Agenda
Virtual Conference Webinar Session Schedule
May 4, 2009
2:00 - 3:30 pm Eastern Time
The Voice of the Customers. Do you know what your customers are really thinking?
Listen to their voices and take part in this spirited discussion with your current and potential clients representing the group, incentive, and leisure markets. In addition to learning what customer associations are doing to stimulate travel activity, you’ll learn what resorts can do to help customers overcome their real and perceived barriers to travel and meetings. You’ll hear customers’ strategic thoughts and discover what’s going on in their sectors. This dialogue about the trends, requirements, pressures, and developments emerging in their respective niches will include plenty of time for Q&A. You’ll gain valuable insights into what your customers want, and what they see on the horizon. It is your chance to get inside their heads so that you can provide best in class products and services that fulfill their wants and needs, now and in the future.
MODERATOR: Robert A. Gilbert, President & CEO, HSMAI
PANELISTS: Brenda Anderson, CEO; Site; Bill Connors, CTC, Executive Director & COO, National Business Travel Association (NBTA); Katie Callahan-Giobbi, Executive Vice President of MPI Foundation and Chief Business Architect.
CUSTOMER GUEST PANELISTS: Mary MacGregor, Vice President, BCD Meetings & Incentives; Henry Apfel, CTC, Corporate Travel Buyer; Angie Pfeifer, CMM, Assistant Vice President, Corporate Meetings & Incentives , Investors Group Financial Services Inc.
May 6, 2009
2:00 - 3:30 pm Eastern Time
The Case for Innovating Now
Investing time, attention and funding in to innovation and transformation during these difficult economic times may seem difficult, daunting or simply impossible. Plato said it best: "Necessity is the mother of invention." Never has it been more necessary for organizations in every industry to look intently at their offerings and operations. As you are watching every detail of your business more closely than ever, you are certain to find ways to improve your products, services, processes, practices, and business models. Innovations can come from looking at how to do better with what you are already doing. More radical innovations can come from looking at the world through a different lens (like that of your customer), spotting trends that are going unnoticed by your competition, and working to meet the expectations of a demanding marketplace. So, how do you embrace innovation in uncertain times? This session will provide the information, insight, and inspiration you need to Innovate Now and emerge faster, stronger and better than your competitor.
SPEAKER: Scott Anderson, President, Hospitality and Real Estate, Kohler Company
Confidence could well be Anderson's middle name because he always ends up on top of the hospitality market. In the past decade, he was vice chairman of Quintess, a resort destination club, and CEO of High Country Hospitality, a hospitality management and technology company. In the late 1990s, Anderson specialized in marketing, technology and property management software distribution for Cendant Corp. From 1994 to 1996, he was a managing director of the Olympic Games in Atlanta, following four years as president of Callaway Gardens. From 1979 to 1990, he was president of the Hotel del Coronado near San Diego. Now he's focusing on Kohler even as he remains on the Quintess board.
May 11, 2009
2:00 - 3:15 pm Eastern Time
PURCHASE THE WEBINAR ARCHIVE
Emerging Lifestyles and Travel Trends: Implications for Resort Marketing
Hear highlights from our 2009 National Leisure Travel Monitor, a national survey of the travel habits, preferences and intentions of Americans that is now in its 17th year.
SPEAKER: Peter Yesawich, President and CEO, Y Partnership
May 13, 2009
2:00 - 3:15 pm Eastern Time
Managing Group Sales Contracts in a World Gone Mad
Panelists: Steve Kinsley, Kinsley and Associates; Steve Rudner, Rudner and Associates; Mike Dominguez, Vice President of Global Sales, Loews Hotels
Kinsley and Rudner share strategies attendees can use to protect their hotels as they revisit existing agreements and discuss options to field cancellations and requests to renegotiate existing contracts.