CRDA

Next week when the timeshare industry assembles at the Atlantis Resort, Paradise Island, Bahamas, for the first annual Global Networking Expo (GNEX 2011) and Perspective Magazine Awards Gala, I will have the privilege of being part of one of the “Burning Issues” discussion panels.

Under the heading of “Challenges We Face,” we won’t be making presentations. Instead, we will engage in a panel discussion with the audience. Look for debate on topics including consumer and media perception; potential weaknesses in the products we offer; and other burning topics of the timeshare and vacation ownership industry.

Speakers on our panel include: Ross Perlmutter, President, Canadian Resort Development Association (CRDA); Robert Webb, Partner, Baker & Hostetler; Ramy Filo, CEO, Classic Holiday Group; Harry Taylor, Executive Chairman, Timeshare Association of Timeshare Owners Comittees (TATOC); Bryan Lunt, Chairman & CEO, Absolute World Group of Companies and me, the founder & CEO, Sell My Timeshare NOW.

If you are planning to attend the GNEX event, I hope you will drop in on our session; it’s schedule on Day One of the conference, May 11. During the two-day event, with a theme of Navigating Change, you will also enjoy Keynote Speaker: Ron Kurtz, founder and president of the American Affluence Research Center.

My trip to Vancouver for the CRDA Conference this week includes time spent with the great team at Aviawest. You may not know the Aviawest story, but it began in 1989, when Andrew Pearson spotted a piece of oceanfront property on the east coast of Vancouver Island, south of Parksville.

The 15-acre property, known as Pacific Shores, was being used as a campground and trailer park, but the visionary Pearsons saw so much more. With the help of investment partners, the Pearsons bought the land, and began developing condominiums there.

By 1991, they had realized that using the beautiful condos as vacation ownership property was a winning plan that would enable many vacationers to enjoy the beauty and serenity of this British Columbia destination. As pioneers in Fractional Ownership of Vacation homes, the Pearsons sold 1/10th interest in fee simple, deeded real estate. Soon they had sold all 50 shares of the property and had bought out their original investment partners.

Canada Timeshare with Aviawest

Today Pacific Shores Resort and Spa features themed floral gardens, a secluded beach, salmon fishing, a health club, outdoor heated thermal pools, complimentary kayaks, a full spa service and much, much more.

But Pacific Shores Resort is only a small part of the Pearson’s story. By 2002, Aviawest Resort Club was established offering vacation ownership through a multi-destination, real estate driven, vacation club. There are now six Aviawest properties in British Columbia, including the Parkside Victoria Resort and Spa in Victoria; Water’s Edge Resort at Pacific Rim in Ucluelet; The Pinnacle Lodge at Sun Peaks; the Rosewood Victoria Inn in Victoria; and Aviawest in Vancouver.

Follow these links to learn more about some of the opportunities in Aviawest timeshare resales.

The following article authored by Jason Tremblay is published online at The Resort Trades and will appear in an upcoming print edition of one of their timeshare publications. It is reprinted here with their permission.

While others may call this season ‘Spring,’ in the timeshare industry, it could easily be called Conference Season. With the Ragatz Fractional Interest Conference and ARDA Convention & Expo in March, CRDA’s annual conference in April, and the upcoming CARE Semi-Annual and GNEX 2011 Conferences in May, there are plenty of reasons to keep everyone in the timeshare industry on the road, and that’s only naming some of the bigger events on the schedule. Conferences like these and the many smaller or regional events that take place during timeshare’s conference season and throughout the year, are critical for strengthening bonds and breaking down barriers and misconceptions within the industry. Because timeshare conferences are an investment in yourself, your company, and the timeshare industry as a whole, challenge yourself to maximize each conference experience in which you participate.

Start the Conference on the Right Foot

Racing to a seminar, squeezing it into your schedule, or showing up because you suddenly realize the event is on your calendar are all ways many people arrive at conferences. Slightly disorganized and out of breath, they look around on Day 1 and wonder what they are going to do with the next 48 to 72 hours.

The first three questions that likely cross their mind are who they already know among the conference attendees, whether the host hotel has good food, and how they are going to show up at work sessions and meetings while staying in near-constant contact with their office and on top of the work they left behind. But all of this is a poor plan if you actually hope to have a meaningful take away from the conference experience, going home with fresh ideas and new relationships.

In today’s business economy, attending conferences does not come cheaply. Besides the actual cost of the conference, there are travel expenses and the impact each employee’s absence makes on the crew left behind. With the cost of conference attendance so high in terms of expense and manpower, and people’s time already stretched so thin, no one can afford to go to a seminar or conference without being fully committed to making the most of the experience.

