With a talent for creating special events that blossomed while working for my dad’s car stereo shop, I got my start in marketing at Frontier Field in Rochester and I began serving as the executive director of the internationally known Lilac Festival. Later on, I headed the Canandaigua, New York Business Improvement District while also performing projects for the tourism promotion agency Visit Rochester.
In 2009, I founded Break the Ice Media, with more than 20 years of experience in tourism marketing. I now host “Destination on the Left”, a highly successful tourism marketing podcast.
As a business owner, I know what it takes to be successful. I founded BTI to help businesses tell their brand story through public relations, digital and traditional channels. I have the ability to uncover unique marketing opportunities and develop marketing and public relations initiatives that help clients build long-term success.
In this solocast episode of Destination on the Left, we look at the highlights from the final day of our Destination on the Left Virtual Summit.
The first two days of the Destination on the Left Virtual Summit were nothing short of spectacular! It was an honor listening to our ten marketing experts share their thoughts on industry trends and challenges that destination marketers are facing. If you missed either Day and want to revisit the presentations, make sure to check out our recaps of Day 1 and Day 2 on the Destination on the Left website and all major streaming platforms.
In the latest solocast episode of Destination on the Left, we will be rounding out the last day of the virtual summit with a recap and final thoughts about the event. Today’s episode will include highlights from presentations by Jennifer Barbee, Tiffany Gallagher, Sarah Blackwell & Colleen Onuffer, Josh Collins, and David Holder. Learn what they had to say about:
Building Relevancy With an ROI Plan: Jenifer Barbee of Destination Innovate discusses new ways for destinations to think about marketing. She explains why DMOs should design campaigns with key performance indicators (KPIs) to mine data that tells a story.
The Evolution of Destination Marketing Funding: Tiffany Gallagher of Civitas Advisors discusses the development of Tourism Improvement Districts and explains how they are impacting destinations across the country.
Evaluating Public Relations: Sarah Blackwell and Colleen Onuffer of Break the Ice Media explain the Barcelona Principles 100-point scoring system for the evaluation of PR campaigns.
Vibrant Destinations: Josh Collins of Streetsense gave a presentation about the evolution of the experience economy. He explained how destinations can attract more visitors by building trust, leveraging data, curating their culture, and embracing marketing challenges.
Measurement Tools and Responsible Metrics: David Holder of JLL discusses tools and metrics with a metaphor using three buckets. His concepts are broken up by overall destination metrics, travel activity indicators, and annual market results.
If you weren’t able to take part in the amazing Destination on the Left Virtual Summit, don’t fret! You can still watch all of the presentations on our website. Just purchase an all-access pass by visiting www.destinationontheleft.com/summit and enjoy! Otherwise, keep an eye out for an upcoming announcement for our next summit in Spring 2020. We hope you can join us.