A guest installment by Alex Koupal, Education Manager, Inside Self-Storage World Expo 

Wow, its that time again! 2014 is just around the corner, and the Inside Self-Storage World Expo will be here in no timeMarch 30 to April 2 at the Paris Hotel & Resort in Las Vegas. The show experience will feature several staples including the exhibit hall, educational seminars, our annual Self-Storage Q&A and cocktail reception, along with a few new twists were excited to bring to the industry!

In-depth workshops are heavy on the agenda this time around. Weve decided to revitalize a few popular sessions, showcase some new content and shake things up a little bit. Be sure to join attorney Jeffrey Greenberger, a partner with the law firm Katz, Greenberger & Norton LLP, on March 30 for Legal Learning Live: Auction Edition! This years legal workshop will feature guest speakers Dan and Laura Dotson from the popular TV show Storage Wars. The Dotsons will be on hand during Jeffs session to dive deeper into self-storage auctions, live vs. online.

If youre new to the industry and in the exploratory stages of investing in or developing a self-storage project, youll want to register for our revitalized Developers Workshop, also on Sunday. This oldie but goodie is being brought back with speaker RK Kliebenstein, vice president of acquisitions with Metro Storage LLC. RK will share case studies on ground-up construction, conversions and facility-renovation projects. If youre interested in investing or building, this session is designed for you.

New to the lineup is our Social Media Mastery Workshop. Speaker Dave Wolf, managing partner with Linkmedia 360, will discuss why social media is an increasingly important component to self-storage marketing strategy and how facility operators can move beyond the basics to optimize their online presence. The social media session will be on April 2, along with our Management and Owner/Operator Executive Workshops. These five in-depth sessions comprise an exciting lineup of immersive education, and each requires a separate registration. Hurry though because seating is limited.

We've also reworked many components of the expos concurrent education program. The 2014 slate features 10 tracks! The lineup offers an expanded international track, several new speakers and even a slightly later starting time (8:30 a.m.) on day two. Exciting new additions include the practical and fun. Our How-To/Demo track and a Game-Show Learning track will explore hands-on and creative learning, respectively. Both should be quite interesting and fun and are definitely something you wont want to miss. Be sure to check the expo website for updates as we fill out the full agenda.

The 2014 show will also provide additional value to our Expo-Hall Package by expanding the traditional two-hour roundtable sessions into three 50-minute, topic-specific sessions focused on software, add-on profit centers and operational extras. We've also turned the Legal Learning Q&A that once was part of the paid educational program into a general session available for all participants to attend immediately after the expo hall closes on April 1.

Despite all the changes on tap, weve managed to keep our traditional expo events intact including the Self-Storage Q&A, Buyers & Sellers Meeting, and the cocktail reception on the floor of the expo hall.

If you haven't yet registered for the show, be sure to check out all of the available education package and workshop options to find the right fit for you. Dont forget that our early-bird deadline is Jan. 30, so get signed up now to save a little extra dough for the blackjack tables! Im very excited to share so many new developments for the upcoming show and look forward to seeing everyone in Las Vegas!