9:00 – 10:00 am: #ILoveGay “Voices of Travel” Podcast, Matt Skallerud, Pink Media
10:00 – 10:20 am: Discover Puerto Rico: Successful Allyship, Leah Chandler, Discover Puerto Rico + Billy Kolber, HospitableMe
10:20 – 10:40 am: General Session, OnePULSE Foundation, Inc.
10:40 – 11:00 am: General Session, Nadine Smith, Equality Florida
11:00 am – 12:00 pm: The Daily Best with David Downing, United Landmark Associates
Matt Skallerud
President, Pink Media
Matt Skallerud, president of Pink Media, specializes in LGBTQ online marketing, targeting gays & lesbians via content marketing, social media, programmatic ad banners, mobile smartphone apps and more. He also specializes in search engine optimization (SEO), key word / search advertising (PPC) and social media analytics. He’s been in the LGBTQ online industry for over 20 years now.
Matt Skallerud began his online career in May 1995 with the launch of GayWired.com, which became one of the top 3 LGBTQ websites worldwide. Having worked with companies, large and small, for more than 20 years to reach the LGBTQ online consumer through this site and others, he is now focused on the most cutting-edge global innovations in programmatic ad buying, social networking and Web 2.0 technologies. He empowers his clients to reach the LGBTQ market using the most advanced techniques taking hold in the online marketing world today, including Real-Time Ad Bidding (RTB), Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google Plus, YouTube, blogs and others.
Leah Chandler
CMO, Discover Puerto Rico
Leah is the Chief Marketing Officer for the Puerto Rico Destination Marketing Organization, Discover Puerto Rico. As CMO, Leah is charged with providing strategic marketing leadership for the organization; responsible for the oversight of the DMO’s paid media, creative, public relations, brand development and management, and digital strategy.
Prior to her move to San Juan, Leah was the Chief Marketing Officer for Explore Branson, where she led the growth of the community’s tourism industry for five straight years, repositioning the destination’s brand and posting back-to-back years of record ROI for the organization’s marketing program. In previous years, Leah led the Missouri Tourism account at H&L Partners, the agency of record for the Missouri Division of Tourism. In this role, Leah developed and guided the strategic direction of the Division’s marketing, managing paid and earned media, creative and interactive development, and campaign implementation. Leah led Missouri Tourism’s brand repositioning effort in 2013, introducing a new brand identity and corresponding campaign featuring “Enjoy the Show.”
Leah is a veteran of the travel and tourism industry, having directed the Indiana Tourism account for five years prior to joining H&L Partners. Leah’s advertising and marketing experience in the tourism and travel sector also includes The Indianapolis Zoo, Caesar’s Casino, and the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.
Billy Kolber
Founder, HospitableMe
Billy Kolber is the founder of HospitableMe, the global leader in LGBTQ+ strategy and training for tourism and hospitality. He co-founded OUT&ABOUT, the first gay/lesbian travel magazine in the US, and ManAboutWorld, one of the first mobile-only magazines of any kind.
He and his team provide learning and training around issues of sexuality and gender diversity, empowering destinations and brands to provide authentic, welcoming service to diverse travelers, and more personalized service to everyone. Billy traveled and sang around the world with the Yale Whiffenpoofs and has visited 71 countries, but still lives in New York City, where he was born.
Mayor Jane Castor
59th Mayor of the City of Tampa
Jane Castor is the 59th Mayor of the City of Tampa. Born and raised in Tampa Florida, Castor graduated from Chamberlain High School and attended the University of Tampa on an athletic scholarship.
Upon graduating, she joined the Tampa Police Department and worked her way up from serving as a beat cop to being appointed Tampa’s first female Chief of Police.
In 2019, Jane was elected mayor of the City of Tampa. In just her first few months in office, she successfully launched numerous initiatives, including the city’s largest ever water/wastewater infrastructure plan (PIPES); the Transforming Tampa’s Tomorrow Advisory Teams to focus on building a strategic roadmap for the City’s top priorities; establishing a minimum wage of $15 an hour for full-time city employees; securing a federal grant for body-worn cameras; initiating a renewal of the City’s transportation master plan (Tampa MOVES); designating Tampa as a Vision Zero city; and originating a range of community-based initiatives such as Art on the Block, Crosswalks to Classrooms, and Bridges to Business. All of this was done while achieving unanimous adoption of the City’s one billion dollar budget – the first budget in the black since the create recession.
Nadine Smith
Executive Director, Equality Florida
Nadine Smith is the Executive Director of Equality Florida, the state’s largest organization dedicated to ending discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. An award-winning journalist turned organizer, Nadine was one of four national co-chairs of the 1993 March on Washington. She was part of the historic meeting between then – President Clinton – the first Oval Office meeting between a sitting President and gay community leaders. She served on the founding board of the International Gay and Lesbian Youth Organization. She is s a Florida Chamber Foundation Trustee and served on President Obama’s National Finance Committee. Nadine has been named one of the the state’s “Most Powerful and Influential Women” by the Florida Diversity Council. She has recieved the League of Women Voter’s Woman of Distinction Award and in 2018 was named one of the 100 Most Influential Floridians by Influence Magazine. She currently serves as chair of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Florida Advisory Committee.
David Downing
President of Brand, United Landmark Associates
David Downing CDME is the President of Brand for United Landmark Associates, a Tampa Bay-based full-service advertising, branding and marketing agency specializing in hospitality development and luxury lifestyle brands. Downing’s previous experience includes 10 years in NYC with Random House/Fodor’s and Zagat Survey, followed by 12 years at Visit St. Pete Clearwater, including the last five as President & CEO.
A former member of the board of directors of both the U.S. Travel Association and Visit Florida, among others, Downing was named one of the Top 25 Extraordinary Marketing Minds in 2019 by Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International.
His advice for marketing during a pandemic is three fold: 1) don’t give your brand coronavirus; 2) stop showing grown adults what 6 feet looks like; and 3) keep the faith.