BlogVille Menu Introduction How to read this ebook Enjoy BlogVille Read in chronological order Discover the places BlogVille’s tags Authors Photo Gallery Video Gallery Intro 50 bloggers from all over the world, 83 days of live blogging, two bases and over 250 published stories: these are some of the numbers of BlogVille Emilia Ro- magna, a project created for discovering and promot- ing the Italian land with a soul Emilia Romagna online. I’m sure that all the hosted bloggers agree with this, af- ter their experience here. That is the impression I got from reading each of the posts that this innovative project generated, and that is why we have decided to create something that keeps all of these precious stories together and shows what BlogVille Emilia Romagna is made of. In each post you can understand that every bloggers was able to see and feel the real soul in every corner of the Emilia Romagna region. The soul of the people living here, that they met every day when going out of the apartment; when in a bar asking for an espresso Intro or cappuccino; or in a restaurant, whilst falling in love with the food of Emilia Romagna. The soul of the art and the history while exploring every hidden corners and ancient roads of the Art Cities of Emilia Romagna. The soul of the Adriatic Sea, that they were able to see and hear in every wave crashing on the beach; in the vibes of the Pink Night and in the sunrises that many of them had the chance to experience. The soul of the engines, the motors and the museums of the Italian MotorValley, and the soul in the roars that some of them could hear and feel while driving a Lamborghini, when joined me at the Mille Miglia in Bologna, or attending the World Ducati Week. The green soul of the forests and the nature of the Apennines from Piacenza to Rimini, and the blue and sparkling soul of the spas of the Emilia Romagna. That is why we call it a land with a soul. And now this soul has become bigger since it has captured the blog- gers’ and readers’ souls as well. This e-book is as well a gift for all those who contribut- ed and are still contributing to present this land with a soul through blogposts, tweets, photos and videos and to everyone involved in it. The entire Emilia Romagna Intro says thank you. All bloggers and each reader are wel- come here anytime to live and experience this land with a soul with us. Andrea Babbi Back to Menu How to read this ebook This eBook would like to sketch out the wealth of the contributions that arrived from everywhere in the world, to enrich the BlogVille project description of Emilia Romagna. Several dozens of posts, hundreds of pictures, videos and tweets, available on the web. Given this abundance of material, the eBook text offers a selection in order to describe at best the spirit behind this initiative, and the feelings of the bloggers who have taken part into it. The eBook can be read like a normal book- from the first to the last page (page by page)- but readers may also choose to create their own travel itineraries by picking specific categories such as geographic loca- tions (as described by the words of the bloggers, you may feel is closer to your interests) or by the themes: Wine & Food, Art Cities, MotorValley, People, BlogVille project. There are also chronological and by author in- dexes. The table of contents can drive you directly to the photo-gallery with all the pictures, or you can select the videos from the multimedia-gallery. How to read this ebook Moreover, you can also browse the through the refer- ences provided at the end of each piece of content. No matter how many hyperlinks you click on, you can al- ways find your way back to the main menu. For those who are eager to dig deeper into the BlogVille experience and browse the contents that did not make it to the eBook, there are dedicated hyper- links highlighted by the symbol . Have a good journey, The BlogVille Staff Back to Menu Blog-Ville - The Travel Blogger Apartment in Emilia Romagna, Italy Melvin Böcher @traveldudes Travel Bloggers... This is so exciting! You now have the chance to travel the way you like and will get supported by the tourism board of Emilia Romagna! They provide you your base... The Travel Blog Apart- ment - Blog Ville ... Your home and you will have the chance to explore Italy! Traveldudes is proud to be partner of this project, which means that if you don't feel comfortable enough that your blog doesn't have the numbers/stats to pro- vide the exposure, we will work together! Blog-Ville - The Travel Blogger Apartment in Emilia Romagna, Italy That's social media, the way we love it! Just contact us , Nicholas Montemaggi (Tourism Board of Emilia Romagna ), Kash Bhattacharya (Bud- getTraveler.org ) or Melvin (Traveldudes.org ) and we will get you to a fantastic region of Italy! Eat, feel and live like a local... Share your experiences with your and our readers! There are two apartments and two dates to choose from: Eat, feel and live like a local... in Bologna! From 23rd of April to the 31st of May Eat, feel and live like a local... in Rimini! From the 2nd of June to the 14th of July You have all the freedom to travel and the Tourism Board is very happy to support you and give you some ideas what to do. Blog trips are nothing new, but this kind of blog trip is new! Blog-Ville - The Travel Blogger Apartment in Emilia Romagna, Italy We brainstormed and looked for ways to get the most out of travel blogging and social media. We believe that this concept will provide the best results. Many blog trips were similar to press trips so far, if they were not even combined. But the blogging indus- try is different and most travel bloggers are no jour- nalists, but travelers who share their experiences. We all know that you are best in something, when you can stand behind your product. In this case, the prod- uct is travel and you are at your best, if you can travel the way you like best. It's up to you how your itiner- ary will look like! The region Emilia Romagna got all the options for you available: If you are interested in culture and would like to visit museums, go for it! If you are a food blogger and love the Italian cuisine, let's have a cooking session in our apartment with an Italian chef, who will share his knowledge with you. Maybe you like the outdoors and would love to go hik- ing? Let's get the boots on and find some nice tracks! Or let's get on a bike for one day! Blog-Ville - The Travel Blogger Apartment in Emilia Romagna, Italy What about the nightlife and beaches of Rimini? This is for sure also worth blogging about! Emilia Romagna got much to offer! Let us know what YOU like and we'll do our best to help you to promote a wonderful region of Italy! Back to Menu 2012-03-02 The BlogVille project - Wanna eat, feel & live like a local in Emilia Romagna? Kash Bhattacharya @BudgetTraveller INTRODUCING THE BLOG VILLE PROJECT It’s an idea that started over a few beers ( as great ideas always do) at Buy Tourism On- line, Florence with fellow blogger Melvin Boecher from Traveldudes.org and Nicholas Montemaggi, Emilia Romagna Tourism Board . Inspired by the debates at BTO Florence we were talk- ing about the new trends in tourism like the rise of the concept of ‘living like a local’ when tourists visited a city. This desire to live like a local has seen a boom in the popularity of holiday apartment rentals like AirBnB, The BlogVille project - Wanna eat, feel & live like a local in Emilia Romagna? Wimdu, Roomarama, Migoa, BudgetPlaces.com, Home- Away across the world. Tourists want to spend more time in the destination, discovering more about the everyday life of locals- vis- iting local markets, go to the same cafe for breakfast, take time to soak in the spirit of the city and learn more about its people. The concept of slow travel is a perfect fit for travel bloggers. When visiting a destination, bloggers tend to provided a jampacked itinerary, similar to the traditional press trip model with only a few days in each location, pack- ing in the ‘must see’ destinations that the Destination Marketing Organisation is looking to promote. This is where I believe the traditional press trip model doesn’t maximise the potential of travel bloggers. A travel blogger’s USP is to tell a good story and being able to share that message effectively across it’s very targetted, loyal social networks. Whether it’s via a tweet, blog post, Instagram picture or a video on Youtube- a blogger is a child of the 21st century,offering a numerous range of multimedia con- The BlogVille project - Wanna eat, feel & live like a local in Emilia Romagna? tent possibilites and channels to help drive the story of a destination. Given the independence, a travel blogger could discov- er a whole range of exciting stories for a destination, in the process offering a new perspective and adding value to the DMO.