Crazy Gaijin’s Hawaiian theme sister-site, www.Absolute-Hawaii.com Debuts.
Partners Say It’s For A Special Kind Of Hawai’i Tourist.
Absolute Hawaii Site Profile
Dave Crossley and Bob DiLallo quickly concluded something crucial was missing from the realm of Hawaiian websites. So, thanks to a chance meeting on Oahu in November, shortly after both moved here, the duo started up absolute-hawaii.com.
Dave, originally from another island, Martha’s Vineyard off the Massachusetts coast, and fresh from 6 years teaching American law to Japanese lawyers in Tokyo, believes there is a need to reach out to the more adventuresome tourist. “You can’t spend 24/7 sitting on the beach at Waikiki,” he says, “And you can’t just eat mass-produced food dished up special for the visitor. It gets old very, very fast.”
His partner concurs and goes further. (He is originally from New York City’s Manhattan, also an island, it should be noted, and speaks with a characteristic mixture of bluntness and gentle humor.)
“You have your plastic-fantastic tourist who could care less about anything authentically Hawaiian,” Bob says, “and essentially we’re not interested in them. They act like commodities, so they get treated like commodities.”
“Then you have a different kind of tourist – one who is thirsty for experience, for fun on a different level, for something beyond what amounts to the Hawaii tourism board’s party line. Most tourism experiences rely on the idea of the thing. We focus on the thing itself.”
Which is how Dave hit on the name absolute-hawaii.com. “It had a strong, positive ring to it that said ‘real Hawaii’ without setting us up as insiders. “In fact,” he says, “Being outsiders is our true strength. We bring fresh eyes to what’s happening now and what’s been happening for a thousand years in Hawaii.”
Dave also quickly points out that 23% of all residents of Oahu did not live here 10 years ago, and that’s not including people in the military or part-time residents, who would considerably swell that percentage. “It’s another opportunity for absolute-hawii.com. Newcomers – non-locals – bring a certain set of assumptions to Hawaii. People range from retirees who crave rich, fulfilling experiences to those who have flung themselves onto the islands and are desperately in love with a place they really know little about.”
Bob has extensive experience marketing to the 45 and over set, his specialty. “One thing that older people have in common is that they like to read. They like details. And,” he adds, “For the most part, until they begin to become infirm, they have much more disposable income than people under 45.”
He postulates that older demographics do more armchair travel than younger ones, the major exception being that the older demographic has the financial punch to follow up on their daydreams. “A well-educated, slightly older demographic will eat up absolute-hawaii.com,” Bob goes on to say. “By the time you’re 50, you’ve sat like a prisoner on enough beaches, taken a lot of guided tours, and gotten involved in a lot of nonsense while on vacation. You’re ready to strike out on your own with a little help from absolute-hawaii.com.”
What does all that mean for a website that relies on 21st century technology? “Ours is an experiential site – we tell stories, we provide interesting photographs and a feature limited number of videos specially chosen to fit with articles we’ve dreamed up,” says Dave.
Dave’s background in Japan has led to the partners to begin development of a Japanese-language counterpart site. They hope to have it up and running by early spring, 2011.
Dave Crossley (co-founder)
Can be seen wandering Kapahulu Avenue with a turn table under each arm and a backpack full of records, looking for the next party.
A globetrotter possessed by wanderlust and the call of the road, Dave Crossley has lived most recently in Japan but now calls Hawai’i his new backyard.
Just out of college you could find him leading 30+ day excursions as a wilderness adventure instructor where rock-climbing and white-water canoeing were the norm. Flash forward a few years and he had replaced his hiking boots with the finely cut suit of an accomplished Boston Trial Lawyer.
As a close friend of his says, “He’s one-quarter mountain man, one-quarter urbane lawyer, half crazy gaijin and one hell of a model American”.
Listen, I’ve done so many things and worn so many hats in my life, I can’t possibly stop now.”
He comes to Hawai’i after his most recent adventure, 6 years living in Japan, the land of the rising sun, where, among other things, he climbed Mt. Fuji, soaked his muscles in outdoor Onsen from Kyoto to Sendai, and worked with lawyers from some of Japan’s biggest and most prestigious companies like Asahi, Kirin, Hitachi and Nikkei.
After only a short while on this tropical isle he came to the conclusion that most tourists never make it beyond their normal package tour destinations. “These tourists love Hawai’i, but they’re really not experiencing the absolute essence of Hawai’i and its culture because they hit a red light at the Ala Moana Shopping Center and never get past it.”
“Absolute Hawai’i, well this website is about opening peoples’ eyes to the multitude of fantastic locales, events and foods that Hawai’i has to offer”.
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“Like absolute zero, but a lot warmer.”
Bob DiLallo (co-founder)
Reporter, publisher, promoter, author.
A New Yorker now transplanted to Hawaii, Bob DiLallo was, for most of his life, the quintessential resident of the city that never sleeps.
From his earliest days straight out of college as a reporter/reviewer for the Boston Globe, his forte has been a clairvoyant-like insight into human behavior.
With it, Bob then founded DiLallo & Place Advertising, garnering a devoted following of consumer, retail and industrial clients.
In 1989, he capitalized on the growing trend for all
things Italian by founding Italian Food, Wine & Travel Magazine.
By the time he sold it in 2002, it was renowned in 24 countries,
and had been hailed as the New York Magazine Publishers’ “Best New Publication.”
An irrepressible impresario, he was a co-organizer of the New York
Columbus Day Parade for 9 years (maybe you were among the 500,000
spectators) while generating worldwide TV coverage for the event.
Family considerations and the promise of a new lifestyle have brought him to Hawaii where he immediately recognized the need for a realer, more “absolute” viewpoint on the islands.
He compares absolute-hawaii.com to absolute zero, but a lot warmer.
“There is indeed an ‘absolute’ Hawaii,” he says, “one that has nothing to do with the idealized version nor with the self-involved ‘local’ Hawaii that can’t see beyond Diamond Head.
The website is about the core Hawaii – the hard-working, interesting, creative people who are bringing the islands to life in a way tourists, and many long-time residents, have little connection with.”
