Danielle Courtenay joined Visit Orlando in February 1995. As Chief Marketing Officer, she develops the brand strategy and leads a global marketing team that creates domestic and international integrated leisure marketing to increase overnight visitation. She also is responsible for destination marketing to position Orlando as a key meetings and conventions destination, oversees corporate communications, public affairs and digital strategy. Previously she was the vice president of an advertising and public relations agency that specialized in travel and tourism. She has served in multiple volunteer positions with the Public Relations Society of America, Society of American Travel Writers and Destination Management Association International and serves as the chair of the United States Travel Association Communications Council, on the Alliance for Arts and Culture board of directors, Junior Achievement board of directors, the advisory board for TravelCom and on the Executive Leadership Council for Go Red for Women. She was just awarded the Gene T. Hassett award by Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI), named one of HSMAI’s Top 25 Minds in Hospitality & Travel Sales Marketing and Innovator of the Year by TravelCom. She has earned the Accredited Public Relations designation and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Public Relations from Auburn University and Masters of Science degree in Marketing Communication from Florida State University.

Rosanne Zusman is Senior Vice President of Brand Marketing for Wyndham Hotel Group, the world’s largest lodging company based on number of hotels.  In this role Ms. Zusman is responsible for overseeing all marketing activities both for Wyndham Hotel Group corporately as well as for the division’s 15 hotel brands globally, including Wyndham Hotels & Resorts®, Ramada®, Days Inn®, Super 8®,  Howard Johnson® and Microtel Inns & Suites.  Accountabilities include development and execution of marketing strategy, global brand positioning, online and offline advertising as well as creative development. 

Ms. Zusman has 25 years’ experience in brand management and marketing with a specialized area of focus with franchised organizations.  Since 1996 she has held a wide variety of positions at Wyndham Worldwide, formerly Cendant/HFS.  Previous positions in the hospitality division include a broad range of marketing and operational roles including Brand Senior Vice President of Operations for Microtel Inns & Suites® and Hawthorn Suites®, Vice President of Change Management for Wyndham Hotel Group, Group Vice President of Marketing for a portfolio of brands including Super 8, Howard Johnson and Travelodge.  Notable accomplishments during her tenure include a brand refresh for Super 8 that included a new global logo and new guest room prototype.  For the company’s former real estate division she served in the capacities of Director of Regional Marketing and Director of International Franchise Services for Century 21 Real Estate Corporation. 
 
Before joining Wyndham Worldwide/Cendant, Ms. Zusman held account management roles at several regional advertising agencies, working with clients in both the retail and service sectors.
 
Ms. Zusman is a graduate of the University of Virginia and attended Wharton Executive Education’s Global Leaders Program.  In 2009 she was named one of the Top 25 Most Extraordinary Minds in Sales & Marketing by HSMAI (Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International.)

Francia has always shined in the travel industry. That’s why she went from American Airlines (where she started her career at the late 90’s) to Sabre in early 2000, where she became Mexico’s Marketing Manager after being the Caribbean Supervisor and Product Specialist for the Caribbean, Venezuela, Andina Region, Chile, Argentina and Uruguay. As a good continuous movement traveler, in 2008 Francia decided to move herself to Travelocity as Senior Account Manager for Latin America. And her dedication for travelling brought her in 2010 into a more personal managing as marketing Director at Travel Fan. Now, she is bringing all her expertise to the Mexico Tourism Board as Digital Marketing Director. But Francia is also a passionate woman. That’s why her lust for jewelry took her to found Folk meets Chic, her more recent, personal and shining project.

Kyle Murdoch joined The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company in 2007 with the goal of expanding and globalizing their online presence. He is the Director of eCommerce Marketing, leading online strategy development for The Ritz-Carlton brand and its portfolio of 75+ hotels worldwide. He oversees a wide variety of online efforts, including global websites, mobile, search and display marketing, analytics, and user research. Prior to joining The Ritz-Carlton, Kyle had 10 years of experience working in marketing, e-commerce and product development in the hospitality and telecommunications industries. Kyle is a graduate of Stanford University with a B.A. in Psychology and holds an MBA from the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University.

Bryan has spent the past 12 years fascinated by the marriage of technology and marketing. His career has been marked by significant diversity-- both in terms of areas of expertise (from database design to creative strategy) and organizational structure. He helped launch a successful Web startup in Washington DC, led a Marketing division at a niche agency, and now holds a leadership position within an established enterprise.

Bryan currently serves as a Marketing Director at Hershey Entertainment and Resorts, where he runs the teams responsible for the creative strategy and execution for their 14+ brands in the Travel & Tourism sector. This internal agency works across nearly every medium, from TV ads to print, Out of Home, Web, Email, and social media. He also serves on various Industry and Organizational Advisory Boards.

Bryan lives outside Harrisburg, PA with his wife and two young and very active children.

A highly accomplished, data-driven, strategic, analytical, and innovative Interactive Marketing & Sales Executive with international experience (e.g.; Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Netherlands). Demonstrated success of driving growth by combining knowledge of web, direct/digital marketing, media/PR, mobile/social, customer/consumer transactional data, analytics/modeling, segmentation, data monetization, collaboration, technology and strategic planning for the creation of customer centric interactive strategies in a multi-channel environment.

