April 2022 Education - The Value of CVBs

April 14, 2022

Location:  4099 Gourrier, Baton rouge

11:30am - 12:00pm Celebrating 15 Years!

Lunch and  Networking, Socializing, Announcements

12:00 - 1:00pm – Educational Training

Presentation by:

Jill Kidder, Louisiana Travel Association

Fay Nedd, New Orleans and Company

Carolyn Barrett, Visit Kenner

Renata Flot-Patterson, Coastal Mississippi

This month, in addition to the education, lunch and networking we will recognize the Founding Members of the Louisiana SGMP Chapter in honor of the 15th anniversary of our Chapter.

Topic:  The Value of CVBs - 

The Effects of COVID-19 on DMOs and the Decisive Planning for In-Person Meetings 

It has become obvious that we have never had such pressure to rely on our partnerships and vendors for unique and everchanging support and to have effective and timely communication. The quickly changing environment that we have been experiencing, of course, is related to pandemic-created issues (supply chain, labor shortages, rising costs, shipping delays). But we must continue to work closely together, to support each other, to keep the progress going. That progress must be accelerated, safely, to allow all of us (customers, vendors, hotels, CVBs, other venues) to recover and to thrive again.  

About the Panel Members:

JILL KIDDER 

President/CEO, Louisiana Travel Association

Jill Kidder has more than 37 years of hospitality, tourism, marketing, management and economic development experience. Her skills were built in hotel sales and executive management posts from throughout the Southeast and beyond, with plenty of CVB, convention center and downtown development experience in between. For ten years, she served as a Co-Executive Director for the Louisiana Travel Association and, for the past 5 years, as President/CEO. Under her leadership, LTA also manages the Louisiana Association of Convention & Visitor Bureaus and Louisiana’s TravelPAC. She’s had the privilege of serving on numerous tourism and non-profit boards over the years and currently serves as Vice Chair of the Southeast Tourism Society.  In response to the pandemic, Jill was asked to serve by Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards as the co-chair of the Resilient Louisiana Commission’s Hospitality and Tourism Task Force. The group created a plan for addressing the effects of the pandemic on tourism and guidelines for responding to other disasters in the future.  Since then, she and her fellow co-chair and task force members have provided direction for policy and procedures and works tirelessly to support Louisiana’s tourism businesses while following the best practices for welcoming visitors back to Louisiana.  As a registered lobbyist leading the travel industry, Jill and others were able to secure $87.5 Million in federal funding from America’s Rescue Plan. She also marshalled the forces (and unanimous Senate votes) for the enabling legislation required to create Tourism Recovery Improvement Districts in Louisiana. For the last ten years, Jill has led Louisiana tourism professionals to Congress to meet with our delegation to share the economic impact of tourism on Louisiana, under the auspices of U.S. Travel and the Southeast Tourism Society. In 2000, Jill and her husband founded in-houseCreative, Inc. Their company has been active in helping non-profit organizations, economic development projects and many tourism entities across the Southeast.  Whether fundraising, organizing, strategic planning or acting as de facto executive director, Jill is well-positioned to guide her organizations and project clients with her valuable management and marketing experience.  Jill's joy for life is infectious, and her multitasking skills are indispensable to the Louisiana Travel Association and to her clients. She has a way of taking care of the details while never losing site of the goal at hand. And along the way, Jill has served on many boards, commissions and trusteeships.

Fay M. Nedd, MS, CGMP, HMCC

Director, National Accounts, New Orleans & Company Inc.  

