at least.

Cobblestone Loveliness

Found this website {virtualtourist.com} & loved this post {with photographs} by Pawtuxet dating to November 9, 2009. Be sure to read her other statements on New Bedford! It's great to hear about the positive experiences people have with the city.