While the general sessions set the stage for the new realities in marketing and innovation, the 2010 MTS workshops do the heavy lifting, utilizing a faculty of “best of breed” presenters to interpret the situation and transition theories into the best practices and tools that will move the needle in 2011 and beyond. Perhaps more than ever before, the rules are changing and a toolkit for the “New Reality” will be a requisite to success. Thirteen workshops are laid out sequentially in five rounds of several workshops each during Wednesday afternoon April 14th and Thursday morning April 15th.
The workshops include:
- Three specialty tracks of two related workshops, from the “What You Need to Know” general session.
- Individual workshops on distribution, international marketing, hospitality, new media and the latest review/preview of mountain travel 2010 and its implications for 2011.
- A “New Media Showcase” in two parts providing live demonstrations of applications that are most prominent and representative of what’s to come.
Consumerism in Travel
Wednesday, April 14, 1:30pm – 2:30pm, Theatre
Peter Yesawich, chairman/CEO of Ypartnership, will go “unplugged” to address the top new realities in mountain travel driven by the consumers his Leisure Travel Monitor focuses on. Having coined the phrase “New Normal” some years ago, Yesawich is ideally suited to help Symposium attendees extend the metaphor. He will focus on the most current consumer research and discuss pressing questions such as: Are frugal and thrifty the same thing? Who is what: are boomers still the drivers of the leisure travel engine or are “millennials” getting on board, and to what degree? And what, exactly, are these consumers buying?
Presenter: Peter Yesawich, Chairman and CEO, Ypartnership
Sponsored by: 
What’s the Problem Mobile is Solving Anyway?
Wednesday, April 14, 1:30pm – 2:30pm, Baron Shaughnessy
Everybody is talking about how mobile technology presents a whole new world of opportunities for customer engagement, conversion and new and incremental revenue streams. Through case studies, this workshop will explore concrete examples of successful mobile applications and services within the travel industry. Learn how to develop an effective mobile marketing strategy based on the reality of current mobile technology and best practices.
Presenter: David Snell, Executive Vice President Sales and Marketing, QuickMobile
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Distribution Channels in Evolution
Wednesday, April 14, 2:45pm – 3:45pm, DC Coleman
Carl Ribaudo, President of Strategic Marketing Group, will moderate this panel presentation that will compare and contrast traditional distribution channels with current and future emerging channel forces, which are changing the way vacations are getting packaged, promoted and distributed to consumers. Joining Carl is a panel of those in the know, who will identify both market and technology forces that are driving the evolution (or is it revolution), and will provide attendees with requisite information from which their distribution strategies can be determined in the new realities of 2010-11 and beyond.
Panellists:
Scott Bunce, Principal/CEO, EpicenterSpark Hospitality International
Evan Reece, Co-founder, Liftopia
Mark Roebke, Chief Innovation Officer, Resort Technology Partners
Ron Schneidermann, Co-founder, Liftopia
Moderator: Carl Ribaudo, President, Strategic Marketing Group
Brought to you by: 
New Realities in New Media: Town Hall Format
Wednesday, April 14, 2:45pm – 3:45pm, Baron Shaughnessy
Philip Wolf, President and CEO of PhoCusWright, will use an interactive town hall format to present a global perspective of how technology has changed the way people communicate and how vacationers shop and buy travel. The related game-changing shift in traditional travel marketing will serve as an introduction to several new media workshops and a two-part New Media & Technology Showcase that Lorraine Sileo will later moderate on Thursday morning (see below).
Presenters:
Philip Wolf, President/CEO
Lorraine Sileo, Vice President, Research, PhoCusWright
Sponsored by: 
Pricing Hospitality in a Buyer’s Market: Theory of the Practice
Wednesday, April 14, 2:45pm – 3:45pm, Sir Edward Beatty
Following his opening remarks, Jan Freitag, Vice President Global Development for Smith Travel Research (STR), will continue his assessment of the paradox of pricing lodging in a fluctuating economy. Using (otherwise) proprietary data from STR and MTRiP, Freitag will demonstrate the effects of balancing occupancy vs. rate, when both supply and demand are fluctuating. Using data from several market segments, Freitag will first look back at what history has taught, then turn to STR market forecasts to layout the likely climate in which we’ll be operating in 2010 and 2011. This workshop is a “must attend” for anyone connected to the lodging side of the destination travel industry…
Presenter: Jan Freitag, Vice President Global Development, Smith Travel Research
Brought to you by: 
International Assessment: Europe vs. North America
Wednesday, April 14, 4:00pm – 5:00pm, DC Coleman
This internationally focused workshop will include a comparative and competitive assessment of the world's two principle ski markets: North America and Europe. A panel of experts doing business in both markets will define both the attributes of each product offering then profile the consumer characteristics and purchasing behavior. The result is intended to provide attendees with a comprehensive perspective from which to prioritize their international strategies for 2010-11 and beyond.
