Tuesday, December 6
12:30pm – 1:30pm (CST) Opening Session – Marina Fire Safety
Daniel Rutherford, Director, Claims and Risks Management, Maritime Program Group, a Division of One80 Intermediaries
If a fire strikes, how will you respond and what are your liabilities? How do you prepare for or prevent a fire? This course will go over practical fire prevention methods, the standards that apply, insurance policy, liabilities under bailments for mutual benefit, and how to manage a fire, should the unthinkable happen.
Sponsored by: 
1:45pm – 2:45pm (CST) Tell Me What You Want
Daniel Natchez, President, Daniel S. Natchez and Associates
What do your customers think are the most important reasons for being at your facility? What do boaters really want, and how does that translate into higher earnings? Regardless of a marina’s size and geographic location, if you don’t know what your customers want, it’s awfully hard to give it to them!
1:45pm – 2:45pm (CST) How to Conduct a Workplace Investigation
Robert Smith, Safety Consultant, Fisher Phillips, LLP
How companies investigate potential misconduct can affect that company’s reputation almost as much as the alleged conduct itself. This session will teach managers the principles needed to complete a workplace investigation while reviewing three case studies involving a fire at a fuel dock, suspected drug use, and a sexual assault claim.
3:00pm – 4:00pm (CST) Money for Marinas: Using Data to Find Hidden Revenue Opportunities
Mathew Minty, Senior Account Executive, Dockwa
In the early 2000s, baseball general manager, Billy Beane, became famous for taking the Oakland As from a low-budget losing team to an efficient team capable of winning against the wealthiest of components. His secret? Data. His story, which became the inspiration of the movie “Moneyball”, changed baseball. Today, the strategic use of data can also change the game for marina owners and operators. This session will explain the marina data that can best reveal where hidden upside may be in your revenue potential and show you simple strategic changes you can make to compete on the same level as larger, more well-funded properties. Whether you’re at 100% occupancy or still filling slips, you’ll walk away with a plan of action you can employ this season to optimize your operation.
3:00pm – 4:00pm (CST) Grant Funding and Financing Strategies
Gregory Weykamp, President, Edgewater Resources, LLC
Kathy Weykamp, Principal, Edgewater Resources, LLC
One of the biggest challenges to building or renovating marinas is finding the money to do the work. This seminar will explore grant programs and development strategies using public-private partnerships and offer key strategies that have helped us obtain tens of millions of dollars in funding over the last ten years.
4:15pm – 5:15pm (CST) Email Marketing for People Who Hate Social Media Marketing
Roxanne Rockvam, General Manager, Rockvam Boat Yards, Inc.
Email marketing is a year-round contact channel that can provide a simplified, useful, and enjoyable form of communication for your customers, and be an added profit center for a marina. Learn how to choose a topic, block your time, and grow an audience—a process so simple that at the end of the session attendees will have a plan to take home and implement.
4:15pm – 5:15pm (CST) Financing Waterfront Business: Where Are We Now?
Michael Ellsberry, President, Anchor Financial Services
In this year of inflation, recession, and rising interest rates how does an owner obtain financing to continue or expand a marina business? This session will present perspectives on successful financing during challenging times and techniques to achieve lender approval.
Wednesday, December 7
9:30am – 10:30am (CST) Navigating the Permitting Process
Gregory Weykamp, President, Edgewater Resources, LLC
Jack Cox, Senior Principal, Edgewater Resources, LLC
One of the most challenging aspects of building any new marina or major marina renovation project is completing the permitting process in a timely and cost-effective way. Through case studies, this seminar will explain the process, outline strategies for obtaining permits quickly, and offer tips for overcoming challenges when the agencies don’t want to say yes.
9:30am – 10:30am (CST) Taking the Leap – How CRM Improves Customer Experience
Tone Britovsek, President & Owner, IRM Ltd., Marina Master
Vesna Pavlovic, M.Sc., CEO, IRM Ltd., Marina Master
CRM can both improve the customer experience and streamline the management of marinas. Learn about CRM and the specifics and add-ons designed for the marina industry, along with best practices and the latest trends to help fully take advantage of what CRM offers for the marina industry.
11:00am – 12:00am (CST) Repair of Piles & Seawalls
Mo Ehsani, President, QuakeWrap, Inc. and Professor Emeritus of Civil Eng. U of AZ
Piles, seawalls, and bulkheads corrode with age and require repair and strengthening. Learn through case studies how to repair these structures using Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) products that have been extensively tested and are the only repair solution the U.S. military uses worldwide.
