Speakers

37th Nevada Lieutenant Governor & Chair of Nevada Commission on Tourism, Stavros Anthony, a Las Vegas resident for 41 years, has made community service and public safety his focus.

Amy Bagner is an associate vice president and 14-year veteran of Fahlgren Mortine, which is the public relations and media agency of record for Travel Nevada. Over the course of her career, Amy has developed and implemented strategic communications plans for clients across the travel & tourism industry and other industries.

Manny, a proud Nevadan and entrepreneur, is passionate about sustainable, purpose-driven partnerships, innovation and knowledge sharing. His diverse career has spanned public and private sectors, including higher education, entrepreneurship, impactful roles at Tesla, and serving as a planning commissioner for Reno’s Ward 3, his childhood neighborhood.

Cortney grew up in rural West Virginia, but relocated to Dayton, Nevada soon after receiving her master’s degree in public health from West Virginia University. She has spent the past 15 years exploring her adopted home state.

Eric Brooks is the Arts and Culture Program Manager for Visit Carson City. He is responsible for implementing, organizing, managing and evaluating programs and initiatives that promote cultural tourism and the arts in Nevada’s capital city. This includes special events, festivals and public art projects.

Francine Burge joined the State of Nevada in 2022 as the Public Relations Manager for the Department of Tourism & Cultural Affairs, working with the Division of Museums and History and Nevada Arts Council.

As an active outdoors woman and full-time traveler, Shelby Burns considers herself a “Professional Fun-Haver.” 

Mendy Elliott is a seasoned lobbyist and government affairs advocate. A fixture in Nevada—and the country more broadly—government affairs circles, clients seek her counsel to provide solutions to complex regulatory, legislative, and political issues.

Brian has been working as a parks and recreation professional for over 40 years. For 30 years he was employed with Douglas County, Nevada, working primarily as the Assistant Director for the Community Services Department. Brian retired in January, 2020.

Gabbi Hall leads the Brand Experience team at Noble Studios, a Nevada-based creative digital performance marketing agency. Named AMA Reno-Tahoe’s 2023 Marketer of the Year, she’s one of the team members behind Visit Lake Tahoe’s ESTO-Award-winning “Awe and then Some” campaign and Travel Nevada’s new “Get a Little Out There” campaign.

Kyle has been in the tourism industry in one way or another since 1999 when he moved to Nevada with degrees in Marketing and Communication. Spending his early years in the recreation industry (meaning tennis pro/ snowboard bum) he most recently was the marketing manager for Visit Carson City and is currently the Director of Tourism for Ely and White Pine County. 

Marcia Hurd has been involved with the Lincoln County Authority of Tourism (LCAT) for 10 years and has played an active role in the transition from a simple tourism support group to a more focused destination development organization.

Sarah Reeves Johnson is the Director for the Lieutenant Governor’s Office of Small Business Advocacy and also serves as the senior economic advisor for the Lieutenant Governor.

For over a decade, Matthew’s work has been focused on helping destinations evolve strategically and sustainably. He founded Whereabout in 2021 to focus his work around his belief that every destination can achieve a healthy balance between a robust visitor economy, protection of natural resources, and resident quality of life. 

Anthony (Tony) Manfredi is the Executive Director of the Nevada Arts Council, a state arts agency within the Department of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, established in 1967 to enrich the cultural life of the state by supporting, strengthening, and making excellence in the arts accessible to all Nevadans. Tony is responsible for providing the strategic direction and leadership for the organization, assessing and overseeing current programming, optimizing business development opportunities for artists, arts organizations and the public, representing the agency and state in regional and national forums, and managing the staff and budget housed within state government.

His professional background combines 31 years of strategic planning, management, marketing, creative, and fundraising services for both local to Nevada and international businesses and organizations. Tony is a graduate of the University of San Diego with the degrees in Communication Studies (mass media emphasis) and Art (with a dual emphasis in Graphic Communication and Painting).

As VP of Product for Americantours International (ATI), Karin Omojola oversees the contracting and marketing efforts for FIT, Motor Coach Groups, Drive America self-drive programs, Transportation and Attractions.

