Executive Director of Cleveland Metroparks Zoo since 2012, Kuhar manages the Zoo’s extensive animal collection and oversees the daily operations of the 183-acre facility. Since joining Cleveland Metroparks Zoo in 2008, he has also served as Curator of Primates and Small Mammals and Curator of Animals. Prior to that, Kuhar was the Research Manager at Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, where he studied animal behavior for nearly five years. He previously worked as a Research Ass...
Jan 29, 2020•35 min•Ep. 164
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 mark...
Jan 22, 2020•8 min•Ep. 163
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 mark...
Jan 15, 2020•10 min•Ep. 162
Aileen Ramos is the Director at the Laredo Convention & Visitors Bureau in the heart of South Texas. With a decade of experience in the hospitality industry and a long career in Marketing and Sales, she leads the CVB team in promoting the best of the city she calls home. In this episode of Destination on the Left, Laredo Convention & Visitors Bureau Director Aileen Ramos discusses the unique bicultural community of her city. She explains how it ties into her marketing efforts and shares ...
Jan 08, 2020•32 min•Ep. 161
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 mark...
Dec 18, 2019•11 min•Ep. 160
Brook grew up in Norfolk, NE and moved to Casper in 2015. During her time here she has fallen in love with the people of Casper and the sense of community. Brook is the CEO at Visit Casper and her favorite part about her position is continually forming strategic partnerships with fellow community members and working together to come up with creative solutions for impossible problems. When she’s not at work you can find her out for a run, reading at the beach, or planning her next adventure. Broo...
Dec 11, 2019•37 min•Ep. 159
As the U.S. managing director for China’s largest independent advertising agency, Humphrey Ho helps American brands reach their ever-growing base of Chinese consumers. Spearheading the opening of Hylink ‘s American headquarters in Santa Monica, where he resides, Ho has scaled the operation up to 40 employees and secured the company’s key spots with industry leaders like Brand USA and Hawaiian Airlines. In September of 2018, Ho successfully launched Hylink’s subsidiary, Hylink Travel , a Shorty A...
Dec 04, 2019•35 min•Ep. 158
Ben conceives and carries out the strategic direction for the overall brand positioning, messaging and marketing platforms. Ben is the brainchild of Catch Des Moines’ new the “S’s are Silent” brand campaign. In this episode of Destination on the Left, I am joined by Ben Handfelt, Director of Creative and Communications at Catch Des Moines. We discuss the tactics and strategies Ben and his team are using to increase tourism in the Greater Des Moines area. What You Will Learn in This Episode: Ben’...
Nov 20, 2019•29 min•Ep. 157
Darienne Mobley is a personal coach, professional development trainer, motivational speaker and team building facilitator who brings a world of experience and wealth of wisdom to her clients. As an industry trailblazer, Darienne works with individuals, helping them embrace life and leadership. She also partners with organizations, leading them to greater long-term success by developing effective and dynamic teams, and giving them the tools to create a clear and impactful vision. As a passionate ...
Nov 13, 2019•37 min•Ep. 156
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 ma...
Nov 06, 2019•22 min•Ep. 155
Brian Bossuyt has been marketing the Pocono Mountains for the past 20 years. He was the Sales and Marketing Director for Camelback Mountain Resort for 18 years, and now serves as the EVP, and CMO of the Pocono Mountains Visitors Bureau. Developing marketing campaigns that target two of the country’s largest DMA’s, New York Metro and Philadelphia Metro, has kept Brian on top of his game by forcing him to learn and evolve. Both markets are on the cutting edge of technology and have a lot of compet...
Oct 30, 2019•38 min•Ep. 154
Cyndi Bartley is the Operations and Marketing Director at Visit Lake Norman. Throughout her entire professional career, she has been devoted to the hospitality and tourism industry. She began her role there in 2007 as a marketing intern and continued elevating her position and responsibilities to her current role today. During her time with Visit Lake Norman, she continues to enhance their ambassador and internship programs. Bartley enjoys continued education and networking through conferences a...
