 NWVRP 2022 Conference Presentations & SpeakersThank you to everyone who submitted a speaking proposal for the NWVRP 2022 Conference. Take a look below to learn more about our conference presentations and speakers. Register for the conference here!GUESTS PREFERENCES, PAIN POINTS AND TECHNOLOGY: WHAT WE NOW KNOW | Sunday, April 3 | 3:30 - 4:15 pm Meet your speaker:
CONDUCTING VACATION RENTAL SAFETY INSPECTIONS | Sunday, April 3 | 3:30 - 4:15 An earmark presentation at every NWVRP Conference for the past 4 years, this is a step-by-step review of the safety checklist that should be completed annually at every vacation rental. New attendees to the conference should attend! Updated continuously, this is also a great refresher if you’ve attended it in year’s past. Great for managers new to the industry, or new people on your agency’s team, in this presentation, International Expert on Vacation Rental Safety, and Breezeway Director of Safety & Certification Programs, Justin Ford will go through the entire short-term rental safety checklist covering all the details. Takeaways - Participants will come away knowledgeable on what to look for in their rental properties to ensure guests are safe and to ensure their rental agencies are protected from liability issues. Meet your speaker:
How to Get Homeowners to Never Leave You | Sunday, April 3 | 3:30 - 4:15 Retaining homeowners is key to a successful VR business - big or small. Sarah will share some of the tried and true techniques her companies have implemented to create loyalty with her owners, some of whom have been with the company for over 15 years. Participants will be asked to share their best practices and ideas for creating relationships and impressing owners year after year, not just by performing on the revenue front. Goal for all is getting at least three new takeaways to implement when they get home. Meet your speaker:
KEYNOTE - 20 VACATION RENTAL LESSONS FOR 2022 | Sunday, April 3 | 5:00 - 6:00 pm
CALL CENTERS - MAINTAINING EMPLOYEE AND GUEST RELATIONS DURING THE PANDEMIC | Monday, April 4 from 9:00 - 9:45am This session will go over how to maintain employee and guest relations with your call center during a pandemic by following proper phone practices that are designed to work and utilizing accurate data helps you make the right decisions. We will also cover the difference between management vs leadership and how proper leadership will create happy employees which will lead to happy guests and increased revenue. Finally we'll walk through the different types of guests call centers speak with and how to help each guest attitude. Meet your Speaker:
THRIVING IN A COMPETITIVE MARKET PLACE | Monday, April 4 | 9:00 - 9:45 am We’ve seen the vacation rental marketplace changing from a cottage industry 10 years ago to a wall street darling. Managers across the country are now being faced with the reality of competing with well-funded, and in some cases even publicly traded national organizations. What can we learn from these scaled business models, and implement them into our local busses to help increase efficiency, reduce overhead, accelerate growth, and increase profit? Meet your speaker:
STAY COMPETITIVE WITH VOICE TECHNOLOGY | Monday, April 4 from 9:00 - 9:45 am Meet your speaker: HOUSEKEEPING Q&A - WHAT'S ON YOUR MIND | Monday, April 4 from 9:00 - 9:45 am Ever wondered how your fellow property managers operate or handle specific situations? Bring it on! This panel is ready for the challenge. They are armed with the knowledge and experience you need for your business. Come prepared to have your mysteries solved and questions answered. Meet your Speaker:
Durk is currently the VP of Hospitality for Seabrook Hospitality. Seabrook is a purpose built vacation rental and second home community. Durk is also a back of the house consultant that specializes in helping companies with efficiency and productivity. He was the Executive Director of VRHP, a national organization that specializes in housekeeping, maintenance, and laundry principles and procedures. Prior to his current roles, Durk, was the Vice President of Meredith Lodging where he over saw housekeeping, maintenance, and owner relations. Durk was previously the Director of Housekeeping for Vacasa in Portland, Oregon. Before Vacasa, Durk was the chief operating officer of Gulf Shores Vacation Rentals in Gulf Shores, Alabama. Durk previously served as the chief operating officer of Meyer Services where he worked to diversify the services offered to property owners and unify back-of-the-house operations. Durk also served as the senior guest sales manager for Meyer Vacation Rentals, where he was responsible for implementing a search tool to assist sales agents to find the best vacation property for potential guests, and for raising the morale of the sales team. Durk previously served as director of operations for Deer Valley Lodging in Park City, Utah, where he oversaw housekeeping, maintenance, front desk, bell staff and skier shuttle. He has also served as a consultant on housekeeping efficiency and cleaning standards. Keynote -| Monday, April 4 from 10:15 - 11:15
WHO'S ON FIRST: GUEST EXPERIENCE OR COMMUNICATION? | Monday, April 4 from 11:30 am - 12:15 pm When does the guest experience begin? When do you first communicate with a guest? Where does it begin and end? Or does it? Hold on tight, I'll tackle how to jump on this merry-go-round and keep it spinning with your guests whooping with joy.  Tyann Marcink with Touch StayMANAGING A HOUSEKEEPING DEPARTMENT: THE TOUGHEST JOB YOU WILL EVER LOVE! | Monday, April 4 from 11:30 am - 12:15 pm Just like making your A great band to consists of many elements including drums, guitar, bass, fiddle, voice, and rythum. When each element plays their part well, you will see and hear an amazing performance. In many ways a housekeeping department is the same. As each person plays their part in the housekeeping process, the guests, owners, and employees see and feel the sync and rhythm of the work. We will discuss and build a framework on how all these pieces come together for rhythm and success. favorite food has a recipe, cle Meet your Speaker: 
