Casago’s annual conference, CasaCon, will be hosted in the vibrant city of Guadalajara, Mexico, from September 22nd to September 25th! The event will kick off with a casual meet-and-greet on the 22nd, where attendees can enjoy delicious Antojitos Mexicanos and network with sponsors, vendors, and other Casago teams. Over the next few days, immerse yourself in informative workshops, engaging activities, and ample networking opportunities. This year’s conference will feature a fantastic lineup of speakers sharing insights on the latest trends and innovations in the vacation rental and hospitality industry. Don’t miss out—register now to be part of CasaCon 2025!
There are a few must-haves at the conference. This includes your laptop, Casago t-shirt, and more. View this checklist to make sure you’re prepared for CASACON.
Kick off Casacon by checking in at the registration desk, where our team will get you set up for the week. Pick up your badge, grab your welcome package, and collect some Casago swag designed just for attendees.
5:30 PM - 8:30 PM
Welcome Dinner
Reconnect with old friends and make new ones as we officially open Casacon. Enjoy dinner together in the Grand Ballroom at the Hilton Midtown Guadalajara, our host hotel and conference venue.
8:00 AM
Registration Continues
If you missed the first day, don’t worry, registration remains open so you can grab your badge, welcome items, and get settled before the sessions begin.
9:05 AM
Steve Schwab, Opening Event
Casago CEO Steve Schwab takes the stage to officially open Casacon. He’ll reflect on what an incredible year it has been for Casago, from welcoming new franchisees, to expanding into new markets, to strengthening our community and of course, the Vacasa acquisition. Steve will set the tone for the week ahead with a message of vision, resilience, and growth.
9:35 AM
David Angotti - Keynote Speaker
David Angotti, a respected entrepreneur and thought leader in the vacation rental space, will share insights on the evolving future of our industry. Known for his forward-thinking perspective and ability to spot trends before they hit the mainstream, David will also be unveiling a very special product announcement.
10:00 AM
Workshops – Morning Sessions
Casacon is built on real learning. Dive into focused workshops with subject matter experts who are ready to roll up their sleeves and get into the details that matter to your business.
1:00 PM
Lunch
Recharge and network over lunch in the Restaurant Hart at the Hilton Midtown Guadalajara. A great time to connect with peers and share insights from the morning sessions.
2:00 PM
Workshops – Afternoon Sessions
Return refreshed for the second half of the day, where more workshops await with Casago experts to help you level up your knowledge
5:00 PM
Closing Day Statements
Day Two sets the tone with big announcements, learning, and community. You’ll leave energized by Steve’s vision, inspired by David’s innovation, and ready for what’s to come.
6:00 PM
Group Activity
Casago thrives on community. We’ll close the day with an interactive activity designed to bring us together, expect a mix of fun, collaboration, and connection. More info coming soon...
8:00
Registration Continues
Just arriving? No problem, our team is ready to welcome you and get you everything you need to jump right into the Casacon experience
9:05 AM
Justin Ford - Keynote Speaker
Industry leader Justin Ford takes the stage to discuss safety in short-term rentals. Expect actionable insights and strategies to elevate safety standards in your business.
10:05 AM
Workshops - Morning Sessions
Start the day with targeted workshops led by Casago experts. These sessions are designed to give you practical tools and tactics to take home.
1:00 PM
Lunch
Take a well-earned pause and connect with fellow attendees over a hosted lunch in the Hart Restaurant at Hilton Midtown Guadalajara. Share what you’ve learned, compare notes, and build new relationships.
2:00 PM
Workshops – Afternoon Sessions
Return for another round of high-value workshops where you’ll dig deeper into key areas of growth, operations, and leadership.
5:00 PM
Closing Day Statements
Day Three is where insights turn into action. With Justin Ford’s safety expertise and a full slate of workshops, you’ll leave with practical strategies ready to implement in your market.
6:00 PM
Group Activity
We’ll wrap up with another group activity—part team building, part celebration, and all about strengthening the Casago community.
9:05 AM
Matt Landau – Speaker Keynote
Hearing from Matt Landau is always a highlight. His perspective and storytelling leave audiences inspired, challenged, and motivated—don’t miss this session
11:35 AM
Workshops - Morning Sessions
Continue learning in the final round of expert-led workshops. This is your last chance to connect directly with our specialists before heading home.
1:00 PM
Lunch
One more opportunity to gather as a group, enjoy a meal, and reflect on the experience in the Hart Restaurant at The Hilton Midtown Guadalajara.
2:00 PM
Workshops – Afternoon Sessions
Round out Casacon with workshops that tie together the week’s themes and give you actionable steps to bring home.
5:00 PM
Closing Day Statements
Day Four closes Casacon with inspiration and celebration. From Matt Landau’s keynote to our farewell event, you’ll head home recharged, motivated, and connected to a stronger Casago community.
