I’ve made good my promise to publish a Social Media News Release about 7 Wonders in 7 Days, using the impressive yet free Pressitt.com service.  Have a read!

The long awaited Poster for the 7 Wonders in 7 Days Charity Auction and Tweetup next week is also now up on Flickr.

Click on image to zoom

Yesterday was a busy day: I was juggling a number of things including board meeting commitments and dull company stuff like accounts and tax.  Still, I’ve been blown away by the amazing write ups popping up around the web since the 7 Wonders in 7 Days press release went live.

I particularly liked the tongue in cheek article on leading North West media resource, How Do.

My favourite quote:

A Manchester-based internet TV and social media expert is embarking on a charity challenge in September that will turn her into a Phileas Fogg for the fundraising 2.0 generation.

Read the rest of the article on How-Do.co.uk.

For those unaware, Phileas Fogg is the main fictional character in the 1873 Jules Verne novel Around the World in Eighty Days.

According to Wikipedia:

Accompanied by his manservant, Passepartout, Fogg attempts to circumnavigate the late Victorian world in 80 days, or less, on a wager of £20,000 set by the Reform Club. He takes the wager and on that day leaves with Passepartout, vowing to return by 8.45 pm on Saturday 21 December 1872.

Read the rest of the entry on Wikipedia.

I remember reading Around the World in Eighty Days when I was eleven or twelve and being impressed.   Might buy a copy to read on the flights that Thomas Cook are organising for me.  More on that in a bit.

The lovely folks at Manchester Digital Development Agency (MDDA) have also posted the press release on the MDDA website site and it looks fab.

All this press and publicity activity is down to the indomitable Katie Moffat (@katiemoffat on Twitter) who is keeping the wheels on the press for the Charity Auction and Tweetup at the Living Room on 25th June rolling.  Get your tickets here.

Widdy aka James Chapman (@_Chappers_ on Twitter), works for Manchester website design & online marketing agency, Fluid Creativity, and is DJing at the event. He has written a brilliantly succinct overview of the campaign so far.

Thank you James, MDDA and How Do.

As announced on Twitter, I also had a meeting with Thomas Cook’s World Travel expert in Manchester about the 7 Wonders in 7 Days trip; we’re still fine-tuning the itinerary.

We are now working with a slightly different version of the travel itinerary following re-entry onto Thomas Cook’s systems.  They’ve been making changes to their travel booking systems and the outcome means that the 7 Wonders in 7 Days trip itinerary is now being arranged using Star Alliance, the global airline operator.

This has opened up a number of interesting developments.

Regular Twitter followers may recall that last week I tweeted about needing accommodation in Jordan as Thomas Cook have no authorised hotels/agents there.   Well, it appears that booking the 7 Wonders in 7 Days trip via Star Alliance may mean that they will be able to source a hotel room for me there.

Regular readers may also recall that Josh R (@technicalfault) suggested that I looked at booking an alternative/backup trip itinerary using Star Alliance to manage last minute flight cancellations.

When I mentioned this to Thomas Cook, I was told that the idea was not really feasible as the problem with booking alternative flights is that one cannot guarantee the airline seats until they are needed.

With Thomas Cook/Star Alliance managing most of the trip, this may no longer be a problem provided I keep in regular contact with them.

I’m waiting on a couple of confirmations for flights on the itinerary and then I’ll post the most up to date version on here.  As far as what we’ve got so far, I will share that it’s almost certain I can do the trip in 7 days!

The interesting thing is that it looks like I will not need accommodation in at least 3 of the countries being visited because I will be doing all my sleeping on planes!

What do you think? Are there parallels between 7 Wonders in 7 Days and Around The World in 80 Days?

Share your thoughts in the comments.

Image Credit: www.fromthegreenwood.com