Conference 2009

CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS RECAPS, NEWS & MORE Photos Las Vegas Eyewitness News Coverage ATME 2009 Agenda Web | PDF AUDIO TRANSCRIPTS Day 1 Day 2, Part I Day 2, Part II TOOLS List of ROI Tools from audience survey More to come... PRESENTATIONS Powerpoint or PDF Documents Gary Sain, Orlando CVB, Keynote "How Do You Control The Conversation...?" Panel Moderator Peggy Bendel, DCI Erika Pope, Candid Communications Jenny Dervin, JetBlue Susan Wilcox, California Tourism "Improving The Online Selling Process" Panel Alex Willcock, Imagini Josh Steinitz, Nile Guide "Improving Your Advertising And Promotion ROI" Panel Moderator Pamela Johnston, PJ Inc. "Profiting From Design" Panel Ryan George, Simpleview ATME Partnership Survey Speaker Michael Ricco, Ricco Consulting More to come... Follow ATME on Twitter @atmeorg SPONSORS: KEYNOTE SPEAKERS: MAY 27: Henry Harteveldt, Vice President, Principal Analyst, Forrester Research MAY 28: Gary Sain, CEO, Orlando CVB SPEAKERS: Jon Aizen, Founder and COO, Dapper Peggy Bendel, Senior Vice President, DCI Rob Britton, Principal, AirLearn Donald Chestnut, Sapient Dan Comenduley, Manager Community Marketing, United Airlines Jenny Dervin, Director of Communications, jetBlue Kevin Fliess, CEO, TravelMuse Ryan George, CEO, simpleview Sherri Gilligan, SVP Marketing, MGM MIRAGE Jill Groebl, VP Digital Marketing, MMG Worldwide Ponder Harrison, Managing Dir - Mktg & Sales, Allegiant Air Lorraine Hunt-Bono, Commissioner, Nevada Commission on Tourism Brad King, Managing Director, BlueKai Channels, BlueKai Inc. Kristen Kopplin, VP Marketing & Communications, Travelscream Erika Pope, Principal, Candid Communications Michael Ricco, Managing Partner, Ricco Consulting Hugh Riley, Acting Secretary General, CTO Adam Rugel, CEO, Trazzler Stacy Small, President, Elite Travel International Josh Steinitz, CEO, Nile Guide Shirley Tafoya, President, Travelzoo Cathy Tull, SVP Marketing, LVCVA Jeff Williams, Creative Director, Frog Design Alex Willcock, CEO, Imagini Susan Wilcox, VP Communications, California Travel & Tourism MODERATORS: Susan Black, Managing Partner, Susan Black Associates, Inc. Jeff DeKorte, VP Business Development, Travel Ad Network Rob Torres, Managing Director Travel, Google Pamela Johnston, President, PJ Inc. Keep checking back here as more speakers are confirmed! What Makes ATME Different "ATME is one of the few places where travel marketing executives can informally interact with their peers, the media, and solution providers to exchange ideas and expand contacts. Just a few words from a prominent presenter can spark an idea, but it's one on one where ATME shines. At an annual conference a few years back, when I was in charge of marketing at American Eagle, from a single chance meeting I ended up doing a multi-year deal with Aboard Publishing worth several million dollars." ...Joel Chusid, General Manager, NA, Hainan Airlines Who Should Attend Any marketer with responsibility for a marketing budget should attend. Typical titles include CMO, SVP Marketing, Vice President, Director and Manager. Areas of responsibility include: product development, advertising, PR, online, loyalty, CRM, brand management, etc. Senior level ATME members often assume mentoring roles for less experienced marketers. ATME’s networking opportunities make this annual conference an invaluable career-enhancing experience. ATME 2009 Conference at Green Valley Ranch Resort May 27-28, 2009 Las Vegas, Nevada A Focus on Basics, an Eye on Opportunity Gary Sain of Orlando CVB, Keynote Speaker Henry Harteveldt of Forrester Research, Keynote Speaker See all the photos from the conference @ ATME's flickr Eyewitness News coverage ATME 2009 Agenda [Download PDF] DAY 1: Wednesday, May 27 General Sessions: 2pm - 6pm KEYNOTE • Setting the Stage. What is consumers' mindset regarding the economy, travel and marketing in general? What new trends will help marketers be more successful? Forrester Research's Henry Harteveldt sets the stage for the ATME 2009 conference. When is an Airline Not an Airline? Las Vegas-based Allegiant Air is an exception to the rule. Amidst industry losses, it's profitable. Amidst a focus on serving major markets, it serves mid-size and smaller cities. Amidst an industry struggling to understand cross-selling, it successfully generates a profit per passenger. What can you learn from Allegiant? Plenty. With Ponder Harrison, Managing Director - Marketing & Sales, Allegiant Air What is the Role of Advertising in a Recession? Data from Forrester Research suggests that in economic downturns, companies reduce their marketing budgets by at least 3%. As new channels like social computing proliferate, advertising's role in the "marketing funnel is changing. Is advertising still relevant for travel firms - especially when consumer demand is so weak? What should travel advertisers be thinking about as they evaluate their advertising plans for the balance of 2009, and as they start to plan for 2010? Cathy Tull SVP Marketing, LVCVA Sherri Gilligan SVP Marketing, MGM MIRAGE Hugh Riley Acting Secretary General, Caribbean Tourism Organization Shirley Tafoya President NA, Travelzoo Moderator: Rob Torres Managing Director Travel, Google Taking Social Computing From the Edge to the Center. There are many reasons why travel marketers should invest time, effort and budget in social media... but few do. Hear how marketing leaders are successfully using this new medium to manage: • Humanizing of a brand • Customer