6:00 PM
Farewell Event – Dress Orange!
To close CasaCon, we will celebrate with a special “Dress Orange” Farewell Event. This evening is all about connecting with the Casago culture, and we encourage you to show your creativity—the more orange, the better! Let’s see what you’ve got!
[Our Speakers]
Keynote Speaker
Matt Landau - VRMB
Matt Landau is the Founder of Vacation Rental Marketing Blog (VRMB) and VRMB Communities, a private online forum for innovative vacation rental managers. Matt is also the host of the Unlocked podcast: fly-on-the-wall style interviews with vacation rental pioneers. And Homerunners, the first docuseries to go behind the scenes of some of the world's most interesting vacation rental companies.
Speaker
Alfredo Arcos - Director, Partner Success Vrbo for the Americas, Expedia Group, Travel Market Group
Alfredo Arcos holds a degree in Marketing and a certificate in Finance from Universidad Anáhuac, along with an MBA from IPADE and an EMBA from Rollins Crummer School of Business in Orlando, Florida.
With over 20 years of professional experience in the tourism, technology, health, finance, and construction industries, Alfredo has previously served as Director of Expedia Group for all businesses across Mexico. He is currently based in Austin, Texas.
In addition to managing Expedia’s lodging business in Mexico, Alfredo has held various management roles in private companies in both Mexico and the United States. His expertise encompasses operational, administrative, commercial, and marketing functions. Born in Mexico and possessing a multicultural background, Alfredo is deeply passionate about tourism, technology, and business development in Latin America and the United States.
Guest Vendors
John Slaughter - Rental Guardian
John Slaughter is SVP of Growth & Strategy for Rental Guardian and has over 15 years working in the vacation rental industry. He specializes in advising professional property managers, software providers, and travel tech companies on comprehensive insurance products for the short-term rental industry including travel insurance, damage protection, liability protection, and more. John is a licensed property & casualty agent and licensed travel insurance producer in all 50 states and an expert on insuretech and insurance distribution. John is passionate about learning and providing creative solutions that deliver results.
Nars Krishnamachari - RueBaRue
RueBaRue helps vacation rental property managers reduce repeat guest calls, increase revenue and provide guests with the best experience using digital guestbooks, text automation, unified text inbox, area guides, web chat, reviews, surveys and extend gap stays.
Jenny Davis - VRBO
Jenny Davis is on the Enterprise Partner Success team at VRBO, specializing in work with large scale integrated property management teams in the United States, Mexico, and the Caribbean. Jenny has worked in the Success field for over 6 years, including the last 2 years at VRBO. She is passionate about building strong, long-lasting, impactful relationships with her partners.
Brady Stump - Rental Guardian
Brady Stump has been a lifelong entrepreneur with 20 years of experience in the real estate technology, vacation rentals and insuretech markets. Brady is the CEO & Co-Founder of Rental Guardian, while also serving as the Director - Vacation Rental Strategy at Inhabit IQ. He has a track record of scaling high-growth companies, while delivering industry first software and insuretech solutions in the markets he serves. His operational roles include corporate strategy, marketing, product development, management, and systems architecture of the platform.
Alex Van Ness - VRBO
Alex Van Ness is a leader on the VRBO Partner Success team with expertise in both Conventional Lodging and Integrated Property Management. Alex has been with Expedia Group for over 10 years and has a proven track record of building dynamic and long-lasting relationships in the travel industry.
Caroline Ellis - RealTech
Caroline Ellis, Manager of Strategic Accounts at RealTech Webmasters, brings a decade of digital marketing expertise to her role. She excels in crafting innovative strategies to elevate client brands and drive traffic, bookings, and engagement. Caroline’s extensive experience and creative approach ensure tailored solutions that meet client needs and foster growth. Her commitment to delivering impactful results makes her a key asset in enhancing brand presence and optimizing digital performance.
Mike Todd - RealTech
As a Business Development Representative at RealTech Webmasters, Mike Todd excels in consultative selling and genuine relationship building. Passionate and competitive, he navigates the sales process with authenticity, ensuring clients find tailored website and marketing solutions for their businesses. His decades of experience in the vacation rental technology industry have equipped him with a true understanding of property managers' needs, and he works hard to help them move the needle with #RealResults.
Ray Miller - RealTech
Ray Miller, President and Founder of RealTech Webmasters, is dedicated to building direct booking websites and marketing strategies with unmatched support and exceptional client experience. Ray believes that real people are the cornerstone of RealTech's commitment to service, ensuring every client receives personalized attention. Valuing relationships, integrity, and authenticity above all else, Ray leads RealTech in providing property managers with a true partner for growing their businesses.