Durk is currently the VP of Hospitality for Seabrook Hospitality. Seabrook is a purpose built vacation rental and second home community. Durk is also a back of the house consultant that specializes in helping companies with efficiency and productivity. He was the Executive Director of VRHP, a national organization that specializes in housekeeping, maintenance, and laundry principles and procedures. Prior to his current roles, Durk, was the Vice President of Meredith Lodging where he over saw housekeeping, maintenance, and owner relations. Durk was previously the Director of Housekeeping for Vacasa in Portland, Oregon. Before Vacasa, Durk was the chief operating officer of Gulf Shores Vacation Rentals in Gulf Shores, Alabama. Durk previously served as the chief operating officer of Meyer Services where he worked to diversify the services offered to property owners and unify back-of-the-house operations. Durk also served as the senior guest sales manager for Meyer Vacation Rentals, where he was responsible for implementing a search tool to assist sales agents to find the best vacation property for potential guests, and for raising the morale of the sales team. Durk previously served as director of operations for Deer Valley Lodging in Park City, Utah, where he oversaw housekeeping, maintenance, front desk, bell staff and skier shuttle. He has also served as a consultant on housekeeping efficiency and cleaning standards.
It's All About Check-In, Baby | Monday, April 4 from 11:30 am - 12:15 pm A guest’s vacation doesn’t really start the moment they walk through the door. It’s only after they scope out the house, make a grocery run and then come back to settle in, drink in hand, that they can begin to relax. In this session, we’ll share 5 ways you can upgrade your current check-in process to ensure every guest’s stay starts the best way.
HOUSEKEEPING Q&A - WHAT'S ON YOUR MIND | Monday, April 4 from 1:15 - 2:00 pm Ever wondered how your fellow property managers operate or handle specific situations? Bring it on! This panel is ready for the challenge. They are armed with the knowledge and experience you need for your business. Come prepared to have your mysteries solved and questions answered. Meet your Speaker:
Durk is currently the VP of Hospitality for Seabrook Hospitality. Seabrook is a purpose built vacation rental and second home community. Durk is also a back of the house consultant that specializes in helping companies with efficiency and productivity. He was the Executive Director of VRHP, a national organization that specializes in housekeeping, maintenance, and laundry principles and procedures. Prior to his current roles, Durk, was the Vice President of Meredith Lodging where he over saw housekeeping, maintenance, and owner relations. Durk was previously the Director of Housekeeping for Vacasa in Portland, Oregon. Before Vacasa, Durk was the chief operating officer of Gulf Shores Vacation Rentals in Gulf Shores, Alabama. Durk previously served as the chief operating officer of Meyer Services where he worked to diversify the services offered to property owners and unify back-of-the-house operations. Durk also served as the senior guest sales manager for Meyer Vacation Rentals, where he was responsible for implementing a search tool to assist sales agents to find the best vacation property for potential guests, and for raising the morale of the sales team. Durk previously served as director of operations for Deer Valley Lodging in Park City, Utah, where he oversaw housekeeping, maintenance, front desk, bell staff and skier shuttle. He has also served as a consultant on housekeeping efficiency and cleaning standards. THE TSUNAMI OF CHANGE AND THE FUTURE OF PROPERTY CARE | Monday, April 4 from 1:15 - 2:00 pm This presentation will move quickly to identify and define how change will affect service level staff; how hiring for future skills is critical; how constant change will require a “change-management” plan; and how compliance and safety in a post-pandemic world affects everything staff-and-property related. We’ll push beyond theory by introducing real case-study examples and how this information can be used today to shape VR companies for what the next 5-10 years will demand. Attendees will walk away with a firm set of tools to begin laying the groundwork for the future of superior property care. Meet your speaker: RIGHT PEOPLE RIGHT SEATS | Monday, April 4 from 1:15 - 2:00 pm Meet your speaker: As the former president of the Vacation Rental Manager Association (VRMA), and vice-president over a five year period, Steve’s volunteer life includes time on the board of several industry associations. He currently serves multiple organizations across various aspects of the industry in an advisory capacity. Through his company, Better Talent, he helps business leaders be successful by leveraging his industry knowledge and experience to help companies with their single most important task: Building and developing a cohesive team. GROUP THERAPY & BOURBON | Monday, April 4 from 2:30 - 3:15 pm Meet your speaker: USING 2022 PACIFIC NORTHWEST MARKET DATA TO YOUR ADVANTAGE | Monday, April 4 from 2:30 - 3:15 pm Are your pricing decisions backed by real-time market data? Making the connection between the mountains of available data and implementing strategic decisions can be difficult. In this session, we'll take a deep dive into 2022 market trends for the Pacific Northwest and beyond to help strengthen your revenue management and pricing strategies. From pacing and forecasting to RevPAN and lead times, there is plenty of data to uncover and help reinforce your proactive planning process. Join us as we walk through real examples of how property managers have used market data to their advantage. Meet your speaker:
