education and events
MasterMind Summit
You’re invited to a one-of-a-kind event designed to inspire, elevate, and challenge your way of thinking! The second annual MasterMind Summit is happening September 23-25, 2025, in Fort Lauderdale, FL, and promises to deliver an unmatched education experience.
Schedule at a Glance
MasterMind Summit attendees can earn up to 7.5 PHTA CEUs.
Pre-Conference Courses: September 21-23
Come to town early to take advantage of in-person education with our esteemed GENESIS faculty, and get one step closer to earning your Expert CBP or Master CBP.
In our business, drawing is a tool that you must have in order to effectively communicate with your clients. In this course, we'll teach you fundamental sketching, drawing, and drafting skills, along with how to read and layout plans. No previous drawing experience needed.
This is a required course to become a Certified Expert Pool Builder & Design Professional.
Learning Objectives:
- Learn the basic types of drawings: elevation, section, and plan
- Demonstrate how to draw, not for beauty, but as a communication tools
- Examine the common terms, symbols, and methods used by professional designers and architects
Instructor: Andy Kaner, MLA
Foresight is an essential component of good design. In this course, you will retrain how you think of water vessel design by changing the sequence of designing outdoor improvements first, and integrating the pool last. This course will challenge your design approach with a landscape-based process that considers the functionality of the entire space first. The course lecture and projects will focus on sightlines, living spaces, traffic flow, special considerations, and more, and will help you create beautiful designs with high functionality.
This is a required course to become a Certified Master Pool Builder & Design Professional.
Learning Objectives:
- Analyze art examples; review principal areas of composition.
- Identify categories of outdoor spaces.
- Define site elements that occupy and enhance the function and esthetic of the space.
- Review case studies on the use of outdoor space.
Instructor: Kirk Bianchi
Understanding the architecture of both built structures and the surrounding landscape will enable watershape designers to coordinate details and relate the water elements back to the surrounding environment in an appropriate way. It is easy to find examples of pools that clearly do not reflect the style of the home. They are usually the result of a production-type builder that is only comfortable replicating the same pool they have built many times. However, when the pool is well-designed to match the home’s architecture, the effect can be breathtaking and add real value to the property. This process can only begin after a basic understanding of architectural styles - the palette from which we draw from. These pools not only reflect the home but also the surrounding landscape.
This is a required course to become a Certified Expert Pool Builder & Design Professional.
Learning Objectives:
- Review design styles through the 20th Century. Includes Arts and Crafts, Prairie Style, California Bungalow, Bauhaus, Art Deco, Zig-Zag modernism, New England salt boxes, Ranch style, Mid-Century Modern, Brutalism, Post-Modernism, and others in the US and overseas
- Discuss the significance of changes in style and review key examples of these styles
- Describe the key principles of various styles and how to coordinate watershape design with architecture
Instructor: Paul John Boulifard, Architect + LEED AP
Conference
Tuesday, September 23
- Registration/Check-in
- Optional Field Trips!
1pm-6pm- Fishing
- International Swimming Hall of Fame Tour
- Tour of local projects
Wednesday, September 24
Imagining the Possibilities: Macro Trends and How They Effect the Consumer
Sharing and networking! More details to come.
45-minute expert-led roundtable discussions. Each attendee will have a chance to attend two topics and share thoughts and ideas with like-minded colleagues and peers.
- Photography – Jimi Smith
- Succession Planning – Skip Phillips
- ??
- Design Technology – Paul John Boulifard
- ???
- Social Media – Brian Van Bower
- ???
- Color – Feras Irikat
- ??
- Tight Space/ Interesting Terrain? - Terry Brannon or Skip?
Professional headshots (need to pre-register) OR time with sponsors OR other ideas.
Details coming soon!
One 45-minute project profile with 15 minutes of Q&A.
Sitdown dinner with music or entertainment; around-the-world stations or drinks tied to Platinum Sponsors; event with cigar rollers or bus/outing to city
Thursday, September 25
Details coming soon!
Speaker: Brian Carter or TBD
One 45-minute project profile with 15 minutes of Q&A.
Time with sponsors; other ideas; time to explore project highlights; Q&A highlights top 5 from sponsors
45-minute expert-led roundtable discussions. Each attendee will have a chance to attend two topics and share thoughts and ideas with like-minded colleagues and peers.
- Photography – Jimi Smith
- Succession Planning OR Core Values as a Business Owner – Skip Phillips and/or Rocky Wisley
- ??
- Design Technology – Paul John Boulifard
- ???
- Blog, Vlog, Podcasts, and More – Brian Van Bower
- ???
- Color – Feras Irikat
- Tight Space/ Interesting Terrain?- Terry Brannon or Skip?
Speaker: Industry Insights
Awards; Celebrate CBPs
Optional event / sponsored dinner / reception
Pricing
- Expert CBP / Master CBP: Free!
- CBP / Advanced CBP: $699
- PHTA Member: $999
- Non-member: $1,499
Key Takeaways
- Insights on Top Industry Issues – Spend time with industry leaders discussing critical issues and trends in labor, supply chain, economic pressure, and what your company is doing to respond to these external factors.
- Access to Innovative Thought Leaders – The reputation of the GENESIS® faculty precedes them, and they are often referred to as the best the industry has to offer. The GENESIS® faculty team will be together at this event to share, teach, and discuss new educational offerings both through the program and in personal one-on-one sessions with participants.
- Information Sharing via Sessions for Success – MasterMind attendees are all critical thinkers and business owners eager to grow their businesses. The quality of the networking and the ability to learn from one another is an unprecedented benefit which continues long after the event is over.
- Long-term Inspiration – At the end of the event, your energy and inspiration should be at an all-time high as you recall all that you learned and cannot wait to implement upon your return home! Start applying your newly acquired skills and stay in touch with new peers that are doing the same thing in their businesses. Through this interactive program with industry thought leaders, you will be inspired by the insights and practices shared in this intimate setting.
Location
Join us right on the beach at the beautiful Fort Lauderdale Marriott Harbor Beach Resort & Spa! MasterMind Summit attendees can get the special room rate of $239/night + tax. Note: This special rate is available on a first come, first serve basis. Reservations for this special rate must be made by Friday, August 29, 2025.
Fort Lauderdale Marriott Harbor Beach Resort & Spa
3030 Holiday Drive
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316
(800) 222-6543
Reservation link coming soon!
Who We Are
Our GENESIS® instructors have been hand-selected based upon their subject matter expertise. And they bring uncompromising commitment across a range of industry services. Our experienced and innovative teachers are passionate about what they do, and want to share that passion and experience with you. Meet the full GENESIS® team here.
Platinum Sponsors
