Virginia

Welcome VA Innkeepers

Speakers

2024 Mid Atlantic Innkeepers Conference Speakers

Keynote Speaker

Dr. Alicia Grandey
Dr. Alicia Grandey
From Drained to Driven: Refuel Your Energy to Recharge your Hospitality

Dr. Alicia Grandey is a distinguished Liberal Arts Professor of Psychology in the industrial-organizational program at Pennsylvania State University.  Over the past 26 years, Dr. Grandey has developed scientific expertise for the tradeoffs of health and performance, specifically addressing the challenges of mistreatment, emotional labor and burnoutHer award-winning research has been cited over 37,000 times, which puts her in the top 1% of organizational scientists. She shares her research broadly through media such as Harvard Business Review, The New Yorker, WorkLife with Adam Grant, The Conversation, and NPR.  She recently co-authored the 2025 book Emotionally ChargedHow to Lead in the New World of Work (Oxford) to share this expertise with people who need it most.

Managing Your Health and Interpersonal Relationships

Rachel Foster
Rachel Foster
Reconnect with the Joy of Modern Innkeeping

Rachel Foster is an entrepreneur, published author, health care consultant, retired nurse and hockey mom specializing in executive leadership, nursing, population health and business operations.  She is the current Founder/Innkeeper of Apple Pony Inn, an equine-inspired, farm-to-table bed and breakfast in State College, PA. With a bachelor’s in nursing and master’s in public health, Rachel spent the first 25 years of her career working in health care administration, population health, leadership and nursing.  Rachel has advanced training as a leadership coach, conflict mediator and is a graduate of the UCLA/Johnson & Johnson Health Care Executive Leadership Program.

Karen DeBord & Jack Phillips
Karen DeBord & Jack Phillips
Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and TIME!

Jack & Karen own Bedford Landings B&B located at Smith Mountain Lake, VA. This retired mechanical engineer and university professor conceptualized, designed, and built the timber-framed Bed & Breakfast as their retirement gig. Having been in business for 12 years, that have always shared their business duties but balance them with their community responsibilities including singing, flying, boating, and more.

Sarah Davis
Sarah Davis
Healthy Living for the Brain & Body

Sarah Davis is a Penn State Extension Educator based in Adams County, covering surrounding counties as well. She is a graduate of Messiah University with a degree in FCS education and Penn West University with a dual master’s in Nutrition and Health & Wellness Coaching. Before working at Extension, she taught FCS with a focus on culinary arts at Mechanicsburg Senior High for six years. She teaches community education courses for the Food Safety and Quality team as well as Health and Wellness.

Social Media / Marketing / Technology

Lisa Altman
Lisa Altman
Design Retreats to Increase Bookings in the Off Season

Lisa Altman is the co-owner and host of Four Seasons For Fun Bed & Breakfast, in Lakeville, Pennsylvania, where she and her partner Dante have created a welcoming getaway that feels like home from the moment guests arrive. After a 31-year career in the medical field, Lisa followed her lifelong dream of opening a bed and breakfast that would offer more than just a stay—it offers an experience.  When she discovered that the land they purchased for a small vacation home was zoned for a B&B, fate stepped in. With Dante’s support and years of planning behind her, Lisa turned that dream into a place where guests can truly connect, relax, and feel cared-for, a "home away from home".

Tracy Purdy
Tracy Purdy
Virtual Assistant: Save Time and Grow Your Business Using AI

Tracy Purdy has been the owner and innkeeper of Three Daughters Inn, a historic bed and breakfast in Pottstown since 2019. She is also the Executive Director of Mosaic Community Land Trust and a longtime advocate for community development, equitable housing, and historic preservation. Blending her background in planning and policy with hands-on innkeeping, Tracy uses technology and AI tools to streamline operations, enhance guest experience, and prevent burnout. She brings a unique, real-world perspective to tech adoption for small B&Bs and is passionate about helping fellow innkeepers find simple, affordable ways to work smarter, not harder.

Patrick Campbell
Patrick Campbell
Smart Systems for Small Inns: Streamlining Operations with Cloud Tools & AI

Patrick T. Campbell is the co-owner of The Keystone Inn in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and a seasoned business leader with over two decades of operational and strategic planning experience. Before entering the hospitality industry, Patrick spent 11 years at PayPal, retiring as Senior Director of Enterprise Planning. He is an experienced conference speaker, having previously presented at the Mid-Atlantic Innkeepers Conference for aspiring innkeepers on business strategy and business planning. Patrick holds an MBA from Johns Hopkins University and is passionate about helping independent innkeepers work smarter through technology and automation.

Cindy Bachmann
Cindy Bachmann
Smarter Visibility, Smarter Revenue: AI Search Tools for Small Lodging Success

Cindy is the founder and CEO whose company offers a complete suite of software including a reservation system and website marketing designed using input from hundreds of B&B's and Boutique inns over the past 17 years. The company goal is to offer state-of-the-art lodging technology to make life easier and grow innkeeper's bottom line.

Jeff Logan
Jeff Logan
Essential Marketing & Website Strategies for Aspiring & New Innkeepers

Jeff Logan has been working with innkeepers worldwide for almost 30 years. Jeff and his team work with over 100 properties providing digital marketing services focused on clean mobile-first designs and agressive digital marketing that has lasting placement in search engines.

Jeff Hebrink
Jeff Hebrink
Why Your Direct Booking Strategy is Broken and 5 Ways to Fix It

Jeff joined the rezStream team in 2014 with over 19 years of sales experience and was one of the original employees at Munsenware selling the Guest Tracker property management software. Jeff is a leading educator in the hospitality industry. Not only does he run monthly webinars for clients and general public education, he also travels across the U.S. and presents as a featured speaker at many lodging and hospitality conferences. His background and experience in the industry has given him a wide variety of expertise ranging from property management software and tips to increase your booking engine reservations, to strategies to easily update and refresh the look of your website, to the latest tricks in internet marketing and search engine optimization.

Operations and Business Strategy

Chuck Anderson
Chuck Anderson
Entry and Exit Planning for Innkeepers

Chuck Anderson, together with his wife Charlotte created Restoration Hospitality Services in 2014 as an operating company for Lucille’s Mountaintop Inn and Spa located in Sautee, GA, which they successfully owned and operated from 2015 – 2020.  After selling the inn, they transformed the company into a multi-service business brokerage, which synthesizes technical expertise, business operations, interior design, and a deep knowledge of interpersonal dynamics for their clients.  They became the “and Associates” part of Marilyn’s inn brokerage firm at the beginning of 2022 and have been working closely with her since then.  Chuck is a licensed Real Estate Sales Agent in Georgia and Pennsylvania.

Smart Cooking for Small Operations