Vrm Intel Live - Gatlinburg Agenda

Live Education

for Vacation Rental Managers

2019 Performance and 2020 Outlook

Google Travel Disrupts SEO & SEM 2020: A New Decade in Professionalism

+

Marketing Strategy Revenue Management 2020 Tech Landscape Vacation Rental Safety HR 411...and more

WELCOME TO VRM INTEL LIVE! GATLINBURG 2020

Schedule

1

Gatlinburg Schedule 7:30 am

12:30 pm

Registration in Mills Foyer

7:30 am

9:00 am

Breakfast Sponsored by IMEG in Ballroom

8:30 am

9:20 am

Welcome and General Session: 2019 Performance and 2020 Forecast

9:20 am

9:35 am

Break (Beverages, Mills Foyer)

9:35 am

10:20 am

Breakout Sessions (Marketing, Strategy, Property Care, Tech & Revenue Management)

10:20 am

10:50 am

Networking Break (Beverages and Refreshments, Mills Foyer)

10:50 am

11:35 am

Breakout Sessions (Marketing, Strategy, Property Care, Tech & Revenue Management)

11:35 am

11:45 am

Break (Beverages, Mills Foyer)

11:45 am

12:30 pm

Breakout Sessions (Marketing, Strategy, Property Care, Tech & Revenue Management)

12:30 pm

2:00 pm

Lunch Sponsored by Xplorie

1:00 pm

1:50 pm

General Session: A New Decade in Vacation Rental Management

1:50 pm

2:05 pm

Break (Beverages, Mills Foyer)

2:05 pm

2:50 pm

Breakout Sessions (Marketing, Strategy, Property Care, Tech & Revenue Management)

2:50 pm

3:20 pm

Networking Break (Beverages and Snacks, Mills Foyer)

3:20 pm

4:05 pm

Breakout Sessions (Marketing, Strategy, Property Care, Tech & Revenue Management)

4:05 pm

4:15 pm

Break (Beverages, Mills Foyer)

4:15 pm

5:00 pm

Breakout Sessions (Marketing, Strategy, Property Care, Tech & Revenue Management)

5:00 pm

7:00 pm

Cocktail Party Sponsored by Beyond Pricing & LiveRez.com at Ole Red

SCHEDULE

8:30

9:20

9:35

10:20

10:50

11:35

11:45

12:30

2:00

1:50

2:05

2:50

3:20

4:05

4:15

5:00

7:30

8:30

9:20

9:35

10:20

10:50

11:35

11:45

12:30

1:00

1:50

2:05

2:50

3:20

4:05

4:15

Industry Exhibitors

Vendor Break

Industry Exhibitors

Networking Break

Industry Exhibitors

Vendor Break

General Session

LUNCH

Industry Exhibitors

Vendor Break

Industry Exhibitors

Networking Break

Industry Exhibitors

Vendor Break

General Session

Breakfast

 General Sessions and Meals  Marketing Sessions

End

Begin

Where to Go

Making Safety a Top Priority at Your Agency

Independent Contractor or Employees? Rethinking Staffing Models

BEDBUG INFORMATION FOR YOU

2020 Technology Landscape

Operations Roundtable Discussions

Mitigate Bad Reviews and Get More 5-Star Reviews

Breezway Master Class

Key Data Workshop

Data-driven Business Strategy

Revenue Management: Putting the “how-to” after the “why”

Revenue Management Infrastructure

THE GROWTH OF SMART HOME AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR PROPERTY MANAGERS

 Property Care  Networking Breaks, Beverages, and Refreshments

HR 411—Critical Workplace Topics for 2020

The People Problem

Best Practices of Successful Housekeeping Departments

2020: A New Decade in Vacation Rental Management

Leveraging Marketing Tools for Business Decisions & Real Results

Could You be Losing Guests in the Booking Process?

