Mark it off on your calendar because you are not going to want to miss it! In addition to the innovative and interesting agenda we have in store, you are going to love brainstorming and networking poolside at the luxurious Firesky Resort and Spa (www.fireskyresort.com). A desert-urban oasis nestled conveniently in downtown Scottsdale, the Firesky is a must see. Our attendees will be just minutes away from renowned restaurants, Fashion Square mall, museums, art galleries and other local hot spots—you and your staff will enjoy every spare minute! Click here for local map.
We have listened to your feedback and are creating a conference that will be useful to agencies new and established, content that will be applicable and relevant, and speakers that will be both dynamic and knowledgeable.
Here are just a few of the topics we will be covering:
Panel Discussion: How to Hire, Manage and Train Top Producers
“Webify Your Business”—Internet Marketing Strategies for Small Businesses
Beyond Just Asking Questions—How to Select the Best Candidates for Your Clients
If you have any questions about this years’ conference, please email Conference Co-Chairs Jami Dennis (jami@abcnannies.com) or Ginger Swift (ginger@abcnannies.com).
We look forward to hearing from you!
October is a busy time of year in Arizona because of the beautiful weather and bountiful sunshine, so we strongly recommend that you reserve your rooms A.S.A.P. (no later than September 10, 2010). Be sure to mention that you will be attending the APNA Conference as we’ve reserved a block of rooms for our members at the incredible discounted price of
$149 per night(regularly $250+ per night)!
Use code 501512 to get the discount
The resort will allow you to stay an extra three days pre and post event at this discounted rate if you’d like to extend your time in Scottsdale.
Speaker Preview
We fire up the evening of October 14th with an opening reception at the FireSky and begin at 9 the next morning with our line up of great speakers that includes
Barbara Kline
Not Everyone is Going to Love You ~
Dealing with Difficult Clients
APNA Board Member Barbara Kline survived two armed robberies at an ice cream shop on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. These early business experiences helped make her an expert at dealing with difficult clients!
She started her childcare placement agency because she had a colicky son (another tough customer) and needed help. Realizing others were in her shoes, she opened White House Nannies, Inc. and has spent the past 25 years serving parents in the DC metro area - a minefield of personalities and competing interests that has turned her into a customer service diplomat.
White House Nannies has made more than 2,500 successful nanny placements and was APNA's 2000 Agency of the Year. Barbara has passed on her tricks for dealing with difficult clients to her staff, and now she's going to pass them on to you.
If you have a particularly difficult client situation you would like included at conference, please e-mail Barb by end of August at WHN01@verizon.net.
Patrick Schwerdtfeger
Social Networking for Small Businesses
Some of us are still wondering what "social networking" even means, let alone what works. So, the thought of trying to stay up to date AND ahead of the game makes us shut down like a computer. First time APNA presenter Patrick Schwerdtfeger will de-stress and demystify the web's marketing lingo and concepts.
Our Friday focus will be two sessions with Patrick who will tell you in "plain English" the most up to date Internet strategies for small businesses. Even more importantly, Patrick can help you decide where to focus your Internet energy first and how to plan for what's coming next. Imagine your competition gathered around a computer screen saying, "Wish we'd thought of THAT?"
"I walked away with a concrete plan that I began implementing within days," reports one person who has heard Patrick speak. Says another, "... outstanding information delivered with a sense of humor. People's lives were changed today."
Assessing Personality Traits to Select the Best Candidates for Your Clients
Dr. Ann Wycoff specializes in psychological testing and conducts a personality screening on every candidate considered for representation by her agency, Safe and Sound Nannies of San Diego.
Background research, interviews and instincts are all great screening tools, but take it one step further by learning how to assess personality characteristics that can help predict how well an applicant is, or isn't, suited for a job and family. Ann's method can be a time and money saver, too. She says, "Because of our extensive screening and matching process, many families hire the first nanny we send them."
Ann's techniques don't just work face to face, she'll teach you how to put them to work to read between the lines of applications, resumes and references and to help the people you represent improve their performance and your agency's reputation and profit margin.
Stephanie Breedlove Tom Breedlove
A Strategic & Financial Case Study ~ Why Some Agencies Fail While Others Experience Success
Breedlove & Associates is the nation's leading resource on successfully managing the financial aspects of household employment and can provide something very rare - surveys of people involved in the household staffing industry and analysis detailing how to respond to the information.
For our conference, Stephanie and Tom will draw on their research and expertise in finance and marketing to present an agency case study that will provide a holistic analysis of agency practices (financial, legal, customer service, marketing and operations) that have proven to affect success and failure. Agency owners and staffers will walk away with valuable insights and direction to improve and increase profitability.
Insider Secrets to Running a Homecare Business
Merrily Orsini, Denise Collins & Bob King, Esq.
