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Check Back Regularly as We Continue to
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Jump to Speaker by Last Name |
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Bill Abbott |
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When Bill Abbott founded
Wilderness Travel in 1978, little did he know that his
new company would be a pioneering leader of what has
become the “adventure travel” industry. Wilderness
Travel remains an innovative force, continually
searching out new adventures and finding ways to improve
established trips. At the same time it has remained true
to a principle of concentrating on the quality, design,
and uniqueness of the trips, and, above all, of ensuring
the very best trip leaders are enlisted for each
journey. These trip leaders come from all over the world
and from all walks of life - they are naturalists,
authors, ecologists, archaeologists, art historians,
teachers, and mountaineers. Each year, with the help of
the most veteran of these talented leaders, Wilderness
Travel offers a highly popular series of exploratory
expeditions to some of the most remote corners of the
globe. It also sponsors a unique series of special
events which have featured such well-known guests as Sir
Edmund Hillary, Jane Goodall, Reinhold Messner, and
Galen Rowell. As befitting Bill’s previous life as an
aspiring photographer, the company’s catalogs and web
site have become a showcase for the finest travel and
nature photography, regularly winning awards for being
the best in the business. |
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Ron Andruff |
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Mr. Andruff's 25-year career
in the international marketing arena has provided him
with the understanding and requisite skill sets
necessary to develop forward-thinking strategies in
travel’s technology driven marketplace. In 1998, Mr.
Andruff became immersed in the travel industry when he
co-founded a company that was the first
business-to-trade portal that empowered travel agents to
harness the Internet to provide their clients with the
lowest available fares. A former champion professional
athlete, Mr. Andruff strongly believes that the success
of any endeavor comes as a result of all affected
parties sharing a singular vision. His current
undertaking, the pursuit of the “.travel” top level
domain on behalf of the travel and tourism industry, is
a realization of that conviction. Traveling over
150-days a year, Mr. Andruff is a frequent speaker at
major travel trade conferences. |
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Richard
Bangs |
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Richard Bangs, founding
partner and long-time president of
Mountain Travel-Sobek, America's oldest and largest
adventure travel firm. Bangs is an entrepreneur, world
adventurer, international river explorer, Web pioneer
and award-winning author. He has led first descents of
35 rivers around the globe, including the Yangtze in
China and the Zambezi in Southern Africa. Bangs has
published more than 500 magazine articles, 14 books, a
score of documentaries and several CD-ROMs; and has
lectured at the Smithsonian, the National Geographic
Society, the Explorers Club and many other notable
venues. He was founder and editor-in-chief of Mungo
Park, a pioneering Microsoft travel publishing effort.
He also founded www.terra-quest.com. He was part of the
founding executive team of Expedia.com , and served as
its Editor-at-Large. He was creator and publisher of
Expedia Travels Magazine (published in partnership with
Ziff-Davis), and executive producer of Expedia Radio,
and founder and executive director of Expedia Cafes. He
also served as president of Outward Bound; Founded Well-Traveled.com
for Slate, and was founding editor and executive
producer of
Great Escapes, another Microsoft Travel initiative.
He recently co-directed the upcoming IMAX Film, Mystery
of the Nile (due in February, 05). His recent book, The
Lost River: A Memoir of Life, Death and the
Transformation of Wild Water, won the National Outdoor
Book Award in the literature category. His last book is
Adventure Without End. His upcoming book is Mystery of
the Nile, Putnam, due Feb. 05 in conjunction with the
IMAX film. Richard most recently was executive producer
and editor of
First and Best, and is now spearheading a new
project with Yahoo! called, Richard Bangs’ Adventures,
which is slated for launch in October 2005. |
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Michelle Barnes |
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Michelle Barnes is VP
Marketing with Outdoor Industry Association, a premier
trade organization serving the $20 Billion Outdoor
Industry. At OIA, Barnes heads up initiatives to support
the more than 4000 manufacturers, retailers and service
providers through cutting edge research, communications,
events and public policy to ensure the growth and
success of the industry. Growing participation in
outdoor recreation is a key component of Barnes’ focus.
