Exhibitor Connections

Monday, January 23

PLEASE NOTE: The following workshops are available to people registered for the 2012 Innkeeping Show. If you are only interested in attending one of the sessions on Monday, please call the PAII Staff (856-310-1102) to register. You will be asked to pay $99/member and $199/non-members for the Monday events.

9 am – 12pm
Google Strikes Back
Presented by RezStream

Google and Facebook are currently in an epic battle to see which platform will emerge as the leading search engine and social media stage. In the past 12 months, Google has been modifying its algorithm and offerings to provide the most relevant results, while still ensuring the user experience is interactive and engaging. Recently, Google has integrated new features such as Google+, the Google +1 button, and expanded mobile Google marketing. Learn how Google is fighting back in the social media wars and how to expand your mobile marketing opportunities. Our featured speaker, Bill Mitchell, with over 30 years experience in the hospitality industry, will share inside information and tips you won’t hear anywhere else. Don’t miss how to make more money from Google’s newest social media and mobile website offerings.

9 am – 5 pm
Digital Marketing – Social, Web and Mobile
Presented by buuteeq, inc.

Digital marketing has evolved to be one of the most important marketing strategies for innkeepers to sell inventory, and yet it is an area where there is much confusion. Many hoteliers have a ‘set it and forget it’ mentality when it comes to Internet marketing, which is a strategy that doesn’t evolve with technology. Ignoring the latest web trends can cause an inn to lose profitability. With mobile browsing taking over half of hotel bookings by 2014, hoteliers need to be educated in order to take advantage of the new technologies available. Brandon Dennis is the marketing manager at buuteeq, in charge of the company’s social media, blog and marketing strategies. He has a personal social network of 53 million on YouTube, 14,000 on Facebook and 5,000 on Twitter. From his experience, he’s tailored social media tips specifically for inns and b&bs.

9 am – 5pm
The Secrets of Packaging Success, Simplified
Presented by The B&B Team with Joe Veneto, The Opportunity Guy

$99 for one person/$129 for 2 people from the same inn

The ability to create competitive advantage for your Inn is essential in order to generate sustainable results. Learn how to differentiate your offerings and drive customers to you on a year round basis. Uncover the elements that will increase repeat visitation and also extend the average length of your guests. Discover the secrets of successful innkeepers who provide compelling and unique experiences. In a world of Living Social and Groupon, Innkeepers need to learn how to keep more of their money even as they explore all the marketing options available to them. This is a hands-on, interactive learning experience with industry professionals. Attendees will learn critical concepts and will complete classroom exercises designed to create specific packages for their individual inns to take home and implement. Joe Veneto, The Opportunity Guy®, is a nationally recognized packaging guru for the travel industry. Joe has worked with companies big and small from B&B’s to state offices of Tourism & convention and visitors’ bureaus across the country. The B&B Team® has 17 years experience serving and advising the B&B and country inn industry and have partnered with Joe Veneto to make packaging understandable to every innkeeper.

10 am – 4 pm
The Internet and The Innkeeper – Everything you Need to Know to Increase your Revenue!
Presented by Acorn Internet Services, Inc.

As marketing opportunities and requirements on the internet continues to change, innkeepers that don’t continue to learn and change their marketing plans are falling behind, thus their businesses are at risk of losing revenue. This session will show innkeepers everything they need to be doing on an ongoing basis to stay ahead of the curve. You’ll be able to take away a list of to-dos to be successful (i.e. MAKE $$$!) in today’s ever-changing online environment. Experienced presenters, Acorn teaches over 100 webinars and onsite classes every year.

11 am – 5 pm
In-depth Tech Workshop: Introductory
In-depth Tech Workshop: Experienced
Presented by BedandBreakfast.com/RezOvation Software

BedandBreakfast.com and RezOvation software are industry leading companies in our respective spaces and experts on property management software as well as internet
marketing for innkeepers. You’ll take away ideas to improve and enhance you’re doing with BedandBreakfast.com and RezOvation Software, as well as learn the latest industry trends. Topics for both introductory and experience workshops include: What’s new, Websites that Work, Online reservations, Rezovation Software.

1 pm – 4 pm
Inside the Smart Phone and Tablet Revolution
Presented by RezStream

Smart phone and tablet computers are exploding in popularity. Over 55 percent of all smart phone users use a mobile search engine function daily. Tablet computers are currently selling faster than any computer device in technology history! Recent statistics show that 36% of tablet owners make more than $80,000 per year and 44% of iPad users travel for business. Tablet owners are more affluent, more tech savvy, and spend more online. Learn how to utilize the very latest trends in mobile marketing and tablet marketing in this workshop. Learn how to create a winning mobile website. Get inside information on how to tap into local searches to further increase your ROI from mobile marketing. Get ready. We are going “all things mobile” in this fast-paced and entertaining digital revolution presentation.

1 pm – 5 pm
Complete Web Design Principals & Best Practices for the Hospitality Industry: Do It Right & Sell More Rooms!
Presented by Dobay Designs

Covers all aspects of successful web design including layout, key content strategy, accessibility, SEO, mobile site creation and how to work with your designer to insure the best possible product. Bonus: Live wine tasting and how to leverage your wine country’s content on your own website! Join web designer Sherri Dobay for an afternoon of information and fun — with a twist! Learn how to work with your designer to create the most powerful tool you own for your business: your website. We will cover successful layout and design in depth; what works and what doesn’t in today’s online market. Learn how to bring more visitors to your site and sell more rooms with rich content about your unique destination and location. Learn how to gain media placements with the simple addition of one more page on your site, we will teach you the secrets! Get a head start in covering your bases to ensure that your website is compliant in the face of future accessibility rules, we have the list! Everyone knows that great web design and SEO go hand in hand, right? Not always! Make sure your beautiful site looks good to Google, too. Learn the difference between mobile-friendly and mobile-specific sites and why you should want the latter. Finally, Sherri will give you tips on how to work with your designer to do all of the above with ease to make the process of designing or redesigning your site fun and successful. Take away check-lists: 1. Destination Content Action List, 2. Attract & Inspire Travel Writers Action List 3. Help Your Designer Help You Action List Bonus: At 4pm we will shift gears from tech to tasting. With the emergence of new wines and wineries everywhere and almost all 50 states claiming their own “wine countries,” you have an opportunity to grab the attention of wine enthusiasts no matter where you are. Sherri will teach you how to leverage this content on your own website to bring more traffic to your inn. Like you as innkeepers who wear multiple hats, in addition to running a successful web design company full time, Sherri Dobay is also involved in the wine industry with her own sold out brand Ruby Kurant. We will cover content and also wine basics, fun pairing ideas, custom bottling solutions and Wine Q&A (Includes wine tasting).

9am -12pm and 2pm – 5pm
Be an Expert Blogger & Take Charge with WordPress
Presented by Avelient, Inc.

Topics include: Details on blogging – Explaining why blogging is important – Showing how to find content online and pull it into your blog – Which blogging platform is best for you – Top 12 blog posts you need to make – How to do research for making a post – Success stories to follow Details on WordPress – What exactly is WordPress and why is it free – Review of the system setup – What plug-ins are right for your website – Site management – Tips and Tricks Q&A Session

Jeff Logan has presented at B&B conferences since 2005 on everything from Google Analytics to Social Media, and has been presenting on blogging the last two years. Over time advancements in blogging have greatly increased, and if you’ve attended his session before, you will want to attend it again to get all of the goodies that are now available to you. You’ll hear success stories to show you why you need to be blogging.