TIS THE SEASON TO BE BUSY

Because VRMA knows just how busy you are this season,

so we are keeping our blog correspondence to a minimum

but we did want to share our New Years Blog resolutions with you:

1. To provide generational info to Bloggers that will help everyone to understand each other and communicate better in and out of the workplace.

2. To gain more insight into the VRMA conference and membership needs of Future Leaders.

3. To make the blog interesting, insightful and useful for every blogger.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS & WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU NEXT YEAR!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

ARE YOU INTERESTED IN THE FUTURE?

ONE BLOGGER COMMENTED:

Does anybody have any feedback on the session with Devin Fidler? I wasn't able to attend the Conference in New Orleans. This sounded pretty interesting though.

IT WOULD BE GREAT IF YOU COULD LET THEM KNOW WHAT YOUR THOUGHTS ARE ON THE FUTURIST SESSIONS...

• What did you think of Devin's presentations
  
  
• What did you get out of it?
  


• Do you agree that future leaders are on a career lattice rather than ladder and will change careers repeatedly during their lifetime? Will you?


• How will you use the information that Devin shared to further your own career and/or to further the success of the industry?
  

For more information on the Devin Fidler or the Institute of Alternative Futures:

http://www.altfutures.com/index.asp

MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD

ITS YOUR LAST CHANCE TO FILL OUT THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE EVALUATION

Just click on this link:

http://www.zoomerang.com/survey.zgi?p=WEB2273FG3APHH

Tell the VRMA

• What you thought of the conference


• Which session was your favorite and why


• Pick 3 locations where you would like to see the seminars or conference take place


• Rank all of the sessions

AND MORE

POST CONFERENCE WIND-DOWN OR IS IT WARM-UP?

We thank everyone for attending the conference, the Future Leaders Forum and the special Futurist session with Devin Fidler!

The VRMA had a blast and we hope you did too!

We want to take this opportunity to relive all of the exciting (and educational) moments at the conference and to solicit your feedback.

- The Future Leaders Forum received more attendees than expected, which only confirms that the vacation rental industry is filled with future leaders.

- We hope you enjoyed the forum and we hope you will tell the VRMA what you thought and give us any suggestions you might have to improve it.

- There were also a lot of interesting information and facts at the Devin Fidler Special Session. He brought forward the idea that future leaders are on a career lattice, rather than a career ladder, and will change careers 6-10 times during their lifetime. We wonder what this will mean for the vacation rental industry and would enjoy hearing any thoughts you might have on the subject.

The VRMA wants to know what your perfect conference looks like and what type of future leaders sessions you would like to see. Please comment on this blog or e-mail the VRMA at vrma@vrma.com.

DO YOU HAVE A CAREER PLAN, GOALS, DREAMS? HAVE YOU REACHED THEM?

VRMA HAS CONSTRUCTED 2 SESSIONS, JUST FOR YOU

AT THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE

These sessions are:

Created to support you in your endeavors


Giving you a space to discuss the issues you personally face in the industry


Allowing you a forum find constructive answers to issues you may face in the workplace


Enabling you in finding resources to help you plan for your future


Teaching you what the future of careers may hold


Discussing strategies & hidden opportunities that may allow you to stay ahead of the career curve



THE SESSIONS INCLUDES:


VRMA Future Leaders Forum


Monday, October 15


3:15-4:30pm

Maurepas Room, 3rd Floor

Facilitators: Tami Florer, Laik LePera, Marissa Dyer


This session provides an opportunity for you to talk about industry issues from your own perspective, discuss prospective resources for career advancement, and build a community of your peers for the purposes of expanding you network of colleagues, friends, and aquaintances.

Future Leaders Special Session
Tuesday, October 16

5:10-6:10pm

Speaker: Devin Fidler, The Institute of Alternative Futures

As a Futurist, Devin Fidler studies how work and business are changing and where future opportunities are emerging.

He will outline the five biggest factors, which are making careers over the next thirty years more complex than ever before and the best strategies that have been discovered to deal with this change.

Factors, such as:

Why are unconventional careers, from dot.coms launched in dorm rooms to professional poker playing at home, becoming more common?