Formerly vice president of marketing and sales for
Outward Bound USA, an adventure-based educational
organization, Barnes brings a strong track record of
building national programs that introduce Americans to
the outdoors. At Outward Bound, her accomplishments
ranged from new youth messaging and public service
campaigns to targeted consumer lead generation and
events. Prior to Outward Bound, Barnes directed
marketing for several high tech firms in California,
including 3 years based in Amsterdam. Barnes earned an
MBA from UCLA in 1989 and a BA from the College of
William and Mary. Barnes is currently an active board
member of Big City Mountaineers, a non-profit
organization focused on empowering at-risk urban youth
through outdoor adventures as well as serving on the
board of the Outdoor Industry Women's Coalition. She
lives in the foothills near Golden, CO with her husband
Rick, and spends her spare time enjoying the wilderness
by backpacking, camping and skiing. |
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Dave
Bartholomew |
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Dave Bartholomew is a
skilled and experienced business leader with over three
decades of experience in companies ranging from
start-ups to over $700 million in revenues. Much of
Dave’s career was with MSR – Mountain Safety Research.
Over the 23 years with MSR, Dave led it to a position of
market leadership and sound financial performance. In
addition, Dave has been president of three other
companies including Sportworks Northwest, Inc.
(manufacturer of bicycle racks for buses and private
vehicles), Marathon Ceramics (manufacturer of ceramic
water filter elements), and Walrus Tents/Moss Tents. He
has been a guest lecturer at the University of
Washington, Pacific Lutheran University, Seattle
University, and Bellevue Community College. He has
published articles in several publications including
Washington CEO, and has several books in development.
Dave lives in Woodinville, Washington with his wife and
two sons. He volunteers with several non-profit
organizations including Big City Mountaineers taking
inner-city youth on outdoor adventures. |
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David L. Brown |
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David L. Brown has been
Executive Director of America Outdoors since shortly
after its formation in 1990. America Outdoors is an
international association of adventure travel companies
with 600 company members operating in 40 states and 50
foreign countries. David has served as a representative
of various adventure travel and outfitter organizations
since 1980. He has served on the Board of Directors of
American Rivers, the Governor’s Task Force on Reform and
Liability Insurance (TN), the American Recreation
Coalition, the Curriculum Advisory Board for the College
of Natural Resources at Virginia Tech University and was
Chairman of the Mayor’s Waterfront Task Force in
Knoxville, TN. He has testified before Congress more
than 14 times on a number of recreation policy and
public land management issues from the hearings on the
Forest Service Budget, National Park Service Concessions
Reform legislation, the Federal Land Recreation
Enhancement Act bill and similar bills. He is a licensed
property and casualty insurance producer in the state of
Tennessee. David has kayaked, canoed and hiked
throughout North America, including a 400-mile, 24-day
canoe trip on the Coppermine River to the Arctic Ocean
in Northwest Territories in 1979. He is married and
lives with his wife and daughter in Knoxville, TN. |
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Gordon Brown |
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Gordon Brown has a
reputation as one of the world's leading adventure
sports filmmakers. This year Gordon pioneered an epic
descent of the Nile river for an IMAX film entitled
"Mystery of the Nile." Gordon has gleaned numerous
awards for his work including 5 EMMY's. Gordon has been
making films for 20 years and shoots a multitude of
diverse venues in spectacular locations. This includes
IMAX for MacGilivray Freeman's "Journey Into Amazing
Caves". Shot at the bottom of 600 foot vertical ice
shafts in Greenland which became the highest grossing
large format film in 2001. For "On the White Nile", a
controversial film about a proposed dam at the source of
the White Nile, he wore a National Emmy nominated helmet
mount camera system of his own making while kayaking
some of the biggest runable white water in the world.
