When the New York Times’ Travel editor ,Amy Virshup, announced that her section was going to “offset airplane travel by staff members on assignment,” we were intrigued. “It is, I know, a small gesture. But it’s a start,” she wrote—and we admired the way she was prototyping a real innovation in travel journalism. We were so impressed that we connected with her to see what else she had to say about the current state of travel. At the end of February, our Dustin Boutet, who leads our Travel and Hospitality Vertical, spoke with Virshup and asked not just about climate change but about experiential travel, the industry’s platform wars, editing in the age of social media, and the tricky issue of reclining on an airplane. We think you’ll agree that the conversation traversed some interesting ground.
Host: Pete Chapin
Editor: Kip Pilalas
Producer: Ken Gordon
About the Author
Dustin BoutetDirector, Innovation Consulting, Travel & Hospitality LeadDustin is constantly working to improve the experiences people have interacting with the digital world around them. He believes that good design is invisible and allows the user to accomplish the task at hand without getting in the way. His areas of expertise include UI design, branding, design strategy, and packaging.
Whether it’s designing the UI for a life-saving medical device or the branding for a diagnostics startup, Dustin brings an ability to empathize with the user and confidence that complex problems can be solved with great design and innovation.
Dustin earned his BFA in communication design at Syracuse University.
Ken GordonChief Communications SpecialistKen makes EPAM Continuum’s work visible to the necessary people. He creates superlative content, works with colleagues to do the same, and employs social networks to share it widely.
A card-carrying humanist, Ken co-founded QuickMuse, the improvisational writing website, and JEDLAB, the Jewish education community. He has written for TheAtlantic.com, the New York Times, and many other pubs.
Ken has an English degree from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and an MA in English from the State University of New York at Albany. He framed both diplomas long ago, but can’t seem to find them now—a fact he considers all-too-human.
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