Alexis Caldwell is a Columbus native and a graduate of Ohio University located in Athens, Ohio. She’s been with Experience Columbus for over 2 years now in the membership department as the Membership Services Coordinator. Her passion for promoting Columbus’ local businesses to locals and visitors is the driving force to her success at Experience Columbus. In her current role, Alexis works directly with the nearly 1,200 member businesses that make up the organization’s membership base. In her free time, she enjoys experiencing the area’s metro parks and sampling craft beer at one of the many local breweries found in Columbus. She resides just outside of Downtown with her dog Bear and her cat Fred.

Alicia M. Quinn is the Strategic Brand Manager for Discover Lehigh Valley ® , leading the marketing, advertising, media buying and branding that builds the region’s economy and image. In two years with Discover Lehigh Valley, Quinn rolled out a new brand for the destination as well as an overhaul of the organizations’ marketing strategy and digital footprint, including the use of high impact photography, a new website, key and targeted messaging and segmentation.

Quinn’s previous work includes Visit Philadelphia ® where she ran the Towns of the Countryside initiative, delivering visitor-ready experiences, coupled with overnight stays, resulting in increased economic development for the 5-County Greater Philadelphia Region. Also, Quinn was the marketing director during the opening of Kalahari Resorts & Conventions in the Pocono Mountains and director of public relations and communications at the Pocono Mountains Visitors Bureau where she was charged with communicating the rebranding of the leisure based destination, from the “Honeymoon Capital of the World,” to a revitalized destination offering city dwellers a place nearby to escape, reconnect and unwind in an authentic, meaningful way.

Follow @AliciaMQuinn on Instagram, as she shares her passions of marketing, travel, HGTV, food and wine… oh and cats and horses.

Andrea Timbes is the CRM Administrator for Visit Fort Worth. Working under the Meeting Sales umbrella, she manages the CRM, functions as lead catcher, provides training to our internal staff as well to our partners, and wear many other hats.

Timbes joined Visit Fort Worth in March 2014. Before that, she had been working for Dolce International/AATCC in a similar position (Certified Newmarket System Administrator) for 12 years.

Originally from Germany, Timbes has over 17 years’ experience in Hotel & Restaurant industry (from F&B to Front Desk & Night Audit to Sales), a BA in Hotel Organization/Accounting & Data processing, and an A.A.S in Business Administration and Economics.

Introduced to the world of destination organizations by a random internship application to Visit Baltimore (then known as Baltimore Area Convention & Visitors Association), Andreas Weissenborn began an unexpected career into hospitality that left him with a continued passion towards the tourism industry.

Weissenborn spent just short of 11 years with Visit Baltimore helping with its Research, Technology, and Information Systems across the organization. In 2017, he joined the Association on behalf of a Destinations International Foundation initiative to be a dedicated research source for Destinations International.

Ann has been with the Great Lakes Bay Regional CVB since 2013 and is currently the Lead Travel Tech and Grant Writer. In addition, she is co-owner, with her husband, of a local hospitality business (bowling center/pub). Prior to the CVB, Ann spent 8 years as a County Commissioner for Saginaw County and as a real estate paralegal for a local law firm.

Married for over 38 years, she and her husband have two grown sons who are married and have three children between them, ages 4, 5 and 6. She has lived in the Great Lakes Bay Region all of her life except for 4 years spent in Houston, Texas.

Ann’s degrees are in Law Enforcement and in Business Administration. Her spare time is spent at the cottage, fishing, cooking (what grandma doesn’t?), working on a light house, drawing/painting and hanging out with the grandchildren.

Ms. Scott-Savage has 30 years in the convention and tourism industry with DMO’s as Vice President of Community and Member Relations for the Metropolitan Tucson Convention and Visitors Bureau, President and CEO of the Mobile Area Convention and Visitor Bureau as well as Vice President of Sales and Marketing for the Arlington Convention and Visitor Bureau.

Ms. Scott-Savage is privileged to serve and support the convention and visitor industry and has been recognized for her area of experience and expertise. Ms. Scott-Savage does an extensive amount of public speaking on a variety of subjects in the business community as well as industry seminars to include keynote presentations to the British Association of Conference Destinations, Manchester, England, Travel Industry of America, and Destination International along with state and local associations throughout the United States.

She joined the Greater Houston Convention and visitor Bureau as Director of Membership Development in June of 2013 after serving as a consultant to the organization, redeveloping their membership program.

Brittany Lauro is the social media manager for Discover Newport. She’s responsible for developing and implementing social marketing strategies to expand the company’s brand influence and increase engagement across the company blog and all major social channels. Her day to day includes writing, editing and crafting relevant and engaging blog content, curating daily posts across the company’s social media channels and generating creative social campaigns. She finds peace in writing and creating, and love taking photos, and can often be found with a glass of Chianti by the ocean.