Gordon owns specialized Super 16mm and 35mm film cameras
as well as DVC video camera packages. He has also shot
High Definition for Motorola and Disney and is checked
out on the Panavision HD setup. He often re-builds,
modifies and houses his own cameras to optimize
performance for maximum visual effect. He is one of the
few people to have run rapids with an IMAX Camera
mounted on his kayak. He has shot projects with kayakers
on waterfalls in Southern Mexico, cavers in Borneo,
skiers in Kamchatka, ice climbers in Norwegian glaciers,
surfers on Easter Island, combat cameramen in
Afghanistan and dialogue in the studios of Hollywood. In
the early eighties Gordon, inspired by experimental
filmmaker/pilot Bob Fulton, became interested in single
frame recording and began experimenting with moving
continuity, which led him to a process he calls
Traveling-Time-Lapse. The result is a breathtaking
thrill ride POV flying through buildings and across
landscapes as if in a miniature helicopter with the
added effect of time-lapse. This technique has been used
for National commercials like Coors Light and adventure
films shot all over the world. Gordon is also a
Steadicam Operator who shoots IMAX from a Steadicam.
Gordon has been Director of Photography on independent
films such as The Face, (integrating a 3D CGI fish by
ILM) and Taking The Wheel, (with John Cleese). He has
shot films for the networks, including National
Geographic, Discovery, NBC, ESPN, ABC, CBS, OLN and TLC.
His work has been honored with many awards, including
1997, 1996 & 1993 National Emmy Awards, Best of Festival
Prague 1998, Best Whitewater Film at the 1992 Banff Film
Festival, two CINE Golden Eagles, two Cindys. Gordon won
two division awards and The Grand Prize of the 1992
International Ski Film Festival. He has also won two
regional Emmys and had numerous nominations including a
personal Emmy nomination for Technical Achievement. He
has been featured on the cover of Markee Magazine and
the subject of many national magazine articles as well
as the subject of a program for The Discovery Channel.
Most importantly Gordon is easy to work with and
available for hire as a freelance operator. |
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BILL BRYAN |
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Holds a Ph.D. in resource
planning and conservation from the University of
Michigan, was the Founder and Executive Director of the
Northern Rockies Action Group, providing technical
organizational assistance for cause-oriented nonprofits
in the Rocky Mountain West from 1973-1982. Bill is the
co-founder (1985) and Chairman of Off the Beaten Path,
LLC, a premier travel planning service specializing in
planning highly personalized trips to the Rocky Mountain
West, Desert Southwest, Alaska and Patagonia. Off The
Beaten Path is a founding member of the Adventure
Collection. Within this consortium Bill was asked to
take the lead in developing a responsible travel program
that all members could embrace and use as a standard
from which all could operate. This is an ongoing program
that is a work in progress as all members try to take
responsible travel to new levels of accountability. Bill
also is the co-founder and executive director of the
Cook Center for Sustainable Agriculture in the American
West, whose mission is to increase the economic
viability of farms and ranches, thereby enhancing the
health of the land, open space and rural communities.
They operate as a non-profit programmatic support group
for membership-based agricultural producer organizations
in the region. Bryan is the senior author of Sharing
Your Home on the Range, a “how to” book for hospitality
providers in farm and recreation (published 1991) and
has authored Montana Indians: Yesterday and Today,
published in 1986 and again in 1996.
Bill is also the co-founder (1985) and Chairman of Off
the Beaten Path, LLC, a premier travel planning service
specializing in planning highly personalized trips to
the Rocky Mountain West, Desert Southwest and AlaskaBill
is currently President of the Board of the Museum of the
Rockies in Bozeman, Mt. and is vice chair of the
Yellowstone Business Partnership. |
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STEVE BRYANT |
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Steve Bryant leads the
Seattle office and is also responsible for creative
development for public relations clients across the
national Publicis Dialog network. Bryant has managed
communications programs in wide ranging fields,
including food and beverage, consumer products,
healthcare, professional services, branded products and
retailing. His work has earned more than 75 national and
regional awards from the BioMedical Marketing
Association, Society for Technical Communications,
Public Relations Society of America, Washington Press
Association, International Association of Business
Communicators, and Inside PR. |
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John D. Canning |
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John Canning is
a senior product manager and field producer for Yahoo!
