A year later, a smaller YTB returns to St. Louis for its annual convention

The YTB-ers are back in town.

Thousands of sales agents for YTB International are arriving in downtown St. Louis today for the Wood River-based travel company’s annual convention, which runs through Sunday at America’s Center.

The company has gone through a lot of change since this event last year.

It was, after all, just before the 2008 convention that California Attorney General Jerry Brown sued the multi-level marketing company, calling it a “gigantic pyramid scheme” and accusing it of fleecing the vast majority of its then nearly 140,000 “referring travel agents” - who pay YTB to operate travel sales websites, but would often earn just a small commission.

On the heels of that complaint in California came class-action suits, business troubles and the departure of tens of thousands of those RTAs, whose monthly fees make up three-quarters of YTB’s revenue (which was $162 million last year). The company’s auditor criticized its internal financial controls and four board members resigned for various reasons. By the end of March, YTB’s revenue had fallen by half.

But in May, YTB settled with California, agreeing to pay $1 million in fines and shift towards a more tightly-regulated franchise system. It hired local businessman Bob van Patten as co-CEO and added three independent members to its board. And it has been gradually rolling out a new, more franchise-based business model it calls YTB 2.0. More details on that plan are expected at this weekend’s convention.

YTB still has challenges. A lawsuit filed in May by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan remains in court in Champaign County and a news release issued today by the Better Business Bureau of St. Louis said it is still receiving complaints about the company. The crowd at this year’s convention is expected to be one-third the size of last year’s.

But the company is still around. And this weekend, it’s back in St. Louis.