VRM Intel Live! Sandestin 2020

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! SANDESTIN 2020

Schedule

1

Gulf Coast Schedule 7:30 am

12:30 pm

Registration in Azalea Foyer

7:30 am

9:00 am

Breakfast Sponsored by IMEG in Azalea Ballroom

8:30 am

9:20 am

Welcome and General Session: 2019 Gulf Coast Performance and 2020 Forecast

9:20 am

9:35 am

Break (Beverages, Azalea Foyer)

9:35 am

10:20 am

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

10:20 am

10:50 am

Networking Break (Beverages and Refreshments, Azalea Foyer)

10:50 am

11:35 am

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

11:35 am

11:45 am

Break (Beverages, Azalea Foyer)

11:45 am

12:30 pm

Breakout Sessions (Marketing, Strategy, 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, Azalea Foyer)

2:05 pm

2:50 pm

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

2:50 pm

3:20 pm

Networking Break (Beverages and Ice Cream, Azalea Foyer)

3:20 pm

4:05 pm

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

4:05 pm

4:15 pm

Break (Beverages, Azalea Foyer)

4:15 pm

5:00 pm

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

5:00 pm

7:00 pm

Cocktail Party Sponsored by Beyond Pricing at Rum Runners in Baytowne

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

Industry Exhibitors

Industry Exhibitors

Industry Exhibitors

Vendor Break

Industry Exhibitors

Networking Break

Industry Exhibitors

Vendor Break

Industry Exhibitors

Industry Exhibitors

Azalea Foyer

 General Sessions and Meals  Marketing Sessions

End

Begin

Where to Go

Camellia 2

Property Management Software Round Table

Making Safety a Top Priority at Your Agency

Key Data Workshop

Data-driven Business Strategy

Revenue Management Infrastructure

 Networking Breaks, Beverages, and Refreshments

Proactive Homeowner Acquisition

Strategically Working with OTAs in 2020

Mitigate Bad Reviews and Get More 5-Star Reviews

Building Relationships with Guests Before, During & After the Vacation

Could You be Losing Guests in the Booking Process?

The Growth of Smart Home and its Implications for PMs

Gulf Coast Agenda

Camellia 1

HR 411—Critical Workplace Topics for 2020

 Strategy Sessions  Technology and Revenue Management Sessions

New Year, New Role: Managers are now Hospitality Providers

2020 Technology Landscape Panel

Experience and Professionalism Matter in the Vacation Rental Industry

Milo's Lessons Learned: Technology, Hiring, Owners, Guests, Laundry & More Lunch by Xplorie 2020: A New Decade in Vacation Rental Management

The 2020 Vacation Rental Regulatory Environment

SEO/SEM Disrupted: Google Shakes Up the Funnel

Welcome & General Session: 2019 Gulf Coast Performance & 2020 Forecast

Breakfast Sponsored by IMEG

Azalea Ballroom

Sessions

GENERAL SESSIONS 8:30 AM 2019 PANHANDLE PERFORMANCE AND THE 2020 FORECAST (AZALEA) Key Data and VRM intel take a deep dive into actual YOY performance in the region, from the Alabama Gulf Coast to Panama City Beach. Which beaches 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-todate booking activity for 2020. With Jason Sprenkle and Amy Hinote

1:00 PM A NEW DECADE IN VACATION RENTAL MANAGEMENT (AZALEA) Across panhandle destinations, 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, Vacasa’s purchase of Wyndham, new franchise models, preserving our destinations, and the future of vacation rental management in this new decade. With Micah Berg, Lino Maldonado, Brian Moffatt and Paul Wohlford

BREAKOUT SESSIONS 9:35 AM – 10:20 AM MARKETING: SEO/SEM DISRUPTED—GOOGLE SHAKES UP THE FUNNEL (AZALEA) 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: HR 411—CRITICAL WORKPLACE TOPICS FOR 2020 (CAMELLIA 2) 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

TECHNOLOGY AND REVENUE MANAGEMENT: THE GROWTH OF SMART HOME AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR PROPERTY MANAGERS (CAMELLIA 1) Smart home technology is quickly changing our industry. Join us as we discuss