Media. Canning brings extensive experience in software
and hardware platforms for media distribution and
content creation to Yahoo!’s Media Group, which he
joined in September 2005. His role at Yahoo! will be to
design compelling consumer experiences online through
unique multimedia content. Previously he was at
Microsoft, where he was part of eHome, which offered
consumers simple and enriching personalized
entertainment, communications and information
experiences. Canning led external evangelism for
applications and services for eHome, working external
third parties in the areas of media and data
distribution, content, whole home control and services.
John spent his formative years at Georgia Institute of
Technology where he studied Electrical Engineering,
digital media design and usability and the relationship
between science, technology and culture. |
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Moe Carrick |
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Moementum Founder and
Principal Moe Carrick has woven a cohesive and
provocative tapestry of personal leadership experiences,
Fortune 100 consulting, academic and institutional
learning, keynote addresses, authorship, strategic
partnering, and masterful facilitation. Her diverse
background, which spans more than two decades, makes Moe
an ideal partner for those who possess the power and
desire to achieve concrete and lasting change for
themselves and their organizations. Moe grounds
her approach in a unifying and undeniable truth:
successful work is dependent upon human
relationships. Moe believes that people and human
relationships can stand between our successes and
failures when not managed well. Her work begins and ends
at the critical juncture where people and organizations
must solve root issues while simultaneously sustaining
the motivation to become better.
Counted as one of the nation’s foremost leaders in
adventure learning, one of Moe’s on-river forays with
senior executives on the nation’s most threatening
white-water rapid were recorded in Fast Company’s,
“Extreme Off-Site” feature story (1999). Straddling
mainstream organizational consulting with best-of-the
best wilderness education as faculty for the National
Outdoor Leadership School, Outward Bound, and Project
Adventure, Moe’s varied contributions to people and
organizations have consistently stimulated positive
ripple effects with direct and favorable impact to the
bottom line.
Her lifelong adventurous spirit and story-telling
prowess coupled with her inspirational, witty, and
humorous style, earn Moe rave reviews following keynote
addresses, training events, and consulting experiences.
Her visionary mind allows her to translate her
experiences into engaging and interactive presentations,
which both predict and reflect emerging trends.
Moe holds a BA from the University of New Hampshire, an
MS in Organizational Development from Antioch
University, and numerous relevant certifications. |
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Nick Di
Perno |
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A native of Montreal, Nick
attended Concordia University graduating with a bachelor
of Commerce degree. Nick entered the insurance industry
directly out of university with the position of Vice
President of Sales and Marketing in a thriving Montreal
brokerage. Recognizing the growing need for liability
and niche market products such as sports & special
events, Nick successfully implemented an electronic
commerce strategy, SportsInsurance.com, considered
cutting edge & revolutionary in the insurance
marketplace. The use of the internet also enabled
SportsInsurance.com to become exponentially far
reaching, far beyond what any other traditional
brokerage had been able to achieve. An avid skier &
outdoorsman, Nick has taken his expertise in the
insurance industry, his time tested internet marketing
and binding technology, and his passion for the outdoors
to develop his own company, AdventureInsurance.ca.
