901 not out

100 more posts live on the BOOT. 4 years, 200,000 plus words, 150,000 visitors, 240,000 page views and still going. In my regular "not out series" recap I post a few reminders and highlights form the last 100 posts. It started with 101 not out and continued with 201, 301, 401, 501. 601, 701 and 801 not out. Here we go....

Buy buy buy. We may still be waiting for the mega deal but the tuck-ins are everywhere

• Zuji/Travelocity bought Indian based Travelguru
• WRI went for $340mm
• TripAdvisor went further into China with Kuxun
  

Bust bust bust. The Global F'n Crisis had casualties

• Roamfree went into administration as the BOOT had to press delete on comment after comment
• Offline travel maybe dying but I had 3+3 recommendations on how it can save itself
  

Talk talk talk. The BOOT went conference crazy

• Talked EveryYou at WebInTravel - even though a back injury prevented by from actually going
• Joined the Kevin and Gene army of nodes and wrote 8 tnooz posts on subjects as varied as Augmented reality, Lonely Planet, Google, New Zealand and the Do over
• Overheard intermediaries and suppliers sharing war stories at NoVacancy
• EveryYou launched at TRAVELTech (see below)
• Another amazing week at PhoCusWright
• Spoke at Ad:Tech
  

Track track track - kept my eye on big Asian online players that are active in the market but quiet in the results arena.

• Tracking Google - broke the story first that Google meta-search was coming
  
• Tracking AsiaRooms and their TUI A&S stablemates
• Tracking Agoda, finally getting my hands on a Citi reporting estimating their turnover at $244mm for 2009 and early integration with Booking
  
• Tracking MakeMyTrip and claims they have made US$5mm off $500mm in gross sales
• Tracking Lonely Planet and their online plans
• Tracking Kayak and the private sale plans and follow up with Jetsetter CEO Drew Patterson
  

Theory theory theory

• Laid out my predications for 2010
  
• I introduced the concept of EveryYou - arguing that the future of online travel is “The development of a specific and targeted recommendation of one based on the unique combination of desires, needs and interests of each individual at any moment in time”
• Posted my thoughts on the secrets of innovation
• Mused on my 3 rules for a UGC start-up
• Pondered what next for Google in online video marketing
  

Puff Puff Puff - away from the industry I also posted

• More business traveller tips
• More seat reviews
• Introduced the SkyMall follies
• First Class is dead!

I haven't run out of things to say yet, so if you're still listening, then I will keep typing.

Roamfree misses debt payments and goes into administration (news report)

Queensland based Roamfree has placed itself into voluntary administration according to the goldcoast.com.au. This is confirmed by a filing with ASIC (Australian government body that regulates companies) sent to me by an industry insider. It lists Roamfree Ltd as "* UNDER EXTERNAL ADMINISTRATION and/or CONTROLLER APPOINTED **" dated 24 August 2009.

The broad Roamfree group is a series of online accommodation brands, a channel manager and providers of technologies for tourism companies. Hard to know at this stage which of the business will be affected when. The article says that it does not effect all of the business enterprises under the Roamfree banner as

"The group's subsidiary trading companies, BookEasy Pty Ltd, Roamfree Pacific and majority-owned Tourism Technology, are not affected."

Toursim Technology operates the Calypso system used by many offline companies for inventory management.

As of 930am this morning the main site is still live (screenshot below).

I am always nervous about doing a Roamfree post. One back in April last year resulted in almost 100 comments, many of them unfit to print. That said I would welcome any info you might have as to which business are affected and which are not.

Roamfree "Team" link now missing from the website

Was browsing the Roamfree.com website today and could not help but notice that the link to "The Team" has gone from the left hand navigation area. See side by side shot below of the old home page left hand nav bar and the current one. The link used to point to [http://www.roamfree.com/corporate/roamfree-company-profile/the-team/] which now simply points to the About Us section. Looks like the company has taken down its Team page. Not a good sign. Regular readers will know that Roamfree is going through a transition after making 50 or so staff redundant last month.

Roamfree Story - BOOT (kinda) makes into the Courier Mail

The comment stream in my original Roamfree post has (almost) led to the BOOT gaining a mention in mainstream press. Brisbane based newspaper the Courier Mail is carrying a story with the title "Roamfree faces online ire from former staff". No direct naming of the BOOT or link. But if they did readers would unfortunately find a number of comments saying "This post has been removed by the blog administrator."

Roamfree Rumour - up to 95 made redundant

Not a good day to be working in the travel industry today. Word earlier that people are leaving BA over the T5 chaos. Now I have heard a reliable but unsubstantiated rumour that Australian based channel manager and online hotel retailer Roamfree.com has made as many as 95 people redundant. As I say no confirmation so could be a mistake but my source is good. Any Roamfree people out there want to comment?

UPDATE - 19 April on the road - I cant believe it. I have been deep in business travel. Have taken the long way round to London. As a result I have not had a chance to look at the blog or my timsboot gmail account for about 72 hours. The 82 comments below exceeds by previous record by a factor of ten. Seems like the post became a defacto message board for the angst being felt by ex-Roamfree staff over the redundancies. The point of this blog is an industry news source and analysis forum. It is not a message board or a place to make personal comments about anyone.

I have deleted a number of the comments - almost all those that talked about an individual and their skills, abilities or character. I have kept those that quote public statements of people or express generic comments. Thanks to all the informed commentators and apologies to anyone that saw a comment that they found offensive (that hopefully should now be removed).

Update 2 - I hope all understand that I had to remove some of the posts. It is not because I am a control-freak (which I probably am) or pro-censorship (which I absolutely am not). Instead it is because I am bound by the laws of defamation like anybody else. Additionally I need to keep this Blog focused on what it is - a news, analysis and information source, not a gossip site. That is a little more TechCrunch like than Valleywag (as much as I would love to be as successful as either). I understand completely how the people at Roamfree must feel (those sacked and those left). If someone would like to set up a message board service somewhere for them to continue a discussion without having to fit the format of the BOOT, then I will happily provide a link to that message board (though will not endorse the content).

Update 3 - back to the story. According to the Gold Coast Bulletin (and comments below). The number is closer to 50 than 95.

Update 4 - more news on the story. TravelWeekly also puts the number at 50. Quotes Group executive director Mark Frawley as saying the redundancies came from a merger of Roamfree.com and Roamfree Advanced. Not sure how that works as they were the same company anyway. He rejected rumours of a cash crisis. Queensland's the Courier Mail also has the story along the same lines

Update 5 - 27 April Gold Coast Bulletin has an update on the story here. To all the commentators below, this is not the place to make personal attacks on anyone. Please keep your comments to analysis and discussion of the industry. Personal attacks on people will be deleted. As per above if you want to set up a message board somewhere else I will provide a link.