Vacation rental professionals are heading to Tennessee in a few weeks for VRM Intel Live! Gatlinburg. The conference will be held on Wednesday, February 26, from 8 – 5, at the Gatlinburg Convention Center. With 26 sessions covering marketing, strategy, operations, property care, technology, and revenue management, we are bringing national-conference-level education, discussion, and speakers directly to the TN mountain markets.
It is becoming increasingly costly to send staff to national conferences for education and training. At VRM Intel, our Live! events are designed to bring this education directly to regional markets so in-market team members have a chance to learn about industry changes, see performance data, and get access to the latest education and information. This is our largest and most comprehensive lineup of sessions we have ever offered at a Live event.
The early registration fee is $129 per attendee through Feb 15, and $199 after the 15th. Tickets include access to all 26 sessions, breakfast, lunch, all-day sodas/coffee, snack breaks, and the cocktail party at Ole Red (from 5 to 7),
General Sessions
2019 Performance and the 2020 Forecast
Key Data and VRM intel 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.
A New Decade in Vacation Rental Management
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, and Shawn Spiezio
Marketing Sessions
SEO/SEM Disrupted: Google Shakes Up the Funnel
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
Could You Be Losing Guests in the Booking Process?
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, ICND
How to Leverage Marketing Tools for Business Decisions & Real Results
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
Mitigate Bad Reviews and Get More 5-Stars
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
Building the Relationship with Guests Before, During and After the Vacation
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. Alisa Justice, Bluetent
Strategically Working with OTAs in 2020
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 Sessions
HR 411—Critical Workplace Topics for 2020
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
The People Problem
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 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
Proactive Homeowner Acquisition
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
Lessons Learned—Technology, Hiring, Owners, Guests, Laundry, Linens and More
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
Experience and Professionalism: Why it Matters in the Vacation Rental Industry
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
The Data Behind the Guest Experience Movement: A Glimpse into Why AirBnB, Booking.com, and Expedia are Investing Millions of Dollars into Experiences
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.
Technology and Revenue Management Sessions
The Growth of Smart Home and its Implications for Property Managers
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 guest/homeowner experience. With Stevan Henning
Revenue Management Infrastructure
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
Advanced Revenue Management
Putting the “how-to” after the “why” with Anurag Verma, Pricelabs
2020 Technology Landscape
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
Data-Driven Business Strategy
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
Data Workshop
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
Property Care Sessions
Making Safety a Top Priority
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
Independent Contractor or Employees – Rethinking Staffing Models
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 pro’s and con’s 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
Bed Bugs
Description Coming Soon with Leslie Adcock, Cabins For YOU
Professionalizing the Housekeeping Department
Description Coming Soon. With James Skinner, Brindley Beach Vacations
Breezeway Master Class
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.
Operations Roundtable
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.
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