SEO/SEM Disrupted: Google Shakes Up the Funnel

Ballroom D

Gatlinburg Agenda

Ballroom C

2019 Performance and the 2020 Forecast

Ballroom B

 Strategy Sessions  Technology and Revenue Management Sessions

Strategically Working with OTAs in 2020

Building the Relationship with Guests Before, During and After the Vacation

Proactive Homeowner Acquisition

Why Airbnb, Booking, and Expedia are Investing Millions of Dollars into Guest Experiences

Experience & Professionalism Matter

Lessons Learned with Steve Milo

Ballroom A

Sessions

3

GENERAL SESSIONS 8:30 AM 2019 PERFORMANCE AND THE 2020 FORECAST (BALLROOM B) Let’s take a deep dive into actual year-over-year (YOY) performance. Which areas saw YOY growth? Are we seeing migration of guests across destinations? Did we see notable swings in ADR, Occupancy, and RevPAR? Get the answers to these questions and more as we examine 2019 activity and look at year-to-date booking activity for 2020. We will also look at the TN-SC-NC-GA regions to identify trends. With Jason Sprenkle and Amy Hinote

1:00 PM 2020: A NEW DECADE OF VACATION RENTAL MANAGEMENT (BALLROOM B) Vacation rental management companies are witnessing a shifting landscape with an influx of new faces, business models, and customer behavior. Industry leaders will be on stage to discuss regional changes, the competitive environment, new franchise models, preserving our destinations, and the future of vacation rental management in this new decade. With Jim Olin, John Madewell, Steve Milo, Shawn Spiezio, CJ Stam

BREAKOUT SESSIONS 9:35 AM – 10:20 AM MARKETING: SEO/SEM DISRUPTED: GOOGLE SHAKES UP THE FUNNEL (BALLROOM B) Changes at Google are disrupting traditional SEO and SEM strategies. How are these changes affecting marketing efforts, and how can VRMs navigate the new search format? Amber will demonstrate what has changed at Google, how channel managers and OTAs are working with Google’s new booking platform, and what strategies VRMs can implement to get in front of the coming disruption. With Amber Carpenter

STRATEGY: LESSONS LEARNED—TECHNOLOGY, HIRING, OWNERS, GUESTS, LAUNDRY AND MORE (BALLROOM A) Experience is the best teacher, and some lessons are learned the hard way. Milo will candidly discuss some of these lessons he has learned over the last 15 years in vacation rental management, including implementing technology, hiring, working with homeowners, dealing with guests who want to blackmail you, battling regulations, facing new competition, and more. With Steve Milo, VTrips

PROPERTY CARE: BEDBUG INFORMATION FOR YOU (BALLROOM C) Cabins for YOU director of operations Leslie Adcock answers all your bedbug questions: What are bedbugs?

How do they get in your rental unit? How do we treat for bedbugs? How do inspect for bedbugs? How we track positive or repeat cases? With feedback and input from our treatment company Chappell’s Pest Control Company, Adcock will also discuss how to handle processing the linens and what to tell affected guests.

While no one likes to discuss these issues, education is key to reducing online complaints and make sure properties are bedbug free. Leslie Adcock, Cabins For YOU

TECHNOLOGY AND REVENUE MANAGEMENT: THE GROWTH OF SMART HOME AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR PROPERTY MANAGERS (BALLROOM D) Smart home technology is quickly changing our industry. Join us as we discuss the challenges and opportunities this presents to property managers and how you can leverage this technology to improve operations, safety, and the guest/homeowner experience. With Stevan Henning

4

Sessions

10:50 AM – 11:35 AM MARKETING: COULD YOU BE LOSING GUESTS IN THE BOOKING PROCESS? (BALLROOM B) Once a guest finally chooses one of your rentals, are you losing them in the booking process? Identify and create a user-friendly online booking process while keeping guests excited about booking their vacation as they finalize the reservations. Analyze abandoned shopping cart activity, examine rental policy formats, and ensure an easy contract signing process. With April Burns and Brandon Sauls, ICND

STRATEGY: EXPERIENCE AND PROFESSIONALISM: WHY THEY MATTER IN THE VACATION RENTAL INDUSTRY (BALLROOM A) With new entrants in the vacation rental industry, the level of professionalism has seen a decline across the US. How is this lack of experience and diminished focus on best practices affecting the industry? Edwards will discuss the important of professionalism and how VRMs can raise the bar to create a higher expectation for homeowners, in our destinations, and in the industry. With Ben Edwards, Weatherby Consulting

PROPERTY CARE: INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR OR EMPLOYEES? RETHINKING STAFFING MODELS (BALLROOM C) Effective January 1, 2020, Tennessee uses the IRS 20 factor test (versus the three-factor ABC test) to decide whether someone classifies as an independent contractor or employee. This presents an opportunity to re-evaluate your staffing model for housekeepers. During this session we will discuss pros and cons of hiring IC’s or employees and the impact it has on your P&L, guest satisfaction, cleanliness scores and repeat business. It’s not just a dollars and cents decision. With Sue Jones, HR4VR

TECHNOLOGY AND REVENUE MANAGEMENT: REVENUE MANAGEMENT INFRASTRUCTURE (BALLROOM D) Now that the vacation rental industry is getting destination-level performance data, we have the ability to create data-driven revenue management processes and practices. With a background in hotel revenue management, Saylor will show VRMs how hoteliers determine and implement pricing strategies by combining technology (including PMS software, pricing tools, and data sources), and how these processes compare and contrast with the vacation rental industry. With Ryan Saylor, Beyond Pricing

11:45 AM – 12:30 PM MARKETING: HOW TO LEVERAGE MARKETING TOOLS FOR BUSINESS DECISIONS & REAL RESULTS (BALLROOM B) While SEO and marketing tools provide incredible data, these tools oftentimes overwhelm non-marketing professionals. However, with a small amount of training, these tools can provide actionable data that provides a solid foundation for real-life business decisions. With David Angotti, SmokyMountains.com

STRATEGY: THE DATA BEHIND THE GUEST EXPERIENCE MOVEMENT: A GLIMPSE INTO WHY AIRBNB, BOOKING.COM, AND EXPEDIA ARE INVESTING MILLIONS OF DOLLARS INTO EXPERIENCES (BALLROOM A) Join Matthew Loney, President and CEO of Xplorie, as he reveals the data and rationale behind the OTA’s growing investment in experiences for guests. We’ll take a deep dive into what it means for the vacation rental industry and how you can leverage your local tours and attractions to secure a competitive edge.

PROPERTY CARE: MAKING SAFETY A TOP PRIORITY AT YOUR AGENCY (BALLROOM C) It is important to address safety in your vacation rentals to prevent harm to guests, avoid lawsuits and improve marketability. How do you go about doing that? In this session, we’ll discuss establishing the role of a safety manager(s) and establishing protocols, procedures and demonstrated best practices that will help ensure your VRMC is doing all it can do to address the safety of your guests. With Justin Ford, Breezeway

Sessions

5

TECH AND MARKETING: ADVANCED REVENUE MANAGEMENT: PUTTING THE “HOW-TO” AFTER THE “WHY” (BALLROOM D) The session will focus on the constraints, levers, and the need to mix automation with human oversight that makes revenue management for vacation rentals unique within the travel industry. The session will also present some well-established frameworks for managing rates, minimum length of stay (LOS), discounts and fees and discuss which frameworks work better than the others depending on the operational and distribution constraints property manager and owners face. With Anurag Verma, PriceLabs.

2:05 PM – 2:50 PM MARKETING: MITIGATE BAD REVIEWS AND GET MORE 5-STAR REVIEWS (BALLROOM B) Most people do not leave reviews and those who do either had an amazing stay or well, you know, a really bad one. In this session, I will show you how to get more reviews so you have more data to make better decisions with as well as show you how to mitigate bad reviews so they do not get found online. You’ll also find out how to get more 5 star reviews on TripAdvisor, Google and other review sites. This is critical for social proof, conversion and even SEO. With Justin Jones, IMEG

STRATEGY: PROACTIVE HOMEOWNER ACQUISITION (BALLROOM A) Competition for new homeowners has sharply increased with the influx of new and aggressive multi-destination companies. Pfautz discusses how homeowners are making decisions about choosing a VRM in 2020 and how to tell your story and set your company apart from the competition. With a focus on data and performance, VRMs can examine unique strategies and practices for targeting homeowners with the right message at the right time. With Brooke Pfautz, Vintory

PROPERTY CARE: BEST PRACTICES OF SUCCESSFUL HOUSEKEEPING DEPARTMENTS (BALLROOM C) Vacation rental management companies across the country are turning their housekeeping departments into profit centers. From North Carolina’s Outer Banks, Skinner will discuss housekeeping management, making a profit, training staff, leadership, and pay increases for housekeepers. With James Skinner, Brindley Beach Vacations