RATINGS AND REVIEWS... HOW RO AVERAGE A NEAR PERFECT 5 STAR REVIEW | Monday, April 4 from 2:30 - 3:15 pm After attending the 2021 NWVRP we thought there was a component in the sessions that was missing... and that was the importance of positive reviews and ratings. BookStayHop began in 2016 and now has more than 150 Residential and 85 Commercial Properties in Southern Oregon, Northern California, and Baja, Mexico. BookStayHop has been an AirBnB SuperHost for more than 5 Years and a VRBO Premier Partner since the inception of the program. Additionally, BookStayHop is a top rated Google Partner for both their residential and commercial partners. Guests are often shocked to see our more than 5400, 4.8 out of 5.0 Star Reviews on AirBnB, and our more than 3000, 4.85 out of 5.0 Star Reviews, on VRBO. Guest booking comments often say... "How can we not stay with you..look at those reviews and ratings!" Our proven system of 'touching in" with our guests throughout the process has resulted in top billing on all OTA Sites as well as top billing in Google Analytics. We would love to share this portion of our success with others. This has even translated into the growth of our Client base... BookStayHop has never advertised for new clients... they have all been referrals from our Guests, current Client base, and Vendors. Meet your speaker:
FEELING THE SQUEEZE AND HOW TO OVERCOME IT | Monday, April 4 from 2:30 - 3:15 pm Are you feeling the squeeze from big box competition? I will show you 5 ways to overcome the pressure and remind you why you are better than those box chains. I will give you best tools and practices to find your voice and take on the competition and get back to your roots, or find them if need be. Meet your speaker:
Keynote - Love Shack: A 1980s Non-Techy Approach to Book Direct | Monday, April 4 | 4:00 - 4:45 We're going to step back in time just a bit when retargeting, avatars, and Google weren't in our vernacular, but hospitality was alive and well. Digging into what true hospitality is, and how you emotionally connect with the guest is the often untold secret to a successful book direct strategy. It's all about creating that Love Shack vibe. If you’re not into that, then stay away, fool! Meet your speaker: IMPLEMENTING A SAFETY PROGRAM AT YOUR MANAGEMENT COMPANY | Tuesday, April 5 from 9:30 - 10:15 am If your rental agency doesn’t have a Safety Policy or Safety Manager, then this a must-attend presentation for someone from your agency. Justin will share how to implement a safety program, with all the crucial elements, and will help set the ultimate path to success. Participants will obtain all the necessary materials to return to work and start their safety program. So many different parties are affected when safety precautions are missed as well as when they are handled with preventative measures through safety certification programs. It’s mind-boggling how often we hear homeowners assume that the management team annual walk-thru is sufficient to inspect for safety measures. This session will deliver influential methods to rolling out annual safety inspections through qualified technologies and share real-world scenarios of where the preventative measures paid off and those situations that could have been prevented. Meet your speaker: Justin is the Director of Safety & Certification Programs at Breezeway; where he is helping property managers and owners maintain the safety of vacation rental properties. An international vacation rental safety expert, Justin was the first to elevate awareness of safety in vacation rentals back in 2013. Justin was recognized by VRTech as one of the top vacation rental consultants of 2021 and received the Excellence in Safety & Security Award at the 2021 The Altos Awards on behalf of Breezeway for his work there. EMAIL MARKETING - COLLECTING MORE EMAILS & HOW TO USE THEM | Tuesday, April 5 from 9:30 - 10:15 am Learn techniques and strategies to elevate your direct booking & email marketing game. Meet your speaker: WHY DOES WORK NOT GET DONE? | Tuesday, April 5 from 9:30 - 10:15 am Why is it that work does not get done? This session will explain where owners and managers often go wrong. Meet your speaker: HOUSEKEEPING WORKSHOP | Tuesday, April 5th from 1:00 - 4:00 pm Just like making your A great band to consists of many elements including drums, guitar, bass, fiddle, voice, and rhythm. When each element plays their part well, you will see and hear an amazing performance. In many ways a housekeeping department is the same. As each person plays their part in the housekeeping process, the guests, owners, and employees see and feel the sync and rhythm of the work. We will discuss and build a framework on how all these pieces come together for rhythm and success. This workshop will be off-site. SAFETY INSPECTION WORKSHOP | Tuesday, April 5th from 1:00 - 4:00 pm New this year, and a first in any presentation at any conference. This session will take participants off-site from the conference location and to a local vacation rental property to walk-through the process of doing a safety inspection. Limited to 15 participants (must sign up in advance) - this immersive experience will allow attendees to fully understand how to inspect a vacation property for safety awareness and to prevent guest injuries.