Holding exclusive contracts with the most prestigious
tourism associations across Canada, Nick has developed a
reputation as the premier Adventure Industry broker in
Canada. |
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Chris Doyle |
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For nearly 20 years, Chris
Doyle has offered an array of strategic public relations
and business expertise in the adventure travel, retail,
technology, sports and outdoors, fashion, home
furnishings and non-profit sectors. He’s managed
corporate reputations and developed extensive national
awareness campaigns for retailers and manufacturers,
supported the launch of six Internet concerns, worked
extensively with trade organizations and industry
analysts, launched numerous private-label product
campaigns and managed consumer affairs crises, and
launched Doyle Public Relations (DPR), an independent
consultancy, in 2001. As principal of DPR, he directs
public relations for global luggage and adventure travel
gear manufacturer Eagle Creek. DPR’s earlier clients
included Converse, an American footwear icon, as well as
Gateway (computers), Altrec.com, MariSafe.com, American
Alpine Club, and others. Prior to launching DPR, Chris,
as managing supervisor at Fleishman-Hillard
International Communications, counseled clients
including Yahoo! and Mervyn's. Before Fleishman-Hillard,
Chris was vice president public relations for Altrec.com,
an outdoor and travel lifestyle Web retailer. He was
influential in developing the start-up company's overall
mission, business model, corporate culture and brand
image. Chris also led public relations efforts at Eddie
Bauer, a $1.5 billion international fashion and home
furnishings retailer with multiple brand properties, 570
retail stores, licensing arrangements (including the PGA,
Ford and Abercrombie & Kent), and mail order and
e-commerce businesses. Between 1996-1998, he was
responsible for Eddie Bauer’s media relations, crisis
management, consumer product launches and community
relations. He also handled media and community relations
for $500 million international outdoor retailer
Recreational Equipment, Inc., (REI) and its adventure
travel business, REI Adventures. |
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Kathy Moyer Dragon |
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Kathy Moyer Dragon, Founder
and Owner of The Dragon's Path, and ActiveWomen.com, has
spent the past 18 years in the center of the active and
adventure travel industry. Having researched, designed,
marketed, sold and then personally escorted and
facilitated the travel experiences of over 3000 guests,
2/3rds of these being women, on small group adventure
and cultural trips around the globe Kathy has developed
front line experience and information that few marketing
experts in the world can match. These natural focus
groups proved to be the ideal arena for defining the
growth of the active woman’s market; from how women
select a trip, to why they are traveling; from what
products they love (can’t stand or wish for) to how
different generations of women perceive themselves in an
active environment. All these questions and answers have
changed over the past decade as the active woman market
has evolved and yes, exploded. As a passionate
entrepreneur, Kathy has been instrumental in the growth
of niche companies including Vermont Country Cyclers,
Country Walkers, Whole Journeys (a Whole Foods Market
Company) and her own company The Dragon’s Path. She has
a reputation within the Adventure Travel Market as a
trusted leader in all aspects of the industry. Kathy is
a frequent presenter on the influence of women in the
adventure travel market as well as consultant on
marketing to active women. Most recently she has
presented at the first Marketing to Women conference in
the United States and is designated to speak at J.
Walter Thompson’s Mature Market Conference this fall.
The development ActiveWomen.com and associated
aggregated Blogs (weblogs) is a natural step beyond
travel, offering a trusted resource for women decision
makers in travel and active lifestyle choices. Watch as
this on-line and off-line community grows. |
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Sam Drevo |
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When he is not out traveling
the world in pursuit of first descents and documenting
them on film, you can find Sam Drevo right here in the
Northwest teaching kayaking. As owner and operator of
Northwest River Guides, Sam builds his curriculum off of
sixteen years of paddling experience. He brings with him
a rich foundation based on years of training on the
Potomac River in Washington D.C. under the tutelage of
the U.S. Canoe & Kayak Team coaches. His competitive
background in every discipline of whitewater kayaking
has afforded him opportunities to teach across the
country and abroad in Canada, Norway, Costa Rica, New
Zealand and throughout Europe.