Casandra Morris, is the E-Business and Research Manager at the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism. She holds a Masters Degree in Marketing with e-Commerce from the University of Portsmouth, UK and earned her Bachelor of Science Degree (Magna Cum Laude) in International Hotel and Tourism Management from Johnson and Wales University, Providence Rhode Island.

Casandra’s responsibilities include providing management and monitoring oversight to the global marketing communications projects including CRM, e-commerce, social media, website development and maintenance, as well as local and international market research undertaken by the Government annually.

She has held previous roles as Director of the Cayman Islands National Festival - Pirates Week, Head of Marketing at Digicel Telecommunications Group, and top marketing roles within the tourism industry including General Manager of Marketing at the Turtle Farm, the largest attraction on island and at the Cayman Islands Tourism Association as Assistant Executive Director and Acting Executive Director.

An Elder and Bible Teacher, she is well known for her strong Christian values and volunteers her time to educate, encourage and inspire others.

Casey Ressler is the Marketing & Communications Manager at the Mat-Su CVB in Alaska. He’s been with the CVB for almost 12 years after spending 11 years as a features writer and editor at the local newspaper. As a small DMO, he wears a variety of hats, working with travel writers, tour operators, producing marketing collateral and handles all aspects of their web site. He loves to travel, but knows that Alaska will always be home, and he truly enjoys sharing the beauty of Alaska with visitors. His idea of five-star lodging is a tent along the river with a view of Denali, a full cooler of local craft beer and a fly rod.

Cathy Tull is the chief marketing officer for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA). The LVCVA is the destination marketing organization for Las Vegas and Southern Nevada, and its mission centers on attracting visitors by promoting the destination as the world’s most desirable destination for leisure and business travel. The LVCVA also owns and operates the Las Vegas Convention Center.

In her role, Ms. Tull oversees all of the organization’s marketing, advertising and sales efforts. She joined the LVCVA in 2005 with extensive business experience in travel and tourism, health care administration and journalism. Ms. Tull began as the organization’s vice president of strategic planning where her responsibilities included providing strategic direction regarding issues facing the destination, including air and ground transportation, fuel infrastructure and government affairs. She was promoted to senior vice president of marketing in 2009 and into her current position in 2017.

Christopher Pike is the Director of Impact Studies within Oxford Economics’ Tourism Economics division and is responsible for measuring the economic impact of tourism activity – both broadly and for specific initiatives and projects. With his expertise in economic impact analysis, Chris works on projects from local - the impact of individual events - to universal - analysis of annual impacts of visitor spending. Chris is lead analyst on the DMAI Event Impact Calculator, working with over 220 DMOs on the impacts of meetings, conventions and sporting events on local economies, and has worked with dozens of state and local tourism destinations and companies around the world on annual impact analysis.

Claire Vilk has been with Travel Tacoma + Pierce County for just over 4 years. Her initial role as Executive Asst. to the president eventually lead to a new position in 2015 as she helped to create a Partner Relations role. This role has been an excellent addition to the organization because Travel Tacoma’s partners gained a key point person that assists them with their needs and makes sure they’re getting the most out of their partnership. It’s helped to strengthen relationships and open new avenues of discussion that are beneficial to the growth and support of what we as a DMO can do.

Claire was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, and while she’s lived on both sides and loves the East coast, there’s nothing quite like being home and seeing Mt. Rainier, or as the locals refer to it, The Mountain, on a regular basis. When not working, she can be found in the kitchen baking everything under the sun or taking in some Pens hockey with her husband and 3-year- old daughter.

Dan, a recovering mall marketing professional, began his DMO career in 2016. He got his start in tourism and hospitality completing multiple Walt Disney World College Program internships, before transitioning into tourism marketing roles at two of the largest malls in Chicago and Philadelphia. He for a decade to work for Lerner Enterprises (owner of the Washington Nationals) marketing shopping centers and coordinating public relations and marketing initiatives for hotels, office buildings, and other asset classes. Since returning to tourism with Prince William County, Virginia, Dan and his team has earned industry accreditation by Destinations International, executed a new experiential trail – The Steins, Vines, & Moonshine Trail, implemented a new strategic and marketing/sales plan, migrated to Simpleview, and recently, successfully merged into Prince William County’s Department of Parks & Recreaation. In 2017, he was awarded the employee of the year by the Virginia Restaurant Lodging & Travel Association and will be a graduate of Leadership Prince William in June 2018. He and his wife, Jessica, and their cat – Chaplain, reside in Gainesville, Virginia and can’t wait for the upcoming seasons of Stranger Things, Ozark, and House of Cards on Netflix. He and his wife love anything that involves traveling to new places.

