ARCHIVES: 2017 Session Details

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Some presenters have provided support materials for your reference. Look for the word "DOWNLOAD" below the presentation title.

Wednesday, April 5, 2017 | 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm

FREE* Marketing Ideas for Vermont Businesses
​TRACK: MARKETING | Room: Green Mountain B | DOWNLOAD

​CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD
Sarah Morris, Basin Harbor Club and Resort; David Burnell, Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing; Molly Goodyear, 802Social
FREE* marketing?! Yes, but remember FREE* stands for *Free Requires Endless Effort*.  Whether you’re new to Vermont of have been here for years, join us for a review of opportunities that, while requiring effort, require no direct cash payment to implement.  With a little know-how, let us help you connect some dots and get your business out there.  We'll review different ways that you can market your business for FREE*.  Update your arsenal with new ways to get the word out about your business.

• Sarah Morris: ​Sarah Morris is the Director of Sales and Fifth Generation Host at Basin Harbor Resort and Boat Club. She has worked in hospitality since she was 14 and firmly believes you learn the most by surrounding yourself with thoughtful, collaborative people.  Sarah is active with the Addison County Economic Development Corporation, the Vermont Convention Bureau, the Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce, the New England Inns and Resort Association, and, of course, the Vermont Tourism Summit.  
• David Burnell: "Asking hard questions in pursuit of integrity, conceptual solutions and great results." Our environments shape who we are. Having felt a strong sense of place as a native of Vermont, David Burnell now helps to promote his home state as a four season destination. David refined his innate artistic talents at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale in graphic design application. His skillsets range from traditional mediums such as Illustration and Photography to Creative Direction, Advertising, Strategic Thinking and Corporate Branding. His approach to conceptual and creative solution involves very human aspects of life in campaigns, communications, and delivery. Passion is evident in every assignment he takes on -- big and small.
• Molly Goodyear: ​Molly Goodyear is the owner of 802Social, a social media management company that specializes in assisting businesses with the ever growing world of social media. With over 20 years of hospitality experience, Molly brings a specialized perspective from the view point of both the business and the consumer. Molly has continued to grow her use of social media with a variety of companies in the region and she works to inspire and guide businesses to fully take advantage of the opportunities that social media offers. Molly devotes quite a bit of time to BNI Vermont and has used connections to grow her business across many industries in the area.

TARGET AUDIENCE: Intermediate

TAPPING THE WELLNESS MARKET: RIDING THE TIDE OF GOOD HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
TRACK: NEW MARKETS | Room: Stuart

​Sarita Khan, Vermont Salt Cave Spa & Halotherapy Center; Kathleen LeSage, New Life Hiking Spa; Janis Cooper, EQnimity; Facilitator: Vicky Tebbetts, VT 
Increasing stresses of modern living, awareness of toxins in the environment, lifestyle choices, an aging population, and a desire for productive vacation experiences are resulting in a new Vermont visitor audience. Recreation and wellness are established components of the Vermont Brand. Now, Vermont is poised to attract a greater share of this worldwide market by going one step further: attracting visitors who seek health-related travel experiences. This workshop will identify and quantify wellness market trends. We’ll offer tips on how to work with Vermont businesses to put together unusual vacation packages that will appeal to a blossoming segment of health-seeking travelers, and best practices in forming partnerships and exceeding the expectations of all partners as well as the visitor. We’ll conclude by offering insight into health and wellness travel niches that will work best for your business.

• Sarita Khan: Sarita is originally from Kingston, Jamaica but has lived around the world, including in the rainforests of South America. She has accumulated decades of knowledge on alternative health treatments and has now opened a Polish healing salt cave in the Jay Peak area. Sarita has a B.A. degree in Journalism and for the past 15 years has owned a property management company catering to the vacation rental market of Northern Vermont.
• Kathleen LeSage: Kathleen is the President and co-owner of New Life Hiking Spa, a nationally recognized, affordable, fitness, wellness and weight loss destination.  Her husband, Jimmy LeSage, founded the spa in 1978. Prior to moving to Vermont in 2003, Kathleen spent her career in Washington, DC concentrating on marketing and public relations.  The bulk of her career was in marketing and PR at Marriott Headquarters.  New Life is one of the oldest and most established destination spa programs of its kind in the country, celebrating 40 summers in Vermont this year.  An award-winning wellness retreat, New Life focuses on a formula of hiking, fitness classes and healthy eating in order to help people begin anew with a lifestyle change that will carry over once guests return to their normal daily lives. New Life has won accolades from Health Magazine, SHAPE Magazine, and SpaFinder. Most recently, it was named the #1 Destination Spa in the United States by Travel + Leisure Magazine and was featured on the TODAY Show.
• Janis Cooper: As owner of EQnimity, Janis provides unique Equine Experiential Learning programs that connect people with nature for greater self-awareness.  By partnering people together with horses in hands-on activities, individuals and groups tap into a new way of being, where they improve how they relate to get things done, and become empowered to live and work with purpose, connection, mindfulness and impact. Janis provides a variety of customized programs that address self-improvement, leadership development, and team performance needs (where no riding or horse experience is required).  EQnimity has been featured in Published! Magazine, Talk Radio, and partners locally with The David L. Cooperrider Center of Appreciative Inquiry, Hannah’s House, The Mad River Valley Health and Wellness Alliance, along with ElementalEdge Training.

