Vacation Rental Housekeeping Professionals Sessions
For the second year, VRMA is partnering with Vacation Rental Housekeeping Professionals (VRHP) to add value for all attendees! We've expanded our education program to include three tracks of sessions dedicated to housekeeping, maintenance, and laundry. Bring your entire team to learn how to better manage these departments in your company.
Round Table Discussion
Choosing Linen to Match Your Brand: Show and Tell with Durk Johnson
Presented by: Durk Johnson, Executive Director, Vacation Rental Housekeeping Professionals
You don't need a fortune teller to help you pick your products—just Durk! Linen is the single largest inventory a company will purchase. Your linen choice will have ripple effects throughout the company. It affects the budget, laundry, housekeepers backs, and how the guest perceives your brand. This hands on session will provide information that will guide you in your linen choices. See success in your future!
Safety Inspections of Your Vacation Rentals: What's Important
Presented by: Justin Ford, President and Owner, Dwell Safe
Justin will walk VRMA members through a complete and thorough safety inspection of a vacation rental. In this session, you will be walked through a safety inspection checklist to ensure that your vacation rentals are safe from harm to your guests and staff.
Hot Tubs Can Be a Soup of Microbes and Other Floaty Things: This Is How You Fix the Problem
Presented by: Joe Refosco, Owner, Taylor-Made Deep Creek Vacations & Sales; Sheila McCracken, General Manager, Taylor-Made Deep Creek Vacations & Sales
Hot tubs can add thousands of dollars in revenue and many headaches if they are not maintained correctly. The chemistry of a hot tub is critical to kill the bacteria and be safe to those that get in. Success in this area does not happen by chance it takes planning, skill, and a certification.
The Open Heart and Brain Surgery of Adding or Changing Back of the House Software
Presented by: Kate Barnett, Vrbo; Jill Mason, Customer Loyalty, VRScheduler; Brian Butler, EZ Inspections
Choosing a back-of-the house software is now a simple task! There are so many things to consider and look at and no two companies operate the same. This panel has been created to help you discover what questions to ask and things to watch out for as you look at selecting your software.
Customer Service and the Maintenance Tech
Presented by: Mishelle Buerhaus, Outer Banks Blue Realty Services
Creating a Rental Property Safety Program for Your Agency
Presented by: Justin Ford, President and Owner, Dwell Safe
"Safety Inspections of Your Vacation Rentals: What's Important," but could be attended by business leaders on it's own. So, you know you need to address safety in your vacation rentals to avoid harm to your guests, lawsuits and increase the marketability of your rentals, but how do you go about doing that? In this session, we'll discuss establishing the role of a safety manager/managers at your agency, and establishing protocols, procedures and best-demonstrated practices that will help ensure your agency is doing all that it can do to address the safety of your guests.
Commercial Laundry Safety: The Stuff You Need to Know that No One Tells You
Presented by: Steve Florence, Laundry Doctor
Operating a commercial laundry is no small task for your team! There are specific tasks and procedures that must be followed. Many of these are dictated by OSHA. "When the Saints come marching in" you'll earn the ins and outs of laundry safety.
Vacation Rental Housekeeping Basics
Presented by: Durk Johnson, Executive Director, Vacation Rental Housekeeping Professionals
This ain't no "Voodoo" session! Housekeeping Building Blocks: organize, rearrange, plan, and simplify your housekeeping department. You and your staff do not need to fly by the seat of your pants or poke dolls with needles! With some education and new tools you can whip your department back into shape.
OSHA Is in the House: This Is Your Chance to Ask Questions to OSHA
Presented by: Wilfred Hebert, Compliance Assistance Specialist, OSHA
Every manager dreads hearing, "An OSHA representative is waiting for you in your office." YIKES! It's like you've seen a ghost! Today we will lessen the "freak-out, haunted" feeling and give you a chance to ask questions and learn from an OSHA representative. There will be no "howling" in this one.
5 Generations in the Workplace: You Like Tomato and I Like Tomahto
Presented by: Debra Allen, HR4VR
For the first time in history, five generations are working side by side, each with different leadership, communication and career development styles. Generational diversity can spark creativity and innovation in the workplace. Working with people from different generations exposes people to new ideas and experiences. However, the potential for conflict and misunderstanding is real. Attend this session to learn how to avoid these pitfalls with clear communication and strong people systems in place.
Held Hostage: A Practical Guide to Handling Negative Review Threats
Presented by: Heather Bayer, CEO, Cottagelink Rental Management
“I’m going to share this on all my social media channels." We’ve all heard this, and at some time been held hostage to a negative review if a refund or rebate isn’t given. It’s a gut punch, particularly when you feel it’s completely unjustified. While the first reaction is often to fight back against a false accusation, it’s not usually the best way to respond. This session explores the alternatives and offers practical techniques and tips to moderate, or even reverse, a potentially damaging "hostage" situation. Soon you'll have them wanting to sit down and eat "beignets" with you! Bless their hearts...