Dave Whiteside is Director of Client Growth & Success at CLIENTSFirst Consulting. Dave offers Clients extensive knowledge of marketing technology and business development in consulting, legal, accounting and professional services business environments. Known primarily for his deep knowledge of business development processes and technologies such as CRM and business and competitive intelligence, Dave is well-respected for the high level of service he provides his clients who call on him regularly for advice.

Prior to joining CLIENTSFirst, Dave held numerous sales and sales management roles at Thomson Reuters, in the legal and accounting marketing technology software and services areas. Previously, Dave was Vice President of an Enterprise level Project Management software and services organization, managing the sales and professional services teams serving the Fortune 500 market.

A graduate of Lake Superior State University with a degree in Marketing, Dave also holds a MBA from St. Mary’s College in California.

When Dave is not traveling for Client service or industry meetings, he works from his home base of Jacksonville, FL.

Deanna brings a wealth of industry experience to Barberstock, the leading Digital Asset Management system for tourism and travel. With over 10 years of hospitality and tourism operations and marketing management experience, she’s worked at Disneyworld in Florida, a resort in Thailand and the marketing department for a major Canadian hotel chain. Deanna has a personal goal of bringing leadership, purpose and determination to every task she tackles, by cultivating lasting relationships, results and success stories with Barberstock’s team and clients.

Debbie McKeown is the CRM Administrator for Québec City Tourism. On staff for the past 14 years, most of them as a coordinator with the Sales Team in Meeting & Sales, Tour & Travel and Media/PR sections, she is part of a team that implemented their newly acquired Simpleview CRM and is now responsible for developing the best practices and for maintaining the integrity of the data base. She obtained her degree in Tourism from Le Collège Mérici in 1990 and has always worked in the travel industry. She speaks French fluently and is the first Canadian to earn the Simpleview Member/Partner Brainery Certification.

Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau (GRCVB) senior marketing manager Derek Allman, CHIA, has been in the destination marketing world for nearly a decade, working primarily with leisure tourism marketing and meetings and conventions marketing strategies.

An N.C. native, Derek graduated from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) with a B.S. in marketing in May 2008 and took his education, plus self-taught marketing, advertising, graphic design and web design skills, to the Greensboro Area Convention and Visitors Bureau from Aug. 2008 to Oct. 2012.

Seeing an opportunity to return to his roots around Raleigh, Derek began as internet marketing manager at GRCVB in 2012, helping to grow leisure visitation to the destination and further establishing the Bureau as the destination’s official voice for tourism.

Derek is now senior marketing manager, planning and executing leisure tourism strategies and digital content marketing strategies for all Bureau departments—especially growing the Bureau’s website traffic, email marketing initiatives and social media accounts significantly since his start.

Emily Stuck is the Program and Events Manager at Visit Fort Wayne in Fort Wayne, IN and has been with the organization for 7 amazing years. She prides herself on being the CRM Analyst for the office and is always looking for ways to make sure everyone is effectively using the database.

When not working she enjoys her beautiful city with her husband, almost 2-year- old son Dylan and their American Bulldog Leo.

Erin Francis-Cummings is the President & CEO of Destination Analysts. She has spent the last fifteen years studying travelers and the travel industry, and is at the forefront of developing research solutions that marry technology, big data and market research to assist the industry with deepening the understanding of travel decision processes and measuring ROI. With the globalization of travel, her work is devoted to helping travel industry businesses market themselves in this exciting but competitive reality.

Gretchen Pardon is the Web Content Manager for Visit Knoxville. A Knoxville native, Pardon has worked in the tourism and marketing industry for over 13 years. Pardon has over 11 years’ experience in website and email communications with a degree in Web Technology and certifications in both UX design and ecommerce. Prior to joining the team at Visit Knoxville, Pardon managed her own website design company and previously served as the Publications Director for the Gatlinburg Chamber of Commerce from 2005 - 2010 during which time she earned her Tourism Marketing Professional (TMP) accreditation at STS Marketing College. Pardon enjoys contributing her passion for design and code to help promote travel and tourism in the city she loves.

Pardon is a mom of 4 who enjoys spending as much time outside as possible running, backpacking and hiking with her husband. Pardon has hiked over 1000 miles of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and has a goal to thru-hike the entire Appalachian Trail.

Hannah Smith is a Double Dawg, holding two degrees from the University of Georgia. She’s one of a myriad of UGA graduates who came to Athens, loved the town as well as the university, and never left. She’s had the privilege of officially promoting Athens for the past 18 years. As Director of Marketing & Communications for the Athens Convention & Visitors Bureau, she brands and markets Athens as a destination for leisure travel, meetings & conventions. She’s relaunched the VisitAthensGA website multiple times, and currently serves on Simpleview’s CMS user group. She’s particularly glad to have been around for the growth of Athens’ craft beer scene and enjoys sampling local brews as she travels.

