CONFERENCE ARCHIVES | 2021 Schedule

​The 2021 Conference was held at the Chatham Bars Inn in Chatham, Massachusetts, November 3-5. 

The following schedule is from the 2021 Conference which has passed. 

Wednesday, November 3, 2021
11:00 AM - 5:00 PM	Conference Registration Desk Open & Refreshments	Main Lobby
11:00 AM - 11:40 AM	Executive Committee Meeting Open to Committee Members Only	Executive Board Room
11:45 AM - 1:00 PM	NEIRA Board Meeting	Garden Suite
1:15 PM - 2:45 PM	2021 Conference Kick-off and Opening Speaker General Session: Leading a 5-Star Team Presenter: Dr. Bryan K. Williams, D.M., Professional Speaker, Consultant, Author 5-star leaders are unapologetically devoted to excellence and simply refuse to accept or celebrate mediocre performance from their team. This session will review the leadership skills and competencies needed to lead a 5-star caliber team. Special emphasis will be placed on proven techniques and processes used by highly effective leaders worldwide.	Monomoy
2:45 PM - 3:00 PM	Break	Monomoy Lobby
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM	General Session: Build Your Best Team: Hiring Top Hospitality Talent in a Post-Covid Market, followed by Round Table Discussions Presenter: Adam Robinson The post-pandemic economic recovery is here. Vaccine rates are increasing, COVID cases are on the decline, and folks are starting to embrace normalcy again. But as a business in the hospitality industry, you’re not finding the recovery to be quite as easy. You’re having a hard time staffing up to the capacity you need to keep up with the post-COVID consumer spending boom. You simply can’t find applicants and even when you do, you struggle to get them in the door for interviews. As a result, you risk failing to meet the needs of your customers and losing revenue to the competitors down the street. In this keynote address, Hireology CEO Adam Robinson will use his 20+ years of experience in the staffing industry plus newly released Hireology data on the state of hiring today to offer advice on how you can overcome these challenges. He’ll highlight how job seeker expectations have changed due to COVID-19 and what you as an organization can do about it in order to attract top talent, keep them engaged throughout the hiring process, and ultimately build your best team.	Monomoy
4:00 PM - 5:30 PM	Member to Member Round Table Discussions (Open to Lodging Properties Only)	Monomoy
6:00 PM - 7:00 PM	Reception Dress: Resort Evening Wear – Suit, button up shirt with dinner jacket, dresses, skirts	Garden Suite, Sacred Cod, South Lounge & Lobby
7:00 PM - 9:00 PM	Dinner	Stars
9:00 PM - Late Night	Back Together Again Celebration Join us for music, libations, laughter, and fun.	Monomoy
Thursday, November 4, 2021
7:00 AM - 8:15 AM	Breakfast	Stars
8:00 AM - 12:00 PM	Conference Registration Desk Open	Main Lobby
8:30 AM - 9:15 AM	Concurrent Session I Work like you own it! 3 Habits of Service Superstars - Bryan Williams Location: Beach House Grill This session will review the work habits and approach to service that world-class employees have. Special emphasis will be placed on three habits of service superstars. All attendees will leave this session with practical and applicable tools/concepts to use immediately. Diversify Your Applicant Sourcing: 6 Channels to Add to Your Sourcing Mix Today - Adam Robinson Location: Garden Suite As the talent shortage rages on, hospitality businesses are finding it especially hard to not only find applicants to fill open roles but also keep these folks engaged throughout the hiring process. One factor that is likely playing a big role in this challenge is your sourcing strategy. Chances are you’re relying on one or two sources for applicants only, and it’s holding you back from finding job seekers who are both qualified and interested in your job opportunities. In this break-out session, Hireology CEO Adam Robinson will dig deeper into why you need to have a diversified sourcing strategy as well as a robust process for analyzing the effectiveness of your sources. He’ll also provide in-depth advice for how to succeed on 6 of the most effective channels today — everything from your career site to social media. Adam brings more than 20 years of experience in the staffing space and is uniquely positioned to discuss sourcing strategies for decentralized businesses in the hospitality industry. B.A.R.E. Essentials of Digital Marketing - Rich Brooks Location: Alden COVID has sped up the process of pushing the buyer's journey online. Even post-pandemic, your customers will be turning to Google and their friends on Facebook to make a buying decision. How can you build a winning online presence, drive traffic from search and social, build an engaged audience, and generate all leads your growing business needs? In this high-energy session you'll discover the B.A.R.E. Essentials of successful online marketing. Standing Out from the Crowd - Gary Thulander, Anthony Cole, Josh Schiff, Adam Couto, Simon Rodrigues, Beth Patkoske, and Robert Muehlich Location: Boat House Set yourself apart from your comp set! Managing Director Gary Thulander and the team from Chatham Bars Inn will share creative ideas for partnerships and programming as well as best practices for social media to help you shine in the hospitality industry.	Multiple Locations
