And the Winner is…Best of Cape May

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Cape May’s best family friendly motel…we’ll take it.
I’ve been called an ambassador, an advocate and a media whore when it comes to reputation management. Prefer geek, when it comes to reputation management.
It is true, I have Google alerts set up for the town of Cape May, and the Victorian Motel. If something is said online about either-I want to know about it.

Each year the website Capemay.com hosts a best of Cape May contest. Basically an online popularity contest. Technically set up as one of the fairer and accurate voting contests. One vote per customer please. I like that.

There is nothing to prevent participants in the contest from encouraging their customer base from voting. Actually, I am sure the host website expects and enjoys the social media support.

We enjoy engaging our guests in social media. We have an active Facebook following who tell us, when checking in that they enjoy our posts.

Receiving this accolade as well as the Certificate of Excellence from TripAdvisor is in part due to our commitment to great customer service, cleanliness and online engagement.

But most importantly it is because we have a great staff and  awesome customers as guests.

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7 Comments

  1. September 4, 2014 / 10:44 am

    Anyone who would call you a “media wh-re” deserves a lesson in good manners and professionalism. To call Cape May’s best business ambassador such a term is both insulting and reflects much more on the person who used the term (in my opinion).

    Mark

    • JohnCooke
      Author
      September 4, 2014 / 10:54 am

      The context of the term initially offended me. But upon further explanation the user implied it in the best of meanings. (I think) ;).

  2. Hugh
    September 4, 2014 / 11:05 am

    John I’ve known you a lot of years. “Geek”…..haha; “Whore”…that’s funny too. But without a doubt you are the AMBASSADOR when it comes to Cape May and hospitality. You and Suzanne set an example that others in the business should follow. That’s why your guests return year after year. Keep up the good work.

  3. September 4, 2014 / 12:04 pm

    I’m glad we come across as fair! We limit responses to one per person (the form permits only one submission per email address), and I hand scan every entry to make sure it isn’t a duplicate. Every year, I find a handful of cheaters. They’re easy to spot: identical answers, usually just one business in as many categories as possible, with timestamps only a few minutes apart from one another. They change their email address and re-submit, but I sort by time and throw them out.

    The use of social media to solicit votes is absolutely a factor for many winners, but not for everyone. Freda’s Cafe has won Best Crabcakes for the past two years, and they have virtually no online presence and no social media accounts (as far as I know). Louie’s Pizza and Hot Dog Tommy have the same situation. They win by landslides every year. But with the accommodations, I find that the ones with a lot of social media followers typically have those followers because they run great businesses. And just because they ask followers to vote doesn’t necessarily mean they will, so I feel good about the results we release every year. I think they’re a fair representation of what Cape May has to offer, and I’m all for anything that paints Cape May in a positive light!

    • G Swizzle
      September 4, 2014 / 1:04 pm

      I voted Victorian Motel for every answer, even best Victorian Building.

      • JohnCooke
        Author
        September 4, 2014 / 2:35 pm

        Ha ha not a best practice for the only non-Victorian Victorian building.

    • JohnCooke
      Author
      September 4, 2014 / 2:32 pm

      I appreciate you reading and commenting on the post.
      Thanks for the thoughtful and detailed explanation Jessica. Never doubted the authenticity or integrity for a second. It is good to know what lengths you go to make sure you get accurate results. Now I’m craving Freda’s Crab Cakes.