The IBBG Spring 2007 Conference was held March 11th & 12th and was well attended and well received. The venue for the Conference was the Panorama National Resort at Lake Panorama in Panora Iowa. The Conference Center was spacious and comfortable. The service was superb,and the food was delicious and plentiful.
Sunday afternoon, Avis Pohl , Campus B&B in Ames, an Innkeeper and Innkeeping Consultant, presented a workshop for aspiring Innkeepers. The three hour workshop was extremely helpful to neophytes to Innkeeping. Avis is available for Innkeeper Training Seminars throughout the state either independently, or sponsored by IBBG. (campusbandb.com/training )
Sunday evening we were treated to a murder mystery dinner. This was sponsored by the IOWA GAMING ASSOCIATION The mystery was produced by Sherrie Hansen-Decker of the Blue Belle Inn in St. Ansgar (bluebelleinn.com), and was delightful. Parts were played by various Guild members, who turned out to be talented (ham) Actors, and the audience was much amused. Dinner was a prime rib buffet featuring succulent prime rib, lucious pork loin, and magnificent chicken breast as well as twice baked potatoes, varietal veggies and super salad followed by a cheesecake desert bar (prepared by Ray and Dorothy Spriggs, Carriage House B&B Grinnell). Guests left happy and well fed. A wine tasting experience was sponsored by Danish Countryside Vines and Wines near Elkhorn and Summerset Winery near Indianola.
Monday morning began with Continental breakfast sponsored by The Iowan magazine followed by introductions of the attendees. The morning speaker was Theresa Propes a CPA and Nationally Recognized Business Coach who showed us how to increase our bottom line exponentially with small improvements in various areas of performance. Our lobbyist Craig Walter was unable to give us his annual legislative update because of pressing business at the Capitol, he supplied a report which was passed on to members by IBBG co-chair Terry Moore. Current bills and proposed legislation effecting B&Bs was presented.
An excellent guest services video was shown prior to Luncheon. The program called "Give 'em The Pickle", supplied by the Iowa Tourism office, was a reminder of the importance of good attitude and consistant perfomance in our business.
A "State of the Guild" presentation was given by co-chair Terry Moore, current successes as well as new projects were discussed as well as the growing heavy traffic on the IBBG members website. The conclusion was that the State of the Guild is "GREAT!"
Our Luncheon Speaker was Nancy Landess, Manager of the Iowa Tourism office, with an update on Tourism successes and trends in Iowa. Nancy is always informative and upbeat and helps us focus on ways we can bring more travelers to our area. She reminded us of upcoming events such as the Unity Luncheon on April 27th in West Des Moines and the State Tourism Convention to be held in October in Dubuque, and the bi-monthly regional meetings held by the Eastern, Central, and Western Tourism Regions.
After Lunch our speaker was Andrea Chase of the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, who told us of a joint effort by IBBG, Iowa Museum Association, Iowa Trails, and Iowa Wineries to put a comprehensive trail site on the internet with the assistance of the DNR. This is to encourage bike tourism in Iowa.
A presentation by Carolyn Tenney of The Iowan magazine was good news. The Iowan will be publishing a cookbook featuring the best of Iowa B&B recipes with exclusive input from IBBG member B&Bs. The cookbook will use recipes as well as anecdotes from our members. Recipes should feature Iowa products as much as possible. It will be in bookstores throughout the midwest, and innkeepers can sell them for a fair profit.
The Haverkamp award was presented this year to Shirley and George Curry of the Stephen H. Taft House in Humboldt (ibbg.com/stephenhtaft.htm), Shirley and George have given much to the Guild and the Iowa B&B industry, and are very worthy recipients. Their house was recently featured on HGTVs "If these walls could talk".
Recognition of LIFETIME MEMBERS was presented by Carol Sheldahl Special Moments B&B, Orient(ibbg.com/specialmoments.htm) Clarence and Dorothy Haverkamp were present to receive theirs.
Our featured afternoon speaker was Mark Volkers who is a faculty member at Dordt College, His background is in photojournalism and documentary production (for which he has received 15 Telly Awards). His subject was getting your message seen in the Media, primarily the internet. He showed us cutting edge techniques for presenting our message, such as streaming video, podcasting and visual presentations beyond traditional websites and blogging (Outdated technologies?), and going forward with higher tech solutions. We will endeavor to enlarge our scope into the next phase of electronic media!
Our traditional afternoon Tea was provided ever so exquisitely by Dorothy and Ray Spriggs from The Carriage House in Grinnell (ibbg.com/carriagehousegrinnell.htm). Dorothy has an incredible gift when it comes to providing "Goodies" for an afternoon Tea. Perhaps growing up in Ireland gives Dorothy an advantage over we colonists when it comes to presentation, her teas are always perfection.
Because of unforseen delays, the Innkeepers panel was cut short. Because of the late hour, only a few of the Innkeepers gave a brief presentation of their topic. Fortunately, the fall Conference is designed solely for Innkeeper Networking, so perhaps we can revisit their topics in October. Stay tuned for information about that after the summer rush.
Thanks to Margie Moore, Brass Lantern B&B, Greenfield(brasslantern.com) for being our emcee.
Our innkeeper surveys were very favorable overall (4.4 out of a possible 5). There is always an area that doesn't interest every innkeeper, but generally all topics appealed favorably to a large majority of attendees.
Preparing for a conference is extremely difficult, so any constructive suggestions are always welcome. Our committee is set up in six regions with other at-large members, so each regional or at-large committee member brings something to the creation of our conferences. We govern by consensus rather than by majority, so that any committee member has veto power. That makes sure that we are all on the same page, and agree unanimously about the direction of the Guild. In most situations that would be an untenable way to conduct business, but since we all have the same interests, it works beautifully, because in discussion, ideas are honed and improved before we all agree on them.
We would like to thank our exhibitors who helped make our conference a success;
Allan and Carol Petersen
Danish Countryside Vines and Wines
Fine Wines
Al and Phyllis Hammer
Prairie Wellnes, Cherokee
"Get Green" products and Cinch Healthy Tea
Shannon Mark
Summerset Winery, Indianola
Fine Wines
Mary O'Halloran
The Pampered Chef, Pella
Pampered Chef Products
Michelle Bliss
Harvest Moon Innkeeping, Altoona
Interim Innkeeper
Julie Fisher
Inn of the Six-Toed Cat, Allerton
Home made soaps and recipe
Carolyn Tenney
The Iowan Magazine, Des Moines
Magazines by Pioneer Communications
Lynn Manson
The Pennington House B&B, Sumner
Cookbook by Lynn
Sherrie Hanson-Decker
The Blue Belle Inn, St. Ansgar
Norwex & Enviro Cleaning Products
Shellie Petek
IBBG Exec. Administrator, Winterset
Homemade Afghans
Also we would like to thank contributors to the silent auction as well as contributors to our welcome bags and table favors. Thanks to Carol Sheldahl for the table decorations.
Thanks to the 2007 Spring Conference Committee; Carol Sheldahl, Special Moments B&B, Orient; Roger Steffens, S.F. Martin House, Atlantic; Terry and Margie Moore,Brass Lantern B&B, Greenfield; Marie Fitzgerald, Four Mounds Inn, Dubuque
Thanks to all of you who attended!
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