2025 Professional Development

Tailor-Made for Ohio Tourism Professionals.

Wednesday Learning Labs

***Please note Wednesday Learning Labs are a conference enhancement and not part of your registration. Click here for more details on investment.

The New Growth Playbook: Where Marketing Meets Sales | Sponsored by: Discover Clermont

Wednesday, Oct. 1 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Today's sales environment demands rethinking how we find, engage and close sales opportunities. Selling in an increasingly digital world means mastering new ways of selling. This interactive workshop dives into how sales professionals in travel and hospitality can modernize their approach, leveraging digital tools and insights to drive stronger connections and higher conversions.

Key Topics:

• Selling In A Digital World: Increasingly, prospects leverage digital tools to make decisions, are harder to reach and less frequently accept in-person meetings or calls

• Personas And The Sales Process: Understanding you prospects, how they make decisions and where to connect with them is core to effective digital selling

• Digital Sales Enablement: Strategies, techniques and tools essential to prospecting and engagement

• Sales And Marketing Alignment: It has never been more important for marketing and sales to work synergistically

• Building Your Framework: Hands-on exercises to build a framework for success

Board Excellence: From Functional to Exceptional

Wednesday, Oct. 1 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Is your board clear on its role? Fully engaged? Moving your organization toward its goals? If you hesitated even slightly—this workshop is for you.

Join us for an interactive training on board governance designed to move your board from functional (or dysfunctional!) to exceptional. Whether you're a board member, executive director, or team member looking to provide better support (or to amp up your skill set), you’ll leave with practical tools, real-world insights, and a fresh approach to strengthening your board.

What You’ll Gain:

• A clear understanding of board roles & legal responsibilities

• Tools to build a high-performing, diverse board

• Tips for structuring board meetings for full and lasting engagement

• Strategies for board-staff collaboration and avoiding overreach
  An action plan you can take straight to your next board meeting

This is not a passive lecture. Expect breakouts, real-case scenarios, problem-solving games, and peer discussions designed to spark insights and action. Bonus: You’ll receive a Governance Toolkit packed with templates, checklists, and sample policies to implement immediately. Let’s turn board meetings into meaningful moments of impact. Questions? Contact Melinda Huntley, OTA Executive Director, at mhuntley@ohiotravel.org.

Keynote Speakers

The Five Key Ingredients to Creating an Exceptional Visitor Experience | Sponsored by: Explore Hocking Hills

Thursday, Oct. 2 at 9 a.m.

The ultimate tourism goal is not always about getting more visitors, but how to keep them coming back and staying longer. After all, overnight visitors spend three times that of day visitors - and it’s a whole lot less expensive to bring people back than it is to always look for new first-time visitors. In this powerful presentation, Roger will showcase the five key ingredients to building and maintaining an ultra-successful tourism industry locally. You’ll also learn how to tap into each of these ingredients creating the “full meal deal” for your visitors while making you the poster child for “How To Do Tourism Right.”

Rocket fuel: How AI Is Transforming Travel & Hospitality Marketing (And Careers) | Sponsored by: TravelHost

Friday, Oct. 3 at 10:15 a.m.

Artificial Intelligence is no longer an experiment—it's the powering a transformation in how travel and hospitality brands connect and compete. It addresses the questions: where is AI heading and what does it mean for you? This keynote focuses on how AI is elevating every stage of the marketing journey. Packed with examples, research and practical tips for adopting AI, this session inspires attendees to embrace a smarter, faster and more innovative future.

Professional Development Breakouts

The Five Mandatory Rules to Effective Tourism Marketing | Sponsored by Visit Chillicothe Ohio

Thursday, Oct. 2 at 10:10 a.m.

Unfortunately, the old adage of “I know that half my marketing dollars are wasted; the problem is I don’t know which half” is absolutely more than just an old adage. In fact, studies have shown that nearly 90% of all tourism-based marketing is ineffective. In this fast-paced workshop Roger will uncover the five most important rules to creating an effective marketing program and how you can tap into each, even if you only have a minuscule budget to work with. You’ll see before and after print ads - and the astounding results - the types of videos and photography that will absolutely close the sale, how to make your website THE ultimate planning resource, and how to create ads that let you stand out from the competition.

Preparing for 2026: How to Leverage the 250 Anniversary for the U.S. for Local Success

Thursday, Oct. 2 at 10:10 a.m.