&

Why is the old picture of a "career ladder" actually making many people's working lives worse?

In this session, participants will explore the answers to these, and many other questions, and how these answers reveal hidden opportunities for all careers.

WHAT DOES YOUR FUTURE LOOK LIKE & WHAT DOES IT HAVE TO DO WITH THE VRMA FUTURE LEADERS FORUM?

VRMA WANTS TO MAKE THE FORUM WORK FOR YOU!

IF YOU COULD ASK ANY QUESTION AT THE FUTURE LEADERS FORUM - WHAT WOULD IT BE?

PLEASE LET THE VRMA KNOW BECAUSE YOUR QUESTION COULD BE ASKED AND ANSWERED BY YOUR PEERS WHO ARE ATTENDING THE FORUM.

*Feel free to comment on this topic through the blog or communicate straight with the VRMA via phone or e-mail .

WISHFUL THINKING

AS A VRM FROM THE x OR y GENERATION, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE ABOUT THE INDUSTRY TO ACCOMODATE YOUR EMERGENCE AS A FUTURE LEADER?

Anything is a possibility, but here are some examples...

• New updated office technology


• A fresh approach to marketing


• More respect from owners, customers, managers and/or co-workers


• Attracting new types of customers (ex. this trend toward togethering)


• New approach to guest relations


• New approach to owner relations


• More VRMA sessions focused on issues and industry problem solving for the x & y generations
  

Aladdin - Friend Like Me (English)

Here is the question!

IF I HAD ONE WISH...

IF YOU HAD ONE THING THAT WOULD MAKE YOUR LIFE EASIER AS A VRM (VACATION RENTAL MANAGER) WHAT WOULD IT BE?

The world is your oyster on this question, but here are some examples:

• More Inventory
• Less inventory
• More up-to-date office equipment
• New procedures in the office
• More respect from management or co-workers
• More $$$
• Friendlier customers
• Friendlier owners
• Friendlier management
• Friendlier co-workers
• More responsibilites at work
• Less responsibilites at work
• More input regarding management issues
• Less input regarding management issues
• More fun
• Less fun (lol)
  

THE AGE DIFFERENCE

Q: How do you

supervise older

employees that

report to you?

Examples

-When you need something specific done?

-When there is a problem with something they have done?

-When you want to reward/praise them for doing a good job?

DIFFICULT GUESTS

5-Part Question


1. What types of difficult guests do you encounter most often?


2. How do you deal with difficult guests???


3. Do you believe that the way you deal with difficult guests is different from the way your older counterparts deal with them or the same?

4. Please answer the following example describing the way you would handle this particular situation. If you answered "different" to question 3, please describe some of the differences between how a generation XY and Vacation Rental Managers from another generation would handle the situation.

EXAMPLE

Your guest arrives at the rental, which they had chosen based on online pictures and conversations with you or another representative and tells you that they were mislead. The customer tells you that the property was misrepresented and they don't want to stay there and want a substantial discount (40%).

*** You believe this property was represented accurately and that the customer is just being difficult, WHAT DO YOU DO?

5. Please let us know if these questions, regarding difficult guests are helpful to you as a forum for industry solutions to problems such as this.

Thank you

Welcome to the VRMA Future Leaders Blog

An article titled Speaker Savvy by Jeanne Martinson states, "Each generation has unique perspectives on work, loyalty, communication, and leadership." Recognizing this, VRMA views the XY generation as the future leaders of the Vacation Rental Industry and wants to support your educational and professional development in order to ensure your individual success, the success of your peers and of the industry in its entirety.

In an effort to do this effectively , and with your input, we have created this blog. The purpose is to serve as a way for Vacation Rental Managers from the XY Generation to be an integral part of the planning process for the Future Leaders Forum, held at the 2007 Annual Conference in New Orleans.

Please take part in our polls and share your interests, stories, examples and advice with other Vacation Rental Manager Bloggers. You are also welcome to critique and rate the questions asked in this blog, including their relevance and importance to you as a vacation rental manager. This will ensure that the VRMA provides you and your peers with an excellent and educational experience at the upcoming annual conference.

Thank You!