Originally from Belize, Fay has over 30 years of experience in the hospitality industry which includes destination management, hotels, and airlines. In Belize, at the age of 15, she was a radio announcer for the Belize Broadcasting Network and created several segments on Belize for the Caribbean Broadcasting Network.  The New Orleans area has been her home for the last 24 years with 21 of those years with New Orleans & Company, Inc managing several key markets on the Convention & Sales team.  New Orleans & Company, Inc (formerly New Orleans Convention & Visitors Bureau) is the official destination marketing and sales organization for the New Orleans Hospitality Industry. Fay Nedd is a Director of National Accounts with New Orleans & Company, Inc. In 2014, she was selected to head the new business development position of Bioengineering and Medical Industries Specialist in response to the recent funding and expansion of the city’s emerging biomedical district, and prior managed multiple key markets, including mid-Atlantic associations, federal/state government, sports, and minority organizations. In this role, Fay markets New Orleans to Corporations & Associations in the Northeast along with related industries of Medical, Biotechnology, Pharmaceutical, Health Records Management, and Health Care Engineering. Her familiarity with client retention tactics, city assets and top-level customer service continues to build this growing market in New Orleans.  Fay represents the hospitality industry on three global advisory boards for Meeting Professionals International (MPI):  International MD - Healthcare Meetings Community Advisory Board, International Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Advisory Committee, and represents the DEI Committee on MPI’s International Foundation Grants & Scholarships Committee. Meeting Professional International is the largest meeting planner and event planner industry association worldwide and acts as the prominent voice for the promotion and growth of the industry.  In the fall of 2020, Fay along with MPI’s International Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Advisory Committee (20 members) were recognized for their extraordinary work and each member received MPI’s Chairman Award. It was only the third time in MPI’s 49-year history that this award was given to an entire group of individuals. Among the many notable accomplishments of this esteemed committee is the launch of a robust resource page and a MPI Real Talk Series. MPI’s D&I Committee has been unyielding in its mission to raise awareness of the value of DEI, to educate other professionals and to hold industry leaders, including MPI accountable for results. She is also a founding member of the Louisiana Chapter of the Society of Government Meeting Professionals and serves on the advisory councils for the New Orleans Multicultural Tourism Network, and New Orleans & Company’s Corporate Social Responsibility. In 2000, Fay completed a 25-year study of the hotel life cycle in New Orleans with Professors Dr. Harsha Chacko and Dr. George Fenich as thesis advisors, graduating with Honors from the School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism in the College of Business Administration at the University of New Orleans (UNO), concentrations in Convention Destination Management and International Tourism. While at UNO, she was the first recipient of the University of New Orleans Women’s Center Virginia Amato Scholarship. This scholarship intended to acknowledge hard work, ambition, and motivation on the part of the recipient, not merely traditional academic success. In 2019, she returned to school full time while working and completed a Master of Science Degree in Leadership and Human Resources Development from Louisiana State University. She is committed to engaging with our local and global communities to provide meaningful collaboration and rewarding experiences in representing our New Orleans brand. She is super proud to devote time and efforts while touting the uniqueness of our hometown to high-level executives at every opportunity, especially during this recovery time to impact confidence in New Orleans’ readiness to host world-class meetings and events. She believes that each of us can be a catalyst and can use our platforms to inspire, educate and empower all generations. Fay is the proud mother of 3 daughters and married to her husband of 20 years.

Fay M. Nedd in the news:

https://neworleanscitybusiness.com/blog/2021/11/29/book-of-lists-newsmaker-tourism-faye-nedd/

https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=1038569753622752

https://www.neworleans.com/articles/post/new-orleans-cvb-convention-sales-managers-awarded-prestigious-meeting-professional-certification/

Carolyn Barrett, CGMP

Director Visit Kenner

In her hospitality industry career, Carolyn has experience as a Hotel Sales Manager, Director of Sales and Marketing and Senior Sales Manager for the Jefferson Convention and Visitors Bureau and now as Executive Director of Visit Kenner.  Carolyn served two terms on the National Board of Directors for the Society of Government Meeting Professionals, where she has received the prestigious Sam Gilmer Award and two terms on the Gilmer Institute of Learning. She current serves as Vice-President of the Kenner Business Association and on the board of the Louisiana Society of Association Executives and has been awarded the organization’s Executive of the Year as well as Supplier of the Year award and has received the Kidney Hero Award for her work with the Louisiana Chapter of the National Kidney Foundation.  Finally, Carolyn, along with her husband, Tunney, love the Holiday Season when they get to be Mr. & Mrs. Santa Claus for several charities, civic organizations, and associations.  

Renata Flot-Patterson, Coastal Mississippi

Coastal Mississippi's Destination Services Executive

Renata has 20 plus years’ experience with a background in event planning, production, and management along with tourism, hospitality, and travel. Renata has worked in the airline, hotel, and tourism related industries for most of her career and currently acts as the Destination Services Executive for Coastal Mississippi as a key liaison between sales managers, clients, and vendors overseeing the standards of hospitality service leading up to all events, conventions, and meetings.  Renata manages all aspects of Coastal Mississippi's event production, inclusive of planning, budgeting, execution, staff management and post-event reconciliation by assisting all staff with exceptional service delivery for convention members and associations from planning to trip execution. Renata has worked as Coastal Mississippi's Destination Services Executive since June 2018.  Renata is well versed and extremely connected in the Coastal Mississippi region.

RSVP by April 7, 2022 to avoid late fees!

Applied for 1 hour of Facilities and Services Core Competency

Registration Fees:

First-time Louisiana Planners are FREE - but must register!

Founding Member (Planner or Supplier) - Free but must register! 

Planner - Guest $40 until April 7, 2022

Planner - Member $20 until April 7, 2022

Supplier - Guest $40 until April 7, 2022

Supplier - Member $20 until April 7, 2022

Virtual Attendee Member Planner - $15 

Virtual Attendee Member Supplier - $15

Virtual Attendee First Time Guest - $0

$10 late fee assessed for those that register after April 7, 2022 deadline.

There is a $2 credit card fee included on each transaction.