Currently, he is an American Canoe Association
Instructor Trainer, a Rescue III Swiftwater Rescue
Instructor, a Red Cross Lifeguard Instructor and a
Wilderness First Responder. Sam Drevo also holds a
Bachelor of Science in Business from Lewis & Clark
College in Portland, Oregon. |
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Annie
Ellicott |
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Annie Ellicott is President
of LeapUp Marketing Solutions, a marketing strategy and
services consultancy which helps consumer branded
businesses in travel, retail and consumer services
develop effective and affordable online and offline
marketing strategies. Annie’s background includes over
20 years of experience developing consumer marketing and
business strategies including brand launches and
turnarounds across entertainment, media, apparel and
health service categories. Her tenures at both fortune
500 and startups have involved senior level roles in
marketing, sales planning and merchandising where she
received company awards and senior management
recognition while at the Walt Disney Company, Levi
Strauss & Company, Women.com (now iVillage.com) and
American Medical International. Annie has guest lectured
at America Outdoors, IATOS 2004, Adventures in Travel
Expo 2004, The Princeton Club, San Francisco State
University and numerous other venues. She holds a BA
degree in Economics from Princeton University and an
Masters of Science degree in Health Policy and
Management from the Harvard School of Public Health.
Annie is currently Chairman of the Board at Under One
Roof, a San Francisco-based nonprofit fundraiser for
HIV/AIDS organizations and is an avid Class V rafter,
horseback rider and photographer |
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Francis X. Farrell |
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Francis X. Farrell was named
publisher of National Geographic Adventure magazine in
June 2003. National Geographic Adventure, winner of four
National Magazine Awards, including the 2003 Award for
Leisure Interests and the 2002 Award for General
Excellence, was launched in 1999 as a quarterly to serve
an audience of active, adventurous readers and to propel
the National Geographic Society’s mission of exploration
and discovery into the new century. The magazine has
rapidly expanded in both publishing frequency and
circulation size and is currently publishing 10 times a
year with a guaranteed circulation of 500,000. Before
joining National Geographic Adventure, Farrell was
general manager/senior vice president/publisher of The
Sporting News. He represented Times Mirror Magazines in
its sale of The Sporting News to Paul Allen’s Vulcan
Ventures. Previously, Farrell held a variety of
management positions at American Express Publishing with
Food & Wine and Travel & Leisure magazines. He began his
publishing career in ad sales with Country Living and
Southern Living magazines.
Farrell, an avid hiker, cyclist and cross-country skier,
also serves on the board of directors of Harlem RBI.
Farrell, his wife Denise and their five children reside
in Yorktown Heights, N.Y. |
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Alfredo Ferreyros |
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President of Explorandes,
founded 30 years ago, a pioneering adventure travel and
ecotourism tour operator in the Andes, working with
partners in various markets worldwide that have
pioneered adventure travel over time in their countries.
In Explorandes he has led an environmental certification
process which has made the company the first tour
operator to receive an ISO 14001 certification in Latin
America and maybe worldwide. He has also been a partner
and board member of various local and regional
touroperators that operated in the Cusco area in the
eighties. Between 1988 and 1996, difficult years for
incoming tourism, he worked first in an industrial –
commercial firm until its sale in 1991, as an
environmental consultant and later as General Manager of
Peru’s then second newspaper in circulation, “Expreso”.
He has been a Board member of various tourism
organizations in the late eighties and early nineties
having been a founding member of the Peruvian
Association of Adventure Travel and Ecotourism (APTAE).
He has also been active in conservation and the
environment having been a founder of five conservation
NGO’s on the national, regional and local level in the
past two decades. He was also co-founder of the first
environmental consulting firm and was a member of a team
designing the social and environmental management plan
for an important hydrocarbon project in southeastern
Peru. Apart from acting as a Consultant, he has been
advisor to the government in various areas since the
late eighties. He was a founding member of the board of
the National Council of the Environment (CONAM) from
1995 – 2000 representing the private sector, and has
been on the board of various private sector
corporations. President of the following NGO’s: IBC (Instituto
del Bien Comun) institution dedicated to work in the
Peruvian Amazon watershed with indigenous people, and
promotion of the commons. CATTCO (Centro Andino de
Tecnología Tradicional de las Comunidades Campesinas de
Ollantaytambo) dedicated to preserving local traditions,
and the implementation of a museum in the village of
Ollantaytambo, Instituto Machu Picchu (IMAPI), dedicated
to the conservation of natural and cultural resources in
the Machu Picchu Sanctuary and the Cusco region.