3

4

Sessions

the challenges and opportunities this presents to property managers and how you can leverage this technology to improve operations, safety, and guest/ homeowner experience. With Stevan Henning

10:50 AM – 11:35 AM MARKETING: COULD YOU BE LOSING GUESTS IN THE BOOKING PROCESS? (CAMELLIA 2) 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 Vanessa Humes, ICND

STRATEGY: THE 2020 VACATION RENTAL REGULATORY ENVIRONMENT (AZALEA) A panel discussion on the market conditions, drivers precedent to and subsequent action behind regulation along the Gulf Coast. With Tiffany Edwards, City Councilman Parker Destin and Ken Wampler

TECHNOLOGY AND REVENUE MANAGEMENT: REVENUE MANAGEMENT INFRASTRUCTURE (CAMELLIA 1) 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: BUILDING THE RELATIONSHIP WITH GUESTS BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER THE VACATION (CAMELLIA 1) 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 guests with information that communicates trust and ensures that guest expectations are set and met. With Jinnie Templin, Bluetent

STRATEGY: LESSONS LEARNED—TECHNOLOGY, HIRING, OWNERS, GUESTS, LAUNDRY, LINENS AND MORE (AZALEA) 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

Sessions

TECHNOLOGY AND REVENUE MANAGEMENT: DATA-DRIVEN BUSINESS STRATEGY (CAMELLIA 2) 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

2:05 PM – 2:50 PM MARKETING: MITIGATE BAD REVIEWS AND GET MORE 5-STAR REVIEWS (CAMELLIA 1) 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: EXPERIENCE AND PROFESSIONALISM: WHY IT MATTERS IN THE VACATION RENTAL INDUSTRY (AZALEA) 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

TECHNOLOGY AND REVENUE MANAGEMENT: KEY DATA WORKSHOP (CAMELLIA 2) 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

3:20 PM – 4:05 PM MARKETING: STRATEGICALLY WORKING WITH OTAs IN 2020 (CAMELLIA 1) 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

5

6

Sessions

STRATEGY: MAKING SAFETY A TOP PRIORITY AT YOUR AGENCY (CAMELLIA 2) 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

TECHNOLOGY AND REVENUE MANAGEMENT: 2020 TECHNOLOGY LANDSCAPE (AZALEA) 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: Brett Parry (Streamline), Ed Ulmer (Barefoot), Jeremiah Gall (Breezeway), Matt Renner (TRACK), and Steve Milo (VTrips), moderated by Amy Hinote

4:15 PM – 5:00 PM MARKETING: PROACTIVE HOMEOWNER ACQUISITION (CAMELLIA 1) 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

STRATEGY: NEW YEAR, NEW ROLE: MANAGERS ARE NOW HOSPITALITY PROVIDERS (AZALEA) It’s 2020, and the industry’s maturation has carved out new responsibilities and expectations for managers. In fact, the moniker ‘property manager’ doesn’t encapsulate the work that goes into the job, nor does it capture the emphasis placed on personalized guest service and property care. Led by Breezeway’s Founder and CEO, Jeremy Gall, this panel will discuss how professionals can embrace their new ‘hospitality provider’ title and capitalize on this huge opportunity.

TECHNOLOGY AND REVENUE MANAGEMENT: PROPERTY MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE ROUND TABLE (CAMELLIA 2) Moderated by Amy Hinote and Dawn Yeskulsky, this Q&A session with software providers is designed to answer any questions you have about the direction of property management software in 2020 and beyond. In a round-table format, we will also have third-party technology providers (smart home, data, revenue management, marketing and insurance), on hand to address integration questions and discuss the VR tech stack.

TO ACCESS THE VRM INTEL LIVE APP, GO TO HTTPS://TOUCHSTAY.COM/VRMLIVE

PRESENTED BY

PREMIER SPONSORS

SPONSORS R

VACATION RENTAL SOFTWARE

Lynx

Smart Rental Automation

Lynx

Smart Rental Automation

®

visual

solutions