TECHNOLOGY AND REVENUE MANAGEMENT: DATA-DRIVEN BUSINESS STRATEGY (BALLROOM D) VRMs now have access to a ton of data, including destination data, performance data, website analytics, call center data, property data, and more. But how do managers combine all of this data to make business decisions about growth, staffing, pricing, and marketing? Each piece of data tells a small part of the business story, and when taken out of context, it can be misleading. But when the pieces are combined, VRMs can use these data sources to boost performance and maximize growth opportunities. With Brise Carpenter, NAVIS

3:20 PM – 4:05 PM MARKETING: BUILDING THE RELATIONSHIP WITH GUESTS BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER THE VACATION (BALLROOM A) With more guests going straight to the property, it is increasingly difficult to build a trusting relationship with them that keeps them coming back year after year. Using email and SMS/text messaging, we’ll discuss how to connect and interact with guest with information that communicates trust and ensures that guest expectations are set and met. With Alisa Justice, Bluetent

STRATEGY: THE PEOPLE PROBLEM (BALLROOM C) Of the many challenges for vacation rental managers, the most pervasive and the most constant always seem to be people. Putting the right people in the right seats is critical to the success of any business. With

6

Sessions

unemployment at an all-time low, it’s harder than ever to hire and retain great talent. This session will focus on identifying, hiring and inspiring great teams to drive results within your organization. With Steve Trover, Laveer and Co

PROPERTY CARE: OPERATIONS ROUNDTABLES (BALLROOM B) Operations is a core tenant for any property manager. During this roundtable session, we’ll address key issues that impact your housekeeping, inspection and maintenance teams. Choose between 5 topics or switch among those that are most relevant to your business. With Koryn Okey, Breezeway

TECHNOLOGY AND REVENUE MANAGEMENT: KEY DATA WORKSHOP (BALLROOM D) Become a performance and destination data expert and identify KPIs that are important to your business.

Learn to use the Key Data Dashboard to create reports that help drive business decisions, pricing and marketing strategy. Create your own dashboard views, and learn to quickly pull individual homeowner performance. Now that we have the data, let’s learn how to use it. With Key Data Team

4:15 PM – 5:00 PM MARKETING: STRATEGICALLY WORKING WITH OTAs IN 2020 (BALLROOM A) People talk about strategic use of OTAs, but what does it actually mean? This session covers when to use OTAs, maximizing real estate on listing pages, and pricing strategies. Plus, does the billboard effect still exist and, if so, how does a VRM plant brand info into listings? With Michelle Marquis, Lexicon

STRATEGY: HR 411—CRITICAL WORKPLACE TOPICS FOR 2020 (BALLROOM C) Workplace issues that kept leaders up at night in 2019 continue to cause more anguish in 2020. To assist you with a strong start as the calendar turns, we’re looking back at the key workplace topics that trended throughout 2019 that we expect will continue to hold your attention in the months ahead. Employment updates on salaried employees, overtime, marijuana, sick leave, ban the box and other key changes will be addressed during this session. With Sue Jones, HR4VR

PROPERTY CARE: BREEZEWAY MASTER CLASS (BALLROOM D) Join industry veteran, Koryn Okey, as she leads a Breezeway Master Class where she’ll provide a deep dive into key functionality to improve your scheduling process, increase visibility into the progress of your field staff, automate guest communication, and identify efficiency gains for your daily operations. As an added bonus, you will get a first look at upcoming features available this spring.

TECHNOLOGY AND REVENUE MANAGEMENT: 2020 TECHNOLOGY LANDSCAPE (BALLROOM B) Vacation rental technology has seen a shakeup over the last two years with consolidation and emerging third-party solutions. How are software executives looking at building PM software and how are property managers navigating combining the use of third-party tech products with their PMS? Panel: Scott Butler (Inhabit IQ), Brett Parry (Streamline), Ryan Bailey (TRACK), Ed Ulmer (Barefoot Technologies), and Joy Ritter (LiveRez), moderated by Amy Hinote

5 PM – 7 PM COCKTAIL PARTY AT OLE RED SPONSORED BY BEYOND PRICING & LIVEREZ.COM TO ACCESS THE VRM INTEL LIVE APP, GO TO VRMINTELLIVE.COM/APP

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