Heather hails from central Pennsylvania and has been at Visit Hershey & Harrisburg (VHH) for a little over 2 years now as their Manager of Digital Marketing & Technology. Previously she was part owner of a web and design firm in PA. She works intimately with VHH’s website and e-newsletters as well as supporting company-wide marketing goals. She has 2 daughters who are 9 and 5, that keep her busy and never let her sleep in on Saturday mornings. In her spare time (what is that?) she likes to garden and do anything outside. Her top bucket list places include seeing more of the Western US, visiting Iceland to see the northern lights, and checking out the Galapagos Islands.

As Chief Marketing Officer, Holly Clapham-Rosenow leads the strategic direction for marketing and advertising for Houston as well as the Houston First Corporation.

Since assuming the role in 2003, Holly has led the brand position for Houston as a Culinary and Cultural Capital. Under her leadership the marketing team has received more than 60 awards.

Prior to joining Houston First, Holly worked as marketing director for CBS Radio, Houston for five years. She has also worked as the promotions director for the Houston Museum of Natural Science and was the client services director for two Houston advertising agencies.

Ms. Clapham-Rosenow graduated with a degree in Radio, Television, Film from the Dan Rather School of Communications at Sam Houston State University. She is a member of the American Marketing Association and sits on the Theater District Association board and the Discovery Green Advisory Committee. She served on the 2004 Super Bowl Marketing Committee, the 2016 NCAA Men’s Final Four Executive Team and 2017 Super Bowl Marketing Committee. Holly was inducted into the Houston Business Journal's "40 Under 40" class of 2013.

For the last 8 years, Jack has been on the communications team at Visit Anchorage, in Alaska’s most populous city. As content manager, he responsible for the way that Anchorage’s glaciers, wildlife, nearby national parks and everything else shows up on the page and the screen. In a previous life, he was a broadcast journalist. He now revels in the opportunity to speak to multiple audiences at the same time using different content.

Jacob has worked in some aspect of the digital universe for over the past fifteen years in hospitality, tourism and higher education. As the CVB's very own "wizard" of technology, he stays on top of emerging trends and new opportunities for promoting the region and keeping the office operations running smoothly. A recent new dad, he lives in the Southern Finger Lakes region of New York with his wife & daughter.

Jake Schultz is the Senior Digital Marketing Manager for Visit Huntington Beach. He joined the VHB team in March of 2017. Jake is responsible for the year-round digital brand content strategy and distribution plan, he serves as the lead for agency relationships and projects, and manages all paid, earned and owned media development.
 
Previous to joining the Visit Huntington Beach Jake worked for a sports marketing firm for seven years and managed advertising and digital media development for clients such as the NBA, adidas, Mercedes-Benz, ESPN and more.
 
Jake lives with his brother and childhood friend just five miles from the Visit Huntington Beach office. Jake loves to surf, go to country concerts and drink red wine.

James Trimble is the Chief Operating Officer of EventBooking, a venue management software company based in Knoxville, Tennessee that currently serves 900 convention centers, arenas, and theatres worldwide. Before coming to work at EventBooking, he spent 10 years performing in a rock and roll band and touring the country. He chooses to continue working in this industry because he believes that well planned events create unique experiences which have the power to truly make the world a better place.

Jared Bundy entered the travel industry in spring of 2017 as the director of interactive marketing at the Laurel Highlands Visitors Bureau, a three-county destination near Pittsburgh, PA. In that time, Jared oversaw a complete website redesign including implementation of a booking engine, launched a monthly podcast and partnered his destination with TripAdvisor. He elevated their digital marketing by refining audience segmentation and campaign strategies and introduced remarketing, native, YouTube and influencer marketing to the creative mix. He also manages the website, writes blogs, shoots photos and edits video for the organization.

Outside of the office, Jared is a proud father to 2-year-old Ryker and husband to his wife, Anne. The two will celebrate their 4th anniversary in June. He teaches communication classes at Saint Vincent College and loves sharing his passion for journalism, videography and public relations with students. In his spare time, Jared enjoys cheering on the Pirates at PNC Park, collecting retro video games and ring announcing for local professional wrestling.

Jasmyn Goodwin has been described as possessing “stunning, energetic style.” Well…she actually read that in a movie review but feels it also works for her. After growing up in the military and living mostly on the east coast and in Europe, Jasmyn decided to grow roots and settle down in Omaha. For the past 10 years, Jasmyn has worked for Visit Omaha, helping to shape and build the city’s tourism brand in the digital world. She continues these efforts as the Director of Marketing and Content. Jasmyn happily lives with her husband and bonus-son. They enjoy traveling, exploring their city, binge watching Netflix, and eating in restaurants with 3+ stars on Yelp.

