Thomas Dunne is the founder and CEO of STQRY. As an experienced Chief Executive Officer with a demonstrated history of working in the computer software industry/SaaS Companies, Thomas is skilled in Start-up Ventures, Sales, Leadership, Emerging Technologies/Trends, and Entrepreneurship.

On this episode of Destination on the Left, I talk with Thomas Dunne about his company's strategic initiative to grow by acquisition and how that intersects with the theme of collaboration and partnership. He also shares his knowledge about how self-guided audio tours can enhance guest experience and how easy it is to get started with offering this type of experience to visitors.

What You Will Learn in this Episode:

• More about the technology behind offering audio guides and how to customize and personalize the customer experience
• Why STQRY is passionate about growing the brand through international acquisitions
• How STQRY helps their clients to use audio as a tool to enhance the experience for their customers
• How much time it takes to curate the right stories, who should do the narration, and how to start the process of producing audio guides
• Whether Thomas has seen the rise in popularity of podcasts impact the interest in audio guides
• The online digital collection called Story Collect that STQRY is working on to expand their offering

Helping Destinations Tell Stories

STQRY's tagline is 'connecting people, places, and stories,' and guest on the podcast Thomas Dunne explains why that resonated with him when he was building a company that makes audio guides. He shares why they spell the company's name with a QR in the middle and how that links into their mission of providing destinations with a simple way for destinations to share their stories with visitors via whatever platform they choose.

Connecting with Visitors

Thomas explains how STQRY works as a digital storytelling platform using an app that destinations can share with visitors to enhance their experience with audio. The platform works for destinations of all sizes and supports the sharing of images and audio to create a wonderfully immersive experience that they can use to draw visitors into with their unique story. Thomas also shares how some of their clients, from small museums to the Empire State Building, use the app to connect with their visitors.

Advice on Creating an Audio Guide

Thomas shares his advice with destinations who are interested in sharing their stories via audio guide. He describes why, although it's helpful to have a script to keep you on track, it's also a great idea to seek out the educator or docent who is so passionate that they make it their mission to share their destinations secrets and stories. If you record your audio in that meaningful way, it helps connect the visitor with the experience.

We also discuss how long an audio tour should be, how long you should talk during each stop on the route, and why it helps listeners if you break a story up into different, easily digestible chunks that form an overarching narrative.

Resources:

• Website: stqry.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dunnetech/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/TomOnCell
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tsunamitommy/

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