TARGET AUDIENCE: The target audience is people associated with accommodations, DMOs, and recreation facilities. The level of difficulty is intermediate: Audience should have some sense of marketing, strategies, tactics, and the benefits of partnerships, and will come away with objectives and tactics that they can implement in their own businesses. ​

Exploring the Vermont Brand and How You Can Leverage It
​TRACK: BRAND | Room: Beatrice

​Sas Stewart, Stonecutter Spirits; Leyna Jackson, Vermont Teddy Bear; Lisa Chase, University of Vermont Extension
The Vermont brand is ubiquitous but it can be challenging to define. What does it mean to you and how can you make the most of it for your business? In this session, you’ll hear unique perspectives for using the Vermont brand in very different ways. Vermont Teddy Bear’s Leyna Jackson will share how they cele-BEAR-ated their 35th anniversary by partnering with 35 other Vermont businesses to launch a 35-week long giveaway campaign. The campaign was so successful, they are planning to expand and continue the program using a similar partnership model while incorporating more of Vermont Teddy Bear’s marketing channels to build a longer-term, larger-impact campaign. Stonecutter Spirits’ Sas Stewart will talk about how relatively new, small Vermont brands can harness the maker movement to market Vermont and themselves. Using local businesses and Stonecutter Spirits as case studies, Sas will explore new uses for storytelling, social media and cross-brand partnerships. Learn how these successful strategies can be adapted for all different types of tourism businesses throughout the state.​

• Sas Stewart: Sas Stewart is the Co-founder and Director of Strategy of Stonecutter Spirits, an award-winning craft spirits producer that proudly combines heritage barrel aging techniques from around the world to age gin and whiskey in Middlebury, Vermont. After a decade in the world of fine-dining, she cut her business teeth in urban agriculture before moving to the bucolic Vermont countryside. Passionate about design, good food, and bringing back the cocktail hour, Sas creates spirits and cocktails to be enjoyed by people who care about the quality of their tipples. Sas' cocktails and projects have been written up in Martha Stewart Living, Outside Magazine, Bloomberg, Seven Days and other publications; in her free time she is currently co-writing a book that brings seasonal drinks to the home cocktail bar.
• Leyna Jackson: Leyna Jackson is the Interactive Marketing Specialist and social media lead at The Vermont Teddy Bear Company (D.B.A Vermont Teddy Bear, PajamaJeans, PajamaGram, Vermont Brownie Company), tasked with the management of each brand's social content and engagement campaigns. With an attraction to innovation and sociology, Leyna returned to Vermont's green mountains after concentrating in Business, Entrepreneurship, and Organizations at Brown University. Leyna consults small businesses on scalable social marketing strategies and spends free moments with her dogs and horses, traveling, and sailing.
• Lisa Chase: Lisa Chase is the Director of the Vermont Tourism Research Center at the University of Vermont Extension. Her research and outreach focus on the intersection of tourism, sustainable development, working landscapes, and community vitality. During the past 15 years, she has worked on several studies in Vermont including visitor profiles, agricultural and culinary tourism, recreation on public and private woodlands, and eco-labels for sustainable transportation. Before working in Vermont, Lisa conducted research and outreach in New York, Colorado, Costa Rica and Ecuador, among other places.

TARGET AUDIENCE: Introductory; business owners and marketing professionals​

ADA & Website Accessibility - Avoid Litigation and Make Your Site Accessible to People with Disabilities
TRACK: GUEST EXPERIENCE | Room: EXECUTIVE BOARDROOM | DOWNLOAD

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD​
Dave Gibson, Propeller Media Works; Kristina R. Brines, Esq., PHR, SHRM-CP, Paul Frank + Collins
The civil rights established by the American Disabilities Act require that people with disabilities have unobstructed access to “places of public accommodation” - to include commercial, retail and service providers of all types.  As the Web has grown to become an intrinsic part of life for all people; advocates, plaintiffs, and the Department of Justice have affirmed that websites also serve as places of public accommodation, and as such are protected by the ADA. The courts have largely agreed. Unfortunately, most websites fail to provide the necessary access for people with disabilities to effectively navigate and communicate with businesses. The tipping point has been crossed, and, a rapidly growing cottage industry has sprung up to force conformity for profit. Their tactics are nothing less than extortion.

