Tom Griffin is a Texan and a self-described "serial entrepreneur." Evidence of the latter mounts as he talks: chemical company startup -- sold; gas company startup -- sold; software startup -- sold.
If his bold entrepreneurial journeys make him sound restless, so does the migration that has followed his ventures: the local oil and chemical markets of Dallas-Fort Worth; the new technology prospects of Boulder, Colo.; and, finally, the Rockies' western slope, where he has set up shop for Travelscream Technologies.
The company's website, Travelscream.com, is an online travel service that enables travel deal distribution from suppliers to travel agents and consumers, both through a member's website and through a syndicate within prominent online media outlets.
Travelscream employs what it calls a Syndicated Publishers Network of online content providers. It combines regularly updated travel deals through RSS-feed technology, enabling hotels, tour operators and others to offer agents and consumers deals tailored to their interests. RSS stands for "really simple syndication."
Travelscream, which expanded its publisher network in July, added several online-content sites last month, including Fodor's, National Geographic and the Orlando Sentinel, and plans to continue an aggressive expansion of its network of travel content providers, Griffin said.
Those sites join New York magazine, Conde Nast's Brides.com and the website for NBC's "Today" show travel editor Peter Greenberg, where visitors are offered the opportunity to register for RSS feeds specific to their travel interests.
"This kind of syndication is unique in the industry," Griffin said. "It results in the potential for our travel partners to get many more eyeballs out there on the Web, since the magazines and travel sites get some 28 million unique visitors a month."
Travelscream's growing roster of travel partners can post their updated offerings through the deal portal for a modest annual fee (in some cases $400 a year) to reach travel-motivated consumers either through travel agents or directly, Griffin said.
Last month, Travelscream announced the addition of deals at 50 hotel properties from Starwood's Caribbean properties, Sandals and Hawaii Outrigger Hotels.
Not only are its suppliers and publishers growing, but Travelscream itself is expanding.
"We had four employees eight months ago," Griffin said. "Now we are at 18."
Griffin said the company screens applications for productive, working agents, who now account for more than 20,000 members. Registration with Travelscream brings software for on-screen widgets that can be used to pull up their RSS feeds; other services include technology that enables storage of deal information and help agents search client lists for those who are interested in specific geographies or types of trips. There is no cost to agents.
Griffin said he conceived of Travelscream while listening one night to his wife, a Vail Resorts marketer, talk about her frustrations in trying to reach travel agents directly. Griffin said she found email blasts inexpensive but not very effective.
RSS is the "pull" technology that Griffin said works better than the push technology of email blasts, eliminating spam and giving agents or consumers the opportunity to use their preferences effectively.
"With email blasts, you're sending information to people who don't care," Griffin said. "With Travelscream, our member agents get only the kind of information and deals they want to know about."