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Jim is the Director of Sales at PointCentral and leads the Short Term Rental and Long Term Rental markets. He is an experienced sales leader who has led large and small teams for Verizon, Cablevision, and most recently as VP Sales for Charter Communications where he led various teams in the MDU and Smart Home space He has an MBA from Dowling College and recently moved from New York to Florida.
Justin is the Director of Safety & Certification Programs at Breezeway; where he is helping property managers and owners maintain the safety of vacation rental properties. An international vacation rental safety expert, Justin was the first to elevate awareness of safety in vacation rentals back in 2013. Justin was recognized by VRTech as one of the top vacation rental consultants of 2021 and received the Excellence in Safety & Security Award at the 2021 The Altos Awards on behalf of Breezeway for his work there.
Sarah Bradford founded and owns two VR companies in Colorado: Winter Park Lodging Company (started in 2005) and Steamboat Lodging Company (started in 2016) with her husband, Chris. Both companies focus on higher-end luxury vacation rentals. Sarah also co-hosts the popular vacation rental podcast, Sarah and T, with Tim Cafferty, with over 100 episodes and counting. 
As of April 2022 I'll have been in the Hospitality Industry for ten years - 8 1/2 years with Seabrook Hospitality and vacation rentals. While the majority of my experience has been with the call center, I have also managed the front desk and currently manage both the call center and revenue for 265 homes. I have also had an opportunity to work with Columbia Hospitality at Salish Lodge and Talaris Conference Center.
Ryan grew up with a passion for real estate. Purchasing a historic building in the downtown of his childhood city and converting it into 4 apartments and two retail units when he was 19 year old. Ryan attended Brigham Young University where he received a degree from the Marriott School of Management. While in college Ryan capitalize on the 2002 Winter Olympics coming to Salt Lake city by starting Housing 2002.com, a website that matched local homeowners with out of state patrons who needed housing for their stay due to the significant shortage of local hotels. Housing 2002.com was written up in the Wall Street Journal, as well as their story aired on NBC and CBS news as a pioneer in providing alternative housing solution during the winter games.
Matt Landau, Founder of VRMB.com & Unlocked Podcast
Brian is a veteran of the industry having served at NAVIS, Vacasa, Turnkey, and currently at EZcare. With his tenure, insight and knowledge, from both rental manager and software supplier, Brian has a unique perspective on the history of this industry and a curated vision of what is to come.
Steve Trover is a 25-year vacation rental industry veteran, having founded and led a four location property vacation rental management company, designed, developed and/or built over hundreds of vacation homes, emerged as a technology strategist within the industry, and more.
Andrew Bate is co-founder and CEO of Safely.com, the leading insurtech and guest screening solution for the vacation and short-term rental market. Since its launch in 2015 over $50 billion of homeowner liability has been covered.
Ryan Saylor is a Revenue Manager at Beyond on the Product Development team. He works directly with short-term rental property owners to help them develop advanced revenue management tools and strategies.
Previous General Manager for McCall House Bed&Breakfast, Ashland, Oregon's #1 Rated B&B (Previous), Design Director for Taylor Woodrow of London a US Division of Ritz Carlton Residences (Previous). Currently the founder of BookStayHop, Vacation Reservation Management with more than 130 Residential Units and 85 Commercial Units in Southern Oregon, Northern California, and Baja, Mexico. BookStayHop is the #1 Rated Vacation Reservation Management Company in the Pacific Northwest (According to AirBnB and VRBO). Daniel holds degrees in both Communications and Commercial Design.