Experience and wisdom building brands through interactive multi-channel marketing, thought leadership, customer focus, solid value proposition, differentiation, leveraging technology, online/offline customer/business data insights & analytics for strategic advantage. Creating and deploying integrated, multi-channel marketing strategies & solutions that drive measurable MROI business results for global businesses.

Industry marketing leadership experience includes: Lodging/Hospitality/Resorts, Luxury Vacation Rentals, Attractions, Casino Gaming, Real Estate, eCommerce, Restaurants, and Retail.

Bob received national gold awards from the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International for his marketing work for ResortQuest. He has presented at several trade conferences, including the Association of Travel Marketing Executives (ATME), TravelCom, Marketing Outlook Forum, and Travel Think Tank. Bob currently serves on the board of Ataway Exchange, is a past board member of ATME, and has served on the membership committee for the U.S. Travel Association.

Bob received a bachelor’s degree in communications/marketing from Indiana University, and earned executive certification from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University in E-Commerce Business Strategies. He has earned accreditations as a Certified Travel Counselor (CTC) and Pragmatic Product Marketer (PPM). Bob resides in Germantown, Tennessee.

Ben Arnon currently leads Wildfire's efforts on the east coast. Based in New York City, Ben spent the first decade of his career in the media content business. Based at the time in Los Angeles, Ben initially worked in feature film development at Jersey Films and then held brand and retail marketing roles at Universal Pictures. Ben later joined Yahoo! Music as Director of Business Development, where he led an initiative to syndicate Yahoo’s licensed music video content to major social networks including Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, and Piczo. Additionally, Ben managed several content acquisition deals for both Yahoo! Music and Yahoo! Movies. In 2008, Ben moved to Washington, DC to become Director of Business Development & Sales at Blue State Digital, a CRM technology and new media strategy firm best known for leading all new media strategy and technology for President Obama’s presidential campaign. At Blue State Digital, Ben led efforts to sell community engagement and brand marketing programs, that replicated the strategies and tactics utilized by the Obama campaign’s new media program, to major media and consumer brands. Ben possesses an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management and a BA from Emory University. Additionally, Ben actively blogs for the Huffington Post. Check out his blog posts at: www.huffingtonpost.com/ben-arnon

José Barreiro is Director of Digital Media Sales for Travel Channel, one of the world's leading travel lifestyle media brands.  The television network is available in nearly 96M US homes and TravelChannel.com receives 2M unique visitors monthly.  Barreiro has been involved in travel media sales  (print, digital, social, mobile) and the tourism industry for over 20 years.  Most recently he has managed ad sales organizations for B2B media companies focused on the travel industry including Questex Media Group and NorthstarTravel Media.  Prior to his involvement in media sales, he held senior product development roles with various tour operators including Spanish Heritage Tours and American Express Vacations where he was responsible for destinations in Europe, Middle East and Africa. 

An avid traveler and tourism industry advocate, Barreiro sits on several tourism conference and travel industry association advisory boards.  You can follow him on Twitter @josembarreiro.

Debbie Bingham is the Vice President of Business Development for Cyllenius & VEGAS.com. She is responsible for developing and strengthening relationships with the company’s many hospitality and entertainment clients, including hotels, shows, airlines, nightclubs and tour operators. Cyllenius is the B2B technology and solutions division of VEGAS.com, the provider of some of the world’s largest travel and entertainment destination websites such as VEGAS.com, LasVegas.com and most recently, Mexico.com.  Seeing others in the hospitality industry with similar technology challenges, VEGAS.com has created Cyllenius to make solutions available to other companies seeking to grow and improve their business and guest experience. Prior to joining the company in 2002, Bingham was in sales leadership at two of the largest national newspaper and online publishing companies and has also held positions at a national advertising agency and a local NPR affiliate.  She graduated with honors from Eastern Kentucky University.

Dustin Bomar is Hilton Worldwide’s Senior Director of Demand Generation and Direct Response Marketing.  He is the company’s global leader for demand generation activities including search engine marketing (SEM), search engine optimization (SEO), and online media relationships for the Hilton Worldwide portfolio of brands. Bomar joined Hilton Worldwide in October 2009 and brings extensive experience to his role.  Most recently, he served as the Director of Online Marketing responsible for Travelocity’s online media partnerships and performance. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Tennessee.

Steve Brown joined Acxiom in February 1999.  As Sr. Managing Director, Steve leads Acxiom’s Travel & Entertainment vertical developing insight, product offerings and strategies that help Travel clients market directly to their customers and prospects much more efficiently and effectively utilizing Acxiom’s core product offerings.  Before joining Acxiom, Steve had a long history in the financial services industry serving as Vice President of Lending and Credit Card services at several institutions.  Steve has a long history of volunteer work including Associate Board Member US Travel Association, Board Chairman for Alcoa Federal Credit Union, Chairman Benton (Arkansas) Parks and Recreation Commission, and various other local charities.

