Conference Highlights

Another post that I am not quite sure where to start. Conference what an amazing experience. If your company has an annual conference I hope you get even half out of it as I get from mine as I am rejuvenated and learn so much and come home completely ready to go and exhausted at the same time.
I left Ottawa on Sunday April 28th after spending the day before at the North Dundas Business Expo as a vendor and the evening out with my husband at a Mason event. I left my home at 3:30 am drove to Ottawa grabbed a flight to Toronto and then a flight to Puerto Vallarta. As we were not the only plane to arrive the airport was a bit hectic but we did manage to make it and on our transfer bus to the hotel. Agents, Staff, Suppliers and press managed to fill 3 buses and this was only the people coming from Ontario and down East. We were able to do our quick check in on the bus as it being a group processing is a bit different. It was late afternoon so after unpacking we went for an early dinner before heading to our meet and greet cocktail party. By the time my head hit the bed I was past being tired.

 Outside of the airport waiting for the bus

 performers at the cocktail party out on the terrace

the last last glimpse of the amazing sunset. 

The next morning we got off to our packed week of learning. This day of learning started at 8:30 am. The theme for this year's conference was MoreU. It was about taking more time for ourselves that we are not the best for our clients, or our families if we do not have a proper balance. After a long day we had a cocktail party and dinner out on the terrace of the hotel with a theme of the 80's.

 Buffet (my favourite was the ceviche station)

 Rocky or is it?

Presentations at dinner

 Tuesday was another full day of learning from suppliers and head office staff. We learn about promotions from select suppliers and about what there products are all about. It is great learning in this type of environment not just at home in front of a computer screen. Having lunch with fellow agents learning from them. Meeting with the suppliers. At the end of the day we headed to the Reflect Krystal Grand Neuvo for a cocktail party on the beach and a dinner.

set up for dinner (think the fried dough was the big hit)

Wednesday was our free day. We were only asked to check out one of the specialty restaurants at the Iberostar. In the morning a group of us headed to Casa Clu for our giveback morning. We got back to our resort in time for lunch and after lunch I wrote my CTA exam. Two hours was intense. I actually went back to my room afterwards and had a nap. In the evening I headed to the French Restaurant for supper with a few fellow agents.

Lobby Bar after dinner (live band)

Thursday morning we heard the last of the supplier presentations. After lunch we had break out sessions on different topics. We were able to chose the ones that reflected what we want to sell etc.. I did a marketing session and a group session. Cocktail party and dinner tonight was held at the Marival Armony.

I am sure many of you have heard of speed dating before. Where you get to meet someone talk for ten minutes and when the bell rings you move on to the next person. We have 30 suppliers who attended Conference we get to pick ten that we want to "speed date". So what we actually get to do is have a one on one session with the supplier and every ten minutes we change suppliers. It is a great time to get questions answered and learn more about their products. When these sessions were over we had a presentation from our keynote speaker Pat Muisseux and then we had our closing session. In the afternoon after lunch we had a cocktail party out by the pool and in the evening we had our gala event which included, dinner awards and dancing.

green cocktails

Saturday was a free day. I spent some time exploring, relaxing by the pool and taking in the last of the beautiful weather and resort. I had dinner at the Teppanyaki restaurant. On Sunday I started my voyage back home. Flying to Toronto and then back to Ottawa and making the drive home. Getting home early Monday morning.

At the end of the day this was an amazing conference and I can not wait for next years. Moon Palace in Jamaica. I can not wait to share that one with you also.

Where you can find me:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/stephaniethetravelagentnextdoor

Website: http://www.exclusivetoyoutravel.ca

Email: slough@exclusivetoyoutravel.ca

TICO 50021282

55 York Street, Suite 1003

Toronto, On M5J 1R7
Office Phone 416-367-8264 ext 2625
Direct Phone 613-543-3006

Please keep in mind that while my head office is in Toronto. I am a home based travel agent and I live in South Dundas and I can service clients anywhere in Canada. But, I meet with clients in the SD&G area

