AGENDA

Monday, May 3, 2010

noon � 5 pm:  HSMAI Resort Best Practices Initiative Subscribers Annual Meeting (by invitation only)

6:00 pm:  Resort Business Summit Opening Reception

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

7:30 am � 3:30 pm:  Resort Business Summit
This one-day program that will give you actionable ideas to implement immediately to address the hottest issues of the moment, like Using Social Media as a Business Development Tool and Generating Revenue in a Recession (and Recovery) and other topics identified as most important and timely to resort sales & marketing professionals. 

8:00 - 8:15 am:  Welcome

8:15 - 9:15 am:  I'm Going to Tweet You Up
Presented by Michael Tchong, Ubbercool LLC 
A captivating and internationally acclaimed speaker, Michael Tchong's singular perspective has earned him recognition as the forward thinker of the information age.  He will set the stage for the day�s focus on innovation in resort marketing by covering a range of trends affecting the business � from consumer behavior and group business to trends in social media and online marketing.  Michael will open your eyes, stimulate your thinking, and help you keep up with the trends affecting your business. 

9:15 - 11:45 am:  Digital Strategy for Business Development (with a break from 10:15 � 10:45 am)
Presented by David Atkins, Principal, Digital DNA Infusion - Your Digital Experts Network 
Employing digital resources is top of mind throughout the resort sector.  What should you do?  How can you get ROI?  How can you actually develop business?  How should you staff these initiatives?  What are the best tactics to deploy? 
This workshop will focus on the strategies and tactics that ensure maximum return on your digital strategy � from Search Engine Marketing (SEM) and Social Media to Mobile Marketing and Video.  Regardless of the digital strategy component, the focus will be on how to use them, how to monetize them, how to distribute them and how to make them social.
Attendees will leave understanding what they can do to grow their business and things that can take home and implement immediately.

11:45 - 1:00 pm:  Roundtable Lunch with Exhibitors & Resort Marketer of the Year Award Presentation
The 2010 Resort Marketer of the Year Award honors individual leadership and achievement in the field of resort marketing. 

1:00 - 2:00 pm:  Best Practices - Generating Revenue in a Recession & Reset
Moderated by Cindy Estis Green, Managing Partner, The Estis Group 
Resorts will continue to be challenged to generate revenue in an economy troubled by recession and a slow recovery, and aggravated by a national level political pushback on resort meetings.  Even in this environment, in the consumer market there are proven initiatives that move the needle on the top line. 

Think about what initiatives you undertook in the last year to stimulate revenue in this most hostile of climates.  What triggered the phone to ring or the Reserve Now button to get clicked on your website?  Share those successes while gaining insights from other resort marketing experts.  Both online and offline channels will be examined from a reservation as well as a promotional messaging perspective � from opportunities in brand awareness to capturing higher conversions on the phone and the resort.com website to using social media and other non-transactional websites to drive quality traffic.  How do you track it? How do you know when it worked?  What is a reasonable ROI?

The focus of this interactive discussion will be on initiatives that deliver high ROIs and can be leveraged to get the resort industry moving forward. 

2:00 - 3:15 pm:  Listening (and Learning from) the Voice of the Resort Customer
Take part in this spirited discussion with resort customers representing the association, government, corporate, and incentive markets. 
You�ll hear their strategic thoughts and discover what�s going on in their sectors.  This dialogue about the trends, changes, 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 need, and what they see on the horizon.

3:15 - 3:30 pm:  Closing & Wrap Up

4:30 pm - 7:00 pm:  Customer Connection
Limited to 30 resorts, this informative and interactive customer event will connect meeting and incentive professionals with resort executives.  Held in conjunction with the South Florida chapter of MPI, the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau, and the Palm Beach County Convention & Visitors Bureau, invitations will be extended to qualified planners throughout the Southeast.  A 3:1 ratio of meeting and incentive event professionals to resorts is expected. 

Entertainment  opportunities follow the evening reception for 1-on-1 dinners and on Wednesday for discounted golf rounds, and personal appointments with these planners. 

The keynote program will be Reinventing Your Meeting Business. 
Presented by by Michael Tchong, Ubbercool LLC 
Face-to-face events are under siege.  And never more so than in the past year.  Yet the fact remains that despite negative press, �offline social engagement� remains the powerful way for companies to interact with customers and prospects.  So how can you leverage technology and trends to reinvent your business, and boost return on investment on your organization�s meetings, events and incentives?

Michael Tchong, a renowned trend analyst who inspires and transforms audiences worldwide, will explore the latest market trends affecting your business, while highlighting the role of innovation � on both lifestyle and technology fronts � plays in producing memorable events that meet business objectives.