A REALLY exciting story has broken in the last few days with the news that KLM, one of the most innovative airlines in the world, is taking a giant and likely scary leap by adding a new social tool to their armory in Q1 2012 by enabling Social Seating on their planes. They're becoming a 'sociable airline' as it were.

So right after SXSW 2011 a guy called Phil Campbell from near where I grew up in the UK contacted me to say hello. 

It's always so cool to hear from people that have taken the trouble to sign-up and give Planely a try. We love getting feedback and new ideas so please please please keep 'em coming!

After an initial swapping of emails he suggested having a follow-up Skype chat which I'm always more than happy to do. Again this happens all the time and I love to talk so that's totally fine by me!

Nothing could've prepared me for the hilarious conversation that I was about to have.

The first half of the conversation was pleasantries mainly. He'd used Planely to/from Austin, really liked what we were looking to do with the product and how we were going about it. He had a couple of cool ideas about integrating with other social media sources so people can see a little more about each other etc etc

The usual questions about how many people are on the network were 'expertly' side-stepped by me as always (I still don't really know why we startups need to be coy about numbers in the early stages ... how could we possibly have 2 million on our network after only a couple of months!)

Then we started talking about him. For someone as obsessed with social and digital media as Phil you'd expect him to do plenty of blogging, streaming and tweeting etc but he's also building this cool fully-sustainble ark in the middle of prime-time Nottinghamshire countryside (the home of Robin Hood no less!).

But that wasn't the best part. Not by far. We then got onto this project he was on during the Summer. The Phil Campbell Centenary Celebration.

So there's this town in the US, Alabama actually, that was named after a guy who was basically bribed into redirecting the railroad through it by being promised that they would rename it after him. What was his name? You guessed it. Phil Campbell!

That's pretty cool in itself. Whilst on the Skype with Phil I immediately googled 'Nick Martin' to see whether any towns popped-up anywhere with that name. Alas no. Us Nick Martins are an honest bunch, it seems, and aren't easily corrupted with ego-massaging schemes aligned with public transport. If we were, Planely would be called Nickly and I'm not sure that would've been the best way to go. Shame.

So the town, Phil Campbell, is turning 100 years old this year and to mark this achievement they're not just having a town barbecue, or inviting an half important person from the nearest bigger town to say a few words, having a hoedown (do people really do that?!?) or even inviting some half-baked celeb in for a few hours to strut their stuff and sign a few autographs.

No. That would be normal. That would be dull. Phil Campbell (the town) seems to have some pretty creative people in it because they're doing something completely crazy. Totally mad. Off the wall even.

They've put out an open invitation for all those people who are called 'Phil Campbell' in this world to fly in and come along to welcome in the next 100 years. Hundreds of them. From all over the world. All with the same name. BRILLIANT! ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT!

At this point in the conversation I started crying. I'm not ashamed to admit it. The thought of so many people walking around this town in the middle of the country all with the same name had such a huge impact on my sense of humor. Can you see it? Can you hear the conversations?

"Hi, I'm Phil. Phil Campbell. What's your name?"
"It's Phil actually. Phil Campbell."
"Hey Phil. How's it going?"
"Yeh good thanks Phil. Want a beer?"
"Sure Phil. Thanks a lot!"
"What are you up to later?"
"Going out for dinner with Phil, Felipe, Philomena, Philip, Phillip and Phil. Wanna join us?"
"Sure! Why not! Can I bring Phil?"

And so it goes on ... and on ... and on. Just writing and thinking about it now, all over again, is making me well up. It's a hilarious scene. And Phil (the guy I was speaking to over Skype) told it so well. I miss that humble self-deprecating style of humor in my life.

BUT ... the story has since gone through a really sad twist because Phil Campbell (the town) has since been hit by a tornado where 16 people sadly lost their lives. Really really tragic. I can't imagine what it must be like to live in a place where the risk of that kind of thing is so real on a yearly basis. Sometimes I feel very fortunate sitting here in my safe little European existence.

Not to be beaten however the plan changed tack quickly from a celebration to a relief mission and fundraising effort to REBUILD PHIL CAMPBELL which we're delighted to be able to play a small part in.