How does adding home care fit into your current business? How do you make yourself seen as more than a nanny agency? Should you start a separate company or integrate the two? What are the legal issues, requirements, and pitfalls you should consider when adding homecare? What services should you offer? How do you market an additional service line? Are there resources available to make adding home care any easier or quicker to profitability? Answers to these questions and many more from three industry experts.
Merrily's business roots began in private pay home care. She started a geriatric care managed in-home care agency, grew and then sold it, garnering her the prestigious Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for that venture. She is the managing director and founder of corecubed, a strategic integrated marketing communications company that specializes in monthly marketing communications programs for the home care industry.
Working Woman magazine named corecubed one of 2008's 25 Best Woman Owned Companies in America.
Denise Collins is the third-generation owner of California's oldest domestic employment agency - Aunt Ann's. After purchasing the company in 1989, she split into two corporations one of which is Aunt Ann's Homecare. The "non-medical" homecare service employs more than 100 home health aides weekly who provide services to seniors on an hourly, live-in basis 24 hours a day.
Denise has been an active member and board member of local, state and national homecare associations and is knowledgeable on all homecare business models. She is one of APNA's founders and its vice president.
Bob King is APNA's general counsel and the founder of Legally Nanny®, the leading law firm representing household employers and domestic employment and homecare agencies. In addition to his nanny agency expertise, Bob is a leading voice on homecare legal matters. He is a member of the National Private Duty Association and has spoken at numerous homecare events. He represents clients directly employing caregivers, as well as homecare agencies ranging from
independent businesses, to franchisees, to nationwide homecare firms. Bob has lectured and written extensively on household employment matters, and he and Legally Nanny have been featured in publications including the Wall Street
Journal, CNN, ABC News, USA Today, and California Lawyer magazine. Bob also has served as an expert witness on homecare legal issues.
Ethics Forum ~ Judi Merlin
Everyday agency owners are faced with tough decisions. A clear ethical compass can make some of these decisions easier, but some problems are just too complicated. Most nanny agency issues involve the lives of many people - children, parents, families, nannies and your agency - so the decisions we make can have a lasting effect on many.
You will be presented with ethical dilemmas and have a chance to brainstorm with some of the best minds in the business - your fellow agency owners and managers - on topics of importance to you. Come up with creative options and report them to the convention.
This forum is designed to help you in your everyday business life. If you are wrestling with a dilemma, or have faced one recently, and would like to have input from fellow agency owners and managers, please submit your problem by e-mail to Judi Merlin.
Judy Merlin is founder and owner of A Friend of the Family Staffing Corporation which serves families in Georgia, North and South Carolina, providing both employed caregivers for corporate back-up care and referred caregivers for private clients.
Judi has been a member of the International Nanny Association since 1986 and is a founding member of APNA where she is currently the membership development chair. She is the originator of APNA'S Agency Advantage Program, a web based training program for household-staffing agency employees.
How to Hire, Manage & Train Top Producers
Ginger Swift, Kathy Dupuy, and Lexy Capp
You may be able to find great nannies but do you know how to find great placement consultants? Ginger will share sample craigslist ads to attract top candidates, screening suggestions and her favorite interview questions. In addition, she will share the five key attributes she looks for in top sales/customer service consultants.
Ginger Swiftstarted Denver's ABC Nannies Inc. in 1994 after working in sales, marketing and recruitment. She worked in the clerical placement industry and successfully staffed an entire sales and technical division of a computer company, as well as heading up sales and marketing for its consulting division. She was a summer and part-time nanny through college while she earned her bachelor's degree in Psychology. She is an APNA board member and recipient of 2001's APNA Agency of the Year Award.
Hear ways to effectively manage your team including: best practices for ongoing communication, monthly plans, regular one-on-ones and semi-annual reviews. Kathy will also discuss retention ideas for this economy that are free or relatively inexpensive, ways to personally connect with your staff, and creative uses of vacation benefits and flexible schedules as a tool to reward tenure or compensate for extra responsibilities. You will also learn professional growth ideas for your staff that will consequently increase the depth of your company's knowledge in a number of areas.
Kathy Dupuy founded Austin, Texas' Mom's Best Friend in 1994. She has successfully guided the company's expansion by setting up offices in Houston and San Antonio and franchises in Dallas/Ft. Worth and Vail/Beaver Creek, Colorado.
She has led her company from a local nanny and sitter service to a full service household staffing agency. She is continuing its expansion by launching senior services that include in-home care and residential care homes for assisted living.
Train your office staff to focus on solutions and go the distance when serving clients who are sometimes "hard to please" - AND to serve with a "Four Seasons" standard at all times. Training and keeping your office team is vital, especially in this economy. Your employees are a reflection of you. Make sure they know your company's values and mission, so they don't compromise your brand and bottom line.