La Casa Clu

La Casa Clu wow where to start.Yet another organization giving back to the underprivileged. Last year when we went to conference in Punt Cana we were given an opportunity to give back to a local school in need of help for a half a morning on our free day. We were also asked once again to that this year.
La Casa Clu is the organization that we became involved with. Before we headed out we were greeted at our hotel by Jessica Zepeda a psychologist who helped found this organization so she could tell us about what it is that they do and what it is she was looking for from us. Here is a recap from one of their donation pages

Jessica Zepeda 

La Casa Clü is a community center that works everyday with the children of San Ignacio, Nayarit, Mexico; a town where the violence levels are very high and the education, health, nutrition and infrastructure levels are very low. We are a band, a team, a club that dedicates everyday to learning and developing through play and personalised attention.Donate and support our workshops and daily activities so we can keep being part of the story of the children of San Ignacio. With your donation we will pay for salaries, buy material and maintain our land in good shape so we can keep dreaming, creating, and playing with our children.

Here is a link to an amazing video we got to watch https://youtu.be/T7Y5IDdmyBE

We then were taken over in shuttles to the property where we were given the opportunity to help with painting, gardening and playing with the kids. I have shared a few pictures of this morning on my Instagram and Business Facebook page but it is so much easier to share the bulk of them here. The work they do with these children is so inspiring as well as helping the families. We were told that they had received a generous donation from a benefactor in the Fall that has allowed them to purchase the land that they had been renting and is now allowing them to move forward with structures and buildings and providing the children with amazing experiences. 

We provided them with backpacks full of school supplies, gently used clothing or new clothing and non perishable food. These items will be used as rewards and to meet the needs of the kids away from the club. Children who behave well are taken on field trips things they never would get to enjoy with their families.

Now I will share with you some pictures of the kids and families. They were so happy to have us there helping they made us food and treated us so well and thanked us for what we brought to them. 

 Bamboo trees we were going to help plant

Set up to paint rocks to help protecting the new planting

 Kids at play

 many people were taking picture with the eagle wings. This one caught me at this little guys daddy was holding him up his parents were maybe sixteen if they were lucky

 A TTAND logo rock and some Canada Maple Leafs. Great talent among us

 little cutie enjoying some of the food

 kids and volunteers getting ready to play game 

some music and showing off some of the dancing/fighting they have learned

I know another fine group to give too they also welcome volunteers if you are going to be in the Nayarit area of Mexico, Here is their facebook page https://www.facebook.com/lacasaclu/

Where you can find me:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/stephaniethetravelagentnextdoor

Website: http://www.exclusivetoyoutravel.ca

Email: slough@exclusivetoyoutravel.com

TICO 500212282

55 York Street, Suite 1003

Toronto, On M5J 1R7

Please keep in mind that while my head office is in Toronto. I am a home based travel agent and I live in South Dundas and I can service clients anywhere in Canada. But, I meet with clients in the SD&G area

Pencils for Kids

The Travel Agent Next door has been supporting Pencils for kids as our charity of choice for the last five years. I have worked for Exclusive to you travel for the last four years which falls under the umbrella of the Travel Agent Next Door. The last three years I have had the privilege of being able to attend our Annual Conference.
Conferences are a great time to connect with fellow travel agents, head office support staff, suppliers and learning new things. At my first conference I had the pleasure to hear Robin Mednick speak. Robin is one of the founders of Pencils for kids and the story she tells of the people of Niger, West Africa is one that is compelling and sadly all too familiar when it comes to third world countries.

Robin Mednick (Photo courtesy of Dan Galbraith)

 This year Robin only briefly touched on the story as many of us have heard it before but she brought her Ophthalmologist husband with her to share his story. He went to Libore with Robin and wanted to help the people of Libore as well. He was able to get into contact with Orbis, a revolutionary mobile eye hospital housed on a jet airplane. For two weeks in 2010, a team of doctors (which he was included in), nurses and health care workers trained local ophthalmologists and nurses with new techniques, provided educational outreach, and operated on patients on board the airplane hospital. Close to 400 people were screened during the Libore outreach program, with a quarter receiving follow up treatment. He went on to tell us about a young lady who they could not help her cataracts were too far gone and she was now blind and there was nothing he could do.  Where we can get our eyes checked yearly until 18 for free and the cost of regular check ups after that is not debilitating it is heart wrenching to hear stories like this.

