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- AC22 Education Sessions
Monday, June 13: 2:00 – 3:15 pm
Creating Frictionless Guest Experiences
Josh Liebman, Guest Experience Evangelist; ROLLER
Although attractions don’t compete directly with Netflix, Amazon or Uber, guests are comparing their attraction experiences to companies like these and others which eliminate the hoops they have to jump through to do business with them. Learn how removing friction from each stage of the guest experience can lead to higher guest satisfaction and loyalty and build momentum towards increased attendance.
Bridging the Generational Divide
Sondra Shannon, CEO; Gatemaster Technology
Jake Shannon, CFO; Gatemaster Technology
As we enter the post-pandemic era, employee expectations of what “the new normal” is can mean different things to different people – much of this distinction is generational. Learning how to understand your team’s evolving expectations while meeting your organizations goals is a crucial test of leadership.
Optimizing Revenue Beyond the Ticket Booth
Stephen Davis, VP Pricing & Revenue Services, Integrated Insight, Inc.
Learn strategies and tactics behind successful food and beverage and gift shop profit optimization. Attendees learn guiding principles and best practices through real-life examples to help boost these areas of their business, in addition to information about product selection and pricing, you will hear how menu engineering, unique offerings, and managing costs can successfully increase an attraction’s bottom line.
Leveraging Digital Creative and Advertising to Effectively Reach Travelers
Cherri Ellis, National Creative Strategy Director; Spectrum Reach
Adam Phelps, Advanced Advertising Sales Manager
View this special invitation from Cherri & Adam!
In a world where consumers digest content across multiple devices and screen types, it’s important that attractions understand the importance of impactful creative and how to maximize its reach across a variety of digital platforms. Through insights, trends and case studies, you will learn how to adopt a more strategic approach to advertising to travelers.
Tuesday, June 14: 1:15 – 2:30 pm
Best Practices for Engaging Distributors, Wholesalers, and Tour Operators
Aimie Johnson, Sr. Manager of Leisure Sales; Florida Aquarium
Diana Vega, Guest Services Manager; Zoo Miami
Nick Romeo, Vice President; Double T MultiMedia
Learn from attraction experts how to work more closely with online travel agencies (OTAs), wholesalers, hotels, and tour operators to generate additional revenue to add to your bottom line. Also discover other distribution channels to consider!
Employee Support in 2022: The Care and Feeding of Your Human CollectionMatt Heller, Founder; Performance Optimist Consulting
Institutions with animal collections move mountains to provide the absolute best welfare and enrichment for the species they care for. In 2022, the health and wellbeing of all of our employees should be on the top of our minds as a way to recruit, motivate and retain our staff. In this session, we will explore some of the training and enrichment techniques animal care professionals use and how they can be applied to your human employees.
Instagrammers, Mommy Bloggers, and Your Next Big Influencer
Kristy Chase Tozer, President; Rumblebuzz
Andrea Alava, VP of Communications; Rumblebuzz
There’s between 3 to 30 million verified influencers around the world and they all want to visit your facility for free! Learn how to evaluate which ones are legitimate and can be trusted with your brand. You will learn how to qualify potential partners by identifying key qualities from standard demographics to more complex psychographics including lifestyle, values and interests. In addition, attraction members will be asked to think of new ways to connect with their audience - beyond traditional spokespeople - and consider different and unique internal “faces” to share and promote experiences within their organizations to create their own influencers.
Reboot & Reevaluate Your Marketing Plan
Mitch Meyers – Director of Digital Marketing & Brand Strategy; BlackDog Advertising
Briana Klein – Senior Marketing Manager; BlackDog Advertising
Over the past 2 years, trends and changes in consumer behavior have happened quickly and your marketing plan needs to keep pace. Marketing experts will guide you through the steps to build a successful marketing plan outline, introduce you to free tools for forecasting trends in real-time, and provide strategies to optimize your marketing budget for peak performance. This step-by-step workshop is designed for attendees with or without a current marketing plan who wants to leverage today's most successful methods.
LEARN Maximizing Your FAA Membership What FAA benefits are you missing out on and how can you access them? Meet with FAA Board Members and staff and discover what you’re missing to maximize your membership. VISIT FLORIDA Industry Relations Chat with Matt! Well-versed in attraction industry needs and VISIT FLORIDA solutions, Matt is ready to share how your business can better connect with the numerous benefits available to VISIT FLORIDA partners. |
VISIT FLORIDA Research
Maggie Brandenburg, Senior Research Analyst, VISIT FLORIDA
One of the greatest strengths of Florida’s DMO is VISIT FLORIDA’s ability to discover trends and then move quickly to help our state capitalize on leveraging the international travel marketplace. Following VISIT FLORIDA’s presentation on Monday, dig a bit deeper and see what the data might forecast for your business.
