Once you’ve been to one conference, you’ve been to them all, right? Well, that won’t be the case in October if CRDA has its way.

Ross Perlmutter, the President/CEO of the Canadian Resort Development Association (CRDA), said recently “I’ve never really embraced the inherent assumption that the people on the podium are ‘experts’ and the people attending the sessions aren’t. As far as I’m concerned, everyone is an ‘expert’ in their field, and I think it’s important that we are able to tap into all of that energy and expertise in the room.”

To that end, CRDA’s “Resort Development Summit” (scheduled for October 13-15th at the Radisson Admiral Hotel in Toronto, Ontario) promises to be a much more interactive affair than in previous years.

“We’ve reduced the number of presenters and panelists slightly in order to allow more time in each session for questions, comments, suggestions and advice from the floor. There will likely be conflicting viewpoints, and there may be a few sparks and flare-ups; we’re perfectly okay with that. The whole idea is to engage each and every one of the attendees because this is truly a “summit”, not a “symposium” said

Perlmutter. “We’ve always been known for staging a somewhat difference type of event, and while the intimate scope of our conference has always tended to lend itself to more interactivity, we want attendees to walk away engaged, stimulated and motivated.”
There’s no question that CRDA seems to have found a winning formula. Over the past three years, their conference attendance has increased by 300%.

“It’s still a relatively small conference, however, we truly pride ourselves on the amount of business that gets done, the priceless networks that are created and the quality of the networking opportunities. To give you an example, we’ve limited the number of exhibits this year to under 20 in total. We could certainly have sold many more spaces, but our exhibitors tell us that they do more business in an hour than they do over an entire weekend at some other events. That’s exactly the type of value proposition and reputation we’re aiming for with this Summit.”

The keynote speaker of this year’s Summit will be Howard Nusbaum, the President/CEO of ARDA, and Perlmutter is excited. “We enjoy a terrific working relationship with ARDA, and given the nature of this year’s event, we’re thrilled to be able to have Howard assist us in providing a true North American snapshot of the industry. The fact is, although Canada and the US share a common border and language, our markets are actually very different, as is our economic climates.” After a dynamic day featuring a wide range of breakout sessions, the conference will conclude with an “Ask the Experts” session including panelists such as Nusbaum, Rob Webb of Baker Hostetler, Shari Levitin of the Levitin Group and David Gilbert of Interval International, among others.

There are certainly many reasons for suppliers and developers to be interested in Canada. The country has had the best-performing economy in the G-8 over the past decade, it was the last country to be affected by the global economic turndown and it was the first nation to emerge from it. “Our consumers are avid, affluent travelers and they were largely unaffected by the sub-prime crisis in the US,” said Perlmutter. “Our Dollar is hovering close to parity with the US Dollar, and that makes Canada a very fertile market in terms of prospects for foreign developers and new markets for industry suppliers. We’ve seen CRDA’s membership numbers skyrocket this year, and that growth has been driven by new fractional members and US-based suppliers/developers seeking to take advantage of our healthy economic environment. It’s a great time to be
up here.”

In addition to welcoming many first-time attendees, CRDA’s event tends to attract several familiar faces; industry professionals who attend their event year after year. “We’ve developed a well-deserved reputation for putting on an excellent event, and we always have a lot of fun. The intimate nature of our conference lends itself to the development of robust business relationships and new friendships, and that, in my opinion, is more important than anything else we do.”

According to Perlmutter, advance registrations for this year’s Summit have been brisk. “In addition to saving attendees some money, we’re offering people the opportunity to win an Apple iPad if they register before September 15th, and that offer is going over really well. Based on the response so far, it’s definitely conceivable that this year’s event could sell out.”

A big part of the appeal for this year’s conference is its host city, Toronto. One of the most ethnically diverse places in the World, the city served as the backdrop for the meeting of the G-20 nations earlier this year and it remains a strong tourist destination for global travelers. Toronto is easily accessible by most international airline carriers, and mid-October is a great time to visit.

For more information about The Resort Development Summit, please visit its dedicated website at www.crdaconference.com.