 Ed Mednick (photo courtesy of Dan Galbraith)

Orbis Plane (photo courtesy of Dan Galbraith)

We are given an opportunity to donate to this fine cause and in return we are entered to win prizes that our suppliers have donated. I suppliers have even gone out of their way to donate some really big prizes that were actually put up for silent auction where our colleagues both at conference and at home could bid on. This year our team raised over $30,000 in one week bringing our five year total to over $60,000. The money this year for Pencil for kids is being put towards sewing machines, chairs and computers. Now when we say sewing machine's we are talking about the manual one's not your fancy electric models. These machines help the women of Libore earn a living for their families.
It is so hard when everyone is looking at us to help out with some great cause. But think of how lucky we truly are even if celery is pricing out at $5.00 for a bunch. Our government provide us with child tax benefits to supplement our income. Ontario works helps out if you having trouble finding work. Our food banks help make sure there is food in our bellies if we can not. Many of our schools have breakfast programs. And yes we are asked to donate to these causes as well. But these people in Libore did not even have the means to support themselves. They are faced with a cyclical drought that often lead to death by starvation. Pencils for kids has provided them with a school, they have taught them new agriculture skills and helped them learn to deal with their weather problems. They have provided them with sewing equipment and skills to sell what they make and support themselves.
This is not a constant hand out to keep them feed, rather they have been supported and given the skills to take care of themselves, and the women and children of Libore have stepped up to the challenge.
So I am asking for you to please take a moment and consider Pencil for kids as a great cause to support and I am providing you with the link to their web page. http://pencilsforkids.com/
I am also providing you with the link for Orbis as they help all over the world so if you feel like helping them out as well here you go https://orbiscan.akaraisin.com/Common/Event/Home.aspx?seid=15267&mid=8

Below is a picture of our founder Flemming Friisdahl presenting Robin with a huge pencil award (made from recycled chopsticks from a company in BC). You can tell just how humble of a lady Robin is and how much she appreciates what we have done for her cause. Once again this photo has been shared courtesy of Dan Galbraith who incidentally is the photographer who made that phone call to Robin all those years ago after going to Libore with a a group of athletes and seeing 30 kids sharing one pencil.

Where you can find me:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/stephaniethetravelagentnextdoor

Website: http://www.exclusivetoyoutravel.ca

Email: slough@exclusivetoyoutravel.com

TICO 500212282

55 York Street, Suite 1003

Toronto, On M5J 1R7

Please keep in mind that while my head office is in Toronto. I am a home based travel agent and I live in South Dundas and I can service clients anywhere in Canada. But, I meet with clients in the SD&G area

Ibersotar Playa Mita 2

Ibersotar Playa Mita has a children's pool a splash pad and it is right beside the Star Camp children's activity program. Now I thought I had pictures of this area but apparently I did a facebook live post but did not take pictures afterwards. That is what happens when you get all worked up over a video.
Beside the adult pool they have a bar and a snack shack and lots of area with shade. I will admit that on Saturday I may have sat beside the pool for a bit and read a book and had a few drinks. I do like reading a good book while I am travelling. I did not get into the pool or the beach. I just did not have the energy for it. The week was just so exhausting with learning and socializing.

 Got a bit of a burn even with sunscreen applied twice

 Great Book

Awesome drink a mango tango

Small secret about myself I do not drink a lot and am not good with picking drinks. So I tend to ask people for help and go by colours. I had some nice green drinks at our pool party the Friday afternoon and then that night at our gala I was drinking blue. Other than the white wine this is how I ordered my drinks. At home I often have Cesear's but they just do not happen in the states or mexico. Bloody Mary's are not the same just saying.

The Green drinks

Hanging out at the pool party!! (may have been some wind)

Our food at gala night was also a delight and I tried some new things and had a great time while some of my fellow agents were awarded for their success including my "boss" / "agency owner" Steph Switzer. It is great being able to work on such a great team and with so many great people. This conference themed More U and it was about taking time for ourselves so that we can better serve/meet our customers needs and finding a family/work/you life balance.

