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Seatrade Cruise Talks Podcast (Tech Talks)

The Tech Talks Podcast (Series 1)

A new Seatrade Cruise Talks podcast has arrived...

Each Tech Talks episode has a focus on technology and innovation in the cruise industry. Hosted by Ian Richardson, CEO & Co-Founder of theICEway, tech leaders and innovators from within cruise join him to discuss their on going efforts to improve the industry. The series looks at new and cutting edge tech solutions whose objectives are far reaching. From enhancing the onboard experience to increasing working efficiencies at sea and in port or destination, the Tech Talks podcast showcases these solutions. It also provides an exclusive platform to some of the creative minds behind them. Below you will find more details on the first series, and you can listen to each of the 6 episodes using the links below:
 
 
We hope you enjoy listening to them as much as we enjoyed making them!
Talking Bio-digestion (Ian Richardson & Iain Milnes)

Talking Bio-digestion

Episode 1

Join Ian Richardson in the very first episode of series one. Here he chats with Iain Milnes, Founder and CEO of Power Knot Oceans, about their innovative bio-digester machines. Use the link below to listen to the episode in full, with some key highlights from the conversation including these snippets:

Ian Richardson (IR): “… How much food goes to waste on ships?”

Iain Milnes (IM): “For a typical cruise ship, you’re talking about 1 kilogram per passenger per day. A cruise ship with 2500 people… on board would have about 2500 kilograms total organic waste per day.”

IR: “… What’s your vision for Power Knot and the bio digestion industry?”

IM: “It’s something that every cruise ship should be having. There’s no doubt about it. They shouldn’t be discharging ground up waste, possibly with plastic, into the ocean.”

The Innovation Tech Zone (Ian Richardson & David Tibbles)

The Innovation Tech Zone

Episode 2

In this episode, Ian Richardson speaks with theICEway’s David Tibbles about a key feature of Seatrade Cruise Global 2023: The Innovation Tech Zone. Some key points from their conversation are as follows:

Ian Richardson (IR): “… What were you most proud of last year?”

David Tibbles (DT): “We had about 4 or 5 suppliers in the zone, it was great to get them in one place. Everyone was really helpful and it proved that even if there were any competing technologies, everyone was… singing from the same hymn sheet.”

IR: “Last year… we had Sourcetoad… [who had] the prototyping workshops… what kind of things [were] developed?”

DT: “We probably had around 100 ideas prior to Seatrade, so from that [Sourcetoad] whittled that down to… 5. There were some meetings… to go through the ideas… these were all apps… [Sourcetoad then] created… clickable wireframes… it worked really well [and] one of them has gone on to be a full… application.”

Inside the life of a cruise vlogger (Ian Richardson & @EmmaCruises)

Inside the life of a cruise vlogger

Episode 3

This episode features the popular cruise blogger behind Emma Cruises, Emma Le Teace. Emma has a YouTube channel with more than 238k subscribers and her videos have generated 50+ million views. Highlights include:

Ian Richardson (IR): “Why do you think YouTube resonates so well with audiences?”

Emma Cruises (EC): “I think cruising is a big risk if you are someone who has never taken a cruise… It’s very hard to ‘try-before-you-buy’ a cruise… most people have never stood next to a cruise ship, you have no idea of the… scale… so what I try and do on YouTube is create content that anyone can watch… and then they know what to expect.”

IR: “Which media channels are you seeing the most growth in?”

EC: “… I’m on TikTok and Instagram and Facebook and [they are] very different audience[s]. Some things do very well on… TikTok but it tends to be things like… interesting facts… rather than more practical tips… I think the audience on TikTok is a lot younger than it is on YouTube and Facebook.”

Harnessing tech to elevate guest experience (Ian Richardson, Tracey Estes & Jeffrey Weiland)

Harnessing tech to elevate guest experience

Episode 4

In episode 4, Ian Richardson discusses recent onboard innovations from LG Electronics. Joining him are Tracey Estes and Jeffrey Weiland, with some highlights from the podcast as follows:

Ian Richardson (IR): “[Regarding] the display technologies… [what] types of tech [are you] providing?”

Tracey Estes (TE): “… The way that I like to explain what our team offers, the cruise industry kind of sits in four buckets, if you will. And bucket number one is in cabin experience. And that’s critical… so we have a line [of] TVs that are commercial and cruise specific… Additionally, we have amazing [digital] signage products.”

IR: “… How exactly have you leveraged robotics to enhance and augment the onboard experience for guests?”

Jeffrey Weiland (JW): “… Currently, [there is] a serving [robot]… It has three trays on it and it assists servers. And that frees up the server to engage with the guests at the table… [thus] enhancing that guest experience. And second, we have a robot called the guide bot, which acts as a… wayfinding robot.”
Unlocking the potential of cruise mobile apps (Ian Richardson & Greg Ross-Munro)

Unlocking the potential of cruise mobile apps

Episode 5

The fifth episode sees Ian Richardson sitting with Greg Ross-Munro from Sourcetoad to discuss how to unlock the potential of cruise mobile apps. Some key snippets from their conversation are as follows:

Ian Richardson (IR): “the last time we caught up… was at Seatrade [Cruise Global] in March… I think you had your software in the Interactive Tech Zone… How was Seatrade for you?”

Greg Ross-Munro (GR-M): “It was great… this year we [demonstrated] our mobile app-in-a-box product.”

IR: “This is Cruise Director?”

GR-M: “We have a piece of middleware which… basically sits in front of multiple PMS… It checks all the boxes, it’s got pre-cruise check in… boarding passes… once you get on board, it has dining reservations, spa treatments… your itinerary… ultimately the goal is… having communications be less stressful and easier.

“From an operational standpoint, what you can do is you can send push notifications on board to [a] device… The kinds of things we can do with those notifications are game-changing.”

Tech Solutions to Plastic Pollution (Ian Richardson & Joel Tasche)-1

Tech Solutions to Plastic Pollution

Episode 6

In the final episode of series 1, Co-Founder and CEO of theICEway Ian Richardson chats with Joel Tasche, Co-CEO and Founder of CleanHub. Some key points to emerge were as follows:

Ian Richardson (IR): “Why is plastic so much of an issue in our oceans?”

Joel Tasche (JT): “There [are] multiple issues that we have… obviously it harms the wildlife. By nature it is very durable… it is being ingested by multiple different animals in the marine ecosystem.”

IR: “The way your platform comes into it is the ability to track and trace?”

JT: “Exactly. People are quick to say this is greenwashing and we are quick to counter. The data we collect verifies that it is true.”

IR: “Tech is continuously evolving, how are you evolving the platform at the moment?”

JT: “In the general topic of plastic pollution we think a lot [about] downstream solutions. And then there [are] upstream solutions… what can we do in the supply chains. We are currently looking at building a solution centre.”