The Association of Serviced Apartment Providers (ASAP) - the not-for-profit trade body for the serviced apartment sector - is delighted to announce that Cathy O'Dowd will be the keynote speaker for its annual Convention in London on 7 December.The first woman in the world to climb Mount Everest from both its north and south side, Cathy is an exceptional motivational speaker, and will inspire delegates as she takes them on an expedition sharing stories about leading teams and executing plans in high-risk high-stress environments while striving for big goals, based around her experience rea ching the summit of Mount Everest.James Foice, Chief Executive of the ASAP, comments:'It's fantastic to have secured Cathy O'Dowd as our keynote speaker for our 2017 Convention. Our 2017 Convention theme is 'Rising to the Challenge' and who better than Cathy to inspire our delegates about how to succeed in the most challenging situations, run successful projects, get the best out of people and achieve your goals, based on her real-life insights on the many challenges she has faced as an adventurer and explorer'.Speaking from her home in Andorra, Cathy O'Dowd comments:'People assume the biggest challenge of Everest is the storms, or the cold, or the altitude. It's not. It's yourself, and your team. Much of what happens around you is out of your control, but how you react to it, how you manage the opportunities and the difficulties - that's what makes the difference between failure and success.'ASAP is also very pleased to con firm that best-selling author Frances Edmonds will compere the 2017 Convention for the first time.Tickets are now on sale for the event and can be booked on the dedicated Convention website – http://asapconvention.org.uk . Early-bird booking runs until 30 September.Further details of the Convention seminar programme will be released later this summer.