 Appetizer Seared Ahi Tuna

 Soup: Poblano Chile Cream Soup With sweet corn and smut chips

 Main Course: Braided Beef over dauphanoise potato, vegetable bouquet

Mocha cake

I was very impressed with the food I ate at the resort and the resort over all. There is lots to keep a family entertained and nearby towns Sayulita & Puerto Vallarta can be visited. There are lots of great winter specials on right now and a few Fall deals so definitely a good resort to take a look at if you are looking to go somewhere new and all inclusive.

Where you can find me:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/stephaniethetravelagentnextdoor

Website: http://www.exclusivetoyoutravel.ca

Email: slough@exclusivetoyoutravel.com

TICO 500212282

55 York Street, Suite 1003

Toronto, On M5J 1R7

Please keep in mind that while my head office is in Toronto. I am a home based travel agent and I live in South Dundas and I can service clients anywhere in Canada. But, I meet with clients in the SD&G area

Iberostar Playa Mita

This year's conference for the Travel Agent Next Door was held just outside of Puerto Vallarta at the Iberostar Playa Mita Resort. Being on the other side of Mexico it was closer for our West Coast Agent's for a change. Puerto Vallarta and Los Cabos are actually becoming more popular for the East Coast as well as Ontario and Quebec visitors.
Amid the beauty of the tropical coast and excitement of All-Inclusive features, guests will discover a paradise at Iberostar Selection Playa Mita that is designed to make all those vacation dreams a reality. The combination of the exquisite waterfront location on the Pacific Coast with Iberostar’s 5-star resort facilities makes this resort nothing short of spectacular. Allow yourself to be introduced to a better way to vacation with your family and friends and experience a variety of activities, entertainment, and dining on the Riviera Nayarit, Mexico.
I was impressed with the property. Most of us had garden view suites or pool view. A few agents did upgrade to the ocean front rooms. I enjoyed where I was as I was closer to the lobby, restaurants and where most of the training was. I did not mind walking the short distance to the pool area, reception terrace or beach.
I shared a room with a fellow agent with two double beds, a nice walk in shower and a decent sized bathroom. The balcony was also a great size. The mini fridge was well stocked and there was a coffee machine in the room.

 The couch in our room (easily used as a bed for a child)

 Two double beds

 Shower and sink

Lots of room for the toilet this year (not a closet)

Welcome fruit plate and bottle of red wine

 Later in the week we had this plate delivered to our room also

The Resort has a theater with shows I did not make it to one with all the coktail parties etc.. They also have a disco. They do themes as they did set up the lobby area for a Casino night and a Mexico theme on Cinco do Mayo when we were leaving.

Roulette table

I did take 90% of my meals at the buffet and I was quite happy with the choices offered. Fresh guacamole, how I miss the already. It is just not the same at home. I also ate at the Pacific Express which is the French Restaurant and the Teppanyaki restaurant. I did miss out on the steak house and Mexican restaurant. There is a coffee shop open 24 hours and I was able to enjoy my caramel maachiato. We did have a dinner one night on the reception terrace which was a great buffet and I noticed a wedding reception there later in the week. Our gala evening was held in the ballroom where our sessions during the week were held.

Following Pictures are from the French Restaurant:

 Three flavours of butter: regular, herb and coffee

 Amuse Bouche (Ratatouille in a pastry cup)

Appetizer Lobster Timble 

 Main beef tenderloin with potato dauphaine

Dessert yummy brownie

The following are a few photos from Teppenyaki. This chef was amazing with his knife skills.

 Sushi appetizer (my partner did not like sushi so I scored it all)

 Knife skills

 Dinner companions

 more Dinner companions

 Appetizer I can not remember which soup I picked but it was good

 Fried Rice

Shrimp and veggies (I actually used the chopsticks)

I follow up with more of this great resort in my next blog post. Any questions about this amazing resort please ask away.

Where you can find me:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/stephaniethetravelagentnextdoor

Website: http://www.exclusivetoyoutravel.ca

Email: slough@exclusivetoyoutravel.com

TICO 500212282

55 York Street, Suite 1003

Toronto, On M5J 1R7

Please keep in mind that while my head office is in Toronto. I am a home based travel agent and I live in South Dundas and I can service clients anywhere in Canada. But, I meet with clients in the SD&G area