David Lorenz

Public and Industry Relations, Manager,Travel Michigan

Dave will provide a detailed analysis of 2012 results and an in-depth review of "Pure Michigan" plans for 2013. Consistently rated as one of the best parts of any tourism  conference, this is a presentation you won't want to miss.

"Turning on Possibilities!"

Our breakfast Keynote Speaker is a woman who doesn't just talk the talk...she walks the walk.  She is an inspiration to those who know her as she constantly exudes positive vibes to everyone she comes in contact with.  She founded a fun store with great people in a down economy in 2011
and hasn't looked back...positively affecting the downtown area, local people and fabric of society all from little old Escanaba, Michigan.  She believes that you have 1440 choices every single day and her mission in life is to affect the world "Positively!"

Join us for a pre-conference golf outing at the award winning Sweetgrass Golf Club prior to the Uppertunities Conference.  The date is Tuesday, May 21st at 12 PM EST.  We will be playing in a scramble format to include all new and seasoned golfers.  The operative word for this event is NETWORK!

Sponsored by the Bays de Noc and Marquette Country Convention and Visitors Bureaus.

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The Session's topics will include:

• Is my organization required to provide health insurance coverege to its employees in 2014?
• "Pay or Play"- what does that mean?
• Employer and individual penalties, taxes, and fees
• What are "Marketplaces" and is there a benefit to purchasing health insurance coverage through them?
• How do individual and small business tax credits and subsidies work?
• What are the demographics of the insured population going to look like int he future?  

Dave Hoover is the President and General Manager of Michigan Broadband Services. With over 30 years of experience in business management, technology transitions, and corporate mentoring, Dave has been recognized for the ability to develop, implement and execute turn-around models delivering lower costs, higher productivity and increased margins.

Everyone is talking about "the cloud," but what does it really mean? This session will focus on the answer to that very question. "Technology and Cloud-based Computing" is Dave's forte. He will educate on what cloud-based computing is all about and how it can benefit your business.

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Dr. Sarah Nicholls is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Community, Agriculture, Recreation & Resource Studies (CARRS) and Geography at Michigan State University. She holds a B.Sc. in Geography from University College London and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences from Texas A&M University. Sarah's work focuses on the planning, development and impacts of tourism in Michigan and beyond. She recently conducted a tourism development plan for the Caribbean island of St. Kitts, studies of both green lodging and agri-tourism in Michigan, and she was the lead facilitator of the 2012-2017 Michigan Tourism Strategic Plan.

Sarah teaches a variety of tourism classes, including Introduction to Travel and Tourism, Geography of Recreation and Tourism, Tourism in Regional Development, and Tourism and Global Change. She serves on the editorial boards of Tourism Analysis, the Journal of Leisure Research, the Journal of Travel Research and the Journal of Educational Travel. She also serves on the Michigan Lodging and Tourism Association's Education Committee and the Pure Michigan Governor's Conference on Tourism Conference Planning Committee. In April 2013 Sarah was presented with the Outstanding Achievement in Michigan Tourism Award by Governor Snyder.

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Joe Constance is a lifelong resident of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan

He has owned eleven different businesses and has had up to 200 employees.  Joe has had both plenty of success as well as many failures.  He facilitates workshops in a fun, relaxed and interactive way.   Joe has his Masters Degree with a focus in adult education from Northern Michigan University.

With two different sessions during the day will include:

"Give em the Pickle" - This workshop will cover ideas on how positive, upbeat, consistent service given by a team of individuals can make all the difference in success or failure.  Included in this workshop:

• Service - Make serving others your number one priority
• Attitude- How you think about the customer is how you will treat them
• Consistancy - Set high service standards and live them every day
• Team Work - Look for ways to make each other look good

"FISHing for Better Ways" - Competition today is tougher than ever and attention to customer needs and wants is one key that ANY individual and organization can use to win the battle.  It makes no difference if you are a one person operation or a multinational company, customer service is the single most important factor to your success or your failure.  This workshop will show how Pikes Place Fish Market utilizes 4 simple principles to provide great service to customers.  Then, how do those 4 principles relate to your organization and specifically to you. 

PLAY 

MAKE THEIR DAY 

BE THERE 

CHOOSE YOUR ATTITUDE

It is a fast paced, interactive and fun workshop that you will walk away from with a renewed excitement to provide better service to your customers AND your co-workers!  

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Business Marketing 

Joanna Wilbee Amis brings more than a dozen years of in-depth communications and marketing experience to her clients.

During her career, she has been deeply involved in the management of crisis communication issues and developed, placed and managed feature stories in national, regional and local print and broadcast outlets spanning a wide variety of consumer and trade outlets.Joanna holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing from Western Michigan University, with minors in communications and economics.  

Joanna of HobNob Communications will share strategies that any business, regardless of size, can follow to stand out from the competition. 

The session's topics will include

•  tips for making good marketing decisions
•  critical mistakes to avoid
•  the latest social media options available

It doesn't matter what kind of business you own, manage or work in. Peggy O'Connell Schumann has useful information on creative marketing for your business with little or no money.  In this energetic, fast paced session you will get advice on how to enhance your current advertising in ways that you may not have thought of, things that you can start implementing immediately and easily. Come and learn these simple, common sense ways to make your business Positively! stand out!

Effective Media Usage

Jim Beranwill discuss media usage along with representatives from other UP media sources. 

After a brief overview, the session will cover the benefits and proper uses of each media type and how each can help put the right message in front of the right audience for the right reasons.  You'll leave this session with a working understanding of how to use each media type effectively.  Media representatives will be on hand from local outlets for Q&A, moderated by Jim Beran. Sponsored by Michigan SBTDC.

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