Preplan Your Conference Time

You can get an agenda of sessions and events from the conference host weeks before the actual event. Before the conference begins, review the speakers, sessions and topics scheduled and then make decisions regarding the most effective use of your time during the event. If there are topics planned that are critical to your business, contact the speaker or panel chairperson and say, “I am excited to hear the discussion and am hoping you will touch on the opportunities of ‘abc’ or the problem with ‘xyz’…” Sharing your enthusiasm and your interest with the scheduled speakers and panelists not only motivates them to deliver the most current and meaningful information on the subject, but allows them to shape their message to address topics their audience (you) has earmarked as being of special interest.

Besides contacting speakers scheduled for a conference, contact other attendees. A phone call or email to someone in your industry, saying you hope to spend a little time with them at the event will significantly increase the likelihood of the two of you connecting. You will be in their thoughts and on their to-do list before the event even begins.

Change Your Perspective

Too often conference attendance and trade show exhibitions wind up on a company’s schedule because the CEO or head of marketing believes the company or individual needs to make an appearance. Yet this mindset about the convention experience is only slightly better than not attending at all.

Go to a conference with the idea of helping the greatest number of attendees possible. Instead of focusing your exhibition booth, your networking efforts and any presentations or conversations you have on who you are, refocus on who the other attendees are and how you can help them.

Don’t go to a timeshare, fractional, or other vacation ownership event in order to be seen. Go because you want to see others, because you want to learn, experience, and give back. Effective conference networking is never about who you are but about who others are and how your services can fill their needs.

Mix Things Up, Just a Little

While having a targeted plan for what you will do, who you will see, and what you hope to get out of the conference is important, so is going off-plan just a little. During each event, pick one session or opportunity you think has little to do with your particular niche in timeshares. Although the industry is vast, often, the problems and the solutions are highly interrelated.

Be Fully Present

During the event, shut off, to the greatest degree possible, the routine and demands of your workday. The more your focus is divided between the conference and the work you left behind, the less effective you will be in addressing either.

Consider telling your staff or coworkers that you will be available to them at one or two prearranged times during the day and that only in a true emergency should they contact you other than at those time. Then between the scheduled call times, put daily business out of your thoughts and focus on the events and people at hand.

Share Your Experience

Before and during the conference, be sure you discuss it on your blog, newsletter, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media platforms. If your conference is using a specific Twitter #hashtag, add it to your tweets. The more you help the conference sponsor spread the word, the more you stimulate the interest of others and attract new attendees, the richer your own conference experience will be going forward.

After the conference, write a brief report or detailed email on your conference experience for the benefit of others in your office. If writing is not your best communication tool, then schedule a meeting or conference call as a debriefing session.

Make conference materials and slide decks available to others in your company. Most presenters are willing to share their slides with conference attendees, typically by posting them on their own website or distributing them via email. Be sure you take advantage of the opportunity to obtain these files and to share them with your staff and coworkers.

Go for the Right Reasons

Timeshare conferences typically are held in popular destinations and at beautiful hotels and resorts. But they are not vacation time and they are not about you. Don’t show up with a plan to tell everyone who you are. Go with the idea that this is your best possible opportunity to meet new timeshare industry contacts and learn as much as you can about who they are.

The 2011 CRDA Resort Development Summit, has announced that Jim Madrid will be its Keynote Speaker. The Summit, conducted by the Canadian Resort Development Association (CRDA), is scheduled for April 27 – 29, 2011, at the Four Seasons Hotel in Vancouver, BC.

Jim Madrid is the founder of Entelechy Training and Development, a Human Performance firm based in California. Known as an advisor to CEO’s who want to optimize their performance, and that of their companies and their employees, Jim is widely respected as a speaker, consultant, author. His staff development programs and performance management systems are nationally recognized, making him a perfect person to kick off the CRDA event with its theme: Snap Out of It!

Ross Perlmutter, CRDA president and CEO, says, “We’re thrilled to have Jim speak at our event this year. His message to businesspeople is to “snap out of it!”, and that’s ultimately the theme of this year’s conference: to move past the negativity and refocus our collective efforts, energies and talents on getting back to what our industry does best.”

Registration for the conference has already begun, with “early bird” rates ending March 25.CRDA urges you, not to miss this event that will, “highlight the newest innovations in the shared ownership industry, and it could very possibly change your company’s direction forever.”

Click here to learn more about Canada timeshares and Canada timeshare resales.