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.
Steve Schwab will officially kick off the event with a welcoming address. As the CEO of Casago, Steve will share his vision for CasaCon. This is an excellent opportunity to hear directly from the top leadership of Casago.
10:00 - 1:00 PM
Sponsors and Vendor Introduction
1:00 - 2:00 PM
Lunch
2:00 - 5:00 PM
Deep Dives
6:00 PM
Group Activity
8:00 - 9:00 PM
Registration Continues
9:00 - 1:00 PM
Deep Dives
1:00 - 2:00 PM
Lunch
2:00 - 5:00 PM
Deep Dives
6:00 PM
Group Activity
8:00 - 9:00 PM
Registration Continues
9:00 - 1:00 PM
Deep Dives
1:00 - 2:00 PM
Lunch
2:00 - 5:00 PM
Deep Dives
7:00 PM
Group Activity
[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
Scott Klein
Scott recently joined Casago as the Partner Success Manager to help our new and existing franchises be successful in the tools provided. He brings a wealth of knowledge in the vacation rental industry after working with Streamline for 5 years as an onsite consultant. Scott's focused goal is to help others find efficiency in operations and processes. Currently operating remotely out of Atlanta, GA, he gets his true enjoyment working with our partners on location. Learning about their business and strategies, he is able to better guide them towards achieving the desired goals.
He enjoys hiking and reconnecting with nature. In addition, his hobbies include visiting the local brewery and exercising to remove those extra carbs.
Catrina Wakefield
Before Casago, Catrina worked for the Connor Group as an Area Partner Success Manager - assisting with the acquisition of multi-family apartment communities, developing teams, and more. She joined Casago in 2016 after recognizing an epic opportunity to work with a company she could help to scale and also grow with professionally. In 2018, Catrina was promoted to Director of Business and Development. Since then, Casago has grown from 13 corporately run branches to 30 locations in just over 4 years.
She loves the fact that I can help implement change and growth within an organization that's values align with my own, is culturally diverse, & is making a splash in the industry. Outside of work, you’ll find her courtside at one of her son’s basketball games or training for my next big race. I live by the motto that you must take care of yourself before you can take care of others. She loves being active and involved in my community, you will rarely find her with nothing to do!
David Mejorado
David is a pivotal member of the Casago team, bringing nearly four years of dedicated service and expertise to the table. With a strong background in Systems & Computer Science, David's deep-seated passion for technology is evident in every aspect of his work. He is an expert in Streamline, making him a go-to resource for navigating the platform. David approaches each challenge as an opportunity to expand his knowledge and skills, always eager to dive into new technologies and methodologies that can enhance the team’s efficiency and effectiveness. Beyond his technical acumen, David is known for his collaborative spirit and willingness to share his insights with colleagues. He's eager to grow alongside Casago as he continues to evolve his role.
Kelsey Solts
Kelsey lives in Nashville, TN with her husband and has been with Casago since March of 2023 as their Homeowner Marketing Manager. Since obtaining her marketing degree from Colorado State University in 2017, she's worked in multiple industries from music touring to weddings & events and now to the vacation rental industry. She originally met Steve Schwab through the Keystone Retreats and has developed a passion for vacation rentals through the eyes of some of the industry's brightest leaders. She is honored to be part of the Casago family and is grateful to work with amazing people everyday bringing value to their businesses by helping to grow their homeowner inventory.
Jackie Norde
As Partner Success Manager at Casago, Jackie Norde excels in fostering successful partnerships by leveraging her extensive experience in onboarding, process improvement, and sales growth. Previously, at Streamline, she onboarded over 75 companies in two years, guiding them through software setup and driving impactful changes. As a property manager, she led her team to launch a new website, transition to new software, and increase sales by over 50% year-over-year. At Guest Ranger, as VP of Product and Operations, she honed her thought leadership and project planning skills. Jackie's leadership style is rooted in building trust, empowering teams, and fostering collaboration, making her an invaluable asset to any organization.
Jeremy Frost
Jeremy Frost is the Director of Strategic Partnerships at Casago. Jeremy drives franchise growth by connecting with people seeking their next career move, entrepreneurs, and existing operators. He loves sharing the Casago system with those exploring their next endeavor and cultivating relationships along the way. Originally from Boston, Jeremy works remotely from Nashville and is passionate about family, film, good conversations, and golf.
Arthur Shaw
Arthur Shaw is a seasoned hospitality professional from Pennsylvania, boasting an impressive 47-year career in hospitality. Throughout his extensive journey, he has mastered all facets of the industry, witnessing firsthand the transformative evolution of technology, protocols, and procedures, particularly in Operations and Revenue Management. Currently, he serves as the Global Director of Revenue Management and Distribution for Casago, where he leverages his wealth of knowledge to optimize revenue strategies and enhance operational efficiency, solidifying his status as a valuable asset to the industry.
Arthur's personal life is equally inspiring. He has been happily married for 34 years to his wife, whom he met at a wedding hosted in one of his hotels in Ft. Lauderdale in 1989. Their love story is unique, as they never lived in the same city until their marriage. Together, they have a 17-year-old adopted son, who brings joy and fulfillment to their lives. Arthur's dedication to both his profession and family exemplifies his commitment to nurturing relationships and fostering growth, making him a respected figure in hospitality and a loving husband and father. His journey reflects a blend of passion, perseverance, and a deep understanding of the ever-evolving hospitality landscape.
Shandra Keesecker
Shandra “Sami” Keesecker joined the Casago team this year as Content and Editorial Project Manager. With a key focus on travel and international experiences, Shandra’s creative insight provides profound exploration into activities within our markets to enhance search results for guests. Shandra has an extensive background in writing and language studies, having worked in hospitality and guest relations at language schools in central Mexico prior to relocating to Rocky Point, Mexico in 2001. Shandra came to Casago following over a decade of content development for travel and event organizations in Rocky Point as well as successful management of the online news and events site RockyPoint360. Originally from the southwestern U.S., Shandra is a certified Spanish/English translator in Sonora and lives in Rocky Point with her husband and their two dogs. She is thrilled to bring her passion for travel, writing, and adventure to the Casago family.