Jessica Weissman is the Web Manager for VISIT DENVER. She was born and raised in Colorado Springs, CO and attended Colorado State University where she received two degrees, one in Global Tourism and one in Spanish. After starting her DMO career at Visit Fort Collins and moving up to Digital Marketing Manager, she moved to VISIT DENVER where she is now is in charge of interactive operations for the DMO. She is part of the Simpleview CMS User Group and has accreditations in graphic design and front- end web development. As a Colorado native she enjoys being able to market The Mile High City and all that it has to offer. During her free time, she loves to snowboard, hike with her dog and husband and pretend to be a foodie.

John Weimer is founder and CEO of OnceThere. Prior to OnceThere, he spent six years at HomeAway where he was Vice President of Corporate Development and Managing Director of the Asia Pacific business. During his tenure at HomeAway, the Company's grew revenues from $50 million to $450 million. Prior to HomeAway, John was Vice President of Business Development at Discovery Communications where he led many initiatives to expand Discovery's business beyond television into online and mobile platforms and beyond North America and Europe into Asia, Latin America and Australia. He spent two years as a management consultant at Booz Allen from which he was recruited to be VP of mergers and acquisitions for JP Morgan Chase in Brazil. John earned BA/MA degrees from the University of Chicago, and has a BA from Rice University. He grew up in Texas.

Jon Niemann is a Senior Account Executive for BluePay. With over 20 years of sales experience, Jon has spent the last 10 years in merchant services understanding customers’ unique requirements and helping them select the best payment services for their business. Jon is well respected by peers and customers alike for his dedication to ensuring his customers’ needs are met in a timely and efficient manner.

Julie’s professional background working for tourism vendors, including Simpleview, led to her success with Visit Tucson. Completing her first round of Brainery coursework was aided by her recent experiences at the University of Arizona, giving her a great perspective on how to prepare for the course work and exams. Aligning perfectly with her start at Visit Tucson, the Brainery course put Julie on a fast-track for auditing and efficiently managing partner data for the Tucson team.

Julie Grant is the Digital Marketing Manager at Discover Newport. When she’s not behind the lens of her camera, she’s nose deep in the CMS & CRM for DiscoverNewport.org. She also spends her day’s curating UGC, conceptualizing SEO numbers, and auditing the company’s website. In her free time, she can usually be found soaking in a daily dose of Vitamin D at the beach, out for dinner and drinks with friends, or taking photos of her black cat…typically the latter. Among other things, Julie is determined to prove how successful a social media and Starbucks loving Millennial, can be.

Karen manages Visit Napa Valley's website, email program and analytics, and loves promoting the beautiful Napa Valley. She previously spent 15 years in the software industry designing and developing websites.

Starting with Explore Fairbanks as the Sales Coordination fresh after college graduation, Kasey has steadily progressed in job responsibilities to her current role as Assistant Director of Communications. Besides placing and tracking all of Explore Fairbanks’ print, broadcast and digital advertising, she is an administrator for the CRM, CMS, DTN and Distribion systems as well as many “other duties as assigned.” Having been born and raised in Fairbanks, Kasey prides herself on showing off her hometown to visitors and loves exploring all that it has to offer. When she’s not working, you’ll find her loving on her niece and nephew, doing home renovations or collecting PEZ dispensers.

Wifey, Mommy, Foodie, Dallasite and working lady @VisitIrvingTx. Lover of social media & marcomm. You'll find me living life in sassy shoes w/ big hair.

Kelli Hilliard is the PR & Tourism Development Manager for the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks & Tourism. In her fifteen years in the tourism division, she has actively promoted Kansas to the group tour, sports, meetings, and international markets and also helped launch the first statewide hospitality program. She also leads the development and implementation of communication initiatives to shape the perception of Kansas to potential visitors. In her role, she also oversees outreach to national and international media. Kelli received her Bachelor of Science degree in Tourism and Marketing from Central Missouri State University (1997).

Kim Murden has led the strategic direction and initiatives for the City of Chesapeake’s Tourism department since establishing the organization in 2002.

While serving as the Director of Sales and Marketing at the Chesapeake Conference Center, Kim discovered untapped opportunities for the City of Chesapeake, by way of their abundant recreational offerings.

Kim realized that Chesapeake’s acres of parkland, waterways and open sky provide a symbolic option to visitors coming to the Coastal Virginia region. Realizing the potential economic tourism impact, she worked with city leadership to create a tourism outreach program and the results have been remarkable.

