Join us for all the events below during the two-day conference.

Wednesday, February 28
 

REGISTRATION

Go up the escalator to the SAHARA Conference Center. At the Registration Table, you'll check in, use the QR code to get to the event website, and pick up your registration items.

Be sure to get your:

• Event keepsakes, sponsored by Executive Movers Service

• Registration bag, sponsored by HUB International Insurance

• Registration folder, sponsored by New Haven Moving Equipment

We're happy you made it to the 2024 Van Line Summit & Awards Gala!

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WORKSHOPS

Attendees will have two workshop options this morning. You can attend both, one at 9:30 and the other at 10:45, or just choose the one you're most interested in.

 

Topic 1: Sales Training Summit Debrief

The Sales and Marketing team hosted 40 agents in January for a two-day intensive training event. There was role playing, there were agent panels, and there was a sharing between agents of best practices and real- life examples. In this workshop, we'll take attendees through a 75-minute version of the two-day event.

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Topic 2: The Opportunity of the Older Adult Market

The van line has focused on growing its business with this lucrative target market. We’ll review the demographics, talk about why you should focus on Older Adults and how the van line can help. This will be a working session, so bring your questions and on-the-ground situations for us to work through together.

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WELCOME REMARKS

Wheaton | Bekins CEO Mark Kirschner and president A.J. Schneider will kick off the general session events with a message for the full audience. In previous years' remarks, executives shared industry information, including data about specific competitors, and their view for the company in the upcoming year.

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MESSAGE FROM GIVE KIDS THE WORLD

GKTW President Pamela Landwirth shares stories from the nonprofit and the emotional journey families go through during their weeklong, cost-free, central Florida vacations. The Wheaton | Bekins network sponsors the horse riding attraction on-site at GKTW and has been a partner of the nonprofit for more than two decades.

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KEYNOTE SPEECH

More information is forthcoming.

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Thursday, February 29

 

CYBER CRIME TRENDS AND HOW TO MANAGE THE THREATS

You might assume that cyberhackers do not bother with small and medium sized businesses, but this session led by the Secret Service and the van line will show you how nation-states, organized cybercriminals, and other malicious actors are after your business and employees and, most importantly, how you can reduce this threat. Keeping our customers and our businesses safe is vital, and you'll finish this session with concrete steps you can take to improve your security.

Ian Benney, Technical Special Agent for the United States Secret Service, is involved in both cyber investigations and digital forensics as well as protection assignments. Find more about Ian here.

Jerrod Carter, Chief Information Officer for Wheaton | Bekins, leads the security efforts for the van line and has implemented many measures over the past several years to increase our security posture.

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WHAT SHOULD I BE DOING, RIGHT NOW, TO GROW SALES? (A MARKETING PANEL)

The economy looks like it could improve later this year. It’s okay to be cautiously optimistic, but let’s not wait for the “phone” to ring.

Our panel of experts – including van line staff, agent marketing personnel, and outside marketing professionals will ensure you walk away with marketing strategies and best practices that will help lead to sales in this slow market. Just as importantly, the session will help you get well-positioned for when the housing market improves and more people start moving.

Rachael Fischer Lyons is CEO of Next Destination Marketing, providing à la carte, flat rate deliverables designed to grow small businesses and drive leads. Previously, Rachael was Director of Marketing & Business Development for Olympia Moving & Storage.

Travis Weathers is CEO of Rotate Digital, a leading tactical SEO agency specializing in helping moving companies generate more revenue on Google leveraging their online assets using a powerful 3-tiered process which has helped over 150 moving companies grow their business since 2019.

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Read more about panel members here.

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TECHNOLOGY IN OPERATIONS: TOOLS FOR SUCCESS

Wheaton | Bekins has partnered with Samsara for our immediate and future electronic logging device (ELD) and dashcam solution. The Samsara devices are a technology upgrade, have more useful features and should improve overall safety and insurance claims experience.

In this session, Vice President of Operations Kevin Miller and Director of Traffic Doug Robinson will provide more direction to the network on how to begin the process of swapping out old equipment for the new Samsara devices.

 

EVERYTHING WE KNOW ABOUT THE MILITARY'S GHC PROGRAM

The Military's GHC program has faced delays in its implementation, raising numerous inquiries about ramp-up date, rate comparisons with DP3, compliance with the Service Contract Act (SCA), allocation of shipments to service providers and HomeSafe system functionality.

Wheaton | Bekins has diligently tracked the GHC's progress, actively engaging in discussions with the U.S. Government and Homesafe Alliance, the program's contractor. We aim to keep you well-informed, providing details on the current status and addressing any questions within our knowledge. By the end, you'll be as informed as we are.

Caleb Mixon of Homesafe Alliance will join Wheaton | Bekins Vice President of Operations Kevin Miller to present the most up-to-date information and take questions from the audience. Find more about Caleb here.

 

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