• Dave Gibson: David founded Propeller Media Works in 1997 and has worked with brands of all shapes and sizes over the past 20 years. He focuses primarily on digital marketing strategy and web design creative direction. Keeping ahead of the curve, web accessibility and ADA/WCAG conformity has become a focus for him and his company.
• Kristina Brines: Kristina Brines is a Director at Paul Frank + Collins, and a member of the Employment + Labor Law Group. Her employment practice focuses on a wide range of employment issues, including the Americans with Disabilities Act, as well as workforce management, training, workplace investigations, and employment litigation.  Kris has been designated as a Super Lawyers Rising Star, New England, for each year since 2013.

TARGET AUDIENCE: Introductory; Marketers, General Managers/Executive Team, Risk Management/Legal

​​PROFIT WITH Partnerships
TRACK: PARTNERSHIPS | Room: Green Mountain A | DOWNLOAD

​CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD
Tim Piper, Inn Consulting Partners; Beth Krusi, Montshire Museum of Science; Facilitator: Karen Ballard, Vermont Tourism Network 
Explore the opportunities of partnerships: Increase visitation, Capture new market niches, Boost your brand image and Impact growth. Align your business with other organizations/entities to reach new customers and fuel your success. Create packages and programs that increase your profits and grow visitation. 

• Tim Piper: ​Tim is an associate of Inn Consulting Partners.   From golf, skiing, conferences, food & beverage, weddings and events, Tim has over 35 years of hospitality marketing and operations experience.  For 11 years, he was a partner in a very successful 12 room inn in Vermont, the Inn at the Round Barn Farm. Tim has served on the boards of the Vermont Chamber of Commerce as well as the Vermont Visitor and Convention Bureau.  Tim was also a founding member of three associations in the State of Vermont: Vermont Chapter of HSMA (Hospitality Sales & Marketing Assoc), VAWP (Vermont Association of Wedding Professionals)  and VIBBA (Vermont Inn & Bed & Breakfast Association)  where he is the current Association President. Tim is a past speaker at both regional and national Select Registry, AIHP, PAII & State Association Innkeeping meetings .
• Beth Krusi: Beth is the associate director and director of marketing and communications for the Montshire Museum of Science in Norwich, Vermont. The Montshire is a hands-on museum located on 110 acres with interactive exhibits and programs, indoors and out. The Museum partners with numerous organization such as L.L. Bean, Hanover Garden Club, Dartmouth College, The Norwich Inn, and Vermont Farmstead Cheese to both augment programs and events and increase attendance and participation. Beth has a MS in organization management and is currently the vice-president of the Hanover Area Chamber of Commerce and serves on the board of directors for the Vermont Attractions Association.

TARGET AUDIENCE: All tourism businesses

HOW TO GET THE MEDIA TO PAY ATTENTION 
TRACK: PR & MEDIA | ROOM: MANSFIELD

Lisa Gosselin Lynn, Vermont Sports and VT SKI + RIDE
So you want to get your story out to magazines, blogs and news sites?  What's the best way to do it? Often, even PR firms often don't get it right. Here are the best ways to make sure your business gets noticed by the media and to share the messages you want to get out there with the right audiences. 

• Lisa Gosselin Lynn: Lisa Gosselin Lynn is the editor in chief and co-publisher of Vermont Ski + Ride and Vermont Sports magazines, the largest outdoor magazines in New England. She served as Commissioner for the Vermont Department of Economic Development from 2013-2015. She is the former editor in chief of national magazines EatingWell, Islands, Audubon and Bicycling and executive editor at SKI. She has also been a brand manager at Kelliher Samets Volk and, as such, has worked on media relations for clients such as McGill University, Basin Harbor and Green Mountain Power. She has written feature travel stories for Town & Country, Men's Journal, Forbes and many other publications.

TARGET AUDIENCE: Introductory through advanced

Wednesday, April 5, 2017 | 3:15 pm - 4:15 pm

Get and Keep Their Attention; Capturing Your Prospect While They Are On the Move
TRACK: Marketing | Room: Stuart

Brian Bradbury, CTM Media Group; Julie Bowyer, CTM Media Group
This tourism marketing boot camp will take you on the journey of a potential customer; WHAT is truly influencing their decision making, WHEN are they deciding, and HOW can you get a commitment early. You will learn how to position your marketing to capture the attention of a prospect multiple times along their path, the importance of simplicity in marketing, how to gauge what is working (ROI), the importance of understanding how far someone will travel to your business, AND the most important marketing tactic that you must do now that doesn't cost anything! 

• Brian Bradbury: Brian Bradbury is the Northeast Director for CTM Media group; the largest tourism media marketing company in North America that targets marketing businesses directly to tourists and visitors in-market. With more than 20 years' experience in media and marketing, Brian currently oversees numerous offices in the northeast and a team of Media Marketing Consultants who specializes is creating custom marketing programs that allow businesses to directly target and drive tourism foot traffic in their doors.
• Julie Bowyer: Julie Bowyer brings 20+ years of experience in advertising, marketing, sales, management, creative writing and fun to her Media Consultant position at CTM Media. Working with Vermont and New Hampshire businesses, she puts businesses in touch with every aspect of the traveler's decision making process. Julie works with the various Chambers, Associations, Attractions, Ski Resorts and many small businesses to further enhance the visitor experience while they enjoy their vacation and to keep them coming back in the years to come.