11:00am – 12:00pm (CST) Practical Application of Marina Electrical Systems – Part 1
Gary Loftis, Electrical Engineer, Maffett Loftis Engineering
Reading the National Electric Code can be intimidating, and correctly applying it to marinas can be even more challenging. Electrical codes are adopted and enforced and should be followed for the safety of those that enjoy marinas. This two-part class is designed to help explain many of these important electrical code issues and provide practical applications that are relevant to today’s marinas. (Part 1 of 2-part series)
1:00pm – 2:00pm (CST) Practical Application of Marina Electrical Systems – Part 2
Gary Loftis, Electrical Engineer, Maffett Loftis Engineering
Reading the National Electric Code can be intimidating, and correctly applying it to marinas can be even more challenging. Electrical codes are adopted and enforced and should be followed for the safety of those that enjoy marinas. This two-part class is designed to help explain many of these important electrical code issues and provide practical applications that are relevant to today’s marinas. (Part 2 of 2-part series)
1:00pm – 2:00pm (CST) Rentals Done Right
Daniel Rutherford, Director, Claims and Risk Management, Maritime Program Group, a Division of One80 Intermediaries
Cam Serigne, CEO, vQuip Solutions
Matt Roper, AMIM, CPCU, Marine Product Manager, One80 Intermediaries
Nick McGinty, Maritime Insurance International
Rentals can be an incredible source of revenue for a marina, but they can be a volatile market and come with significant risk. Learn how marina owners can protect themselves and their company from liabilities, how to manage risk, and maximize profit through the use of waivers, GPS Telematics, customer vetting, data collection, and how to approach the insurance market.
2:30pm – 3:30pm (CST) Freedom Boat Clubs: How a Boat Club Adds Profit to Your Marina
Barry Slade, VP, Access to Water, Freedom Boat Club
Boater and consumer metrics point to shared access, specifically boat clubs, as a significant and growing segment of the boating community, and a key part of the marina landscape for years to come. Learn what the data is saying about the marina industry and how a boat club can offer many benefits/lifts to the marina P&L.
2:30pm – 3:30pm (CST) Kenect: Double Your Google Reviews in 2022
Allan Mount, Director of Sales, Kenect
Google reviews are here to stay. Learn the fundamentals of review generation, how to manage negative reviews, what to do with good reviews, and why reviews matter. We’ll share a 4-step template to double the Google reviews for a marina.
Thursday, December 8
9:30am – 10:30am (CST) Marina Piping Systems
Justin Newell, Principal and Mechanical Engineer, Maffett Loftis Engineering
This session will cover the different marina piping systems including domestic water, sanitary sewer, and fire protection, examining the common challenges to marina piping design and solutions that provide robust and reliable piping systems. Applicable codes that govern marina pipe systems and their impact on system design and coordination will also be discussed.
9:30am – 10:30am (CST) Creativity, Culture and Connectivity: The Winning Trifecta of Marina Marketing
Dan Williams, PLA, ASLA, AHLP, Senior Landscape Architect, MSA Professional Services, Inc.
Ed Snyder, Regional Sales Manager, MariCorp US
To attract and retain new customers marinas should strive to provide amenities both elemental and innovative in nature. An excellent way to reach that goal is to incorporate the three ‘C’s of marina brand marketing: Creativity, Culture, and Connectivity. This session will cover the ins and outs of each and explore case studies that demonstrate this marketing trifecta in action.
11:00am – 12:00pm (CST) Insurance Considerations for Your Docks: Lessons from Claims
Kim Finlay, Senior Vice President, CHUBB
DJ Tyler, Vice President, Marine Specialties Limited
Kent Reeve, Co-Owner and Service Manager, South Shore Marina
A panel that includes an underwriter, agent, adjuster, and dock contractor, will lead participants through the process of insuring the docks of a hypothetical marina and what happens when there is a loss. Misconceptions and common issues that arise during the claim process will be highlighted.
11:00am – 12:00pm (CST) The Next Generation of Automated Dry Stack Storage Solutions
Ron Schults, PE, Principal & Chairman, Edgewater Resources, LLC
Erik Schults, EIT, Civil Engineer, Edgewater Resources, LLC
Nabil Fattal Jaef, Mechanical Engineer, Edgewater Resources, LLC
This session will provide a summary of the next generation of drystack marina developments. The presentation will cover fully automated versus semi-automated facilities, comparing the benefits and drawbacks of the various technologies, with typical forklift drystack marinas being used as a benchmark. The evaluation will be based in comparison of the various systems, operational differences, and overall cost variations for mobile trolleys, bridge crane systems, and cable swing systems. The session will also address the design opportunities to efficiently project space necessities, how much space is required, as well as needs of water frontage and yard space. We will close by reviewing the following case studies: Gulf Star Marina (Fort Meyers, Florida), F3 Marina (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) and Tifon Marina (Argentina).
12:30 pm – 2:00pm (CST) The Awards Ceremony and Closing Session
Christi Kleiner, Editor, Marina Dock Age Magazine
The Docks Expo will honor one small (less than 250 slips) and one large facility and also grant awards in categories such as environmental responsibility, advertising/marketing and more. The Docks Expo will also recognize young professionals under 40 who have made significant contributions to the marina and boatyard industry and collectively promise to play a big role in shaping its future.
Sponsored by: 
Thank you to the #Docks2022 speakers and education session sponsors.