Nicole Orsua is the Chief Industry Development Officer for Travel Nevada. The team has three primary pillars: to support the development of tourism destinations in rural Nevada, to support existing tourism businesses in rural Nevada, and to sell rural Nevada to both domestic and international audiences through travel and trade market development.

Errol is a born-and-raised Nevadan born in Elko and brought up in Eureka.

Jill Rowland-Lagan, CEO of the Boulder City, Nevada Chamber of Commerce is a native Nevadan, whose family settled in Boulder City in 1947. Her ties to the community are strong and her love of the City encourage her daily to serve it well.

Josh Rudelbach is a data analyst specializing in the tourism industry. Supporting Visit Carson Valley and Blue Room Research, Josh is dedicated to taking the overwhelming amount of data available to DMOs and refining it to actionable insights.

Dr. Sanchez is the director for the Department of Business and Industry which oversees 11 state agencies, and 25 commissions, advisory boards and committees.

Brenda Scolari is the Director of the Nevada Department of Tourism and Cultural Affairs and a cabinet member for Governor Lombardo. She oversees Travel Nevada, the Division of Museums and History, the Nevada Arts Council, and the Nevada Indian Commission.

Containing a wealth of knowledge about the digital user experience and a massive enthusiasm for integrated marketing strategy, Caroline Sexton, Chief Marketing Officer of Travel Nevada, is a powerhouse when it comes to all things digital and tourism.

Heather Sheppard is a vice president and leader within the tourism and economic development practice at Fahlgren Mortine, the PR and Paid Media Agency of Record for Travel Nevada, where she serves as the Travel Nevada integrated account lead.

Kyle Shulz is the Research Director for Travel Nevada. As Research Director, he oversees the various research studies, research reports and data collection efforts that Travel Nevada administers.

Dr. Frederick Steinmann is currently the Director of the University Center for Economic Development with expertise in strategic planning, redevelopment, land use planning, public policy, and economic development.  Frederick has previously worked on several successful community, economic, and organizational strategic planning initiatives across Nevada, Idaho, and California, including several Comprehensive Economic Development Strategies (CEDS) for various municipalities, counties, regional economic development authorities, and economic development districts.

Chad Taylor is the Director of Marketing and Guest Experience and six-year veteran of Lake Mead Mohave Adventures (LMMA). In his current role Chad oversees and coordinates upwards of 100 marketing channels for data aggregation and decision making.

Felipe Tetelboin is Senior Manager of Business Development at Expedia Group Media Solutions, where he works with advertising partners to deliver global marketing programs and is responsible for the creation and implementation of digital media campaigns. 

Dan Thielen was named Administrator for the Division of Museums and History in 2023. For 15 years, Dan has worked for the State of Nevada’s Division of Museums and History, most recently managing the three railroad museums in Nevada located in Carson City, East Ely, and Boulder City.

Todd Tuttle is the Tourism Director for Storey County, NV.  He is energetically involved in the development and implementation of programs, events, and collaborations that promote the world-famous locations of Virginia City, Gold Hill and the great state of Nevada.  Camel Races, Saloon Crawls, Historical Lectures, to name a few, are all in his wheelhouse.  He excels at historical interpretations and interactions within the tourism industry.

During the past 17 years as owner and operator of Vetter PR, Inc., Don has overseen media relations, marketing, advertising, issue management, economic development, and community relations work for clients in Nevada, Oregon, California, Canada, Missouri and Mississippi.

Rafael recently joined Travel Nevada as the first Chief Executive Officer (CEO) tasked with the promotion and marketing of Nevada as a tourism destination.

Like all modern types living in a complex world, I have had a hand in a little bit of a lot of things—Educator and Writer (Journalism, Writing and Photography), Programs Manager, Workforce and Community Developer, Financial Coach and Trainer-Consultant. Through this journey, what I have found is that I have a solid skill at bringing together people for common causes and creating and implementing plans that involve collective impact. I like the kind of party where everybody pitches in.

Elizabeth Woolsey is originally from Connecticut and has a unique and diverse list of experiences that have taken her around the country and the globe. She has dedicated her career to education, community service and the arts.