support and service • Brand reputation management • Polling and product feedback mechanism • Lead generation • News distribution • Brand awareness and establishment • Product promotion and launch Learn what metrics matter to your brand in social media - and which don't. Find out why many companies including: Trazzler.com, United Airlines, IHG, jetBlue have hundreds of thousands of followers on Twitter, and are monetizing their efforts. What are you doing to join these growing, powerful brand advocate networks? Stacy Small President, Elite Travel International Dan Comenduley Mngr Comm Marketing, United Airlines Adam Rugel President, Trazzler.com Moderator: Susan Black Managing Partner, Susan Black Associates Reception & Awards 6:30pm DAY 2: Thursday, May 28 7:30am - 3:30pm BREAKFAST • Creating Opportunities, Opening New Markets: Bringing the Chinese to Nevada and the US. With Lorraine Hunt-Bono, Commissioner, Nevada Tourism. KEYNOTE • How Orlando is Addressing the Current Economic Challenges in Travel for 2009. With Gary Sain, President & CEO, Orlando CVB How Do You Control the Conversation When the Conversation is Out of Your Control? In an era where the consumer leads the conversation, and where communications tools proliferate, what is the role of PR? When consumer opinions are posted on social networking sites like Facebook blogs reveal company information, communications professionals need to understand what they can, and can't, do to be effective. Erika Pope Principal, Candid Communications Jenny Dervin Director of Communications, jetBlue Susan Wilcox Vice President Communications, California Travel & Tourism Moderator: Peggy Bendel SVP, DCI Improving the Online Selling Process. In general, the way travel firms sell their products online is about as engaging as watching mud dry. Current trip planning and booking processes offer no emotional engagement, do a poor job merchandising the destinations or products they're selling, and do little to help travelers understand which product is truly best-suited for them. To counter these and other selling shortfalls, travel firms need to rethink the selling process into something that involves and guides travelers - leading to higher conversion rates, higher order values and higher profit margins. Alex Willcock CEO, Imagini Josh Steinitz, CEO, Nile Guide Kevin Fliess CEO, Travelmuse Moderator: Jeff DeKorte VP, Travel Ad Network Improving Your Advertising and Promotion ROI. When margins get tight and marketing budgets shift away from branding where do you go for performance?  What new tools are on the market to get the ROI you need? Kristen Kopplin VP, Travelscream Jon Aizen Founder and COO, Dapper, Inc Jill Groebl VP Digital Marketing, MMG Worldwide Brad King Managing Director, BlueKai Channels, BlueKai Moderator: Pamela Johnston President, PJ Inc LUNCH • How to Travel: A Basic, and Overlooked, Marketing Opportunity With Rob Britton, Principal, AirLearn. In just about every area of free time, there's a class or a trainer ready to show us how: to cook a perfect soufflé; to play bridge more smoothly; to create a stunning oil painting of Caribbean bougainvillea; to descend the Back Bowls of Vail with confidence. In fact, we often take a class or hire a trainer to protect our lives, our investments, or both – no one would take his or her new 35-foot yacht out of the harbor without learning how to sail. Why should travel be different? In this presentation, Rob Britton will discuss the benefits to travel companies who would adopt the "how to travel" idea as a marketing element. He's been thinking about this idea for all of the 40 years he’s been in the travel business. Profiting From Design. As travel firms focus on the marketing basics, it's important not to ignore effective design. Leading experts will discuss how their clients have improved their ROI through practical website, product and environmental design improvements. Jeff Williams Creative Director, Frog Design Ryan George CEO, Simpleview Donald Chestnut Sapient Moderator: Henry Harteveldt Vice President, Principal Analyst, Forrester Research ATME Partnership Survey with Michael Ricco, Managing Partner, Ricco Consulting In cooperation with ATME, research is being accomplished to identify partner marketing metrics of success. The study is focused specifically on the international inbound travel market to the U.S. It is important to industry members in providing a framework to measure partner marketing efforts, and what measures of success are actually being used in the current business environment. This may provide insights into how to better manage marketing efforts when more than one organization is involved. The presentation will briefly provide a structure for travel marketers to consider in developing marketing plans, plus very preliminary research results, as the survey is still going on. ATME Conference on Twitter Use/search #ATMEconf Enter that in search and you will be able to follow several people tweeting directly from the sessions. Follow ATME on Twitter @atmeorg Read daily Tweets @ATMEorg on hot marketing news and trends. You need to sign up and follow @ATMEorg and you automatically get our posts. Other ATME board members with a lot to say include: Susan Black, @susantravels and Henry Harteveldt @harteveldt or @forrester Association of Travel Marketing Executives, Inc. (ATME) PO Box 3176, West Tisbury, MA 02575 Tel: (508) 693-0550 • Fax: (508) 693-0115 • http://www.atme.org

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