In 2016, tourism initiatives created 3,191 jobs and Chesapeake residents enjoyed $61.8 million in wages and salaries from visitor spending.

Visitor revenue also generated $331.4 million in direct spending and $11.8 million in local taxes - and every year, tourism helps to lift Chesapeake’s household tax burden by $332.32 in state & local taxes.

Kim will be the first to tell you that this is very much a collaborative success between the Parks, Recreation and Tourism department, the Chesapeake Conference Center Center and all of the tourism partners dedicated to elevating the City of Chesapeake.

Never complacent, Kim has also been instrumental in coordinating events, attractions and helping to secure large group business contracts. She cultivated over $60,000 in-kind sponsorships for the Dismal Swamp Half Marathon in its inaugural race - which has sold out every year since. The event has even received national recognition from the Washington Post.

As part of an effort to bring more art and culture to Chesapeake, Kim led the development and implementation of the Portlock Galleries at SoNo. She was very much hands-on in guiding the design, construction management, and marketing strategy to ensure that Chesapeake’s first public art facility was a success.

A shrewd negotiator, Kim has generated over 7,500 room nights with an estimated economic impact of over $1.5 million to the city by bringing high-spend meetings and major conventions to the city, including the Department of the Navy, Harley Owners Group, and Army Range Symposium, to name a few.

Kim Murden is a graduate of Hampton University, Hampton, Virginia, where she earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management. She stays current by attending and participating in a number of industry organizations such as the Destination Marketing Association International, the Virginia Association of Convention and Visitor’s Bureaus, and the Southeast Tourism Society. She has served on the Board of Directors for the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Executives Committee.

When she’s not inviting the world to Chesapeake, Kim is enjoying the great outdoors and juggling two busy teenagers, a husband and one very ornery Schnauzer.

Kimberly Vince-Cruz is Destination Analysts’ Vice President. Having spent the last decade conducting market research for destinations, the travel trade and the meetings industry, Kim directs and implements the vision of all Destination Analysts’ research studies. Kim is a sought resource in the industry for her expertise in DMO website usability, audience profile and analytics and conversion. She takes pride in providing clients with actionable recommendations and in helping them make informed decisions to direct their marketing strategy.

Lisa Baird is the Marketing Manager at Visit Oakland where she oversees digital marketing to promote Oakland as a travel destination. She also manages the company's website, consumer email marketing, marketing initiatives and campaigns, collateral development and vendor relationships.

Before this, she worked at The Port Workspaces in Oakland, supporting entrepreneurs and new small businesses starting in the area, and with INCA: International Nature and Cultural Adventures travel company. With a background in travel and tourism management, Lisa loves sharing her passion for Oakland with visitors from all over the world. Originally from Switzerland, Lisa has travelled extensively through Europe, the US and South America but these days you’re likely to find her running around Lake Merritt or trying to find the best burger in town.

Logan is a Digital Media Manager who works with travelers to help them discover why there is #NoPlaceLikeKS. She believes that creativity and passion should be a driver in a person’s career and that individuals should appreciate out of the box thinking, uniqueness, and imaginative solutions throughout all works. Logan has worked at growing and maintaining her role with Kansas Tourism by managing numerous products and platforms in the digital industry, working side-by- side industry members for training and direction, and working in partnership with Kansas Tourism’s marketing and advertising firm to promote the state. She holds a Bachelor in Business Administration in both Marketing and Management from Washburn University. All that said; Logan also has a passion for coffee, brain storming, and travel, so if you find yourself wanting to chat, feel free to contact her.

Madison Graves grew up in Bryan/College Station, Texas as the oldest in a family of 5. She left for college and graduated from Dallas Baptist University with a degree in Communication and a minor in Hospitality Management. Madison worked for 4 years at DBU in the Admissions Department before accepting the position of Administrative Assistant at Visit Frisco a little more than 2 years ago. She meet her husband at DBU and got married 1 week after last years’ Summit – so they just celebrated 1 year of marriage! Her husband is a Firefighter/EMT for the City of Irving and they are currently looking to buy their first house! They have a black Labrador Retriever, Cooper, and they love to travel, go camping, and spend time outside. Madison enjoys having her husband cook for her and they love hosting friends and family over at their house! She loves meeting new people and is passionate about learning new things, so please, let’s be friends!

A marketing data geek with a permanent case of wanderlust, Matt combines a love of destination marketing with an unabashed passion for the numbers and the stories they can tell. He is an advocate for boosting the public's perceived value of the DMO industry by utilizing the power of effective analytics and research programs.

Clement began his tourism marketing career in the casino gaming industry before taking on his first DMO role at Experience Fayetteville in 2012. Matt then joined the Visit Fort Worth team where he directed and implemented the destination's paid marketing programs with an emphasis on harnessing attribution data to increase the effectiveness of digital campaigns. He was also a member of ADARA's Impact division working with clients across the country to measure and analyze digital media assets.