Oct 23, 2019•50 min•Ep. 153
Episode 152: Brian Zerges is a Licensed Real Estate Broker and sole owner of Finger Lakes Premier Properties (FLPP) for the last 25 years. After earning a BA from The Rochester Institute of Technology, Brian spent over seven valuable years as a Licensed Real Estate Broker in California specializing in commercial sales, syndication and property management. These experiences positioned him well to return to upstate New York and become the owner-operator of the largest lakeside real estate firm in ...
Oct 16, 2019•45 min•Ep. 152
As the U.S. managing director for China’s largest independent advertising agency, Humphrey Ho helps American brands reach their ever-growing base of Chinese consumers. Spearheading the opening of Hylink ‘s American headquarters in Santa Monica, where he resides, Ho has scaled the operation up to 40 employees and secured the company’s key spots with industry leaders like Brand USA and Hawaiian Airlines. In September of 2018, Ho successfully launched Hylink’s subsidiary, Hylink Travel , a Shorty A...
Oct 09, 2019•42 min•Ep. 151
Dan Janes is the CEO of Madden Media , a destination marketing agency focused on increasing tourism and workforce attraction for communities across the country. Like many in this industry, Dan comes from a unique background, having been a successful entrepreneur in a big data and analytics company and having served as an Army officer and West Point graduate. On this episode of Destination on the Left, I talk with Dan Janes of Madden Media about the evolving world of tourism marketing and his com...
Oct 02, 2019•41 min•Ep. 150
The 2019 NYS Tourism Excellence Award winners will be honored at the New York State Tourism Industry Association’s annual meeting on September 27. I had the privilege of talking to each of the winners about their award-winning programs, how those programs impacted tourism in their area and what they learned from being part of the program. The interviews had underlying themes of creativity, partnership, celebration and storytelling. This episode shares the wisdom and stories of those award winner...
Sep 25, 2019•56 min•Ep. 149
The 2019 NYS Tourism Excellence Award winners will be honored at the New York State Tourism Industry Association’s annual meeting on September 27. I had the privilege of talking to each of the winners about their award-winning programs, how those programs impacted tourism in their area and what they learned from being part of the program. The interviews had underlying themes of creativity, partnership, celebration and storytelling. This episode shares the wisdom and stories of those award winner...
Sep 18, 2019•57 min•Ep. 148
Judi Hess is the Director of Visit Binghamton , a position she has held since June 2016. Prior to her promotion, Judi was the Manager of Tourism & Special Events for over 20 years. Visit Binghamton is a department of the Greater Binghamton Chamber of Commerce that is focused on increasing tourism in Broome County. Visit Binghamton is the official tourism promotion agency for Broome County. Judi has been with Visit Binghamton since 1995. Visit Binghamton focuses on tourism promotion, consumer...
Sep 11, 2019•36 min•Ep. 147
Creating a great customer experiences with hospitality, food and beverage has been a passion of Suzanne’s since her very first job. Suzanne is always looking for ways to bring new and interesting experiences to guests, and that is what she brings to Red Shed Brewery. As head of innovation and marketing, Suzanne seeks to be the connection between Red Shed and the brewing industry, working with her father Jack and brewers on interesting flavors and trends that use locally sourced New York hops and...
Sep 04, 2019•34 min•Ep. 146
Jim Walter has been in the Destination Marketing world for the past 16 years. He got his start leading Madison County Tourism in upstate NY for 10 years as its executive director. For the past six years, he has led the sales and marketing efforts for Visit Cheyenne in Wyoming . He is a former president of the New York Travel and Vacation Association and is currently the president of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of PCMA. He enjoys creating memorable experiences that help grow the local economy thro...
Aug 28, 2019•39 min•Ep. 145
Josh Collins has a background grounded in live entertainment and experience design. He helps brands develop better rhythms of connecting with their audiences both online and off. After 15 years of traveling the world with brands like Stevie Wonder, The Roots, John Legend and more, Josh was attracted to take over and lead the Visit Franklin brand for Franklin, Tennessee, located just south of Nashville. After five and a half years growing Franklin’s brand, developing their digital platform, and e...
