Destination On The Left

In this episode, you will learn about ways to grow economic development and give a destination a sense of place that thrills residents and visitors alike. Kal Wysokowski is president of the Canal Society of New York State, Commissioner for the New York State Canal Corporation, and Commissioner for the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor. With all of those volunteer roles, Kal still has time for her day job as Director of Grants Development at the Finger Lakes Community College. Kal was previously the Executive Director of the Fairport IDA and Office of Community and Economic Development, and prior to that, she was the director of the Fairport Village Partnership and Economic Development Program she helped to launch, which is modeled after the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s highly successful Main Street Program. Before moving to the Rochester area, Kal was Vice President for Marketing and Development for Tompkins County Area Development in the Tompkins County Industrial Development Agency in Ithaca, New York. She also worked as director of community relations and development for Family and Children’s Service of Ithaca and the Ithaca College Office of Admissions. Kal graduated from Ithaca College’s School of Communication with a Bachelor’s Degree in Corporate Communication and earned a Master’s Degree from Binghamton University. She has been a guest lecturer at the Roy Park School of Communications at Ithaca College and a guest speaker and facilitator for the Excellence, a nonprofit leadership and management series for the Learning Institute for Nonprofit Organizations and PBS. In addition, she has been a presenter at the World Canals Conference, the New York State Canal Conference, the Western New York Landmarks Societies, Preservation Workshop, Design Matters, strengthening city and village centers for the Reshaping Rochester series, served as the chairman for the New York State Canal Conference in addition to numerous business and community lectures on downtown revitalization and business development. A transcript of this episode is available here: http://destinationontheleft.com/kal-wysokowski/

In this episode, you will learn about the importance of having a strategy for everything you do and not just trying whatever you think of to see what sticks. For Morgan Painvin, it’s all about hitting the bullseye of results. Her quiver of arrows is vast and varied from strategic partnerships and micro-niche placements to national features and creative ideas. The award-winning campaigns that define her career speak directly to her clients brand and goals. While a big hit is thrilling, says Morgan, she’s more passionate about spiking traffic to the client’s website that drives revenue. This is why Morgan has revamped the firm’s measurements and reporting system. While we could easily forgive one so driven for being grumpy at times, Morgan is famous for her cheerful disposition and ability to mentor. Staffers bloom into PR stars under her wing. Style and grace follow Morgan to the South of France, where she goes every summer. Her fluency in French can be traced to her driven personality and the day she moved to Paris. Morgan, her French husband Arthur, and their three daughters live in Williamsburg. A transcript of this episode is available here: http://destinationontheleft.com/morgan-painvin/

In this episode, you will learn about five of the biggest travel trends to pay attention to in 2018. Nicole Mahoney started Break the Ice Media in 2009 in response to the evolving needs of small to medium-sized businesses, in particular, the rise of social media. Break the Ice Media is a boutique marketing and communications firm with a focus on travel, tourism, food, wine, and hospitality. As CEO, Nicole is responsible for working with clients to understand their marketing needs, develop strategic marketing plans and execute those plans. She is also responsible for building a team that can deliver. Break the Ice Media specializes in collaborations that leverage resources of multiple partners for the creation of successful marketing programs within the travel and hospitality industry. Break the Ice Media views these programs as “coop-etition” where partners cooperate with their competition to create a program that is larger than one they can execute alone. Building these programs requires a leader who is level-headed, an effective listener, with an ability to move a group towards consensus in order to move forward. Nicole received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Rochester Institute of Technology and a Master of Arts in Communications from The College at Brockport, SUNY. Nicole loves the Finger Lakes region of New York State where she was born and raised. She is raising 4 daughters with her husband, John.

In this episode, you will learn about making the most of your resources and entering into collaborations to create a lasting impression on visitors from Hillarie Logan-Dechene. Hillarie Logan-Dechene’s career has been about building the capacity of not-for-profit organizations. As the Wild Center’s Director of Philanthropy, she is responsible for all membership and development activities and works closely with leadership on strategy, governance, and external affairs. She recently led the center through a successful 23 million dollar fundraising campaign. Hillarie is Chair of Governor Cuomo’s New York State Commission on National and Community Service, which administers the Americorp Program in New York State. She is a board member for the Museum Association of New York. She is a past board member of the Adirondack Health Foundation. Hillarie is an adjunct professor at Skidmore College, guest lecturer at Syracuse University, SUNY Adirondack, and NYU. She has an MA in nonprofit leadership and community sustainability from Skidmore College and a BA from SUNY Albany. Prior to the Wild Center, she was VP for Institutional Advancement at Paul Smith’s College. Before that, she was Director of Institutional Advancement for the Adirondack Museum where she worked for more than 16 years. Hillarie lives in Long Lake with her Husband and daughters.

In this episode, you will learn about how to use Pinterest to drive visitors to your content from Louise Cottrell. Originally from the Bay Area, Louise Cottrell is a Pinterest marketing strategist working with travel content creators and business owners to generate traffic, grow their audience and increase sales. She does Pinterest account management as well as consulting and training for bloggers and social media teams through her Pinterest Marketing Mastery Program. Shes also a world traveler and dog enthusiast. A transcript of this episode is available here: http://destinationontheleft.com/louise-cottrell/

In this episode, you will learn about why differentiation is the name of the game and why you need to provide unique, niched experiences to attract visitors to your destination from Ed Healy. Ed Healy is Vice President of Marketing for Visit Buffalo Niagara where he is responsible for VBN’s destination marketing strategy. His responsibilities include overseeing all sales and marketing communications, including the production of an annual visitors guide, websites, e-newsletters, social media, videos, podcasts and consumer advertising, as well as media and public relations. During his tenure at VBN, Buffalo has been named one of the National Trusts Dozen Distinctive Destinations, the No. 1 Mid-Size Arts Destination in the United States by American Style Magazine, one of 44 Places to Go by The New York Times and, most recently, one of CNN’s 16 Intriguing Things to See and Do in the U.S. in 2016. He was the executive producer of Buffalo: America’s Best Designed City and has produced and scripted numerous promotional videos that have been viewed more than one million times on YouTube. He serves on the board of Gardens Buffalo Niagara and the marketing committee of the Darwin Martin House. He was named the David I. Levy Communicator of the Year in 2016 by the Advertising Club of Buffalo. Healy began his career at the National Hockey League as an editorial assistant and eventually served as editor of Goal Magazine, the NHL’s official publication. He then joined the Gannett Newspapers in White Plains, New York where he served as a staff writer for the paper’s Sunday magazine and the Arts and Entertainment editor for its southern Connecticut edition. After moving to Buffalo in the early 90s, he joined the Marketing Department of Blue Cross & Blue Shield where he served in a variety of capacities before joining Visit Buffalo Niagara in 2001. He is an avid photographer whose work has been exhibited at galleries ranging from Buffalo’s Studio Hart to Rochester’s Visual Studies Workshop to Soho Photo in Manhattan. He had his first solo show at CEPA Gallery in 2005. He is a proud graduate of the English Department at the University at Buffalo and the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. Healy grew up in West Seneca and now lives in North Buffalo with his wife, Karen. He has two adult children, Meg and Dan.

In this episode, you will learn how regions don't influence a travelers decision on where to go, and how to get them to come to your destination from Josiah Brown. Josiah Brown is best known the New York Sherpa and has logged over 600,000 miles throughout New York State over the last 13 years. He is the brain and the passion behind New York’s Best Experiences. The Sherpa lives for recommending the best-kept secrets New York has to offer. He coined the tagline “because we’ve been there,” well, because he has. Josiah is President and CEO of New York Welcome’s You. He is a public speaker and trainer offering workshops to the tourism industry on topics including: winning first-time visitors to a destination, branding first, and the future of the group travel market. A transcript of this episode is available here: http://destinationontheleft.com/josiah-brown/

In this episode, you will learn about providing a great customer experience and building partnerships that help you do that from Tom Mulliez. Tom is a father, husband, entrepreneur, and the visionary behind iTREKKERS. Tom founded the company in 2014 after realizing that bringing together vetted professional captains and guides on one platform would help guarantee everyone a better experience in the outdoors. iTREKKERS is a combination of Tom’s desires to share his love of nature and to simplify the process of booking guided outdoor activities. His mission is threefold: to get people to experience the outdoors through iTREKKERS; to help people get outdoors, period, by providing useful tips and referrals; and to educate people about the outdoors and ways to be mindful. Tom, who earned a Bachelor in Commerce from Canada’s McGill University and an MBA in marketing at Virginia Commonwealth University, was raised between his hometown of Roubaix, France, and a small town near Atlanta. His love of nature is derived from early memories of camping in the Georgia mountains with his father. For Tom, the only passion greater than a love of the outdoors is his love of family. Tom and his wife often spend time outdoors camping, at the beach, or on their boat with their three young children. A transcript of this episode is available here: http://destinationontheleft.com/tom-mulliez/

In this episode, you will learn about how restaurants featuring local wine makes such a huge impact from Michael Warren Thomas. Michael Warren Thomas owns Savor Life and products and hosts four radio shows focusing on gardening, wine, food, and travel. He started his first show, Naturally Green, in April 1994. He’s added several shows since then including For the Love of Food, a show all about food, wine, and restaurants; The Grapevine, a fine wine show; and Discover the Finger Lakes, about Finger Lakes destinations, events, and regional treasures. Michael oversees all aspects of the shows from production to advertising sales and promotion. The shows air on Saturday and Sunday mornings on WYSL1040 AM and 92.1 FM in Rochester, New York. Michael and I partnered on a project in 2013 called New York Wine Spotting with the goal of getting more New York state wines into local restaurants. New York Wine Spotting is a bi-local movement encouraging Rochester restaurants to support the Finger Lakes wine region by adding more local wines to their menus. Restaurants are challenged to make Finger Lakes and New York State wines at least one-third of their wine list. The local wine loving public is encouraged to participate by becoming wine spotters. Checking restaurants wine lists for Finger Lakes wines, recognizing the restaurants that have them and asking restaurants that don’t to carry them. The local wine industry is encouraged to participate in much the same way consumers are, along with reaching out to the restaurants to introduce their wines through education and tastings. A transcript of this episode is available here: http://destinationontheleft.com/michael-warren-thomas/

In this episode, you will learn about why you will be able to better promote your destination when you join organizations that can help you out from Becky Wehle & Sara Piccini. Becky Wehle is President & CEO of Genesee Country Village & Museum, the largest living history museum in New York State, located 25 miles southwest of Rochester. The Museum features 68 historic structures from the 19th century, moved from locations throughout Western New York, a gallery of sporting art, and a nature center and attracts more than 90,000 visitors each year. She manages 45 year-round staff and over 150 seasonal staff and a budget of over $3.5 million. Prior to joining GCV&M in July 2016, Becky worked in the University of Rochester’s advancement office for over 15 years, most recently as the Executive Director of Donor Relations and Stewardship. She also serves on the Board of Trustees of Allendale Columbia School and the Museum Association of New York and was a Board member at GCV&M for 18 years before joining the staff. Sara Piccini spent about 4 years working with Genesee Country Village & Museum prior to her current role, recently returning this past January as Tourism Sales Manager and Volunteer Coordinator. Since coming back onboard, Sara has driven numerous tourism initiatives for the museum. She has helped lead tourism and marketing efforts, attends Sales Missions regularly throughout the year, and is continuously working through a number of partnerships to create more awareness of our region, both domestically and internationally. Through these efforts the museum has already seen significant growth in Motorcoach Group business. In addition, Sara serves on several different committees including I Love New York’s China Marketing Committee, Livingston County Chamber of Commerce’s Tourism Workgroup as well as both Visit Rochester’s Travel Trade and Meeting Committees. She believes that GCV&M plays a unique and vital role in the industry, and is thrilled to be a part of the momentum. A transcript of this episode is available here: http://destinationontheleft.com/becky-wehle-sara-picini/