Asset Management: A Panel Discussion on Being the Local Resource
Presented by: Durk Johnson, Executive Director, Vacation Rental Housekeeping Professionals
Home purchase historically is the single safest financial investment for the common individual. A property asset manager job is to proactively build a strategy to protect and grow the value of the asset. It includes protecting the value of the asset (property management) which is reacting to issues like cleaning, weather issues, security and local laws. But a majority of it is to plan for the growth in value. Like stock market asset managers that value proposition depends upon the owners needs. Proactively in the short term generating the best income with the least destruction and in the long term getting best price or a program for owner occupancy.
How I Started My Commercial Laundry
Presented by: Joe Refosco, Owner, Taylor-Made Deep Creek Vacations & Sales; Sheila McCracken, General Manager, Taylor-Made Deep Creek Vacations & Sales
No "black magic" needed to start your laundry. Joe will guide you with tips and tricks to get you going.
Marketing Your Back of the House Services to Your Owners
Presented by: Tyann Marcink, Co-Founder, VR Mastered
Upselling isn’t just for guests. Have you thought about upselling your services to your owners? Those carpet shampoos, window washings, HVAC checks, and deep cleans that owners attempt to squeeze into their stay at their property damper the fun pretty quickly. An owner may have once thought they would be kicking back and enjoying their "bayou mansion" all the time when they first purchased the property. But the reality has set in, and you have the ability to hand them back their limited time while you increase your back of the house profits.
Insights From Over 1 Million Property Cleans, Inspections, and Maintenance Jobs
Presented by: Jeremiah Gall, Founder and CEO, Breezeway
Vacation Rental property managers often rely on manual processes like Excel spreadsheets and paper checklists to meet the demands of luxurious units and frequent concierge service. In fact, AppFolio’s 2019 Real Estate report found that the lack of automation is slowing the growth of over 35% of property management businesses. Managers are devoting more than 200 hours of annual property care at each unit, and are finally turning towards data to automate operations. In this breakout session, Breezeway's Founder & CEO Jeremiah Gall draws from experience helping managers conduct over one million cleans, inspections, and maintenance jobs, and shares data-driven tips on how to efficiently conduct property care at your vacation rental company.
Creating the Standard Housekeepers and Inspectors are Held To
Presented by: Natalee Pfeifer, Founder and CEO, Grow Social VR Inc.
Without a written standard the housekeepers and inspectors will establish their own. Create and maintain your Standard Property Appearance for your housekeeping department. Get rid of the guessing factor and save them some time. Learn how to create a "jazzed up" Standard Property Appearance!
Lessons Learned the Hard Way in Housekeeping
Presented by: Joe Refosco, Owner, Taylor-Made Deep Creek Vacations & Sales; Cari Boland, Business Manager, Mt Hood Vacation Rentals; Eddie Gray, Housekeeping Manager, Newman-Daily Resort Properties; Tim Cafferty, President, Outer Banks Blue Realty Services
Prepare yourself to walk through the "above ground graveyard and crypts" with these panelists. They have been hand selected from "down under" to share with you their follies and success as they have navigated the "tombstones" of vacation rental operations. Don't be scared to come!
Thinking About Starting Your Own Laundry? Stuff You Should Know: The Numbers
Have you wondered what equipment you need to start your own commercial laundry? What size and how many machines will you need? A "jambalaya" of questions will be answered for you. This is your chance to learn how to size your commercial laundry.
What’s on Your Mind: Bring Your Back of the House Dilemmas and Questions
Presented by: Cari Boland, Business Manager, Mt Hood Vacation Rentals; Sean Kemper, Owner, Kemper Industries; Amy Demoreski, Director of Housekeeping, Five Star Beach Properties; Traci Van Waes, Housekeeping Manager, Outer Banks Blue Realty
In this "swamp" of experts you'll get answers to those mucky, muddy questions that have been on your mind. Fill your bucket with a mishmash of been-there-done-that information.
Additional Revenue Sources for Your Department
Presented by: Natalee Pfeifer, Founder and CEO, Grow Social VR Inc.
Cash is "King (Cake)!" Find ways to add sweet additional revenue to your department that is crucial to your success as a department head. Find that cash "baby" and stick with it!
Product Demonstrations with Justin Ford
Presented by: Justin Ford, President and Owner, Dwell Safe
Welcome to the Mardi Gras of products! Wondering how well different products work? This session is for you! This is your chance to see, touch, and hear about new and old items on the market. A parade of products will be shown.