Spotlight on: The Journal!

Yep, you can build self-guided walking tours for others to enjoy. And yep, new Tour Takers can search and find your tours using the Built Story map (or even just with a quick Google search!).  But did you also know that your customers, at each tour stop, can journal about their experiences? They can record selfies, they can jot down things to remember for next time, they can take research notes, they can save memories that they can return to later.

Keep your journal entries private... or, share to social media

Finding unique ways to connect is more important than ever right now.   Maybe we can’t be in-person with many people in this moment, but social media is providing a really important window of connection…as are local, self-guided tours from you.

And when your self-guided tours combine with the connection of social media-well, what a special gift at a time like this. 

Your Tour Takers can share their journal entries—their experiences, what they are learning and taking in from your tours—with their friends and family through their social media platforms.  And when your tours are shared to social media, your audience grows, too! 

Each time a journal entry is shared, It will be clear who created the tour (you) the title of your tour, and it will link back to your tour, so that new potential Tour Takers can easily access your tour.

A place to jot down notes

In my own travels, I have often kept a notebook – a real one, full of (what’s that?) paper—to record memories of the interesting discoveries I made along the way.  Maybe that great, cozy street I wandered is begging to be rediscovered the next time I return, or maybe some “notes to self” reminding me to bring extra water the next time I attempt that trail, or to forego a particular restaurant. 

Modernizing the traditional paper notebook, a digital journal is woven into the app.  At every tour stop, Tour Takers have the opportunity to seamlessly create journal entries.

Even after the 30-day tour expiration, Tour Takers keep access to their journal entries, forever.  Whenever they would like, they can go back and reference their memories, their notes, their selfies! And they can always choose to share their entries with friends and family, as well.

An educational resource

Many students in the year ahead will be learning from home. Maybe they will use your (self-guided and contactless!) history and architecture tours to expand their textbook learning. With the journal feature, students can easily take notes during your tour.

And, importantly, they can:

Reference journal entries later

From either the app, or their desktop login, Tour Takers can review their past journal entries.

Even after the 30-day tour expiration, Tour Takers keep access to their journal entries, forever.

For the student, they can reference their observations and what they learned. It may help them to review and retain information, or aid them in better writing their assigned architecture paper. Or maybe it’s simply for a trip down memory lane…the digital journal is a special tool for the Tour Taker.

Final thoughts

The digital journal allows the Tour Taker to be even more immersed with your tour.  Whether it’s used to create lists, memories, educational notes, or even a place for a montage of photos to be kept—that’s up to them! The journal allows for flexibility, creativity, and engagement—making local exploring even that much more special.  And it’s an easy way to watch your tours go viral.