Budget Travel Goes ‘Ga Ga’ with Photos, Videos & Comments

Budget Travel just published a new feature called Zoo Babies 2009.

“Meet Miles, a giraffe who wants to be like his big sis; a grouchy little porcupine named Oscar; and three mischievous Sumatran tiger cubs—a few of the aww-inspiring newcomers starring in our cutest Zoo Babies installment yet. Browse the babies, cast your votes, and add photos and videos of your own from zoos nationwide.”

Check out the site and vote for your favorite baby animal. (My votes goes to Xi Lan the Panda and Oscar the Porcupine–what’s not to like about a grouchy, prickly baby?!)

The website utilizes social media & KickApps in a number of really interesting ways to drive audience engagement.

1. The photos in the baby animal module are hosted by KickApps. The Budget Travel team built the module and voting application using KickApps as their media hosting and management (think image CMS).

2. The Reader Media module features photos and videos uploaded by Budget Travel readers to their KickApps powered community. What I like about what Budget Travel does here is that their editors have curated the content for the ‘best’ and most relevant. They simply apply tags in the KickApps backend and program the modules according to the editorial content. By integrating this community generated content into the overall experience, it extends the experience for the reader and also drives a deeper affinity with the Budget Travel brands–I go there because I know they have content that I’ll like and be interested in. You can either curate this editorially like Budget Travel has or you can choose to program this with basic filters like, Most Recent, Most Viewed, Highest Rated, etc.

3. KickApps also powers the commenting application at the bottom of the page. By enabling comments, Budget Travel is driving even deeper engagement with their audience. Coupled with editorial programming, i.e. calls to action, they’re able to stimulate conversations amongst their readers.

Now, go vote!