Marketing and eCommerce executive with over 10 years of experience helping brands create stronger
relationships with their customers. Proven leader with the ability to apply strategic business tactics and
implement distribution and segmentation/CRM programs resulting in revenue and database growth.

A tourism marketing professional, Karen has over 15 years’ experience in the travel industry.

Karen is currently Vice President, North America at VisitBritain, mandated to promote Britain overseas and thereby grow the contribution visitors make to the UK economy. Karen, based in New York, manages their operations in North America (Los Angeles, New York and Toronto) and is responsible for leading the team to deliver in key business areas: market intelligence, media relations, business development, marketing and partnerships.

 VisitBritain’s priority is to deliver a four-year match funded global marketing programme ( Great Britain – You’re Invited) which takes advantage of the unique opportunities created by the recent Royal Wedding, the upcoming Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the 2012 Games to showcase Britain and attract new and repeat visitors. This campaign aims to attract four million extra visitors( from growth and core markets) to Britain, who will spend an additional £2 billion, and stimulate the creation of 50,000 new jobs.

Prior to relocating to New York, Karen was based in Paris for 3 years as the Manager, France & Benelux for VisitBritain. Additionally she has held different marketing roles for both VisitScotland and VisitBritain being based in variously Edinburgh, New York and Singapore. During 2003/2004 Karen took a career break to work, travel and live throughout Asia Pacific. During this period she worked for the Australian Red Cross, Small Luxury Hotels of the World, See Sydney plus volunteered with local communities.

Karen graduated from Strathclyde University, Glasgow, in 1993 with a degree in French & Marketing, and has a Chartered Institute of Marketing Post Graduate Diploma (Merit) from Napier University, Edinburgh.  In her spare time, Karen enjoys watersports (SCUBA diving, swimming), the arts; specifically film and music. An avid traveler, Belize, Santa Fe, US National Parks and Uruguay all feature on her current bucket list.

Robert (Bob) Craycraft is the Vice President of Industry Relations for the American Resort Development Association (ARDA).  Prior to joining the organization in 2005, he served on the executive team of the American Hotel & Lodging Association in Washington, D.C., and continues as a judge in the organization’s Stars of the Industry awards program.

In his present position, Mr. Craycraft is responsible for strategic partnerships with associate industry organizations in the hospitality, real estate, and investment arenas.  He is responsible for ARDA’s membership and non-dues revenues programs and personally directs ARDA’s Signature Program, which arranges comprehensive annual marketing programs with the association’s leading members.

As a representative of the vacation ownership industry, Mr. Craycraft was chosen as one of the “Power 25” individuals in the leisure travel industry by Aquatics International magazine, and is a frequent speaker at tourism gatherings in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.

A 30-year veteran of the travel and tourism industry, Mr. Craycraft has held various senior-level positions at American Airlines, Sheraton Hotels & Resorts, and US Airways.  He has earned the Registered Resort Professional (RRP) designation, ARDA’s highest certification for individuals in the tourism industry,

Mr. Craycraft is a member of the American Society of Association Executives, The National Trust, Friends of Mount Vernon, and the National Building Museum where he also works as a volunteer docent.

A graduate of Ohio State University and the University of Cincinnati, Mr. Craycraft earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business administration, respectively.  He is a graduate of the Institute for Organizational Management (IOM) in conjunction with the United States Chamber of Commerce and serves on the IOM Board of Regents. 

Cecilia Dahl President, Founder Smart Destinations Inc. Boston. A Travel industry Veteran, Cecilia is responsible for the development of all Smart Destinations consumer products and direct partnerships with attractions around the country. She also oversees all day to day field operations, strategic distribution partnerships both domestic and International and the full service on site customer contact center . Prior to founding Smart Destinations, Cecilia developed innovative travel packages throughout the world and was responsible for a $30 million line of business for Collette Vacations, one of the largest and most successful travel wholesalers in the United States. Prior to that, she spent six years at Saga Holidays, a travel company specializing in programs for travelers aged 50 and over. Cecilia was named one of Boston Business Journal's Top 40 Executives under 40 in 2005. Cecilia is an active volunteer and New England e-Council member for the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship as well as an active fundraiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society including participation in several Team in Training events. Cecilia holds a degree in Leisure Management and Tourism from University of New Hampshire.

Gideon Dean has held key sales, operational and executive management roles over a twenty year career with Pegasus Solutions, one of the largest hotel marketing and reservation providers, TIG Global and Questex Media Group. With a background in hotel operations,digital media and distribution solutions, he has additionally held management positions with Utell International and Reed Travel Group. Most recently, Gideon has co-founded Wigmas USA, a digital asset development company specializing in bringing new and disruptive model distribution and marketing services to the hotel and travel industry.