Lexy Capp founded Nannies & Housekeepers USA after 15 successful years in public relations and marketing. Her agency offers a full range of placements and was Las Vegas' first licensed household employment agency. Nannies & Housekeepers USA is the exclusive childcare provider for prestigious hotels that include the Four Seasons, Bellagio, The Ritz Carlton, Caesars Palace, Wynn and many others.
15 Top Legal Questions Stuart Dupuy, Jim Winblood & Bob King
Answers to the most commonly asked legal questions facing your agency and your clients. Learn about the employment and business questions these attorneys and agency experts encounter most, and get answers you can use for your business AND pass along to your clients. This will be a lively interactive session where your questions will be welcome.
Stuart Dupuy is an entrepreneur, successfully founding Mom's Best Friend, Inc., Recover Homes, and Assisted Living in Austin. Additionally, Stuart is a successful Dell executive where he has had a 13-year career. Prior to joining Dell, Stuart was an attorney practicing commercial litigation with Fulbright & Jaworski. Stuart holds a Juris Doctorate and a BA in Economics.
Jim Winbloodis president and CEO of Mom's Best Friend of Dallas/Ft. Worth. Most recently he spearheaded the company's move into the in-home senior care industry. Jim practiced law in Dallas for several years with an emphasis on commercial litigation and employment/labor law. He is an officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve and a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
(Bob King'sbio is listed under the Insider Secrets to Running a Homecare Business at top)
2010 APNA CONFERENCE AGENDA - Scottsdale, Arizona
Thursday - October 14, 2010
Scheduled Times
Sessions
9:00 - 4:00
APNA Board Meeting
6:00 - 7:30 PM
Registration
7:00 - 9:00
Cocktail Reception
7:30
Presidents Welcome & Introduction of the Board
Friday - October 15, 2010
Scheduled Times
Sessions
7:30 AM
Breakfast & Late Registration
8:30 AM
Welcome & Introduction of Attendees
9:30 AM
Not Everyone Is Going to Love You −
Dealing with Difficult Clients − Barbara Kline
9:45 AM
Break − Network with Sponsors
10:00 AM
A Strategic and Financial Case Study − Why Some Agencies Fail While Others Experience Success Stephanie and Tom Breedlove
11:30 AM
Ethics Forum − An Interactive Session
Dealing with Our Most Challenging Ethical Dilemmas
12:30 PM
Lunch − "Share your WOW Customer Service Story"
1:30 PM
Social Networking for Small Businesses, Part 1 − Patrick Schwerdtfeger
2:30 PM
Sponsor Time
2:45 PM
Advanced Social Networking for Small Businesses, Part 2 − Patrick Schwerdtfeger
3:45 PM
Break − Network with Sponsors
4:15 PM
How to Hire, Manage and Train Top Producers − Ginger Swift, Kathy Dupuy, Lexy Capp
Round Table Topics: How to Recruit Top Nanny Candidates − TBA How to Recruit and Train Quality HK − Marta Perrone Low-Cost Marketing and Networking − Kathy Webb Expanding your Temporary Business and Small Corporate Contracts − Barbara Siegel Dealing with Difficult Clients − TBA
Saturday - October 16, 2010
Scheduled Times
Sessions
8:00 AM
Continental Breakfast
9:00 AM
Assessing Personality Traits to Select the Best Candidates for Your Clients − Ann Wycoff Ph.D.
10:00 AM
Agency of the Year Presentations
10:30 AM
Break − Network with Sponsors
10:45 AM
Panel Discussion: 15 Top Legal Questions − Bob King, Stuart Dupuy, Jim Winblood
11:45 AM
Lunch − "What I do Best"
1:00 PM
Insider Secrets to Running a Homecare Business −
Merrily Orsini, Denise Collins and Bob King
2:30 PM
Break − Network with Sponsors
3:00 PM
Roundtable Discussions
4:30 PM
Happy Hour and a Half! and
Agency of the Year Announcement
If you would like to be a sponsor or advertiser this year, please fax or mail the form below and mail your payment to APNA Treasurer Mellisa Peckham. Sponsorships will be considered secure once payment is received.
As a sponsor, advertiser or attendee, we look forward to seeing you in Scottsdale.
Barbara Kline 
Denise Collins is the third-generation owner of California's oldest domestic employment agency - 
Bob King is APNA's general counsel and the founder of 
Ginger Swift started Denver's 
Train your office staff to focus on solutions and go the distance when serving clients who are sometimes "hard to please" - AND to serve with a "Four Seasons" standard at all times. Training and keeping your office team is vital, especially in this economy. Your employees are a reflection of you. Make sure they know your company's values and mission, so they don't compromise your brand and bottom line. 
2010 APNA CONFERENCE AGENDA - Scottsdale, Arizona