Aug 21, 2019•39 min•Ep. 144
Kevin Costello is the President of the Steuben County Conference and Visitors Bureau, the official tourism promotion agency for Steuben County, NY. Kevin manages a team of five tourism professionals who tell the destination’s story with a strategic and research-based approach to increase accommodation occupancy and tourism expenditures within Steuben. In his previous position, Kevin served as Director of Economic Development and Tourism for the Town of Abingdon, Virginia. Kevin has developed sev...
Aug 14, 2019•40 min•Ep. 143
Brittany Gibson is the Executive Director of the Seneca Lake Wine Trail . Her experience with wine began as Advertising Director and Wine Club Manager at Fulkerson Winery , a position she held for 10 years. In her previous capacity at the Watkins Glen Area Chamber of Commerce , Brittany was responsible for promoting Schuyler County’s tourism industry by creating and implementing tourism marketing and public relations programs. She was also responsible for developing and implementing programs to ...
Aug 07, 2019•33 min•Ep. 142
With a talent for creating special events that blossomed while working for her dad’s car stereo shop, Nicole Mahoney got her start in marketing at Frontier Field in Rochester. She also began serving as the executive director of the internationally known Lilac Festival. Later on, she headed the Canandaigua, New York Business Improvement District while also performing projects for the tourism promotion agency Visit Rochester. In 2009, Nicole founded Break the Ice Media, with more than 20 years of ...
Jul 31, 2019•7 min•Ep. 141
Gina Nacey is president and executive creative director of Adventure Creative , an agency based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Their focus is on active lifestyle brands, recreation, and destination marketing. Gina has led the strategy and creative direction of Explore Minnesota’s brand new “Find Your True North” campaign, and the Minnesota Zoo’s “Where Amazing Lives.” Adventure Creative helped Sun RV Resorts launch a signature tier of resorts – among much more great work. Throughout her 20 year care...
Jul 17, 2019•42 min•Ep. 140
Mandy Hagadorn serves as marketing manager at New York Kitchen , an event and education space for all things food and beverage in New York State. She grew up on a farm near Canandaigua, New York. She graduated with a degree in anthropology from Nazareth College. After college, Mandy got involved with event planning in both her personal and professional life. At New York Kitchen, she started as an event planner and quickly moved into the marketing manager position. She still loves organizing the ...
Jul 10, 2019•37 min•Ep. 139
Drew McLellan is a marketing veteran who has run his own agency for over 25 years, helping clients create authentic love affairs with their customers. He also helps other agency owners learn how to take their business to the next level through cohort groups and resources through Agency Management Institute . He loves to create “Aha” moments for his clients, peers, and audiences across, through vivid storytelling, Italian heritage-inspired hand gestures, and the occasional tipping of a sacred cow...
Jun 26, 2019•32 min•Ep. 138
We recently attended the 2019 NYS Tourism Conference in Buffalo, New York and interviewed presenters, conference attendees, and Tourism Excellence Award winners. My interviews focused on the conference themes of inclusion, fostering community engagement, and "tourism is everybody's business", as well as key takeaways from the conference. This episode focuses on some of the award winners, and I hope you find these conversations informative and inspiring. In this final episode of the series, I sha...
Jun 24, 2019•30 min•Ep. 137
We recently attended the 2019 NYS Tourism Conference in Buffalo, New York and interviewed presenters, conference attendees, and Tourism Excellence Award winners. My interviews focused on the conference themes of inclusion, fostering community engagement, and “tourism is everybody’s business”, as well as key takeaways from the conference. This episode focuses on some of the award winners, and I hope you find these conversations informative and inspiring. In this episode, I share my conversations ...
Jun 19, 2019•25 min•Ep. 136
We recently attended the 2019 NYS Tourism Conference in Buffalo, New York and interviewed presenters, conference attendees, and Tourism Excellence Award winners. My interviews focused on the conference themes of inclusion, fostering community engagement, and “tourism is everybody’s business”, as well as key takeaways from the conference. This episode focuses on some of the award winners, and I hope you find these conversations informative and inspiring. In this episode, I share my conversations ...
Jun 17, 2019•39 min•Ep. 135