As part of the process and to leave a legacy they also want to build and package a blueprint for towns similar to Phil Campbell that get hit by large natural disasters, which they can pick up and run with to generate awareness and raise funds for their own plights.

Such a cool creative idea. Such a worthy cause. Such a fun project. Such an adventure and all with that lovely underlying tinge of humor.

So we at Planely are proud to be able to stand up and declare that WE"RE WITH PHIL!!!

Could you be? Maybe donate just a tiny little amount for their mission? Go on! Course you can!

Here's their website and twitter stream so check 'em out.

We want as many Phil Campbells meeting each other as they fly into and out of Alabama. Can you imagine what the people standing at passport control are going to think when they see all these people with the same name coming through?

All Phil Cambells fly Planely for free! Oh wait ... we're free for everyone :)

As we were preparing for the launch of last month's competition to find the World's Most Sociable Airline we realized that the conditions weren't completely fair for all the airlines taking part.

We were measuring them all equally. The likes of Delta were on the same level playing field as all the hundreds of local operators for example.

It would've been unfair of us to change the terms half way through so we went with it and huge credit must go to the carriers that were active because it must have seemed like mission impossible.

We're committed to righting our wrong and in the interests of science and statistics below is the league table as it would've looked if we had taken the relative size of the airline into account (weighted using 2010 passenger numbers).

As you can see the Philippines dominate the top 3 with the mighty Cebu being knocked off the top by Airphil Express.

Brussels Airlines rise from 6th to 4th and Norwegian makes up the Top 5 after weighting is applied.

All the carriers that got actively involved in promoting the competition to their customer base now appear in the Top 25 which just goes to show the power of social media.

Next year we'll build this weighting into our live real-time scoring system ... bring on 2012!!!

There are over 800 crazy busy international airports in this world helping shift the 8+ billion passengers per year from point A to point B but there’s one that stands out and rules them all when it comes to SOCIAL FLYING.

HARRISBURG INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT are making a bold statement by showing they’re willing to try new things, dip their toes in innovation and get ‘social’ to such an extent that it doesn’t just feel like an add-on.

They've gone and put up 'official' Planely Meeting Points throughout their terminal buildings so passengers that have arranged to meetup through Planely have the opportunity to identify an easy to find spot at which to meet so those conversations can get started ASAP.

Check out why they’re doing it below.

Before today there wasn’t an airport in the world that was truly active in the ‘social flying’ movement.

Putting systems and infrastructure in place to increase social opportunities for us passengers will have many positive impacts for airports.

1) We’ll complain less - if I’m having a brilliant conversation with someone I’ve just met whilst waiting for my plane I’m going to welcome that extra 20 mins delay rather than start shouting at the first person in a uniform I see (I don’t do that, btw … you know who you are though!)

2) We’ll spend more money - that's what we do when we're being social. When I meet a new person in an airport the first thing I say after saying hi is ‘do you fancy getting a coffee at that place over there?’ That invariably turns into a sandwich and/or piece of cake and maybe even a beer if the chat is great.

3) We’ll enjoy the airport more - by doing so we'll do more of 1 and 2 but we’ll also tell others, who will tell others, and eventually people that write positive PR stories on your behalf will hear and come knocking to see what this is all about.

Are you an airport or do you know someone who is? Would you like to benefit from a bit of this action? It’s not hard and you’ll get instant publicity through us and those we connect with at the very least.

Why not show your customers you’re different and that you get ‘social’ more than most? Why not start reaping the benefits of 1, 2 and 3 above now.

Download the official Meeting Point sign, send us an email and we’ll help you position it in your most social spot to guarantee you the best social and financial return.

Download sign below

10 minute video interview talking about the drivers, process, results and next steps following the World's Most Sociable Airline competition.

The guy asking all the clever questions, Phil Campbell, is doing some amazing projects and we'd love it if you could take a couple of seconds and vote/tweet/FB like (or all three) for him here in that panel on the right http://www.seedups.com/pitchit5k/entrant/5.html