Anthony Del Gaudio is Vice President of Global Distribution at Loews Hotels. An accomplished sales and marketing executive with broad experience in the Mid-Atlantic region, Del Gaudio was most recently Regional Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Loews Hotels. Currently, he is responsible for the centralization of all relationships, control, promotional efforts and inventory/pricing for Loews portfolio of 18 hotels and resorts in the U.S. and Canada. Del Gaudio joined Loews in 2001 as Director of Sales and Marketing at the historic Loews Philadelphia, where he oversaw all revenue-producing positions, sales reservations, convention services, marketing and public relations. In addition, he was responsible for the successful launch of SoleFood, the hotel’s seafood restaurant, and the debut of an NBC studio on-site. Under his direction, his team of 28 was awarded Loews Hotels’ 2002 Hotel Marketing Team of the Year. In 2007, Del Gaudio was voted as the Marketer of the year for all Loews hotels. Prior to joining Loews Hotels, he spent 13 years with Hyatt Hotel Corporation, serving in a variety of sales and marketing positions at Hyatt properties.

Cathy Doran is the Sr. Vice President for the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau.  The GBCVB is the primary marketing and visitor services organization responsible for the development of convention and tourism business for Greater Boston and represents more than 1300 businesses throughout New England.
 
As Sr. Vice President, Cathy is responsible for the private sector revenue programs and initiatives in the areas of membership development and retention, special events, sponsorships and other non-dues revenue programs.  She also oversees the direction and management for the technology, leisure marketing, visitor services, media relations and finance and administrative departments of the Bureau.
 
Cathy graduated from Regis College with a BA in history and received a Master of Public Administration degree from Suffolk University.  She presently serves on the Membership committee of DMAI and the Advisory Council of ArtsBoston and actively participates in numerous local community and charitable committees.  She was named the 2010 Outstanding Industry Partner Employee of the Year by the Massachusetts Lodging Association.

Lane is the Principal for MarketBridge’s Social Media Solutions where he leads the development of innovative social marketing strategies and platform creation. With over 15 years of online marketing experience, he and his team apply a strategic and systematic approach to building measureable social marketing campaigns, customized analytics dashboards, competitive benchmarking analysis, and professional reputation management for profitable growth.

Lane’s leadership and expertise in social media as a business solution saw him lead the Mexico Tourism Board to drive destination visitation for  2011 against a global PR crisis, grow occupancy for the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, NV in spite of a poor economic environment, and help the tourism board of Cozumel, MX regain competitive share of voice in the Caribbean market after seeing tourism decrease as a result of a direct hit by a hurricane in 2005.

Previous to MarketBridge, Lane was the Chief Marketing Officer for Vantage Strategy. Additional clients have included Visit Orlando, PriceWaterHouseCoopers, The World Bank, University of Cambridge and Detica.

Lane holds dual Bachelor of Arts degrees from Salisbury University and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, as well as his Master of Divinity from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.

Noah Elkin, Ph.D., is Principal Analyst at eMarketer, where he covers trends in mobile marketing, usage, content, devices and commerce. In addition to his analyst duties, he is co-founder and co-chair of the Emerging Technologies Committee for the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO). He also serves on the Direct Marketing Association's iDirect Leadership Committee and the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s Mobile Advertising Committee.

Elkin contributes regularly to Ad Age’s DigitalNext blog and for five years wrote a monthly column on digital advertising trends for iMedia Connection. He is quoted frequently in leading publications, including the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Forbes, Ad Age, Investor's Business Daily, DMNews and NPR’s “Marketplace.” He has also discussed technology developments and advertising market trends as a guest on CNN en Español. Elkin speaks regularly at industry events and conferences, including iMedia Summits, Digiday, OMMA, Search Engine Strategies, Search Marketing Expo, MediaPost's Search Insider Summit, Digital Publishing & Advertising Conference (DPAC), SEMPO roundtables and DM Days.

Prior to joining eMarketer, Elkin served as managing partner at international search-inspired digital agency Steak, where his responsibilities included driving strategy development for both Steak and its clients, overseeing thought leadership efforts, educating clients and staff about trends in the online advertising marketplace and representing Steak at key industry organizations. Before Steak, Elkin served as the vice president of corporate strategy for iCrossing, where he helped to build the company´s social media practice and worked with clients in the automotive, financial services and hospitality industries to develop and execute strategies integrating social media into online marketing campaigns. He also authored a highly regarded series of studies on search, interactive, mobile and social media marketing.

Elkin is the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship and holds a Ph.D. from Rutgers University. He earned a B.A. with honors from Columbia University.

As Executive Vice President/Chief Operating Officer, Victoria Isley brings nearly 18 years of destination marketing experience to the association. Responsible for supporting and implementing the organization's overall strategic initiatives, Isley also oversees DMAI’s marketing and communications, membership and business development, professional development and meetings departments as well as empowerMINT.

As Destination DC’s Senior Vice President of Marketing & Communications, Isley led a new brand strategy for the nation's capital, built research and strategy for organizational advocacy, and spearheaded crisis communications. Prior to her tenure at Destination DC, Isley served as Vice President of Marketing for the Tampa Bay & Company and as the Director of Communications for the Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Isley holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and has earned her Professional in Destination Management certificate. She is currently a past research chairman for U.S. Travel Association, a past board member of the Public Relations Society of America Travel & Tourism Section, and an associate member of the Society of American Travel Writers. She is also a member of the board of directors for Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in Washington, DC.

