First Day: Down to work!

From a business standpoint the conference opened with Ken Lahoda, CEO of Digital Rez International, providing an overview of his company, its products and their corporate vision.

Ken Lahoda

He stated: "The objective of this conference is to provide greater awareness that it is now possible to form global travel alliances in the RVing and camping industry. The technology is now available where large membership networks can provide their members the benefits of international and local travel experiences involving independent parks and resorts as well as RV rental operations".





Kevin Hall, Digital Rez International's General Manager for Barbados operations, with the help of a very capable - Alison Morris, kept the conference on schedule and tightly managed. Attendees were very complimentary about the excellent food and service provided by the Barbados Hilton conference services staff.

Clockwise from Upper Left: Tony Park, Mark Payne, Alison Morris, Trent Voigt, Kathy Palmeri (ARVC) and Kelly Hogan

David and Elizabeth Welsford

The line-up of speakers was excellently composed and exposed a broad spectrum of the worldwide camping & RV industry.















The speaker list included:

Grant Miller and Joe Daquino from Affinity Group in the US
Robert Louden and David Welsford from the Camping and Caravanning Club in the UK
Tony Park, founder of the Cosy Cabin network in Tasmania
Mark Payne - CEO of Digital Rez Australia
Mike Molino - President of the RVDA - US
Linda Profaizer - President of the ARVC - US
Kelly Hogan of Nomad ISP - the largest wireless service provider in the US
Trent Voigt - founder of JetPay - credit card merchant services provider to Expedia.com and Digital Rez member resorts.

Mike and Barb Molino

The conference theme was forum-based and provided ample time for every attendee to be exposed to these leader's insight as well as the opportunity to discuss issues with each speaker in the afternoon round-table sessions.

The Knoebbels, the Beliveaus, Johnny and Eric entertaining, Holiday Trails' group with Ken, Kevin and Margot, Greg and Mara (DR Canadian GM), the Beliveaus with Jean and Lila, DR directors & wives and Cheyenne, Kevin's daughter

Grant and Lori Miller

Day two's excellent speaking and forum sessions were followed by a sunset cruise on one of Tiami Tours' big, beautiful 80-person catamarans which provided everyone the opportunity to sail up the gentle western coast of Barbados, stop and swim with the sea-turtles in Payne's Bay and enjoy another lavish dinner with lots of lubrication in the form of local rum punch and other refreshments.

Robert Louden accepting his award from "the Academy"

Day Three wound up just after lunch with everyone commenting on the tremendous amount of quality information shared, the openness of the attendees to the concepts provided and everyone looking forward to next year's get-together.

Joe Daquino with Kevin Hall

Table shot from Gala Dinner

Later that evening, the gala dinner wind-up was attended by everyone and we had a chance to hear some great entertainment in addition to the excellent formal fare provided by the Hilton's culinary staff. Music and beverages flowed equally with the praise for Kevin Hall and his skill at keeping everyone engaged and entertained. After a little speech from each of the speakers we all relaxed and enjoyed the final evening together. Many attendees commented on the atmosphere of camaraderie and family combined with the excellent business forums.

Gala Dinner - Well-fed and glad to be here!

Congratulations all around for the Digital Rez team launching a world-class annual business forum for the RV and camping industry!

Kevin Hall and Ken Lahoda

We promise to make next year's conference an even more memorable event interest is already pouring in from this year's attendees and many referrals. We expect to host at least 50 of the industry's top executives along with 25 - 30 RV and camping "pathfinder" operations. The conference will definitely be a limited seating affair so get your plans set and sign up early.