I was delighted with CHPA’s choice for their annual conference this year, located at the Hotel del Coronadoin San Diego, CA. The Hotel del Coronado is a National Historic Landmark with over 120 years of experience in the hospitality industry. According to the website, Rand McNally recognized the Hotel Del Coronado for having “more fame and historical significance than perhaps any hotel in North America.” The hotel has been featured several times in Travel and Leisure magazine. It was in the classic film Some Like It Hot starring Marilyn Monroe. Eleven U.S. Presidents have visited The Del, starting with Benjamin Harrison in 1891. If you love historic landmarks, you will enjoy this year’s location for the 2010 CHPA Annual Conference. And if you do go, here are three lectures you won’t want to miss:
Social Media & Your Brand, Maryellen Ferring, Upsell Training. Everyone complains about gimmicky giveaways at conferences, but secretly I love them. They make excellent gifts for the ladies back at the office, besides making excellent mementos for the trip itself. I’ll often scurry past booths twice to pick up extras. If you like giveaways too, you’ll love the super-interactive Maryellen Ferring. According to her website, Maryellen does a lot of group exercises, giveaways, and incorporates props into her speech. And really, who could be more appropriate for a speech about the necessity of interacting with customers via social marketing than someone who thinks in a way that incorporates their audience into a lecture?
Selling Made Strong, Terri Norvell, Further Performance Group. One of the things that really struck me about Terri Norvell’s website was that she is president of the Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce. Which I would think would be a pretty difficult position to acquire and keep. Really, with her position I would have liked to have seen her included in the SEO panel that CHPA put together. And while she’s done product management for Frito-Lay and 7-11, she’s also been general manager of a temporary housing company, and been vice president of marketing and training for a property management and development firm. If you like super-focused lectures, then Terri Norvell is for you.
Increasing Your Sales Team’s Closing Percentage, Joe Porpiglia, D & D Consulting and Training. Joe Porpiglia seems to have all of the concrete, real world tools necessary for running a corporate housing company. Things I liked about Joe: he’s been married to his wife for 38 years, he worked his way up from a part time sales clerk at Greenbelt Cooperative, and what’s more, he seems to have been consistently promoted in every position he’s ever held, at least, according to his website. From what I can tell about Joe Propiglia, he has real experience in corporate housing and he’s in it for the long haul. If you’re looking for practical advice you can take back to your company, I would gamble on Joe Porpiglia.