What you can expect at RDO7 Conference 2016

What you can expect at RDO7 Conference 2016

This year’s conference RDO7 promises to be one of the best yet, with a host of talented motivational speakers and industry leaders set to inspire and entertain you, during a variety of different speeches and sessions.

The theme of this year’s conference is “Taking Ownership” with an emphasis on taking charge of your own game. This is true from both an industry and individual standpoint and is set to challenge the audience and those within the timeshare industry to look to themselves as to how to improve and evolve.

It is often all too easy to blame others, the economic environment around us and other external factors, rather than taking an inward look at what we need to do to take charge of our own destiny.

“The best years of your life are the ones in which you decide your problems are your own. You do not blame them on your mother, the ecology, or the president. You realize that you control your own destiny.” – Albert Ellis, American psychologist.

It is often impossible to change what is happening around us in terms of the economy, society and politics, but we can change the way we do business. This is perhaps even more pressing than ever within the European timeshare industry due to recent significant shifts in the socio-economic environment in Europe such as Brexit.

The timeshare industry continues to provide an excellent holiday experience for its owners, with beautiful resorts throughout the world and a much loved product. Trends in travel and tourism can shift dramatically though, so there is no room for complacency, especially with strong competition from agile new companies.

“It is not only what we do, but also what we do not do, for which we are accountable.” – Molière, French playwright and actor.

We know that you have the relevant skills, ambition and desire to overcome these and other external issues. That is why RDO has put together this outstanding conference with a host of speakers ready to inspire you to reach your true potential.

Following the RDO Annual General Meeting and registration and welcome reception on Tuesday 20th September, the first full day of the conference begins on the 21st September at 9:00am with the registration and coffee. During the day those attending the conference can look forward to Conference sessions including an exciting opening key-note session from former world athletics champion and current outstanding motivational speaker Kriss Akabusi: “Dream big – take action – play with those who turn up.”

There will also be a variety of other separate sessions from some of our excellent guest speakers: Howard Nusbaum – President & CEO, ARDA and David Gilbert – President, Interval International: “Watching us watching you – a global perspective”. Gareth Dunlop – CEO & Founder, Fathom: “Digital leadership – getting off the back foot to win online”. Thomas Landen – Head of Marketing EMEA, Revinate: “Today’s traveller in a digital world”. Paul Hardingham – Commercial Director, Hoseasons | Anthony Reilly – Marketing Director, Hoseasons: “Maintaining relevance through innovation”. Andrew Stuart – President & COO, Norwegian Cruise Line: “Cruising sets sail towards younger clients: lessons for timeshare”

Day one will also include a morning coffee break and networking session, a lunch, a pre-theatre drink and canape reception, and finally a brilliant Interval International and RCI Theatre Evening to round off the day in style!

The first day will have set the standard for proceedings but day two of RDO7 Conference 2016 promises to be as equally excellent. Once again the day begins at 9:00am with registration and a coffee. During the 2nd day there will be inspirational conference sessions from our other two keynote speakers.

Simon Hazeldine is a best selling author and internationally renowned professional speaker, performance consultant and corporate trainer, and will be presenting a session at RDO7 conference entitled “How to raise your sales game”. Later in the day our third outstanding keynote speaker, Caspar Berry will present his session: “Risk taking and decision making in poker, business and life”. Caspar is a former professional poker player and successful business owner, and currently works as a globally renowned motivational speaker.

Day two will also include a number of conference sessions from our other brilliant guest speakers: Peter Booth – Business Vice President, Pestana Group | Gordon Gurnick – President, RCI | Richard McIntosh – Managing Director, Hilton Grand Vacations EMEA: “Exceeding expectations by elevating the experience”. Steve Pentland – CEO, Generator Systems & Group Impact: “Imagining the future – Timeshare 2040”.

As with day one there will be a coffee break and networking session, lunch and a dinner to look forward to. In addition to these and the conference sessions there will be two Breakout Sessions which will cover other important and highly relevant topics that will surely get the audience talking. These two Breakout Sessions will each run twice in two separate waves, with wave 1 being followed by a coffee break and wave 2 followed by the Gala Dinner at 7:30pm.

The first of the Breakout Sessions will be: “Running Faster than the Ambulance Chasers” which will be moderated by Eugene Miskelly – General Counsel, CLC World Resorts & Hotels and include the following panelists: Henry Bankes – Vice President Legal Affairs, Wyndham Destination Network, EMEA, Paul Gardner-Bougaard – CEO, RDO Ltd, Jose Miguel Echenaguisa – Vice President Legal Services EMEAA, Interval International, and Robert Webb – Partner, BakerHostetler. At this session the audience will have the opportunity to put their questions to the panel, hear about all the latest developments related to the Claims Working Group and hear how the ARDA is dealing with the issue of scams and the ongoing decisions by the Spanish Supreme Court.

The second of the Breakout Sessions will be lead by John Beckley – Marketing & Social Media Consultant and Steve Clarke – Eureka Selling, and will be entitled: “Win more business through conversations not publications”. In this highly relevant session John and Steve will help the audience to gain an understanding into just how important it now is to build an effective online community around your brand. It is no longer enough just to have a website, blog and media broadcasting strategy, it is also vital to engage with your guests through social media which in turn will lead to important insight, brand credibility and sales.

Overall the RDO7 conference 2016 promises to be a brilliant and thought provoking couple of days which will really help those attending to raise their game and take charge of their own destinies.

The emphasis is not all on the individual though, as the overall aim of the conference is to build on the strong community spirit that already exists within the timeshare and vacation ownership industry and encourage closer collaboration. Ultimately this will create a brighter future for us and our owners, who will be proud to “take ownership” of the resorts they stay at.

The RDO7 conference 2016 is sponsored by CLC World Resorts & Hotels, Diamond Resorts International, Interval International and RCI at the Platinum level, and Dial An Exchange, Generator Systems and Shawbrook Bank at the Gold level. We thank them for their support.