The America 250-Ohio Team will facilitate an interactive round table workshop, organized by region. Organizations from a region will learn together the plans for their region for 2026. Participants will have the opportunity to share ideas on how their organizations can leverage the 250th anniversary to showcase their unique offerings that can help influence visitation, visitor engagement, and overall visibility. Learn from others in the region what they are planning and find opportunities to collaborate for greater success.

Each region’s round table will be facilitated by a knowledgeable America 250-Ohio Team Member who will be to provide a high-level of detail about plans for the region.

Participants will take away practical, applicable ideas and other tools and resources to be able to implement the celebration at their location and in their community.

Know Your Crowd, Grow Your Numbers: Smart Social Marketing with Visitor Profile Data | Sponsored by: Sojern

Thursday, Oct. 2 at 11:05 a.m.

To thrive in today's competitive environment, attracting and retaining visitors is crucial. While extensive marketing can be resource-intensive, using existing visitor profile data provides a cost-effective and highly targeted approach to boost visitation and spending, especially through social media.

This session will explore practical ways to use visitor insights (demographics, interests, behaviors, and past engagement) to optimize social media marketing, even with limited resources. We'll delve into key motivations, activity preferences, spending habits, and preferred communication channels beyond basic demographics.

Knowledge Work in the AI Era: A Guide for the Tourism Profession | Sponsored by: Orange 142

Thursday, Oct. 2 at 2:16 p.m.

It's a new era for knowledge workers with abundant data, emerging challenges, and rapid technological advancements. Are you taking full advantage? Join this session to discover how to move beyond basic AI interactions by building an integrated ecosystem with Google NotebookLM at its center, surrounded by specialized platforms working in harmony. Learn how combining human-created materials with rich destination intelligence—from visitor surveys to competitive analyses—alongside internet research, industry articles, academic studies, and book knowledge can dramatically improve AI-generated insights and strategic planning. Matt will explore a four-stage cyclical workflow (input, processing, output, feedback) that leverages complementary AI strengths at each stage, showing how tools like NotebookLM, Julius, and PerplexityAI can transform your knowledge processes. Leave with practical strategies to enhance decision making at your business or organization and prepare your team for success in an AI-driven professional landscape.

Content Cardio: How to Create More Travel Marketing Content with Less Burnout | Sponsored by: Yodel

Thursday, Oct. 2 at 2:16 p.m.

Short-form video. Multiple platforms. Limited time. Too much coffee. For today’s travel marketer, content creation can feel like a never-ending sprint—but what if the secret isn’t running faster… it’s building cardio? In this high-energy, tactical session, you’ll learn how to turn a single travel moment into a week of scroll-stopping content across channels—without a full production crew or an army of interns. From idea generation to short-form storytelling, you'll see exactly how high-volume, low-budget brands are winning attention by treating content like a rhythm, not a random act. Led by Eric Hultgren, a marketing leader who ships 9,000+ posts a year, this session will help you: - Multiply your content output without multiplying your hours - Build a remixable content system you can scale - Maximize every photo, tour, event, or guest review you already have - Get strategic about short-form video, captions, and cadence - Shift your mindset from perfection to connection You’ll leave ready to outlast the algorithm—and finally get your travel stories in front of the people who are looking for them.

The Anatomy of a High-Performing Destination Digital Experience | Sponsored by: Expedia Group

Thursday, Oct. 2 at 3:05 p.m.

In today's digital landscape, your website is often the first impression a potential visitor has of your destination, attraction or hospitality business. To truly capture their attention and encourage a visit, it's essential to move beyond just listing features and truly understand what makes your audience tick. This session will explore how to craft a website that not only informs but inspires, converting browsers into enthusiastic visitors.

• What does your audience really want out of your website?

• Typical features and patterns of a destination, attraction, or hospitality business website.

• Biggest Challenges and ways to slay them,

• Leaning into your strengths as a destination, region, attraction, or hospitality business.

Efficient Content Marketing on a Budget

Thursday, Oct. 2 at 3:05 p.m.

The times are changing, and so must our approaches to our day-to-day social media marketing. As our lists of duties grow, it’s imperative for us to change our ways to ensure that we don’t miss a step. This session will show you how to work smarter and not harder with new approaches to leverage the most popular content themes and paid strategies to ensure you’re getting the attention you need, no matter the budget you have available.