Oregon Magazine

Cover

User Content Encouraged
By New PDX Web Site

          By Fred Delkin

     Deborah Wakefield, VP communications for Travel Portland, terms her newest responsibility "kinda fun!" She supervises GoSeePortland.com, launched last month as a web site that encourages user participation, i.e. bloggers. The site is managed by Martin Stoll's goseetel.com, which has also crafted sites for several other destinations.   Deborah cites "trustiness reviews" as key ingredient in this new web service, with bloggers rated for their content of tips on where to dine, sightsee, etc. If site visitor participation indicates a good reception, GoSeePortland has generated some 700 personal restaurant reviews in its first
month of operation.

Participate on the site, giving a personal profile and you will have items of personal interest   e-mailed to your address. Stoll credits his firm's site maintenance for "providing tools for travelers to choose products right for them." He has been a board member of the National Business Travel Association, a trade group supported by major lodging, airline and credit card companies. Originally from Germany, Stoll has worked in the travel industry for 20 years, initially as a journalist. He founded the GoSeeTell network in Portland in 2006. Other sites he has created include GoSeeOregon, GoSeeArizona, GoSeeChicago and one for California's San Luis Obispo county.

Deborah has been with Travel Portland for 15 years. She is a native of Aberdeen, Washington and a graduate of the University of Washington who learned her trade with a Virginia travel agency before returning westward. She describes GoSeePortland as "providing recommendations for both leisure and business travelers and it will help you have a better trip by connecting you with fellow travelers from around the world."