When recession hits, lead generation, especially action-based, is strong. Together with the fact that games stocks always perform better than market index in recession (people play more, we guess) Journeys is the media to be in. quote below.

Ninety four percent of travel executives have indicated that online advertising would provide the strongest return on investment compared to the other media in the next 12 months, according to the findings of a survey presented by JupiterResearch at Google’s TravelThink event in New York.

Some 20 percent of travel advertisers will spend more than $10 million on online marketing.

Thanks for everyone who registered to Journeys. Registration picks up nicely and we get a lot of positive feedback on the UI.

the FAQ as of today are

1. how do I delete my account / turn e mails off

2. How do I register

3. What do I do in Journeys

1. how do I delete my account / turn e mails off

1. go to your profile, by clicking on your character’s face.
2. Click on EDIT on the upper right side of the window that popped
3. Under the ME tab, click on SETTINGS under your picture
4. unmark all the mail related options
5. Save

2. How do I register

1. On the upper right side of the main window find “register” next to log-in, please use that option

3. What do I do in Journeys

1. Journeys is in its Sandbox alpha – that means the world, movement, chat (public places) and most social tools are in. Right now you can road around, go to “offline trips” and meet other travelers.
2. In the future we will add two major elements: geo and travel based UGC tools and missions / games

We continue to look for partners and volunteers to continue Journeys development. We welcome any feedback and contact at support@codename-journeys.com

meanwhile we got noticed by killerstartup. if you like Journeys, come vote for us : http://www.killerstartups.com/Web20/jneys-com-travel-through-your-browser

thanks ! we will update soon

Ladies and Gentlemen,

After a year in the making, we decided to open the Journeys world for everyone.

We are happy to Introduce the mirror world of Journeys .  As of today you can go to http://www.jneys.com and register.
Journeys is a social world themed by real world trips.  We mashed Yahoo! Maps, Pictures from Flickr and more to create a casual virtual world that bridge to the real one we know and love.

Journeys is still in its Sandbox version.
That means you can find the world, players and the basic world mechanics in place.

In this version you can:

• Choose your character and house
• Move between cities, houses and attractions
• Land in 6 selected landmarks , move and chat
• Communicate with other players via an inbox, chat and a buddy list
• Send your character to trips (that happen while you are offline)

One of our unique advantages is that your character continue to travel, get to places and meet people even when you are offline. They write travel trips via the journal and email, that you can later check.

Journeys is still without any missions (although we highly recommend going on offline trips), games or other content tools that we planed to have in. It is also without any advertising (for now) :) .

As you’ll see – Journeys is a great down-to-earth social and fun environment for people who just love travel and world social encounters. It is also a great start for an experiential marketing tool for the travel industry (think trip sharing, promotions).

We give Journeys to you “as-is” and would love to get your feedback, comments and ideas.

We are actively looking for ways to finance Journeys’ development and continue it. We are happy to look into partnerships, distribution and if you want to scoop the IP and team, let’s talk as well. Part of the reason we decided to open Journeys is our belief that sharing our project can support our development by feedbacks and interest.

So please – spread the word – tell your friends about us. Share and enjoy.

This post is also a great time to thank the entire excellent team that worked and works on this project. Assaf, Sharon, Matty, Ido, Lena, Yulia, Igor, Sefi, Nat, Giora, Elad, Asia, Yaniv, Lior, Guy, Nitzan and many others who helped and gave us tips – we love you guys !

We will be attending “Virtual Worlds 2008”

We would love to see you there. If you’d like to set a meeting please send an e mail to yael@codename-journeys.com .

In additional, we welcome you to join us and receive a 10% discount by using JRYS as your discount code.

See you !

Guy and Assaf are going to GDC this week with an upgraded version and additional fun secrets up their sleeve.

They have a packed agenda but always happy to catch up. If you’d like to set a meeting, contact them here or through this post.

He did a wonderful piece on Journeys in Business Week’s great Games Inc blog.

Thanks Matt ! 

http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/gamesinc/archives/2008/02/journeys_the_vi.html

A wonderful tribute here for a great explorer. He was an inspiration for us all.

 Photograph by Dean Purcell/Getty Images

We are very excited and proud to announce that Journeys was chosen to be one of 15 other great Israeli companies to participate in this year’s Israel Web Tour. We are planning to show an alpha version of Journeys behind closed doors.

See you in the bay area Feb 3rd to 9th.

We will also be in Munich for DLD starting January 20th

Coming up: GDC !