ENSEMBLE CONFERENCE TAKING SHAPE

The 2013 Ensemble Travel Group International Conference is taking shape and will offer members, suppliers and guests more than 40 highly focused learning opportunities over the course of the four-day event that kicks off at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs on Oct. 31. Topics range from next generation Ensemble technology, social media best practices, and the changing role of the travel agent, to selling the affluent traveller, elevating your value with clients, and turning shoppers into buyers. In addition, daily “happy hour”sessions with select suppliers, indoor and outdoor experiential learning tours, and newly designed formats for the conference tradeshows and hotel partner exchanges promise content and networking that truly deliver results. Peter Sheahan, founder and CEO of ChangeLabs, is the conference keynote speaker on Nov. 1. The results of ChangeLabs’ extensive research with Ensemble and dozens of other global organizations in various industries will be revealed and examined by Sheahan and a related panel immediately following the keynote. In addition, the audience will learn how businesses use their expertise and confidence to differentiate themselves, how they build a brand around it, how their sales behavior changes because of it, how they build the infrastructure to support it, and how they deliver on it. Other industry and business speakers at the 2013 Ensemble Travel Group International Conference include Larry Pimentel, president and CEO of Azamara Club Cruise Line; Bruce Poon Tip, founder of G Adventures and global leader in sustainability and social entrepreneurship; Craig Elston, senior vice-president of insight and strategy for The Integer Group; Meredith Hill, president of Gifted Travel Network (an Ensemble member agency); John Hughes and Peter Brown, both Deloitte executives and co-authors of The Power of the Best that showcases the best managed companies in Canada; and Julie Durham and Tom Sycko, from Sabre Travel Network. (http://www.joinensemble.com)