TARGET AUDIENCE: Introductory

Feed the Appetite for Vermont Food Adventures 
TRACK: New Markets | Room: Green Mountain B

Meghan Sheradin, Vermont Fresh Network & DigInVT.com; Grace Meyer, Vermont Fresh Network & DigInVT.com
Delicious opportunity awaits! Culinary tourism and agritourism are on the rise and Vermont is ready to welcome hungry travelers with incredible farm and dining experiences. DigInVT.com is Vermont's most robust listing of authentic food, farm and beverage experiences. Whether your guests want to hop on a beer and cheese trail or visit a vineyard and enjoy an on-farm dinner, DigInVT.com can serve as your guest's personal concierge. Since the website's launch in 2012, Vermont explorers have created over 100,000 travel itineraries using its platform. In this workshop, we will familiarize you with DigInVT.com and offer suggestions and insight on how to best use the website for your business and guests. We will explore trends in culinary and agritourism-focused travel, helping you tap into the growing enthusiasm for farm and taste experiences. We will look at successful models and discuss how you can offer your guest personalized food and beverage adventures.

• ​Grace Meyer: ​Growing up on a 100 year-old apple orchard and sheep farm in Essex, Vermont, meant an early appreciation of Vermont-grown food for Grace. As the Communications and Membership Coordinator for the Vermont Fresh Network, Grace works with a network of Vermont's most innovative culinary and agricultural professionals to advance the local food system and share the stories of Vermont-grown food.
• Meghan Sheradin: Meghan Sheradin is the executive director of the Vermont Fresh Network, where she strives to increase our collective understanding and appreciation for Vermont grown, raised and produced foods by linking Vermont's culinary professionals with Vermont's agricultural professionals. Meghan has a diverse agricultural background, with extensive experience in direct marketing. Her B.S. is in Animal Science from Cornell University. She has a M.S. in Community Development and Applied Economics from the University of Vermont. Meghan also serves on the Vermont Sustainable Agriculture Council.

TARGET AUDIENCE: Introductory; service industry and those offering or interested in promoting Agritourism

Recover Forgotten Marketing Techniques and Regain Your Brand Mojo
TRACK: BRAND | Room: Beatrice | DoWNLOAD

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​Ross Evans, Redpoint Marketing PR
Snapchat! Facebook Live! Virtual Reality!! The possibilities are endless... and that's sometimes the problem. We all get excited about the shiny new marketing toy of the month and it's easy to get distracted by all the glitz and glam being thrown our way. But what about the foundation that all the new-fangled marketing tricks have to rest on? In this session, Redpoint's Ross Evans shows you practical ways to fall back in love with some of your forgotten marketing techniques and explore ways to maximize lost opportunities while strengthening your core marketing strategy.

• Ross Evans: ​As NYC-based Redpoint Marketing PR's first New England-based executive, Ross enjoys his role as Redpoint's "guy on the ground" in the region.  A born-and-raised Vermonter, Ross has deep roots in New England with extensive in-house marketing experience at some of the region's top consumer products brands, including as Director of Marketing for Simon Pearce.  At Redpoint, which represents high-profile brands in the travel, hospitality, restaurant, interior design, and home furnishings industries, Ross's focus is integrated marketing: building strategic marketing, public relations and digital campaigns to get the most comprehensive results.

TARGET AUDIENCE: Intermediate; GMs, Directors of Marketing, Marketing Managers

Guest Communications Before, During, and After to Improve Guest Experience
TRACK: GUEST EXPERIENCE | Room: Green Mountain A

​E. Scot Fuller-Beatty, The Chadwick Bed & Breakfast, and ThinkReservations
The guest communication landscape has changed. In today's age, there are many more options than just greeting guests at the door on the day of check-in with a friendly "Good morning" and a hearty breakfast. Technology has enabled us to communicate with guests using newer mediums and in ways that feel personal to the guest, but in many cases are actually automated by software. Come and attend this talk so that you can start implementing the tools that will help your customers keep coming back for more!

• E. Scot Fuller-Beatty: Scot is an Account Manager at ThinkReservations, a leading property management system, online booking engine, and channel manager for the lodging industry. An innkeeper himself, he became a ThinkReservations customer to help his business grow and run more efficiently. Now, as an Account Manager, Scot helps educate customers on ways to use ThinkReservations to make their business more profitable, run more efficiently, and how to tackle emerging trends in the lodging industry such as yield management and guest communications.
  