As Corporate Vice President, E-Commerce for Omni Hotels & Resorts, Kerry Kennedy sets the strategy and execution for Omni Hotels’ brand presence in the digital environment.  Kerry oversees the user path experience, loyalty, and reservations functionality and development in all e-commerce channels including the www.omnihotels.com website, local property websites, brand retail websites, spa & golf sites, all non-Omni branded hotel sites, and all third-party websites.  He also leads the strategy and implementation of SEO, Paid Search, retargeting ads, and online advertising campaigns on behalf of the brand.  He is responsible for the development and delivery of Omni’s mobile website and mobile applications, as well as Omni’s award-winning social media strategy and execution for Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Foursquare, Pinterest, YouTube, and others.

With Omni’s partnership in the Global Hotel Alliance (GHA), Kennedy is responsible for developing and managing the new www.gha.com website with booking and loyalty functionality on behalf of 14 different worldwide brands in 52 different countries, representing over 300 hotels in the alliance.

With more than 18 years in the interactive and hospitality industries, Kennedy previously held the lead role in the travel vertical at the Top 10 interactive agency, IMC², overseeing the Omni Hotels account.  He has also served in senior-level interactive roles at Hilton Hotels, Travelocity and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts.  

Kennedy graduated from Southern Methodist University with a double major in International Marketing and TV Broadcast News/Communications.

Tania is the President of AdGenuity Marketing Solutions, Inc. Adgenuity specializes in Integrated Interactive Co-operative Marketing Campaign Design and Execution, Online Travel Agency Media Planning & Distribution Strategy / Execution, Social Commerce Program Development and Education, DMO Vendor & Agency RFP Facilitation, Interactive Strategy Consulting, Destination Private Source Revenue Consulting and Program Design, and Media Buying / Planning  (consumer & meeting).  Tania is also on the speaking circuit speaking at WACVB, CalTravel, DMII, as well as many local DMO marketing meetings.  Before starting her consulting company Tania spent 10 years working in the Online Travel Agency space with Site59 & Travelocity.  Tania has her undergraduate degree from Vanderbilt University, and Masters Degree from University of Texas Austin.

Client list includes: San Diego CVB, California Travel & Tourism Commission, Visit Salt Lake, Visit Newport Beach, Visit Florida, Snowbird, CityPass, America’s Greatest Cities, Weaver Multi-Media Group, and Miles Media Group.

Dave oversees the travel business for North America at LivingSocial, a leading social commerce company. He’s been a part of the launch of LivingSocial Escapes, a leading travel site offering unbeatable savings on a collection of handpicked trips. Prior to LivingSocial, Dave served as Senior Director of Global Sales for Media Solutions at Expedia Inc., where he led advertising sales across the Expedia.com, Hotels.com and Hotwire platforms. He has a deep understanding of online media channels and how they can be used to generate incremental demand for travel suppliers and destinations.

Experienced leader in growing and launching brands by leveraging integrated marketing, digital media, e-commerce marketing, social media and traditional marketing tools. Built and managed campaigns and marketing plans with direct P&L and ROI management responsibility with proven effective results. Managed and developed teams that executed marketing for brands in the US and globally. 

Ultimately, I am a true believer in the power of brand and truly integrated business strategy and marketing communications.

The Discover America / Brand USA team oversees, fosters and grows the global brand of The United States of America. As a public / private partnership between the industry (Marriott Hotels, Disney and many others) and the government of the United States, the team is responsible to drive direct and measurable business results for businesses and destinations in the US. From intent to visit, brand perception of the USA as a travel destination, social media sentiment to airfare bookings and travel bookings in countries around the world, the team is on the front lines of growing the business of tourism in the United States of America. 

Leveraging targeted social media campaigns in countries in Asia, Europe and Americas, global social media initiatives, digital and mobile tools, consumer influencers and communications, my team leads the connection with international consumers of USA as a destination and its consumer brands. The team leverages country-relevant content development and digital tools (web, mobile etc.) that engage and build relationships with travelers around the world before they come to the USA, book travel and when they arrive in the country.

We market globally, but not just to improve perceptions and increase intent to visit the US. More importantly, we drive true ROI by driving key success metrics from plane ticket sales of travel partners and hotel bookings to sentiment and social media activity around destinations, attractions and brands of the USA. 

The key indicator of our work is to build travel to the Unites States. But the impact is broader than that. Brand USA helps directly create jobs in America. (Each incremental 30-40 visitors to the USA create one job in the USA)

Courtney joined what eventually became Five Star Alliance in 2004 and throughout the last nine years she has fulfilled every possible role within Five Star Alliance including client service, audience development, content building, collections, social media management, product development, partner relations, and marketing. After becoming General Manager in early 2012, Five Star Alliance grew revenues 175% year over year. Courtney is a graduate of St. John’s College in Annapolis, MD and a Washington, DC native.

