Courtnie Nichols, CEO and founder of TravelBash Corp. in Christiansburg, Va., has an unexpected antidote to what she calls the overwhelming nature of so many conferences, meetings and fam trips for advisors.
Another event.
But she said this one, called The Biz Huddle, is being created by advisors for advisors and will address many of the pain points she's found after attending so many events for the trade.
"It's a little overwhelming," she said. "It's a lot. You meet people, you talk with the same people, it turns into a party. It's kind of cliquey."
It's also common to go to a conference, Nichols said, write down the great ideas offered on stage and forget about them: Life often gets in the way of implementing new business practices that will help an agency grow.
"I've been in their shoes," she said. "I'm still in their shoes. After a while, you get overloaded with trade shows, conferences, fam trips and all of that. I want to just create something different, where it's not the standard and it's not fluff. It's action, and it's immersive, and it's hands-on."
The Biz Huddle, she said, will be a "non-conferencey" conference, the first of which is scheduled to take place next year at the Thompson Austin in Austin, Texas, from July 22 to 25.
The event won't have many of the mainstays of other conferences, such as keynote speakers or supplier presentations.
Instead, Nichols is seeking experts from outside of the travel industry who will hold small group sessions for advisors on topics dedicated to growing their businesses, like marketing.
The inaugural Biz Huddle will welcome 50 travel advisors attending sessions that last 90 minutes to two hours in addition to activities like roundtable discussions.
Nichols stressed that advisors will be working on their businesses while at The Biz Huddle, ensuring the ideas and best practices shared will actually be implemented.
"We're going to get down to business," she said. "This is for growth-minded travel advisors looking to build and scale a profitable, yet sustainable, business."
Nichols said the content will be focused on advisors who are seasoned but want a hand in scaling their business. The event is open to all and is host- and consortium-agnostic.
Nichols is working with a group of seven advisors who form an advisory committee that will tailor The Biz Huddle content.
"I'm talking about CEO mindset, operations, marketing, sales, client experience -- all of the things they don't tell you when you start your business," she said. "You are an actual business owner now, and it's more than just selling travel."
One session will focus on content creation. Right now, she said, a lot of advisors post nice pictures of a destination or a hotel. And while there's nothing wrong with that, all too frequently she sees them simply talking about that destination or hotel and not their own services.
The content-creation module will talk about how the sales process begins at the moment a prospective client enters an advisor's funnel and how to capitalize on that.
Another session at the conference will focus on cash flow and accounting, especially on maximizing returns on investment once an agency is profitable and making money, Nichols said. It will talk about diversifying revenue streams with investments within and outside of an agency.
Yet another will talk about the hiring process from start to finish and whether it's the best return on investment for an agency owner.