TARGET AUDIENCE: ​Introductory to Intermediate; Innkeepers, Front Desk Staff, Managers

11 Ways to Boost Your Hotel’s Social Media ROI
​TRACK: Social MEdia | Room: MANSFIELD | DOWNLOAD

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​Heather Robertson, Beutler Ink
This presentation will explore ways in which hotels can advance from building audiences and engaging guests, to booking rooms and increasing sales using social media. From maximizing new platforms, to strategic planning of paid social media, to testing and tracking results, attendees will learn how to put more heads in beds through their social efforts. The presentation will also feature real case studies of hotels that used contests, LinkedIn, and Twitter to accomplish their marketing goals. Attendees will walk away with a social toolkit that they can instantly put into practice.​

• Heather Robertson: Heather Robertson is a content strategist at Beutler Ink, an entirely distributed digital agency. Heather began her career in editorial with positions at both the Los Angeles Times and The Huffington Post. She pivoted to digital to work on the development of Hulu in 2007. Since 2013, she has been helping hospitality brands like Westin, Northwood Hospitality, and Lotte Hotels present themselves on social media in impactful ways. Heather moved to Vermont from Los Angeles in 2014. She serves on the board of the Rutland Young Professionals and was the chair of the 2016 Young Professionals Summit of Vermont. She is originally from Massachusetts and holds a BFA in Writing, Literature, and Publishing from Emerson College. In her spare time she runs @Rutland_VT an instagram account highlighting the beauty of Rutland County.

TARGET AUDIENCE: Intermediate; Marketing and sales staff

Thursday, April 6, 2017 | 10:00 am - 11:00 am

Using Mobile Marketing Automation and Loyalty to Improve Customer Engagement and Drive More Revenue
TRACK: Marketing | Room: Stuart

Brian Fitzgerald, O'Rourke Hospitality Marketing; Tom O'Rourke, O'Rourke Hospitality Marketing
Mobile marketing automation and loyalty are becoming key components to the whole marketing picture as successful businesses strive to meet the evolving needs of their mobile-oriented customers and drive more revenue while they're at it. You'll learn how to change the way your business and your staff interacts with your customers through the power of mobile marketing automation and loyalty. From beacons to geofencing to segmentation, perfectly timed push notifications, and guest frequency programs, you can be with your guests every step of their journey. We'll also give you an overview of 360 Marketing, of which mobile marketing automation plays an essential part.

• Brian Fitzgerald: Prior to joining the O'Rourke team, Brian held several different roles with TIG Global in Washington, DC. He began in 2008 as Director of Search Engine Optimization, served as Director of Search & Social and ultimately was part of the company's executive team as Vice President of Web Strategy. The three years spent at TIG Global helped Brian hone his expertise in hospitality Internet marketing. Before TIG Global, Brian held several integral roles within Marriott International, including Systems Manager, eCommerce Manager and Senior Manager of eCommerce Field Strategy and Support. This variety of experiences allowed him to develop advanced project management skills, leadership skills, and hands-on experience planning, implementing and managing digital campaigns. In addition to his professional experience, Brian holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Babson College in Wellesley, MA, with a Major in Information Systems and a minor in Finance. He also holds a Masters of Business Administration Degree from The George Washington University in Washington, DC.
  
• Tom O'Rourke: Tom is the Chief Executive Officer of O’Rourke Hospitality Marketing, LLC. He is responsible for the strategic direction and daily operations of the agency as well as growing and globally expanding O’Rourke’s sister company, Mobile Media Applications, LLC. Prior to founding O’Rourke, Tom partnered in the growth and development of two successful enterprises, honing his ability to move a concept into a reality with dramatic results by applying solid business practices – market research, product development, sales and marketing resource deployment – and a high level of creativity. Tom continues to grow O’Rourke and works with partners across the globe on innovative projects in mobile. His insight into upcoming trends, combined with his strategic thinking, has made him a leader in hospitality marketing. Tom has been asked to share his ideas with Hospitality and Marketing MBA students at Universities including The Roosevelt University, Chicago, and The European Center of International Hotel Management, Paris, France. Tom holds a Bachelors of Science degree in Industrial Engineering from the Limerick Institute of Technology in Ireland, a Master’s certificate in Internet Marketing Strategy from the University of San Francisco and a certificate in Hospitality Marketing from Cornell University.

TARGET AUDIENCE: Intermediate; Any business that sees, or currently has, opportunities with using mobile apps to better cater to their customers and drive more business

HosPETality: Understanding and cashing in on pet friendly tourism
TRACK: New Markets | Room: Executive Boardroom

Michelle Maskaly, Platinum Horse Media
From millennials to baby boomers, more people are opting to take their pets with them when they leave the house - whether it's Sunday brunch, or a week-long vacation. This presentation will help business owners understand this new customer base, how to connect with them, what they want and provide unique ideas on ways to attract them. 