9:30 AM - 10:15 AM	Concurrent Session II (Repeat sessions) Work like you own it! 3 Habits of Service Superstars - Bryan Williams Location: Beach House Grill This session will review the work habits and approach to service that world-class employees have. Special emphasis will be placed on three habits of service superstars. All attendees will leave this session with practical and applicable tools/concepts to use immediately. Diversify Your Applicant Sourcing: 6 Channels to Add to Your Sourcing Mix Today - Adam Robinson Location: Garden Suite As the talent shortage rages on, hospitality businesses are finding it especially hard to not only find applicants to fill open roles but also keep these folks engaged throughout the hiring process. One factor that is likely playing a big role in this challenge is your sourcing strategy. Chances are you’re relying on one or two sources for applicants only, and it’s holding you back from finding job seekers who are both qualified and interested in your job opportunities. In this break-out session, Hireology CEO Adam Robinson will dig deeper into why you need to have a diversified sourcing strategy as well as a robust process for analyzing the effectiveness of your sources. He’ll also provide in-depth advice for how to succeed on 6 of the most effective channels today — everything from your career site to social media. Adam brings more than 20 years of experience in the staffing space and is uniquely positioned to discuss sourcing strategies for decentralized businesses in the hospitality industry. B.A.R.E. Essentials of Digital Marketing - Rich Brooks Location: Alden COVID has sped up the process of pushing the buyer's journey online. Even post-pandemic, your customers will be turning to Google and their friends on Facebook to make a buying decision. How can you build a winning online presence, drive traffic from search and social, build an engaged audience, and generate all leads your growing business needs? In this high-energy session you'll discover the B.A.R.E. Essentials of successful online marketing. Standing Out from the Crowd - Gary Thulander, Anthony Cole, Josh Schiff, Adam Couto, Simon Rodrigues, Beth Patkoske, and Robert Muehlich Location: Boat House Set yourself apart from your comp set! Managing Director Gary Thulander and the team from Chatham Bars Inn will share creative ideas for partnerships and programming as well as best practices for social media to help you shine in the hospitality industry.	Multiple Locations
10:30 AM - 12:05 PM	Micro Learning Sessions with Sponsors Donuts, Coffee, Bloody Mary’s, Mimosas & Speed Dating Education – 13 sessions offered, you pick 4 and rotate every 20 minutes. If a session is full, please move to another. Attend for your chance to win the Airpods Pro!	South Lounge
12:15 PM - 1:30 PM	Lunch	Stars
1:30 PM - 3:45 PM	Dessert & Sponsor Trade Show Have dessert, visit the conference sponsors, and enter to win great prizes. Grand prize - Apple IPad Air!	Monomoy
4:00 PM - 6:00 PM	Leisure Time	On Your Own
6:15 PM - 9:00 PM	James Bond Themed Cocktail Reception & Dinner - Dress to Impress Dress up in your best Bond style formal wear or dress the style of one of your favorite characters. (Your Favorite Bond Villain, Your favorite Bond Girl, Your Favorite Henchman or Goon, Your favorite Bond Actor, Your favorite MI6 Character) Be ready to play casino games (poker, blackjack, roulette, and craps). There will be a prize for the most chips at the end of the night.	Garden Suite, Sacred Cod, South Lounge & Lobby
Friday, November 5, 2021
7:30 AM - 8:40 AM	Breakfast	Stars
8:45 AM - 10:00 AM	General Session: Towards the Full Recovery from COVID-19 – New England Traveler and Resident Insights Presenter: Anna Blount, Longwoods International The COVID-19 pandemic was particularly hard on the Northeast travel and hospitality sectors, with 2020 domestic overnight visitation alone declining 31.4%. In this presentation, Anna Blount from Longwoods International will discuss visitor profile shifts that continue to impact the region, as well as traveler sentiment insights, including post-COVID-19 traveler expectations of hotels and amenities despite deep labor shortages. Additionally, New England residents’ support of tourism before and after the pandemic will be revealed, to see if temporarily losing the significant benefits of visitor spending in their communities has encouraged more residents to appreciate and support the sector.	Monomoy
10:15 AM - 11:30 AM	Closing Session: Nice Bike – Making Meaningful Connections Presenter: Mark Scharenbroich, Nicebike.com Mix thousands and thousands of black leather, bandana wearing, tattoo bearing Harley-Davidson riders with a 100th Anniversary and one beige rental car and the end result will be the perfect metaphor for connecting with others: “Nice Bike.” Nice Bike acts as a powerful catalyst to help build stronger, more unified teams. The message inspires audience members to be more engaged and passionate about connecting with others. Join Emmy award-winning speaker, Mark Scharenbroich as he takes you for a fun ride on how to be effective at making meaningful connections in both your professional and personal life. His Nice Bike principle is supported by three strong actions: Acknowledge, honor and connect. Mark has spent his career working in both industry and education discovering how some of the best organizations and team leaders build a culture that encourages people to perform at a higher level through greater engagement. Part motivational speaker, part thought-provoker and pure comedic entertainer – Mark Scharenbroich will inspire, teach and engage you with Nice Bike.	Monomoy