St. John Murphy is Senior Vice President, Global Travel & Hospitality Leader for Keane Inc. For over 20 years, Murphy has been responsible for a wide range of business, marketing and technology initiatives across major segments of the industry including airline, hospitality, car rental, destination tourism and travel distribution. He has extensive multi-national and multi-cultural experience and has held executive level positions with firms such as BearingPoint Consulting, Perot Systems, AMR (the parent of American Airlines) and Avis Rent A Car. In addition to his work in the travel and hospitality industry Murphy has also worked extensively in the healthcare, manufacturing and retail industries. His clients have included industry leaders such as Hilton Hotels Corporation, Marriott International, Global Hyatt, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Intercontinental Hotels Group, Sabre, Cendant Corp and many others. Murphy is a member of several industry associations such as the US Travel Association, the Association of Travel Marketing Executives (ATME) and the Hospitality Financial & Technology Professionals (HFTP).

David Pavelko is the Head of Travel for the Eastern Region at Google and manages marketing and advertising campaigns for airlines, hotel chains, cruise lines, car rental companies, tourism groups, OTA's, meta, and travel publishers across Google search, display, YouTube and television advertising platforms.  Prior to joining Google, Pavelko spent 6 years at Cendant Corporation where he was Vice President of Business Development and was responsible for developing and managing marketing programs for Fortune 500 organizations for the purposes of leveraging Cendant's travel (Orbitz, CheapTickets, Galileo), hospitality (Ramada Inn, Days Inn, Super 8), car rental (Avis/Budget), real estate and financial services distribution channels.  Pavelko also spent time at Choice Hotels in a similar business development capacity.  He is a graduate of Princeton University.

Lynda Robey joined Travelocity in 2009.  As Travelocity’s vice president, global media, she is responsible for leading the media sales and account management functions for the organization.  She is also responsible for direction and performance of IgoUgo, Travelocity’s industry leading travel planning site.  Prior to her media role, Lynda served as Travelocity’s Vice President of Global Strategy and Customer Insight, and was responsible for driving company-wide global growth initiatives and enhancing current customer, merchandising and pricing approaches.  Prior to joining the Travelocity team, she held positions at FedEx, BCG, and Accenture.  Lynda is a graduate of Southern Methodist University and earned a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from The University of Texas at Austin.

Craig Schickler is the newly appointed Vice President of Partner Marketing for Priceline.com, where he oversees the media business to drive mutually beneficial relationships with Priceline’s travel suppliers and advertisers.  In his role, Craig conceives of strategic merchandising opportunities for hoteliers, airlines and tourism boards as well as integrated marketing programs for advertisers across Priceline’s suite of travel sites. Craig is responsible for managing ad operations and yield optimization, as well as data strategy.

Prior to joining Priceline, Craig was Director of E-Business Development for Frommer’s Travel, where he was responsible for digital strategy development and monetization for the leading North American travel guide publisher across consumer web, mobile & B2B (Frommer's Unlimited).  His deep travel and media experience also stems back to strategic business development leadership roles at Zagat Survey and 24/7 Media. Craig holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a MBA from the Stern School of Business at New York University.

As Chief Executive Officer, Will Seccombe is responsible for promoting the VISIT FLORIDA brand and for leading the domestic and international sales, advertising, promotions and public relations teams. Will is also responsible for VISIT FLORIDA's digital marketing, content, research and industry relations efforts. Prior to joining VISIT FLORIDA, Will devoted 19 years in the Colorado tourism industry. Will is a member of the Destination and Travel Foundation, National Western Association and Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International.

Chris Seek is the President and CEO of Solimar International a tourism development firm dedicated to promoting the goals of sustainable tourism by providing marketing, sales, and consulting services to tourism enterprises, regional tourism associations, and national tourism authorities. Working with USAID, the World Bank, National Geographic Society and international governments he has helped more than 20 tourism destinations and 800 small tourism enterprises design and implement tourism programs that support biodiversity conservation, cultural preservation and improves the lives of local residents.

Prior to Mr. Seek’s work in tourism, he worked as a marketing professional for fortune 500 clients including Colgate, Perrier, Heineken, and Sony. Mr. Seek holds a bachelor’s degree in Communications form Wake Forest University and a Masters of Business Administration from American University with concentrations in Sustainable Tourism and Marketing. Mr. Seek speaks Spanish and Portuguese efficiently.

Julian Sparkes has been with IBM for two years as a GBS Vice President responsible for multiple programs at several hospitality clients including Marriott International, Hilton Worldwide and Starwood.

Julian Sparkes was a partner with Diamond Management & Technology Consultants for 3 years, a firm that operates at the intersection of business operations and IT to extract and create value from technology. For his airline, hospitality and transportation clients, Julian developed business and technical blueprints that enabled strategic business initiatives. Julian’s specialties included identifying leading-edge technologies and guiding innovation projects, as well as defining strategies for applying technology.

Julian Sparkes was with Accenture for 22 years, most recently as the managing partner for the Transportation & Travel Services industry group in North America. Julian has worked with many key Fortune 500 clients primarily developing technological solutions to their business problems. Julian’s key clients in the travel services industry included Marriott International, Hilton Hotels Corporation, Starwood, Cendant, Carlson, Carnival Cruise Lines, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines.