Matt recently joined the Arrivalist team as Marketing Director and is tasked with growing and cultivating the Arrivalist brand while also working with the company's over 100 DMO partners to better understand how their marketing efforts affect visitation to their destinations. Matt has been married to his wife Ashley for more than 10 years. They have a daughter, Lexi, and rapidly growing Black Lab, Jet.

For nearly 20 years, Michael Noblitt has helped organizations rise through digital transformation. As Chief Operating Officer of Distribion, he oversees all of Distribion’s operations and product offerings. Michael holds a degree in computer science and an MBA in marketing, and utilizes his passion for both to drive innovative approaches to marketing solutions.

Mike Wagner is the Information Systems Specialist at Traverse City Tourism in Traverse City, Michigan. His role is centered around managing data, accounts, and listings in the CRM. His interest in the CRM began shortly after joining the Traverse City Tourism team in 2014. Mike’s initial work in the CRM included importing contact files in the Consumer user group and creating orders in the Inventory user group. He now manages these two user groups along with the Member/Partner user group. In addition to working with the CRM, Mike processes outgoing mail and shipments for the office, assists members and partners with inquiries, helps walk-in visitors, and is a vital part of the Marketing team.

Mike is proud to have earned the title of “Certified Mentor in Membership/Partnership” through The Brainery offered by Simpleview. He also plans to complete the Consumer/Inventory and Meeting Sales certification courses and become a “Certified Master.”

Mike and his high school sweetheart (now wife) Kelly, are fortunate to live in their hometown near family. They enjoy cooking together and going on outdoor adventures, especially with their coonhound Cabella, leading the way.

Mo is responsible for Travel Oregon’s editorial mission of being a trusted source for travel inspiration and trip information to Oregon across print and digital platforms. He loves to hike the forests and mountain trails of Oregon with his family. On occasion, he has been known for getting lost inside the maze of books at Powell’s Books and is constantly on the lookout for hoppy IPAs and the best fish 'n chips along the Oregon Coast.

Monty is the director of marketing for the Irving, Texas Convention and Visitors Bureau, where he oversees marketing and digital marketing for both the CVB and the Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas. Monty has also worked for Hilton Worldwide as manager of content operations and prior to joining the hospitality world, he worked for several years in marketing at Bluegreen Advertising.

Monty has served on the HSMAI DFW board of directors since 2009 and is a past- president and current managing director. He also serves on the Richland College Advisory Board and previously served on the HSMAI Digital Marketing Council and the Dallas/Fort Worth Area Tourism Council Marketing Committee.

Monty received his bachelor’s degree from the University of North Texas, is a New Mexico Military Institute Alumnus, and an MBA Candidate at the University of Dallas.

Growing up in Malta, Nicole has a diverse background in public relations, procurement, customer service and technology. She brings her love for travel, admiration of photography, and bold work ethic to the Barberstock team. Nicole has a two-fold role in Accounts and Operations; she supports clients' Digital Asset Management needs as well as oversees a well-oiled and organized team to support those clients.

Niklas Schlappkohl is the Senior Director, Travel and the in-house expert for the Travel industry. He leads the Travel vertical and provides strategic language consulting for clients. Niklas joined Translations.com after 20 years in the global digital travel industry, having managed ecommerce and localization efforts at some of the leading hospitality brands including Starwood, Accor, NH Hotels and most recently Carlson Rezidor, where he was Senior Director, eCommerce. Since 2015, he has also been Chairman of the HSMAI Digital Marketing Advisory Board. A native from Germany, Niklas has a BA in Languages, and MA in International Relations and speaks 8 languages.

Paul Ouimet is Destination International’s Managing Director of DestinationNEXT. During the past 18 years, he was one of three founding partners of InterVISTAS Consulting, where he played a major role in building it into a multinational company with offices in the United States, Canada, Europe and Brazil. Ouimet has successfully delivered strategic plans and market development strategies for several DMOs, governments, destinations, nonprofit organizations, hotels and airports around the world. He has completed DMO organization reviews and developed start-up plans and business plans for new ventures. He has facilitated more than 100 planning retreats and led major several community consultation processes. During the past three years, Ouimet has led the team which delivered DestinationNEXT, developing the Future Map which identified the transformational opportunities and also created the scenario model and online assessment tool.

Raul Santillan, Sr. Partner Experience Manager with VisitDallas has worked for the organization for 10 years, working hand in hand with various departments within the organization to provide a great experience for both partners and staff alike. In his role as Experience Manager, he has successfully assisted in connecting the services his 700+ partners provide to Meeting & Event Planners from across the country. He has also managed to facilitate direct B2B connections amongst those members to create a mutual ROI on their investment to the organization. He continues to evolve the customer experience for both internal and external stake holders. Santillan, has worked with the team at DTN for several years and has introduced several members to the DTN platform.

