ARDA Conference

Learning from Top Leaders in Timeshare, Tech/AI, Marketing, and Customer Service

If I learned nothing else during the April 2024 ARDA Conference, Timeshare Together, I learned to beef up my personal security from Frank Abagnale, the principle character of his autobiography and the Steve Spielberg movie, Catch Me If You Can. These days Abagnale is a security consultant, author, and convicted felon who uses his past experience to assist businesses and the F.B.I. His recent book, Scam Me If You Can, promises to be a primer in your library about how to avoid getting ripped off by scam-artists. Find tips you can use today: https://www.scribd.com/document/459960879/frank-abagnale-lesson-slideshow

One easy-start idea was to stop using all credit cards, but a bank debit/credit card. Most importantly, everyone — including children, even your newborn baby — needs to freeze their credit. If you are looking to buy a house or car or something, you can temporarily unfreeze it, but then put it right back under lock because this is how thieves can steal your identity, put their own photo on an an ID using your information, and, before you know it, you owe for a BMW and a house in Palm Springs.

The Dish on Marketing

Noted restauranteur, cofounder of New York’s Eleven Madison Park, Will Guidara shared his hard-earned “unreasonable” strategies that he has used to lead restaurants to the top of their game. He spoke of the journey to become the #1 restaurant in the world, which was driven by pursuing “unreasonable hospitality.” This involved identifying every touchpoint in the guest experience, then getting creative about enhancing those touchpoints in personalized, memorable ways. Guidara’s focus was on training the team to be fully present, not taking yourself too seriously, and treating each guest as an individual. He also discussed systematizing some of these gestures through “dream weavers” and “hospitality toolkits” so they could scale the magic. Ultimately, this approach led to happier guests, a more engaged team, and to Eleven Madison Park being named the #1 restaurant in the world.

As Will Guidara discusses in his new book, Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More than They Expect, you sense his dedication. “My dad taught me a lot about being intentional,” he says. “If there’s one word that’s probably the throughline of the entire book, outside of ‘hospitality,’ it is that. This book is about being intentional in pursuit of everything, and in many cases, it’s about being intentional in pursuit of relationships.”

The Digital Experience

Are you using all the tools available to you to enhance your consumer experience? It’s a question addressed by a panel including Chris Clark, Co-founder, Digital Ignite; Chantal Stephens, SVP Performance Mkt & Revenue Enhancement, Holiday Inn Club Vacations; Brian Lomonico, VP, Digital Marketing & Growth, Travel + Leisure Co.; and moderated by Onkar Birk, SVP & Chief Technology Officer, Hilton Grand Vacations, Inc. Clark encouraged us to look at our social media. Are we using platforms based on the demographic we’re trying to attract? In other words, Facebook probably now attracts an older crowd, whereas Reddit and TikTok are what younger people are looking for.

Clark mentioned the value of using influencer marketing which brings to mind our own Kelley Ellert who wrote an extensive article about best practices for timeshare resorts. This is a must-read, so if you missed it, here’s a link: https://resorttrades.com/influencer-marketing-is-the-new-wave.

Miscellaneous Thoughts

Shawn Bridge from Wellington Financial spoke on the economy. He was impressively well prepared. Resort Trades has invited him to participate in an online interactive interview to hear his views.

The session on the leadership lineup and executive view of the industry featured Jared Saft, Chief Business Officer, Westgate; John Stayton, CEO & President, Holiday Inn Club Vacations; Jerry Rexroad, CFO, Capitol Vacations; Travis Bary, President, Capital Vacations; Geoff Richards, COO, Travel+Leisure; travel and leisure company, Juan Ignacio Rodriguez, Management Director, RCI; Marcos Agostini, EVP, Managing Director, interval International; Stephanie Butera, EVP & COO, Hyatt Vacation Ownership; and Gordon Gurnick, Sr. EVP & COO, Hilton Grand Vacations (and next Chairman of ARDA). ARDA President & CRO Jason Gamel moderated the session.

ARDA research is available at no cost. Go to https://www.arda.org/research-aif/research-library and learn about consumer sentiment, financial performance (such as the fact that we are part of a $10.5 Billion industry!), and the state of the industry, June 2023.

Speaking of ARDA, the association is refreshing its brand with a redesign of the logo and collateral. Look for purple and a new tagline(s). Under Gamel’s leadership and his outstanding team, ARDA is making huge strides to elevate the reputation and status of the industry.

Keynote speaker Molly Fletcher. A.K.A. the female Jerry Maguire, held the audience’s attention as she spoke of overcoming obstacles. Fletcher’s website (https://mollyfletcher.com) offers a free webinar, “Success Secrets of the World’s Top Athletes & High Performers,” when you sign up to receive emails.

A fairly new arrival to the timeshare industry is Revenue Analytics. Headed by DAX cross. I guess the company does just what they say they recently joined up with SPI so that offering access to their analysis or their consultancy, through to SPI clients.

One of the big reveals of the three-day conference was that ARDA-Resort Owners’ Coalition (ARDA-ROC) and the Timeshare Board Members Association (TBMA) have established a strategic collaboration focused on enhancing the educational and networking experiences for independent timeshare board associations. ARDA-ROC will bring tremendous resources to help educate timeshare board members.

What did you learn from the conference? Send me a one-to-three-sentence quote, your photo, and permission to use your quote to Sharon@SharonINK.com with “ARDA Thoughts” in the headline. Thank you in advance!