Saturday, Jan. 7
Education Schedule

11:30 a.m . - 12:30 p.m.

101: Receptive Operator Representative Meeting
Moderator: John Kennedy
Sponsored by Turning Stone Resort & Casino

Join your receptive operator colleagues for an engaging dialogue on the state of your industry segment. John will help you pinpoint the most pressing issues, challenge you to be open and honest in your discussion, and collectively produce relevant strategies that you can take back to the office.

102: "Set Sail" Cruise Panel
Sponsored by Norwegian Cruise Line

Are you looking for another option to expand your tour base?  Cruising has experienced a rebirth with fly-cruise options, increased cruise ship capacities, variable cruise durations, variable price options, and more itinerary choices. The panelists will discuss niches within this market and the opportunities and challenges of each.  “Set Sail” and see how cruising can make waves in your business.

103: Facebook for Tour Operators
Speaker: Susan Sweeney
Sponsored by Titanic Museum Attraction

Find out how you can make Facebook work for your business and become an excellent marketing opportunity. This session will help you break through the social media noise and walk you through the process of deciding what is right for your business and how to use it effectively. Leave with immediately implementable strategies and techniques to do more business online using Facebook.

104: Common Sense Safety
Speaker: Stephen Evans

This session will help participants navigate through the sometimes bewildering variety of safety initiatives to find the programs that make sense for their operation. Stephen will use a number of real world examples to demonstrate things that have worked, and things that have not worked in the quest for world class safety. There will also be ample time for Q&A.

1 - 2 p.m.

105: Tour Operator Representative  Meeting
Moderator: John Kennedy
Sponsored by Turning Stone Resort & Casino

Join your tour operator colleagues for an engaging dialogue on the state of your industry segment. Alf will help you pinpoint the most pressing issues, challenge you to be open and honest in your discussion, and collectively produce relevant strategies that you can take back to the office.

106: Capturing the Multicultural Market
Speaker: Lenora Billings-Harris
Sponsored by Alaska Travel Industry Association

Are your sales representatives losing opportunities to close sales because they are pre-judging the client or customer? Are they only prospecting and selling to people who are “just like them?” This program is for people who know the basic steps of selling, and are looking for ways to increase sales results through effective relationship-building techniques with a diverse market that includes differences of age, gender and ethnicity.

107: Using QR Codes to Enhance Marketing, Sales & Customer Service
Speaker: Jeff Korhan
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QR Codes are beginning to play a key role in business marketing. These graphic representations of encrypted data connect your digital Web content with prospects and customers in real-time via mobile devices—and they are free. Learn how they are being used now, and how you can use them to enhance your marketing, sales, and customer service.

108: Optimizing Outlook: Key Strategies for Time, People and E-mail Management Using MS Outlook
Speaker: Randall Dean
Sponsored by Mississippi Division of Tourism
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Randy Dean goes deeper into many of the most common areas of productivity loss (and possible gain!) afflicting many busy professionals today: managing multiple projects, maintaining “traction” when dealing with tasks and interruptions, clearing the clutter in your mind, keeping staff on task, tracking “who owes you what” and getting that information on time, and better managing your calendar and contacts for better time and relationship management (as well as of course a few critical e-mail tips!) Get more from all five of the key Outlook functions for greater productivity.

2:30 - 3:30 p.m.

109: Bus Operator Representative Meeting
Moderator: Alf Nucifora

Join your bus operator colleagues for an engaging dialogue on the state of your industry segment. Alf will help you pinpoint the most pressing issues, challenge you to be open and honest in your discussion, and collectively produce relevant strategies that you can take back to the office.

110: Student Travel Panel I - How To Sell What Operators Need

Whether or not you are already working with this segment of the motorcoach group market, you should attend this seminar. The panelists will discuss niches within this market and the opportunities and challenges of each. They will also discuss the rolls and responsibilities of tour operators, motorcoach companies, and school groups to ensure successful school group trips. The discussion will include what roles each group plays, safety factors that must be considered, and other components involved in a creating a successful student trip.

111: Past, Present and Future Trends of Tourism Online Marketing
Speaker: Susan Sweeney
Sponsored by Titanic Museum Attraction

Is your Web presence keeping current with consumers' expectations? Susan Sweeney, Internet marketing expert and the author of eight Internet marketing books will review the life cycle of tourism websites and technologies—the past, present, and future—that are becoming the benchmarks of a successful Web presence and Internet marketing. This session is a must for all travel industry professionals who want to see how your Web presence measures up, learn what you have to do to catch up and learn what you have to prepare for in the future.

4 - 5 p.m.

112: Student Travel Panel II - Requirements from Schools, Selling Points for Teachers and Parent Expectations

The world is their classroom and you can help them explore it.  The panel comprised of school officials, teachers and parents along with the Student & Youth Travel Association will discuss their unique expectations and how operators and travel suppliers can create a life-long experience for their students/children.

113: Gender Communications in the Workplace
Speaker: Lenora Billings-Harris
Sponsored by Alaska Travel Industry Association
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This fun presentation will help you improve your communication skills with the opposite gender. You will explore ways to say what you mean in a way the other gender will understand. This insightful session will help both men and women learn how to express themselves in a way that improves results. By practicing techniques that recognize communication differences without value judging, you will discover your own hidden communication strengths.

114: Essential Social Marketing Practices
Speaker: Jeff Korhan
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Social media is dramatically influencing how you market and operate your business today. The Web is now central to business—and it’s going social. It is the reason every small business is now its own media company—or should be. This program will give you a foundation for understanding how to effectively use social media now—and to capably navigate future changes to keep your business relevant in the markets you serve.