Rick has served in leadership roles with Marriott, Westin and Sheraton starting in restaurants, conventions services and sales & marketing positions around the country. He has held senior leadership positions with destination marketing organizations as Vice President and Senior Vice President with Visit Tucson, Simpleview, Inc and DMAI, and he has led teams to earn over 50 industry awards for excellence in sales, marketing, advertising and customer service.

His role with Keyway has been focused on being the project and strategic director for the EMSSI (Exhibition & Meetings Safety and Security Initiative) project, as well as spearheading business development for the partnership with BluePay, an award-winning credit card processing company that is dedicated to helping DMOs and industry-related companies save money, protect their data and provide robust reporting platforms and financial efficiencies. He also consults with DMOs to provide sales & marketing strategic guidance.

With nearly 20 years of experience, Shawn Brown currently serves as the Digital Marketing Manager for Visit Pensacola. He specializes in web development and management, email marketing, website applications, search marketing, social media marketing, photography and storytelling. When he’s not promoting his destination through digital media, one of his passions, you can find him on the water windsurfing, paddle boarding and exploring with his wife, Lindy, and their two children. Follow his adventures on Twitter: @shawnbrown

Born and raised in Sonoma County, I have the wonderful opportunity of promoting my home as an overnight destination to tour operators, travel producers, receptive operators, and travel agents in the international marketplace. I attend the major international tradeshows annually and manage the in-destination FAM (familiarization tour) program. When I’m not in the office, I’m outside soaking in the rays and taking in the view. You’ll most likely find me hiking in one of the many regional or state parks in Sonoma County. Year-round, it is a place of breathtaking beauty, with an endless supply of activities and delicious, locally sourced food and wine.

Tom is a no nonsense, straight-talking 25-year veteran of the sales & and marketing business who favors stiff drinks, good debates and helping destinations grow their visitation.

As an internationally recognized digital marketing keynote speaker, blogger, founder of Converse Digital, and Author of The Invisible Sale, Tom marries his two passions, marketing & technology, to teach destinations how to leverage digital marketing channels to achieve and sustain sales growth, enhance brand perception and painlessly prospect for new visitors.

His book, The Invisible Sale, is available for sale at Amazon. Follow him on Twitter @TomMartin or contact him at http://ConverseDigital.com

Tony Cameron is the Director of Marketing and Communications for the Maine Tourism Association. He began in this position in October of 2015. Before joining the Maine Tourism Association, Tony served as the Executive Director of both the Boothbay Harbor Region Chamber of Commerce and the Ellsworth Area Chamber of Commerce. Prior to that, Tony was the Director of Marketing and Membership Sales for the Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce. He has over 10 years of destination marketing and association management experience. Before his career in tourism, Tony worked for 3 years in the front office for the Portland Sea Dogs, the AA minor league affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. Tony lives in his hometown of Brunswick and is a proud graduate of Saint Joseph’s College of Maine with a degree in Marketing.

Vimal Vyas is the Director of Information, Security and Digital Innovation for the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau. As marketing technology director, he is responsible for the Bureau's integrated digital efforts, including digital product (web/mobile) development, data integration, cloud­based software solutions, infrastructure, content and Internet marketing technologies and business intelligence.

Vyas has served as Chair of the Steering Committee for New Media Gateway Inc. from 2009 to 2010 as well as a member on the CRM User Group for Simpleview Inc. from 2012 to present. He has also served as a member of the Destinations International (DI, formerly DMAI) Technology Committee (2015), DI Business Intelligence Task Force (2015), DI Technology Product/Services Task Force (2016) and DI Planning Committee for 2017 Finance Operations and Technology Summit. Vyas is currently serving on the DI Performance Reporting Task Force.

Vyas brings 14 years of destination marketing industry­specific experience to his current work promoting Raleigh, N.C. Prior to joining the Greater Raleigh CVB in 2004, he was Director of Information Technology for the Cary Chamber of Commerce as well as Technical Analyst for GlaxoSmithKline.

Vyas resides in Raleigh, N.C., with his wife and child. He is a graduate of North Carolina State University in Computer Science.

Zach Brown has been part of the marketing department for the Valley Forge Tourism & Convention Board for the last four years, and this year was promoted to Director of Marketing. In his time at the VFTCB, he has led the organization through two website rebuilds, with the most recent version of the site launching in December 2016.

And for those wondering, no, he does not have a band. However, he is known to sing a karaoke song or two during the Summit closing party.