Inside Self-Storage has announced that its 2010 World Expo will be held March 1-3, in Las Vegas, at the Paris Hotel and Resort. The Inside Self-Storage Expo is the self-storage industry's largest convention and trade show. It provides a four-track education program and development seminars, and gives self-storage owners, entrepreneurs, investors, developers, and suppliers a chance to meet each other and network. It will also include product and service exhibits. All in all, the 2010 ISS Expo will provide 36 seminars, four workshops, two days of product and service exhibits, five networking events, and a Self-Storage Q&A roundtable discussion. A new feature this year will be the Technology Marketplace, where Expo exhibitors can show off the newest security, software, and other technology-related products.
One of the most popular seminars at the Inside Self-Storage Expo every year is the intensive, six-hour Developers Seminar. This year, the Developers Seminar will be hosted by RK Kliebenstein, the president of Coast-to-Coast Storage, and will take place on March 3, from noon until 6 p.m. Kliebenstein will provide potential investors with tools and information they need to evaluate whether self-storage is a good business fit for them, explaining the how to develop a self-storage site, how to find financing for a self-storage venture, and focusing on how the economic recession has affected the self-storage business. Kliebenstein's workshop will also be helpful for small self-storage facility owners who are looking for ideas to help them expand their businesses.
Another popular seminar this year will be the intensive Marketing and Sales Boot Camp, led by self-storage veteran Tom Litton, of Litton Property Management. Litton will teach facility owners and operators 50 inexpensive marketing and sales techniques.
Other seminars that will be offered at the Expo include:
- Conducting a Self-Storage Feasibility Study: A Checklist for Success
- Now Is the Time to Build Self-Storage: Taking Advantage of a Down Economy
- Self-Storage Acquisitions: Affordable Deal Structures for Today's Economy
- Creating the Most Effective Site Design and Self-Storage Layout
- Making Money with Self-Storage Conversions
- Self-Storage Acquisitions: Affordable Deal Structures for Today's Economy
- Using Solar in Self-Storage: An Economic Model for Optimizing Your Site and Maximizing Your Investment
- Green Building Certification for Self-Storage Builders
- Going Green: Creating an On-Site Recycling Center
- How to Use the Internet to Build Your Self-Storage Business
- Social-Media Mastery for Self-Storage Operators
- The Capital Markets: What's on the Horizon for Self-Storage?
- From Drab to Fab: Reinventing an Older Self-Storage Business
- Tenant Screening, Crime Prevention and Dealing with the Media
- Working with a Third Party Management Company: Pros and Cons
- Using Insurance to Maximize Profit and Minimize Expenses
- If I Mess Up My Lien Sale, So What? Avoiding Common Pitfalls
- Managing Your Financial Future: Credit Markets and Exit Strategies
Nearly 1,000 people attended the 2009 ISS World Expo, which was held in October, in Washington, D.C. Attendees came from all over the world, including China, Australia, South Africa, and Russia. Exhibitors came from all facets of the self-storage world, including developers, builders, brokers, finance and insurance agents, door manufacturers, software vendors, and many others. The 2009 Expo began with a session on marketing, hosted by Derek Naylor of Storage Marketing Solutions and Mel Holsinger of Professional Self Storage Management. It also included three tracks of education focused on construction, development, management, daily operations, financing, sales techniques, add-on profit centers, and challenges and opportunities facing self-storage owners and operators.