In his capacity as leader of the global Travel Services industry group, Julian was responsible for representing Accenture on the World Travel & Tourism Council and responding to all media requests. He has appeared on CNBC, spoken on several radio stations, and has been quoted in many newspapers and magazines, including The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times and USA Today. He also directed the business travel survey analyses that were conducted, analyzed and reported across all media outlets worldwide that enabled Accenture to achieve the #1 spot for market share of Travel Services’ consulting firm recognition.

Born in Birmingham, England, Julian holds a Batchelor of Arts and Master of Arts degree in Engineering from Cambridge University. Before joining Accenture, he worked as an engineer for 3 years for Schlumberger, an oilfield services company, in the Latin American and Asia/Pacific regions. He has served on several not-for-profit boards and continues to be on the board of Trees Atlanta. He resides in Atlanta, Georgia with his wife Barbara and three children.

Tim Springstead is the Head of Sales at Travora Media, Inc. In this role, he leads Travora’s global advertising sales efforts, managing the domestic and international sales team. In 2011, Tim directed the launch of Globetrotting Digital Media, the travel and leisure division of Evolve Media Corp. He has devoted the past 8 years to the media and marketing industry holding positions at Evolve Media Corp., Travel Ad Network, IAC and AskJeeves Interactive.

Tim serves on the Board of Directors of Digital Surgeons, a digital marketing agency based in New Haven, CT, as well as The Motivational Edge, a Miami, FL based nonprofit which creates and implements enhanced academic, music and physical education programs for underprivileged and at-risk youth.
Tim received a BS degree in Computer Applications and Information Systems and MBA from the University of Bridgeport.

Tim's next adventure will be swimming with the great whites off Capetown, South Africa.

Joseph D. Strodel, Jr. is the director of communications and corporate affairs at the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration. Mr. Strodel manages the School’s communication and corporate strategy, directs corporate and foundation affairs, and special events for the School. He is responsible for developing and enhancing the School's corporate and industry relationships, which consists of affiliations with over 200 companies and organizations. This includes building corporate partnerships for the Center for Hospitality Research, Center for Real Estate and Finance, the Leland C. and Mary M. Pillsbury Institute for Hospitality Entrepreneurship, the Statler Hotel on campus, and maintaining corporate and foundation stewardship programs, expanding industry interaction with students, faculty, and alumni, and partnering on industry events and conferences around the world.

In addition, Mr. Strodel developed the strategic corporate alliance program, which is comprised of leading companies in the global hospitality industry. Corporate alliance partners are:  Carlson Hotels, Hilton Worldwide, Hotel Business, Hsyndicate, Marriott International, McDonald’s USA, SAS, STR Global, Taj Hotels Resorts & Palaces, Travel + Hospitality Group of Questex, and USA Today.

Mr. Strodel has been at Cornell University for over ten years and has over 25 years management experience in business development, corporate relations, communications, and marketing. Prior to joining Cornell, he was chief operating officer of Healthcare Information Provider, Inc., where he directed business development, corporate relations, marketing, as well as conferences and special events. Mr. Strodel's experience includes management positions in marketing and business development at Georgetown University. He has also served as a management consultant with PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Mr. Strodel holds a bachelor's degree from Boston College and a master's degree in international relations from the Maxwell School of Citizenship at Syracuse University. He currently serves as board president of the Skaneateles Area Arts Council. He has also served on a number of central New York nonprofit boards, including Meals on Wheels, Stella Maris Retreat Center and the Skaneateles Festival. He is also a parent of a Cornellian.

Daniel Taras is VP of Sales at iPerceptions. He has the overall responsibility for managing the company’s extensive and most valuable portfolio of automotive, travel and consumer electronics clients. Taras is a founding member of iPerceptions and brings many years of direct sales and business development experience to the company. His vertical market focus includes over ten years of hands-on experience working with brand leaders in the travel, automotive and consumer electronics sectors. He also has direct experience working with a number of technology companies where he directed the corporate sales department of two national Internet service providers. Taras also managed the North American office of an international Cisco Gold Certified network integration provider.

As Global Vice President of Media Solutions for Expedia, Inc., Mr Tratt oversees advertising sales and related business development efforts for the Expedia, Inc. brands. In addition to leading ongoing efforts to build strong relationships with advertisers and travel partners, Tratt leads all product development, yield management and operations related to the advertising business.

Noah Tratt joined Expedia, Inc. in September of 2002 as the head of the car rental business. Under his leadership the car rental business grew faster than any other mature business within Expedia. In June of 2006, Mr. Tratt became the Vice President of Supplier Strategy for Expedia Corporate Travel, where he and his team managed the air, hotel and car partnerships of the company.

Before Expedia, Mr. Tratt worked for Ensis, LLC where he was a consultant to a variety of early stage startups. Prior to Ensis, Mr. Tratt spent nearly two years at Xylo, Inc. where he worked with HR professionals at leading employers to bring work-life solutions to their employees.

