Planning the Plan: Structure and Content
Wednesday, April 18 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM
PLANNING FOR SUCCESS.   A strong business plan must deliver on expectations - both internal and external.   We'll review successful plan components, tracking and accountability.  We'll help with ideas on presenting your plan, getting it funded, then executing in market.   How to stay abreast of an ever-changing opportunities and fickle consumers while keeping a laser-focus on strategic goals will be explored.   Our goal is your team's success!

Presenter:  Lucy Kay,  Principal at L. Kay & Company
Supporting Presenter: Eric Sather, General Manager at Resort at Squaw Creek

Piloting the Plan:  Action Plan Implementation -  Best Practices and Case Studies
Wednesday, April 18 2:45 PM - 3:45 PM
Hear from some of your industry peers about essential plan components and practical considerations about they manage and implement a marketing plan based on things they can, and often can’t, control. What changes if there isn’t any snow? What changes if there is record-breaking snow? In an industry with a short marketing window, is there enough time in-season to determine what’s a success and deserves more funds or what’s not performing and should be cut? Learn what needs to happen for you to call an audible and evaluate whether or not you’re able to execute it.

Moderator:  Kris McKinnon, VP of Marketing & Operations at Ski.com
Panelists:
Lucy Kay,  Principal at L. Kay & Company
Carl Ribaudo, President at Strategic Marketing Group
John Urdi, Executive Director at Mammoth Lakes Tourism
Les Pedersen, Director of Sales and Marketing at Resort at Squaw Creek

Consumerism - the Message Counts -
Thursday, April 19 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM
Why and how people choose a resort is the most important element in determining success. In marketing terms, that reason or specific resort feature will define the culture and the way the business is run from messaging to service delivery. This session focuses on integrating all the pieces, the outcomes and the processes needed to deliver the full impact of the message.

Presenter:  Ian Arthur, Chief Marketing Officer at Intrawest

The Shifting Landscape of Macro Forces and Consumer Trends -
Thursday, April 19 11:45 AM - 12:45 PM
The fundamental shifts in the broader economic, demographic and social landscape will kick off a discussion on how the consumer-centric market will evolve in the future.  The session will allow time for specific questions about the impact on target audiences, product and service offerings, real estate, capital allocation and more.

Presenter: James Chung, President of Reach Advisors

Travel Technology:  Emerging Tools of the Travel Trade -
Wednesday, April 18 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM
Newly emerging travel technology is the subject of this techno “show-and-tell,” session demonstrating how techno-marketing offers tactics for effectively finding, following and interacting with clients and prospective customers. Presenters are a “who’s who” among travel technology innovators, making this a “can’t miss” workshop.

Panel Format. Moderator: Erik Blachford, Venture Partner at Technology Crossover Ventures and  Chairman of Butterfield & Robinson

Panelists:
Gregg Brockway, Co-Founder/ GM of TripIt
Dustin Robertson, Chief Marketing Officer of Backcountry.com
Chris Sacca, Founder of Lowercase Capital

Techno-Marketing:  Adaptation and Application - 
Wednesday, April 18 2:45 PM - 3:45 PM
Part II of this Techno Marketing workshop will be an open floor discussion with our esteemed panelists focusing on the tactical application of specific tools and strategies for ski area marketers. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask in-depth questions and bounce strategy questions off of the best advisors in the Tech space.

Panel Format: Moderator: Ron Schneidermann, Co-founder of Liftopia.com
Panelists:
Erik Blachford, Venture Partner at Technology Crossover Ventures and Chairman of Butterfield & Robinson
Gregg Brockway, Co-Founder and General Manager at TripIt
Dave Morin, CEO at Path
Chris Sacca, Founder of Lowercase Capital

Online Intermediaries: Where the Rubber Meets the Road -
Thursday, April 19 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM
This workshop serves as an extension to the Distribution Deep Dive general session, with an in-depth, tactical analysis of online travel agencies (OTAs) and wholesale distribution from a supplier’s perspective. Suppliers will share their experiences, best practices and lessons learned in managing and optimizing channel partners. They will also reveal how they select and evaluate the performance of their distribution partners.

Moderator:  Bob Stinchcomb, Vice President of Business Development at
Vail Resorts Management Company

Panelists:
Tony Lyle, Director of Sales & Marketing at Lake Tahoe Cruises
Evan Reece, Co-Founder of Liftopia
Mia Vlaar, Director of Sales & Marketing at East West Resorts

The Deal with Distressed Inventory -
Thursday, April 19 11:45 AM - 12:45 PM
Every supplier has it. And the rapid emergence of daily deals, flash sales and private deals have created more opportunity – and complexity – around managing perishable product. This workshop takes a hard, hands-on look at how to manage distressed inventory with a particular focus on deals and discounting.  Case studies on real supplier experiences will be presented with insights on how to tackle the pressing questions of distributing distressed content and managing the surging daily deals space. Ideas for choosing a deal distributor, how suppliers should fashion deals and how to measure the success will be discussed.

Moderator: Douglas Quinby, Senior Director of Research at PhoCusWright

Panelists:
Trevor Crist, President/CEO of Inntopia
Peter Hunter, Director of Sales & Marketing at Resort Group, LLC
Dave Gilfillan, Hospitality Corporate Senior Manager of Inventory and Distribution of Vail Resorts.

Social Commerce: in Theory -
Wednesday, April 18 1:30 PM- 2:30 PM
An introduction to the concepts that enable travel marketers to help people connect where they buy-- and to buy where they connect. This session is about leveraging social media efforts to drive results and integrate sharing tools into e-commerce sites.

Presenter:  Christian Knapp,  Vice President of Marketing at Aspen/Snowmass

Social Commerce: in Practice -
Wednesday, April 18 2:45 PM- 3:45 PM
A case study approach with a panel of resort and travel marketers will provide a candid review of the tactics used and lessons learned from their experiences and campaigns. These sessions will provide attendees with both the theory and practice of how social media and commerce tactics can most effectively drive business and ‘move the needle.’

Moderator: Dave Madden, General Manager, LivingSocial Escapes North America

Panelists:
Andy Chapman, Chief Marketing Officer at North Lake Tahoe
Christian Knapp, Vice President of Marketing at Aspen/Snowmass
David Ratchford, Marketing Director at Northstar California Resort
Dan Sherman, Managing Director of Marketing at Ski.com

Data Driven Decision Making:  Measuring What Matters. 
Thursday, April 19 11:45 AM- 12:45 PM
Never before has data-driven decision-making been more vital as marketing and sales professionals struggle to track the changing marketplace, fickle consumer patterns, and evaluate, choose and deploy the vast array of promotional, communication and distribution tools available.  But how can small and medium tourism-dependent businesses track and apply all the important metrics?  This participatory workshop will include: identifying customers, understanding how and what they buy, what promotions and channels are working, how business is tracking, and finally how consumers feel about the value received.

Moderator:  Jan Freitag, Senior Vice President of Global Development at Smith Travel Research

Panelists:
Nate Fristoe, Director at RRC Associates
Kathy Herrmann, Director of Analytics and Insight at BCF
John McEwan, Corporate Director of Revenue Management at Vail Resorts