• Michelle Maskaly: As the former editor-in-chief of Pet Age magazine, a lifelong pet owner and pet industry insider, Michelle Maskaly has a unique perspective on the more than $60 billion industry. From the consumer, to the manufacturer and distributor relationship, to the social media marketing and PR efforts needed to build success, right down to the pet retailer and veterinarian, she understands the business. She also deeply understands the relationship between a person and their pet. More people want to take their pet with them when they leave the house. Whether it is to brunch, on vacation or to the beach,  being pet-friendly and dog-friendly is an attractive market these days. And, it's growing. As a dog-friendly business coach, Michelle Maskaly works with various businesses to help them become dog friendly and help attract new customers. These businesses include hotels, chambers of commerce, restaurants and more. Whether it's what supplies you need, how to train your staff or how to incorporate pet friendly events into your marketing plan, Michelle Maskaly, The Dog-Friendly Business Coach can help. 

TARGET AUDIENCE: Intermediate; anyone interested in learning more about becoming pet-friendly and attracting that market

I Know I Need a Blog but Have Zero Time to Manage It
TRACK: Blogging | Room: Mansfield | DOWNLOAD

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD
​Ryan Brandt, Hawthorn Creative
Have a blog that's collecting dust on your site with no new posts in months? Know you need a new one in this era where content marketing is the key to developing inbound leads and interest? No industry demands a quality blog like travel and tourism, to turn casual web surfers into visitors in a matter of minutes. In this practical tutorial, you'll learn the keys to quickly and easily create, develop content, source imagery and video, and optimize a blog. The best part: You won't need a body double to produce and maintain it! 

• Ryan Brandt: Ryan oversees Hawthorn's execution of more than 50 annual content marketing campaigns for some of the biggest names in the travel and hospitality industries. Blog sites, email campaigns, social media, custom magazines he has helped build the strategies, content, and visuals that leisure travelers respond to. Prior to joining Hawthorn in 2006, he was a writer for more than 50 top national and international consumer publications, including The New York Times Travel section, Men's Journal, Outside Magazine, and Skiing Magazine. His background also includes experience in market research, advertising, and marketing communications. Outside of work, he enjoys surfing, skiing, mountain biking, and any other way to stay active and outside from his home in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

TARGET AUDIENCE: Introductory to intermediate

Crafting a Digital Advertising Plan
TRACK: MARKETING | Room: Beatrice | DOWNLOAD

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD
Robin Gronlund, Middlebury Institute & College; Bibi Mukherjee, CurveTrends Marketing
Taking your marketing online through digital advertising can be challenging. Learn how to use research to identify your target market and manage your marketing budget to establish an online spending plan. Participants will learn what data to use in determining online advertising channels and metrics to use in measuring results. This presentation will take participants through one organization's online journey.

• Robin Gronlund: Robin Gronlund provides oversight of marketing and creative services for Middlebury's Communications Office. She has been in higher education marketing, operations, student services, and development for over 10 years at private secondary schools and a public university. Prior to working in higher education, she led her own marketing consulting firm and held vice president- and director-level marketing positions at technology, retail, wholesale, and Internet service companies. Her work experience includes sales and marketing positions at Procter & Gamble and IBM.​
• ​Bibi Mukherjee: Bibi Mukherjee is the founder & Principal of Curve Trends Marketing (www.curvetrends.com), a Vermont based Digital Marketing Agency. Curve Trends specializes in multi-channel marketing including Paid & Organic Search, Audience Retargeting on both Search & social platforms as well as ecommerce feed management (Google Shopping, Amazon, Product Listing Ads). The agency’s clients span primarily across Travel/Hospitality, Outdoor, Education & Retail businesses. Bibi, a Mechanical Engineer, has developed and led implementations for a multitude of marketing campaigns, working closely with global and national brands for almost 20 years. A columnist and speaker, she is also the chief formulator of the Vermont Web Marketing Summit (www.vtwebmarketingsummit.com), a leading annual digital marketing conference of Vermont & New England. Led by some of the best digital marketing minds in the country, the conference focuses on strategic integration of internet marketing channels and is held every Fall in Burlington, Vermont.

TARGET AUDIENCE: Intermediate to advanced; CEOs, Decision Makers, Marketing Directors

​Social Media Marketing: The Team Sport --- CANCELLED
TRACK: Social Media | Room: Green Mountain B

Barbara Dozetos, Above the Fold Marketing
Enlisting your employees, particularly the customer-facing staff, in your social media marketing efforts will result in more views for your content, higher engagement, more traffic to your website, and more content for you to use to keep the cycle going. You'll leave this session with an understanding of how to make this work and the framework for the training needed to make this a part of your organization's culture.

• Barbara Dozetos: Barbara Dozetos is the owner of Above the Fold, LLC, a marketing agency specializing in custom-fitting digital marketing for individual business needs. She also teaches in the digital marketing program for the Community College of Vermont and speaks nationwide about digital and social media marketing. She has a background in journalism, as well as the food and travel industry.

TARGET AUDIENCE: Intermediate

Do-It-Yourself PR:  The Stuff You Need to Know
TRACK: PR & MEdia | Room: Green Mountain A | DOWNLOAD

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD
Gina Dolecki, Redpoint Marketing PR Inc.
So you don't have a PR agency... maybe not even an experienced marketing person in-house.  And yet, you want positive media attention for your hotel, restaurant, attraction, retail store, tour, or other hospitality-related business. Without an expert PR professional at your disposal, how can you stack the decks in your favor to get journalists interested in your story? Come learn the six factors that make a story newsworthy, and the four key things you should do to make journalists love you.  Spoiler alert:  it's ok to get crafty.

• Gina Dolecki: In her decade of success as a account director, Gina's expertise has been tapped by nearly every segment of the tourism industry. Her keen nose for news has generated national media coverage for Topnotch Resort, Essex Resort & Spa, United States Tour Operators Association, Morey's Piers & Beachfront Water Parks, Hidden Pond Resort, Miramichi River Tourism Association, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, and more.  Managing PR campaigns and front-page events all over the world has honed both her marketing skills... and her ability to pack a suitcase five minutes flat.

TARGET AUDIENCE: Introductory

Thursday, April 6, 2017 | 11:15 am - 12:15 pm

Inbound Marketing for the Travel & Tourism Industry --- CANCELLED
TRACK: Marketing | Room: Green Mountain B

Barbara Dozetos, Above the Fold Marketing
Join us for a big-picture look at using blogs, podcasts, video, eBooks, newsletters, whitepapers, SEO, physical products, social media marketing, and other forms of content marketing to attract your ideal customer. You'll leave with an understanding of the content marketing framework and resources for applying it to your particular needs.

• Barbara Dozetos: Barbara Dozetos is the owner of Above the Fold, LLC, a marketing agency specializing in custom-fitting digital marketing for individual business needs. She also teaches in the digital marketing program for the Community College of Vermont and speaks nationwide about digital and social media marketing. She has a background in journalism, as well as the food and travel industry.

TARGET AUDIENCE: Introductory through advanced

Developing Websites for Optimal Organic Marketing Effectiveness
TRACK: Marketing | Room: Green Mountain A

Craig Chevrier, Eternity; Mike Lannen, Eternity; Sarah Wojick, Ski Vermont
The senior team of Eternity, a web development and design agency located in Burlington and Barre, will discuss how to create a travel and tourism website that is optimized for organic marketing effectiveness. Discussion topics will include planning for search engine optimization (SEO), designing for search and conversion, and web technologies that enable marketers to maintain and enhance their sites for social marketing, lead generation, sales, and brand awareness. 

• Craig Chevrier: Craig Chevrier has been working on the web since 1996 and has spent several years consulting in web development and web content strategy for the travel and tourism industry. Craig enjoys skiing, golfing, hiking, and live music with his wife and young son in their hometown of Hinesburg and the Green Mountains.
• Mike Lannen: Founder and an Eagle Scout, Mike Lannen is on a mission to make the web a better place. Developing a website can seem like a complex undertaking, but Mike and his team make it easy with a unique step-by-step process. When he's not working closely with clients, Mike can be found spending time with his wife and daughter.
• Sarah Wojick: Coming soon!

TARGET AUDIENCE: Introductory; marketing managers, executive directors, small & medium sized business owners

Managing the MODERN Workplace
​TRACK: Grab Bag | Room: Beatrice | DOWNLOAD

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​Luke Q. Stafford, Mondo Mediaworks
The generation born between 1981 and 2000 has much different expectations for a flourishing workplace. From communication style to vacation time to salary, our future workers are rewriting the rules on policies, procedures and behavior. Join Luke Stafford, owner and Chief at Mondo Mediaworks, as he shares insight from his youthful business, and how he inspires his team of millennial creatives to produce their best work possible, every day. He'll discuss everything from cell phones in the office to monthly "happiness surveys." Whether you manage a small team at a Vermont bed and breakfast, or you oversee hundreds of people at a large ski resort, this workshop is designed to offer tips and actionable insight from years of experience.​

• Luke Stafford: Born 1981, Luke Q. Stafford is technically a millennial, and possibly the wisest millennial you'll meet at the Tourism Summit. He started Mondo Mediaworks, a digital marketing agency in Brattleboro, in 2010. He has since employed and closely managed over 2 dozen millennials; currently, 15 people born between 1984 and 1994 work at Mondo. Mondo Mediaworks specializes in tourism and hospitality marketing, providing website development, social media marketing, public relations, email marketing, video production, search engine optimization, and digital marketing campaigns. Luke graduated from Saint Michael's College with a degree in journalism and global communications. Prior to founding Mondo, he worked in the marketing department at the Mount Snow ski resort.

TARGET AUDIENCE: Introductory to advanced; bosses, managers, business owners, executives, curious looky-loos​

Learn to Speak Hospitalian
TRACK: GRAB BAG | Room: Mansfield

Ann Nygard, Lyndon State College
International guests stay longer and spend more on average. Proving stellar guest service in cross –cultural situations, however, can be challenging. Learn some simple points to help you connect with people no matter what culture or country they come from. You don’t have to know all the rules of every culture to be effective. Being aware of differences can help you to understand difficulties, make changes, and provide the guest with solutions. If you focus on the tips presented in this hands-on and engaging workshop, you will discover how to act with different individuals and be more successful when you communicate.