Prior to Xylo, Mr. Tratt was a founder of the Daily Rocket, later sold to Fiserv; he also worked for nearly five years as a member of the Excel and Reference teams at Microsoft. Mr. Tratt is a graduate of Brown University.

With over 15 years of travel industry experience and a digital industry veteran, Sylvia Weiler serves as General Manager for the Tourism Vertical at Sojern.  In her role, Sylvia oversees strategy and advertising sales for tourism boards and theme parks.  Sojern’s unique and differentiated travel data enables travel marketers to reach in-market audiences at scale through contextual and intent-based advertising channels, and provides valuable insights into campaign performance and audience response.

Prior to joining Sojern, Sylvia spent 12 years at Travelocity in sales and sales leadership roles where she developed innovative and integrated digital marketing campaigns for leading destinations, hotels and airline partners.  She played an integral role in the launch of Travelocity sites in Latin America and led the media strategy and sales efforts in the region.  

As the Director for MGM Resorts International’s Online Marketing Group, Michael Weiss oversees the company’s domestic online marketing efforts for a portfolio of world-class hotels including Bellagio, Mirage, ARIA, MGM Grand and others. In his role, he develops the department’s online strategies and initiatives to drive an aggressive focus on return on investment (ROI) and branding through mobile and ‘wired’ online media, emerging technologies and social media.

During his 15 years of experience in marketing and product management, Michael has worked within several industries including health & wellness, software and retail. He has a B.S. in computer engineering from the University of Florida and a M.B.A. in international business from the University of Miami.

As founder and president of ICE Portal, Henry Woodman is committed to delivering the highest standard for rich media content creation, management and distribution online. A commitment that found its roots in television and film production and earned Mr. Woodman four Emmy nominations for his work in network television. With a passion for travel, Mr. Woodman produced and directed films and video for leading travel destinations worldwide on behalf of major travel companies including American Airlines, American Express, Eastern Airlines, several government tourism boards, and leading international cruise lines.

In 1997 he founded World Travelvision (WTV), a leading content provider for Internet Travel and Tourism. Since its inception, WTV has pioneered the production and distribution of Digital Brochures and Virtual Reality 360°Panormaic Photography. In 2003, World Travelvision was completely rebuilt and renamed ICE Portal.

In his now nearly three decades of experience in international travel promotion, Mr. Woodman is considered one of today’s leading travel industry experts on rich media content. He shares his expertise in the recently published book How to Sell Travel on the Internet. This enlightening, entertaining read presents an insider’s view of today’s burgeoning online travel world while guiding the reader through the travel industry’s major distribution channel and sales platform.

Henry Woodman is a Florida native and a graduate of the University of Arizona. He is trilingual, speaking English, Spanish, and French fluently, and is a natural entrepreneur. He is currently studying his MBA in Entrepreneurship at NOVA Southeastern University.

As Marketing Director for the Americas based in Los Angeles, Lisa Wooldridge is responsible for directing Tourism Australia’s consumer marketing across the USA, Canada and the key emerging market, Brazil.

Lisa has been at Tourism Australia since 2008. She manages a team of six staff who plan Tourism Australia's media, public relations, promotions, digital programs, and corporate communications. Lisa is charged with ensuring the region delivers innovative, integrated marketing programs that span bought, owned and earned media. She oversees Tourism Australia’s three strategic agency relationships; media, creative and public relations.

Under Lisa’s leadership, the Americas region has been responsible for launching the new There’s Nothing Like Australia brand campaign in three markets, securing Oprah Winfrey’s visit to Australia in 2010, and launching “Australia” the movie with Fox.

Lisa has more than 20 years of brand marketing experience, with 15 years in the tourism industry. Her background encompasses consumer marketing, corporate communications, product development, event management, travel industry relations and operations.  Prior to joining Tourism Australia, she worked as Vice President of Marketing for a major tour operator. Lisa has held marketing and management positions within the travel industry as well as several advertising and public relations agencies in Southern California. 

Peter C. Yesawich is vice chairman of MMGY Global, the largest and most integrated travel marketing firm in the world. MMGY Global offers thought leadership, a global perspective and a philosophy that is rooted in measurement.

Yesawich is a frequent commentator on travel trends in such publications as The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Time, Newsweek and Business Week. He is also featured on the CNN, CNBC, MSNBC and BBC World television networks and National Public Radio. He serves as a featured columnist in several industry trade publications and has authored numerous articles on marketing and advertising strategy in professional journals. He is also a coauthor of Marketing Leadership in Hospitality and Tourism published by Prentice Hall. Listed in Who’s Who in America, Yesawich is the recipient of the World Travel Award from the American Association of Travel Editors, The Albert E. Koehl Award from the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI) and the Silver Medal from the American Advertising Federation. He was also named one of the 25 Most Extraordinary Marketing Minds by HSMAI and is a former member of the board of directors of the U.S. Travel Association.

Yesawich received three degrees from Cornell, including a doctorate in applied psychology, and is a graduate of the Advanced Management Program at Yale.