Does the name Clive Palmer mean anything to you? Unless you keep tabs on Australian mining tycoons, the answer is probably “no.” But if you’re one of the countless movie fans who’ve dreamed of visiting a real-world Jurassic Park, you’re about to become a bit more familiar with Mr. Palmer.

The Australian billionaire (and apparent fan of blockbuster movies from the 90′s), already made headlines this past winter when he announced his plans to build his own working replica of the Titanic, set to be completed in 2016. Now, Palmer is building his own version of Jurassic Park, complete with over 100 limb-moving, eye-blinking (robot) dinosaurs, 40 of which have already been delivered to his coastal resort.

“Work is well underway at the site to ensure the dinosaurs blend seamlessly into the natural vegetation and create a realistic prehistoric environment that will be entertaining, informative and educational,” reads the resort’s website. Read more

Vending machines are no longer just logo-covered boxes that trade coins for products. Over the past few months, we’ve covered everything from Hot Wheels’ tweet-powered vending machine to Coke’s slender, patriotic, and peace-seeking ones.

Now, coffee roaster Douwe Egberts has equipped one of its java-dispensing machines — which resides in a busy South African airport — with facial recognition software, enabling it to recognize when a person yawns. When a sleepy traveler approaches the machine, he or she is given a complimentary cup of joe.

The catchphrase attached to the accompanying campaign, created by Joe Public, is simply: “Bye bye, red eye.”

Forget blocking Facebook…a yawn-detecting coffee dispenser might just be the office productivity-booster the world’s been waiting for!

“Baked in” is a popular media technology phrase, but with the latest heat wave, humans are the ones baking. This week it’s high time to share a few pointers for shaking off the extreme heat. The items here involve travel, cocktails, apps, celebrities and sandals, but for a change of pace, no celebrity scandals.

1.Visit the minus5° Ice Bar in New York and Las Vegas: The hotel brand that’s eliminating traditional room service, Hilton, just adopted a more novel option– an icy venue where it’s minus 5 degrees centigrade (or 23 degrees Fahrenheit). While igloo hotels in wintry places have long been popular, selected hotels (New York’s Hilton midtown and Las Vegas’ Monte Carlo and Mandalay Bay casino resorts), adopted the concept for cocktails. At minus5°, sculptures, furniture and glasses are all made of ice. This entertaining retreat charges a cover and lends guests insulated parkas and gloves.

2.Watch a rerun of Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown – Canada episode: Another place one needs warm clothing is Canada, and that’s where the devil-may-care celebrity chef trekked last winter. He spent time in Montreal, Quebec City and the province of Quebec while visiting with well-known Canadian chefs and restaurant owners. They went ice fishing and dined in an ice shack on a frozen lake. However, if you find the food they’re consuming too hearty, (Bourdain calls the meals a “Franco Canadian full-on assault on the liver”), then take a TV break and enjoy lighter fare. …

3.Try Ben & Jerry’s Liz Lemon Greek Frozen Yogurt: The flavor is lemon Greek frozen yogurt with blueberry lavender swirl, or as the website calls it, lemon-y-blueberry-y. The print ad announcing the new product shows an image of a figure based on Tina Fey’s 30 Rock character attempting to skate with a giant lemon on Rockefeller Center’s lemon-framed ice rink. Ben & Jerry’s dedicated the product in honor of Tina Fey’s longtime support of Jumpstart, an early education organization for children in low-income areas.

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ISLANDS started over 30 years ago when David Fritzen, founder of Santa Barbara and ShowBoats, returned from a vacation in Kauai with the idea for a travel publication very different from what he’d seen on magazine racks.

Now the pub maintains a reputation as an intelligent travel magazine, with a 200,000 circulation. Nearly 50 percent of readers go to the Caribbean every year, 40 percent to Hawaii and 20 to 30 percent to the South Pacific — that’s good news for publicists looking to expand their clients’ global presence.

Though if you want to pique editors’ interests, make sure to familiarize yourself with the types of stories the mag covers. “My inbox every morning has probably about 60 press releases, and the majority of them are off-mission for our brand,” said editor Eddy Patricelli.

For pitching etiquette and editors’ contact info, read How To Pitch: ISLANDS.

– Sherry Yuan

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Asiana Airlines is considering a lawsuit against the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) after it confirmed the phony and racially-charged names that were reported on Oakland news station KTVU. The airline says it might just sue the station as well.

Both organizations apologized for the error after it aired on Friday. The NTSB says the names were confirmed by a summer intern who spoke in error. But that might not be enough for the airline. Ki Won Suh, a PR rep for Asiana, said the error “seriously damaged the reputation of the four pilots and the company,” reports NBC News. The names were used as part of a report on the July 6 plane crash.

Three girls have died (one was struck by a fire truck on the ground, but it’s unclear if that’s what killed her) and 181 of 307 passengers and crew were injured when Flight 214 hit a seawall then burst into flames. Six people are still being treated in the hospital.

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The cruise ship industry is an anomaly to much of the public. The bigger and more gargantuan these ships become, the less they have to do with the actual seas on which they are sailing. Who needs to be floating in the Atlantic to play blackjack or water slide into a swimming pool? Can’t you do all of that on land? Oh, yeah, and what’s up with all the diseases, power failures and accidents? Those are a concern, too.