• Ann Nygard: ​The Center for Professional Studies launched in October 2016 with Ms. Nygard as its inaugural director. She is a serial program entrepreneur at Lyndon State College having launched the Incubator without Walls program in 2007 which stemmed the Center for Rural Entrepreneurship, an umbrella for a wide variety of initiatives such as Academic Summer Camps, Regional Business and Education Summit and Kingdom Career Connect. She returned to LSC in 2010 after a two year commitment with National Geographic Society’s Center for Sustainable Destinations in Washington, D.C. where she was Associate Director of Operations. During this time, she oversaw operations of global geotourism programs, developed corporate responsibility strategies, and supported responsible business planning for small businesses and multinationals alike. She was appointed Geotourism Expert for the Intercontinental Hotel Group in 2008, overseeing workforce training program development and rollout for its 60,000 employees worldwide. Her work with Inter America Development Bank (IADB) and the UN Foundation scaled up innovative business practices to further Sustainable Tourism cluster development. From 2005 to 2007, Nygard was executive director of Northeast Kingdom Travel and Tourism Association, where she implemented a number of USDA Rural Development grants. She led the National Geographic Northeast Kingdom Geotourism Program, resulting in the Geotourism MapGuide of the Northeast Kingdom connecting NEK businesses to the global market by featuring local products and services. She has lived and worked for 13 years in Finland, Sweden, the UK, France, and Rwanda. She was employed by Tiffany & Co. in New York and London as an international marketing analyst. Her other positions included working at the U.S. Library of Congress-East Africa Division in Nairobi, Kenya. Ms. Nygard holds a MBA from Helsinki School of Economics and Business Administration and a BS from the College of Human Ecology at Cornell University.  

Target Audience: Introductory; Managers looking to train line level workers, or line level interested in improved guest service skills.

Wearing Many Hats: Effective Social Media Branding for small businesses and Nonprofits
TRACK: Social Media | Room: Stuart

​Tom Remp, Billings Farm & Museum
Creating and managing a successful Vermont-centric brand on social media can be a challenge for many small businesses and nonprofits. Through detailed examples, Q&A, and group discussion, this presentation aims to provide some simple strategies for organizations with limited resources to use social media effectively and achieve great results. Topics include creating a social brand that makes sense long-term, taking advantage of a Vermont brand that appeals to both locals and tourists, amassing and organizing photography, creating and sticking to an effective posting schedule, delegating tasks to team members and encouraging them to take part, explaining value to people unfamiliar with what social media can do, creating high-quality visual and written content, measuring success, and constructing great campaigns on a shoestring. The main aim of this session is to give Vermont's smaller tourism professionals the confidence to punch far above their weight, and reach a new level of success through superior content and planning.

• Tom Remp: Tom Remp is the Director of Communications and Marketing at Billings Farm & Museum. A professional photographer, copywriter, and marketing coordinator, he is a great believer in homegrown content, and spends 2/3 days weekly on photography and written material. Through his work at Billings, Tom has built one of the best museum social media presences in New England, with an average of 4-12K interactions per week and a 3% weekly growth rate. Previously, Tom worked as a freelance photographer for Vermont brands such as Orvis, a personal assistant to NYC based author Kitty Pilgrim, and a post-conflict journalist in El Salvador and Honduras. Tom holds an MFA from Fairfield University, Connecticut.​
  

TARGET AUDIENCE: ​Introductory

​Thursday, April 6, 2017 | 2:30 pm - 6:30 pm

Guest Service Excellence - AHLEI Certification
Not included with conference registration. Optional post-conference event.

Five-star service begins with employees and service is more important than ever in tough, tight, and competitive market. Excellent guest service is not an expense, but an investment. Move beyond the standard guest service training and get recognized for implementing and achieving guest service best practices. 

• Cost: $85 includes four hours of expert instruction with a workbook that is yours to keep as well as entrance to the American Hotel and Lodging Exam for the Certified Guest Service Professional Certification.
• Target Audience: Line Employees and Supervisors
• Level: Introductory
  
• ​Prerequisite:  No previous guest service experience required.

​Who should participate?

• Job seekers wanting to earn a certification that employers
• Employees looking to move to the next level through a flexible, cost-effective program
• Employers looking to increase confidence in their employees skills
• Students looking for summer education option (no credit)

What you will come away with: This training will prepare you for the American Hotel and Lodging Certified Guest Service Professional (CGSP®) exam. Individuals who pass the 30-question CGSP® exam with a score of 70% or higher will receive a certificate and CGSP® lapel pin.

For additional information, contact Ann Nygard at ann.nygard@lsc.vsc.edu or (802) 626-4867.