Kelsey Phillips - Sojo
Sales @ Sojo | With over 10 years in the vacation rental industry, Kelsey is experienced in hyper-scaling high value VR startups. As Casago’s exclusive rep, she’s here to put your amenities to work for you! Ask about amenity automation.For fun, you can find Kelsey in the skies. She's traveled to over 40 countries across six continents, including two years in South Korea and six months in Vietnam.
Josh - Whimstay
Josh works on the Whimstay sales team and loves building long-term relationships that help property managers attract more attention to their properties and increase yearly revenue. He enjoys long mountain hikes, scuba diving, and rock climbing. Josh’s travel obsessions are the Wonders of the World.
Meg - Whimstay
Meg works on the Whimstay sales team in California and has a passion for creating strong client relationships with the goal of achieving mutual growth and success. You can find her exploring new countries (34 and counting), trying new foodie hotspots, or taking her dog Charlie to the beach.
Becca Madigan - PriceLabs
Becca Madigan leads the US Solutions Consultant team at PriceLabs. Her background is in vacation rental operations and revenue management, working in South Carolina’s coastal vacation rental markets before starting at PriceLabs. She now works with vacation rental owners and managers across North America to help interpret data and fine tune their pricing & minimum stay strategies.
Daniel Zammata - PriceLabs
Daniel Zammata is a seasoned short-term rental (STR) expert with 12 years of experience managing properties internationally. As PriceLabs’ Manager for SSLatam, he oversees key accounts across 20+ countries. Leveraging his extensive property and revenue management expertise, Daniel is now making strides in the Real Estate sector of the South Central US, enhancing property values and investor returns.
Roxana Serrano - Good Neighbor Tech
Roxana Serrano with over 11 years of diverse experience spanning customer relations, technical support, project management, and software development, she stands as the Head Scrum Master/Technical Support at Good Neighbor Tech. A dedicated Software Engineer, her logical prowess and relentless work ethic shine. With 5 years devoted exclusively to vacation rental software, she plays a pivotal role in guiding Casago franchises, enabling them to offer an exceptional guest experience. Her passion for crafting software solutions aligns with her commitment to enhancing vacation rental management, defining her as a true asset to the industry.
Lauren Widmaier - Studio82 Digital Founder
Lauren is a multi-faceted digital marketer with experience ranging from digital and social advertising to graphic, web, and UX design primarily in the travel and technology space. Lauren is passionate about creating integrated, cohesive digital strategies that drive real results, identifying efficiencies, and maximizing the effectiveness of Marketing Technology and tools.
Lauren has experience in digital marketing initiatives that drive brand awareness and revenue for consumer-facing vacation rental booking websites as well as B2B marketing tactics that drive inventory growth and new owner acquisition for Vacation Rental Property Managers.
Brynn Flaherty - Studio82 Digital Managing Partner
Brynn is an experienced marketing professional, having spent the last 13 years dedicated to digital marketing for the vacation rental and hospitality industry. Most recently, Brynn led the Digital Marketing team at Bluetent, a leading software provider and marketing agency for professional vacation rental managers. At Bluetent, she was responsible for building and overseeing the account management team, and she also managed the marketing strategy for a portfolio of vacation rental clients.
SEO and content are her two main focuses on the marketing side, but she has experience in all facets of digital strategy.
Antonio Saavedra - Guest Ranger
My current role in Guest Ranger is a sales representative. Guest Ranger is a software solution that verifies guest identities to protect, provide peace of mind and prevent loss of revenue to Property Managers and Property owners.I have a strong background in vacation rentals since 2009. I provide technical expertise and continuing training to our software users, provide excellent phone and email assistance, and create and manage customer relationships using strong problem-solving and IT skills. To acquire knowledge about new customers, product innovations, and procedures, I have worked with sales, IT development, and senior management. Understanding client needs, engaging them, and building rapport are my goals. I love satisfying consumers and helping them build their company.
Mike Mears - VacayMyWay
Mike has a 16-year background in the short-term rental space, travel, and over 20 years in the tech industry. He has had the privilege of scaling e-commerce PM business exceeding 300% YOY growth, consulted and negotiated over $1 billion in rental and management revenue over the course of his tenure with VRBO, HomeAway, Expedia Group, CiiRUS PM software, Inhabit IQ brands and now starting an exciting new venture with VacayMyWay. Mike has also been an integral architect in building out scaled success models within the vacation ecosystem. Mike has listened and learned well by being involved in all key industry partnerships involving software (SaaS) systems, owner, property manager listing platforms, service value-add tech and affiliates throughout his career. On a personal note, Mike also owns a music publishing company (Dawn Over Zero, LLC), has toured professionally, been showcased in over 50 media publications globally including winning the John Lennon Songwriting Contest in 2014, partnership with Red Bull and song showcase on ESPN's X-Games. Mike loves family and travels as much as humanly possible. Viva #traveltech!