The Future of Student and Youth Travel
Carylann Assante, CAE; CEO; Student & Youth Travel Association
The pandemic was a major disruptor of the Student and Youth travel industry. Discover how tour and travel companies’ new business models will impact this important visitor market and bring them back to Florida attractions.
Ride Safety Best Practices and Regulatory Compliance
Michelle Faulk, Bureau of Fair Rides Inspection, Division of Consumer Services, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) has statewide responsibility to inspect all amusement rides in Florida, except for those at large parks that have more than 1,000 employees with full-time inspectors on staff. Bring your questions about ride safety practices, signage, annual inspections, and liability insurance requirements to a representative of the Bureau of Fair Rides Inspection.
Trends in Social Media
Kevin McNulty, President and CEO; NetWeave Social Networking
Join Kevin for his take on what is new and trending in social media and how it can be incorporated into your customer communication.
SHARE
(come prepared to learn and contribute)
Share Your Sunshine
Jennifer Berthiaume, Managing Director; Lion Country Safari
Sometimes our daily struggles can overshadow the successes that we have. Bring your positivity and share what you have had great success with over the past two years.
Capitalizing on Post-Pandemic Demand for Special and Private Events
Cameron O’Connell; Senior Director, Sales & Partnerships; ZooTampa at Lowry Park
With the increase in corporate travel, interest in private events is on the rise. Social business is booming as families begin to reschedule reunions and plan weddings. Learn how to leverage the increased demand for private events and produce special events to keep the locals coming back.
Small Attraction Food Service and Retail Operations
Lee Capitano, Deputy Director of Finance, Retail, and Wholesale Operations; St. Augustine Lighthouse
Get ready to share your experiences in food service and retail operations with other attractions who face the same challenges and learn tips from an expert who has leveraged additional revenue to his attraction’s bottom line.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Your Attraction
Nicole Anderson, Chief Executive Officer & Founder of MEND, an HR Solutions Firm
It's never been more essential to build a supportive and inclusive culture in the workplace in order to make employees feel welcome which can lead to increased satisfaction and productivity. Bring your insight on the gains you’ve made at your business to share with others.
Legal Landmines for Florida Attractions
Kristina Wilson, Esq., Founder, KEW Legal, P.A.
Your exposure to liability is a critical concern. Does a nagging issue keep surfacing that might lead your company into legal jeopardy? Pitch your legal questions to Kristina who can provide insight and direction in avoiding legal landmines.
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Education Sessions
General Session #1
The Great Resignation: Hospitality's Workforce Problem
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Dr. Jerry Parrish, Economist, Florida State University |
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Dr. Peter Ricci, Director, Hospitality and Tourism Management, Florida Atlantic University |
Explore the influences and data behind The Great Resignation and what factors could affect this trend. Then hear a deep dive into how hospitality worker’s experience through the pandemic is affecting their attitudes and perceptions of a hospitality career choice.
General Session #2
We're All Human: The Intersection of Guest and Employee Experience
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Matt Heller, Owner, Performance Optimist Consulting, AttractionPro |
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Josh Liebman, Guest Experience "Evangelist," ROLLER Software, AttractionPro |
The success of your attraction relies on many factors, but two of the most critical are the health of your guest experience and your employee experience. A thriving guest experience leads to greater guest loyalty, higher attendance, a strengthened reputation, and higher spending. On the employee side, a successful employee experience culture turns into stronger retention, lower hiring costs, and higher employee satisfaction.
Traditionally, building a guest experience and building an employee experience have been seen as separate functions, but this session will test the hypothesis that the elements that go into each are exactly the same. Come join this science experiment in action and bring your best suggestions for driving guest and employee experience, as we tap into the collective wisdom in the room to determine if they are to be treated differently, or if they are two sides of the same coin.
This session will be recorded and released as the 250th episode of the AttractionPros Podcast!
General Session #3
VISIT FLORIDA Marketing & Research: How Florida dominated the Recovery and Never Looked Back
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Dana Young, President & CEO, VISIT FLORIDA |
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Maggie Brandenburg, Senior Research Analyst, VISIT FLORIDA |
Leaving other destinations “eating our dust” hear how VISIT FLORIDA blazed a trail leading Florida tourism marketing into our post-pandemic world and how adept research is driving VISIT FLORIDA’s future marketing decisions.
General Session #4
Personal Leadership: Work Smarter, Execute Faster & Lead by Example
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Steve McClatchy, New York Times Best-Selling Author, Leader |
One decision can spark a breakthrough transformation in your business, yet thousands of decisions can fail to move the needle at all. Understanding the psychology of what drives every business decision you make empowers you to spend more of your time on the things that actually improve your business, not just maintain it.