Carnival Cruise is responding to the industry’s strained relationship with the public by taking the PR offensive. The brand is implementing a strategy named Carnival Conversations that targets travel agents. That’s right. Despite the digital revolution, travel agents are still around and Carnival views them as a vital lynchpin in booking customers. The outreach will include visits to the travel agents, road shows and efforts to solicit ideas and opinions via the brand’s website, GoCCL.com.

The compelling PR angle here is that Carnival isn’t directly targeting customers, but travel agents. We live in a connected world where technology allows passengers to book their own flights, rentals and make their own travel plans. Yet, the cruise industry has this unique dynamic that still heavily relies on travel agents.

Is Carnival making the right PR move by focusing its efforts on travel agents, or should it make a direct appeal to customers instead?

In an effort to engage younger travelers (i.e. “millennials”), Marriott Hotels is undergoing a re-branding, and is launching a new multi-year global marketing campaign created by Grey NY.

The goal of the effort, called “Travel Brilliantly,” is  to amplify the brand’s dedication to leading the future of travel. In a release, the company states that it aims to appeal to “the next generation of travelers, who seamlessly blend work and play in a mobile and global world.”

At the heart of the campaign is the idea that a hotel is not actually bound by its four walls. Instead, the focus is on celebrating how the global travel experience is a mind-opening, inspiring life event that cannot be measured in miles or contained within brick and mortar. “This is not a hotel,” the advertising states, “It’s an idea that travel should be brilliant… It’s not only about where you’re staying. It’s about where you’re going.”

Compelling though this romantic and existential view of travel may be, the company is backing up its message with tangible changes, including re-designed lobbies and public spaces to better accomodate “the next generation of travelers who blend work and play, demand style and substance, and require technology.” The hotel chain is also introducing new concepts designed for the new mobile worker including Workspring at Marriott, Red Coat Direct and Workspace on Demand. Read more

Amtrak has had an uneasy relationship with the American public. Anyone who has ever traveled in countries with high-speed trains such as the Shinkansen in Japan knows that trains are capable of so much more than what is offered in the United States. And though there are plenty of technical excuses and political complexities to explain this national underachievement, the truth is at some point the public simply became apathetic about Amtrak.

To quote a generation: Whatever. We’d given up on trains. Trains were inefficient and clunky, but also the best option for people who wanted something more upscale than a bus but not as cost prohibitive as air travel. Train travel was the purgatory of movement. It’s where people ended up who didn’t commit to any other means of transportation. Then something happened.

Air travel became increasingly exasperating as perplexing security measures, delayed flights, lost luggage, hidden fees and overworked employees became the face of air travel. Airports were places where one could inadvertently end up for the weekend, and on the local news holding a cot. Rising fuel prices also conspired against travel by car, and snarling traffic around major hubs could delay travel plans for hours. And then came Wi-Fi. Glory. Glory. Read more

Yes, we know time is money. The public understands that every minute we stand in line, are stuck in traffic or must navigate the trappings of bureaucracy we’re losing precious moments of our lives that we’ll never get back.

But consider this little fact: every minute of boarding time on an airline flight costs $30 per flight. Sure, in an airport $30 may represent a few beers at the terminal’s TGIF or a hidden fee for some minor (and infuriating) infraction of small-print protocols, but that number adds up when multiplied throughout the day. Just imagine all of those fellow passengers and the number of flights in a 24-hour period. Cha-ching.

Airlines view boarding times as an exploitable revenue area. Reducing boarding times translates into more efficient procedures, more flights and increased income. Therefore, American Airlines is rewarding passengers who travel without overhead compartment baggage the luxury of boarding early, just after first-class and other premium level passengers. Yes, American Airlines is encouraging customers to be low maintenance.

By now the public has learned to abandon hope of air travel ever returning to its glory days. We fully understand the impersonal, probing, fee-mongering practices of a business model that struggles to serve its customers. Most of us have already found ways of taking our trip into our own hands. We already travel light. We show up galvanized in an attitude that expects things to go wrong. We emotionally prepare ourselves for stuff—delayed flights, lost luggage or weary customer service. Read more

The public is tired. We’re worn out. We’ve paid our dues and deserve a break. Year after year of scraping by, eating Ramen noodles and consoling our unemployed friends and loved ones has all led to this: The reward. The payback for hanging tough. The feeling of indulgence, if just for a little while.

Delta Airlines is here to help the public do exactly that. Yes, you read that correctly, a U.S.-based airline is stepping up to make customers actually feel good about air travel. The last time that happened passengers were actually living the Mad Men life and not watching it on AMC. Yes, it’s been quite a while since the public had a reason to smile about flying.

But now Delta, as evidenced by a $1.2 billion investment in Terminal 4 at New York’s JFK airport, is unveiling a new attitude toward industry operations, profitability and most importantly, customers. You and me. The public. Yes, Delta wants to be liked by us. After years of saturating the public with promises of low fares and no-frills travel experiences, Delta is investing in the public’s emerging need for a break from the tedium and madness of air travel.

The public has had enough of the long and cringe-worthy security lines, the worn carpets and tired terminal aesthetics, the cancelled flights and cattle-call explanations from overworked employees, and the predatory fees for carry-on baggage and schedule changes. We can have nice things when we fly. And we deserve them. Read more