Panellists:
Chad Dyer, Global Managing Director Mountain News Corporation
Michael McDermott, Senior Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Product Management, Resort Technology Partners
Bernie Weichsel, President, BEWI Productions, Inc.
Moderator: Carl Ribaudo, President, Strategic Marketing Group
Sponsored by: 
Mobile Marketing for Mountain Destinations. Chris Davidson, Chief Client Officer for Ypartnership, will discuss the ascent of mobile marketing as a relationship management tool, and how mountain destinations specifically can attract and retain visitors using this evolving medium. Using a case study approach, he will describe their approach in developing an innovative new mobile platform, VisitMobile, to redefine how visitors plan and experience a vacation destination. His presentation will examine the role mobile marketing is already playing in marketing mountain destinations, and will offer thoughts about where this exploding market will take us in the near future.
Presenter: Chris Davidson, Chief Client Officer for Ypartnership
Brought to you by: 
Winning Online: Top-Down, Bottom-Up
Wednesday, April 14, 4:00pm – 5:00pm, Sir Edward Beatty
Our co-presenters, Soctt Gustlin and Adam Luchsinger will paint on the shared canvas of new realities of online marketing for travel in 2010 where, despite the challenges of engagement, you can’t afford to be on the sidelines.
Outside-In: Scott Gustlin will provide a holistic "top-down" overview of the online channel, including all three “P”s of the digital marketing and sales continuum – promotion, presence and purchase – demonstrating how online has become the key channel for influence, education, shopping, and purchase. This new reality mandates a proactive approach to new technologies and online phenomena like social media which are quickly changing the landscape and requiring both agility and new ways of measuring and analyzing.
Inside-Out: Adam will build a “bottom-up" example of a comprehensive touch point to consumers of destination mountain travel, drawing from Google’s tool bag to illustrate practical applications about how travel industry marketers can apply tools of the new reality, from new media to search to maps to video.
Presenters:
Scott Gustlin, Vice President, Resort Technology Partners | Interactive
Adam Luchsinger, Head of Travel - West, Google
Sponsored by: 
Mountain Travel Deep Dive: Seasonal Review – Preview
Thursday, April 15, 10:15am – 11:15am, DC Coleman
Using the latest data from MTRiP, the Mountain Travel Research Program, founder and director Ralf Garrison and senior analyst Tom Foley will take a hard look at the waning 2009-2010 season, providing observations about the forces at play and the final outcome. They will then turn to their econometrics and forward-looking indicators to offer an outlook for the forthcoming winter season, providing an assessment intended to be of particular interest to those management and marketing professionals engaged in future year planning. Note: MTRiP data is usually available only by subscription and will be referenced in the context of its strategic import but will not be available for further distribution or reproduction.
Presenters: Ralf Garrison, Founder/Director, and Tom Foley, Senior Analyst, MTRiP
Brought to you by: 
New Media & Technology Showcase – Two Part Workshop Track
Thursday, April 15, 10:15am – 11:15am and 11:30am – 12:30pm, Sir Edward Beatty
New to MTS 2010, we will be showcasing a selection of new media technologies and applications intended to demonstrate the kinds of tools coming to mountain resorts in 2010-11. A series of brief presentations by suppliers of the most promising applications will be offered by their respective sponsors in an advertorial format, designed to provide attendees with both a broad understanding of how this exciting new market will change the game, and to put forth a specific case for engagement with the providers being featured.
Moderator: Lorraine Sileo, Vice President, Research, PhoCusWright
Mountain Travel 2010: New Realities Recap and Teach Back. Symposium Forum emcees Ralf Garrison and Carl Ribaudo will invite MTS workshop presenters to join them in an encore, recapping each of the Forum presentations and connecting the dots to create a picture of the key strategic components that accounted for the 2009-10 year’s performance, and are likely to become the foundation for the 2010-11 market plan. Combined with the “Deep Dive” Season Review – Preview (see above), the two workshop tracks can help catalyze the business and market plans for the 2010-11 season. Roundtable format
Emcee: Ralf Garrison,
Presenters: Select workshop presenters from previous workshops
Sponsored by: