| Invited participants: | Owners and managers in the independent serviced accommodation sector including hotels, B&Bs, guesthouses, inns, restaurants with rooms, cottages, apartments |
| Date: | Tuesday 4th February 2014 |
| Time: | 09.30 am to 10.00 am registration & coffee; Conference closes 04.30 pm; Optional Q&A to 05.00 pm |
| Lunch: | 2 course buffet served during conference |
| Venue: | Merchant Taylors Hall, Aldwark, York, YO1 7BX |
| Car park: | There are up to 20 parking spaces on site, public car parks are within a 5 minute walk and York station a short taxi journey or walk away. |
| Ticket price: | £30 per head (£25 Business Club members) includes lunch & tea/coffee |
| Other events: | Optional social events in the evening and following day will be charged for separately. |
| Time | Content | Facilitator / Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| 09.30 | Arrival - Welcome cuppa and Registration | |
| 10.00 | Club AGM - For Members and Non Members alike. Meet the Committee, hear the various club proposals. Treasurer's report |
Roy McGregor - Chair, BedPosts Dennis Pearson - Treasurer, BedPosts |
| 10.45 | Online Travel Agents - Discussion: Should we use them? Can BedPosts negotiate concessions? | Roy McGregor - Chair, BedPosts |
| 11.30 | Break: Tea/coffee and biscuits | |
| 11.50 | Running a Green B&B | David Nichol-Brown - Proprietor, Polemonium Plantery and B&B |
| 12.25 | Responsive websites - and other new technology | Ben Gooding - Director, Internet Results Limited |
| 13.00 | Lunch | |
| 14.00 | Reviews Scheme - and other BedPosts website features. | Ben Gooding - Director, Internet Results Limited |
| 14.30 | Importance of partnerships in the promotion of a destination | Kate McMullen - CEO, Visit York |
| 15.00 | Beyond Booking.com | Tony Blaney - Chairman, Lakes Hospitality Association |
| 15.30 | Break: Coffee | |
| 15.45 | BedPosts in 2014 | Roy McGregor - Chair, BedPosts |
| 16.30 | Conference officially closes; optionally stay on for Q&A and/or join BedPosts BreakAway members for dinner (extra cost) | |
| 16.30 | Forum Q&A (optional) - for those seeking advice on how to use the BedPosts forums to their full capacity. | Ben Gooding - Director, Internet Results Limited |
| 17.00 | End | |
The conference is at the start of a two-day get-together and conference participants are invited to join in other activities as desired:
For further information go to bedposts.org.uk/club/breakaway.htm
BedPosts started as an Internet Forum in 2006 as a method of communicating with and seeking help from fellow-accommodation providers over badly-drafted EU legislation - The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 - resulting in overzealous interpretation and application by the UK Fire Services.
After discussion of hundreds of different topics and a substantial increase in numbers, the membership decided to progress from talking together to also doing things together. They chose the name BedPosts, having two meanings, a pun on the fact that members post messages on forum noticeboards.
BedPosts is a mutual and democratic organisation characterised by frequent voting on its forum. At the conference, the Chairman will appraise members of the plans for BedPosts' future which take into account the votes and consultations.
BedPosts.org.uk, and its system of daily or weekly newsletters, is both a focal point of members' activities and a means of advertising their businesses to the travelling public. Main Features:
Membership of BedPosts is free of charge, the costs of its major expenditure, the website, being met from advertising revenue.
Membership of the BedPosts Business Club is £50 per annum.
BedPosts started as an Internet Forum in 2006 as a method of communicating with and seeking help from fellow-accommodation providers over badly-drafted EU legislation - The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 - resulting in overzealous interpretation and application by the UK Fire Services.
After discussion of hundreds of different topics and a substantial increase in numbers, the membership decided to progress from talking together to also doing things together. They chose the name BedPosts, having two meanings, a pun on the fact that members post messages on forum noticeboards.
BedPosts is a mutual and democratic organisation characterised by frequent voting on its forum. At the conference, the Chairman will appraise members of the plans for BedPosts' future which take into account the votes and consultations.
BedPosts.org.uk, and its system of daily or weekly newsletters, is both a focal point of members' activities and a means of advertising their businesses to the travelling public. Main Features: