Speakers

Presented by Cliff Ward

Thursday, March 12 from 10:00 – 10:45 a.m.

From websites to social media to mobile, tourism has weathered every digital disruption. AI is simply the next evolution. This session explores how destinations can embrace the shift with confidence — by focusing on emotion, authenticity, and compelling stories. Walk away understanding why creativity is becoming your greatest competitive advantage in the AI era.

About Orange 142: Orange 142 is a full-service digital media agency that specializes in helping destination marketing organizations and tourism brands grow visitation through data-driven, multichannel advertising strategies.

About Cliff Ward: Cliff Ward is the Director of Business Development at Orange 142, where he helps destinations and brands grow through data-driven digital advertising strategies. With a career that spans creative, technical, and leadership roles, he brings a unique blend of marketing expertise and strategic insight to every client partnership. Cliff specializes in working with destination marketing organizations, economic development groups, and travel brands to drive measurable visitation and economic impact.

Presented by Dustin Rowe

Thursday, March 12 from 11:15 – 12:15 p.m.

What’s Good utilizes AI to automatically discover, organize, and enrich local event content across dozens of sources and then repurposes them to your social media channels or email newsletter as well as your event calendar.

About What’s Good: Everyone’s obsessing about AI, but here’s what actually drives about 50% of tourism: people telling other people your destination is worth visiting. This session covers how to activate word-of-mouth through weekly content and engage locals, how to use AI for tedious tasks while focusing on storytelling, and real tactics we used to grow a platform to 1M+ organic monthly views for a small city.

About Dustin Rowe: Dustin has spent his entire professional career immersed in the technical world. In 2023, he left a leadership role at fortune 500 tech company to pursue something he was more passionate about – bringing people together through local events. Leveraging his deep expertise in AI, he built a best-in-class model capable of aggregating local event information from a wide range of sources with strong accuracy. Today, Dustin is the Founder and CEO of What’s Good, where he continues to combine technology and community to make discovering local experiences effortless.

Presented by Sarah Wickham

Thursday, March 12 from 12:30 – 1:15 p.m.

From fresh campaigns to unexpected partnerships, Ohio is finding new ways to spark curiosity and get visitors exploring. Tourism Director Sarah Wickham will share how a little creativity and a lot of teamwork can lead to big wins for communities across the state.

About Tourism Ohio: Tourism Ohio works to highlight the diverse experiences found across the state, from vibrant cities to charming small towns. The organization studies visitor trends, supports destination partners, and shares insights that help strengthen Ohio’s tourism economy.

About Sarah Wickham: As Ohio’s State Tourism Director, Sarah Wickham is passionate about telling the story of the state where adventure, innovation, and opportunity come together. She leads the “Ohio, The Heart of it All” brand, using thoughtful, data-driven marketing to grow visitation, support small businesses, and strengthen communities across all 88 counties. Working closely with local partners and destination leaders, she positions tourism as both an economic engine and a source of pride for Ohioans. A former teacher and longtime public servant, Sarah believes tourism is ultimately about people — creating connection, momentum, and lasting opportunity in the places Ohioans call home.

Presented by Richard Tattory

Thursday, March 12 from 1:30 – 2:15 p.m.

How travelers are using AI search, how AI search really works, and actionable steps to optimize your destination.

About NextTown AI: NextTown AI helps to improve, measure, and analyze what comes up about your destination in AI search tools like ChatGPT and Google AI.

About Richard Tattory: I’m a co-founder over here at NextTown. I live not too far away in the Detroit, Michigan area, but grew up on the east coast and went to Rutgers (for all of the Buckeye fans). I w am passionate about helping DMOs and communities across the country.

Presented by Arturo Gaona

Thursday, March 12 from 2:30 – 3:15 p.m.

About Wheel the World: Wheel the World is a pioneering travel-tech company based in San Francisco, revolutionizing accessible travel for people with disabilities and baby boomers. Our mission is simple: make travel accessible. 

About Arturo Gaona: Arturo Gaona is the Chief Partnerships Officer and a co-founder of Wheel the World, a company at the forefront of accessible travel. He spearheads the expansion of Accessibility Verified, ensuring that destinations meet the highest hospitality accessibility standards. He is deeply passionate about sharing the transformative power of travel and is committed to making it accessible to everyone.

Presented by Jennifer Fournier

Thursday, March 12 from 3:30 – 4:15 p.m.

AI isn’t slowing down, and knowing what to do with it is harder than it looks. Kick Push helps destinations bend AI to their advantage while keeping their human expertise at the center of the strategy. Drawing on nearly two decades navigating emerging tech, Jennifer Fournier helps Ohio’s CVB leaders figure out what’s worth their time, what to hand off to AI, and what to protect at all costs. Expect practical thinking, surprising clarity, and questions to start asking your team on Monday.

About Kick Push: Kick Push helps emerging and lesser‑known destinations strengthen their digital visibility by turning local stories into signals that search engines and AI can easily understand.

About Jennifer Fournier: Jennifer Fournier is a strategist and advisor with nearly two decades founding and running a marketing agency built in the trenches of emerging tech, where things move fast and strategy has to be both visionary and executable. That experience has never been more relevant to destination marketing than right now, as AI rewrites the rules of discovery, attention, and decision-making. Through her consultancy Kick Push, Jennifer works with destination leaders who want a head start on what’s coming and a clear path to act on it decisively.