Braeden Flaherty - Aidaptive
Braeden leverages his near two decades of experience as a product leader in some of the most successful hospitality technology companies to empower vacation rental managers with OTA-grade machine learning. Braeden’s clients leverage Aidaptive to personalize every guest booking journey in order to drive repeat & direct bookings at scale.
Ashish Vij - Aidaptive
Ashish Vij is a data geek that leads new business at Aidaptive, a company that specializes in AI for Vacation Rentals. Ashish spent 15 years of his career at Google, where he was one of the founding core team members of the Google Analytics platform. Outside of work, you can find Ashish visiting various farmers markets and car shows with his sidekick maltipoo puppy named Loki in his backpack.
Register now and don’t miss out on this year’s Summit.
[Casago Experts]
Casago Experts
SEO Strategy
Be found before your competitors and turn searches into bookings.
Hosted by David Angotti — an SEO genius and industry leader — this
workshop breaks down proven strategies that drive traffic and
maximize visibility for your properties.
Homeowner Acquisition
Unlock proven tactics for bringing more homes under management.
Hosted by Casago's VP of Franchise Operations, Alex Johnson, the
mastermind behind Vacasa's homeowner signing machine, this session
shows you how to attract, win, and retain the right owners for longterm success.
Fueling Growth with Casagrow & Audiences
Get the most out of Casago's powerful growth tools with Catrina
Wakefield, Vice President of Franchise Sales Development. In this
workshop, Catrina will show you how to harness Audiences and
Casagrow to target smarter, capture more leads, and drive consistent
growth across your market.
Shared Services and Preferred Vendors
Make sure you're getting the full value of being part of Casago. Hosted
by Casago's Director of Partner Success, Jackie Norde, this
workshop shows you how to unlock every shared service and
preferred vendor benefit available to maximize your growth.
Communication Framework for Natural Crises
When disaster strikes, communication is everything. Hosted by Tracy
Pogrelis, Sr. Director of Corporate Communications and PR, this
session draws on her crisis expertise to give you the framework that
keeps guests safe, owners confident, and your team in control.
Housekeeping with Durk Johnson
Celebrate the unsung heroes of your business. Hosted by Durk
Johnson, a recognized industry housekeeping expert, this session
dives into innovative ways to empower, recognize, and elevate your
housekeeping teams.
Using Let's Go for KPIs & Goal Tracking (STROS)
Turn numbers into action and gain clarity like never before. Hosted by
David Mejorado, one of the driving forces behind building the tools
inside Let's Go, this workshop shows you how to set, track, and crush
your goals with confidence.
Maintenance in Scalable Operations (STROS)
Transform maintenance from a pain point into a competitive edge. Get
the systems and structure that keep properties running flawlessly at
scale. Hosted by Scott Klein, Casago Partner Success Manager
Housekeeping in Scalable Operations (STROS)
The backbone of guest experience. Hosted by Laura Bowers, Casago
Partner Success Manager, this workshop reveals insider strategies for
scaling your housekeeping systems without ever sacrificing quality.
Attracting, Managing and Retaining Talent (STROS)
Strong teams don't happen by chance — they're built by design.
Hosted by Rebecca Stentz, a seasoned Vacasa talent manager with
experience in both the U.S. and Mexico, this workshop explores the
people-first systems that drive scalable success.
Finance in Scalable Operations (STROS)
Turn financial chaos into clarity. Hosted by Dawn Yeskulsky and the
PMSpros team, who are helping shape Casago's accounting
standards, this workshop shows you how to build scalable financial
systems that keep growth sustainable and profitable.
Rev Mgmt in Scalable Operations (STROS)
Stop guessing and start scaling with confidence. Hosted by Arthur
Shaw, Casago Revenue Manager and expert in the field, this session
delivers a proven framework for revenue management that works
across any market.
Your website is your digital front door — make it count. Hosted by Shandra Keesecker, content
editor and storyteller on Casago.com, this session highlights the value of local knowledge to
build strength, credibility, and trustworthiness to drive bookings.
The Onboarding Playbook: Heroes or Zeros
Onboarding isn't just about the first impression — it's about laying the
foundation for lasting success. This workshop dives into building an
onboarding strategy that strengthens relationships, reduces churn, and
creates long-term loyalty with both guests and owners. Hosted by Alex
Pedigo and Ryan Tolley from Casago's sales team, you'll gain proven
insights from two experts who understand how the right onboarding
approach can turn every new connection into a thriving partnership.
New Learning Management System
Get an inside look at Casago's brand-new Learning Management
System, built to take training to the next level. This showcase will walk
you through the platform's features, how it streamlines onboarding,
tracks progress, and empowers your team to continually improve.
Hosted by Tom Beattie and Elizabeth Martin, two of the driving
forces behind Casago University, you'll see firsthand how this powerful
tool is set to transform the way we learn, grow, and perform across the
network.