Recently he was appointed Director of Institutional
Relations of the Amazon Conservation Association, an NGO
based in Washington DC and Puerto Maldonado, Madre de
Dios, Peru. It is the first in - country institution
responsible for the management of a private conservation
concession granted by the government for 40 years under
a special contract. |
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PETER
GREENBERG |
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Peter Greenberg is Travel
Channel's chief correspondent and is considered the
nation's preeminent expert on travel and travel-related
issues. Best known as the travel editor for NBC's Today
Show, the Emmy award-winning writer and producer is also
the author of the recent New York Times bestseller The
Travel Detective, which reveals the secrets the
airlines, hotels, cruise lines and rental car agencies
don't want us to know about. The book focuses on
becoming a proactive traveler — and talks about how to
beat the travel industry at its own game, playing by its
rules. Greenberg also writes an online column for
msnbc.com. He is a regular contributor on KABC, the
number-one talk radio station in Southern California,
and for several years had a syndicated, investigative
column in newspapers nationwide. He served seven years
as the regular travel correspondent for ABC's Good
Morning America. Greenberg also appears regularly on The
Oprah Winfrey Show, Cleveland's Morning Exchange,
Canada's The Dini Petty Show and Good Morning Texas, the
number-one morning show in Texas. In Los Angeles, he is
currently the travel editor for UPN News. He is
contributing editor to Avenues magazine. |
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Aaron Gulley |
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Aaron Gulley is the managing
editor of Outside magazine’s special editions. He is
responsible for coordinating planning and production for
the biannual Outside Traveler, as well as the annual
Outside Buyer’s Guide. In addition, Gulley is also
a regular contributor to the monthly magazine. Prior to
working at Outside, Gulley was the managing editor at
VeloNews. He was a freelance writer before that,
writing features, reviews, and news shorts for top
outdoor publications. Before that, Gulley served as
editor for Rock & Ice, managing all aspects of the
bimonthly publication, as well as its website and three
annual special editions. Born and raised in Jos,
Nigeria, Gulley has traveled throughout Africa. While
studying abroad, he lived in Paris and Switzerland. He
has also traveled extensively around the world including
Southeast Asia, India, and Japan. In his free time
Gulley is an avid climber, cyclist, runner, and skier.
Gulley is a 1996 graduate of the University of Denver
and holds B.A. degrees in both journalism and French
language and literature. |
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William
Harding |
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William is COTA's Policy and
Planning Officer and brings a strong balance of policy
development and communications skills to the position.
Prior to joining COTA, William was a public relations
and communications consultant delivering traditional and
new media solutions to corporate clients in resource,
transportation and tourism sectors. He also has
significant experience providing communications support
for governments and brings a strong understanding of
government communications processes to the role. William
graduated with distinction from the University of
Victoria where he specialized in public policy
development. |
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Rick Hemmerling |
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In 1987, Rick Hemmerling
joined forces with Joe Boldan to help develop a new line
of performance apparel. Rick's creative vision instantly
established Ex Officio as an innovator in a highly
competitive market. His creations such as the Baja, Air
Strip™ shirts and the Amphi-Pant continue to lead the
travel and adventure wear industry in design and
functionality. His innovative products have been
featured by media outlets such as Good Housekeeping,
Time, US News & World Report, Business Week, Inc. and
the Today Show – to name a few. Rick brings to Ex
Officio over 17 years of experience in the ever-changing
outdoor industry. He has led Ex Officio to be recognized
three years in a row on the Inc. 500 fastest growing
private companies. ExOfficio.com was also chosen as one
of the best small business web sites by Inc. Technology
Magazine. Rick’s leadership evolved the Ex Officio brand
into an industry leadership position, and paved the way
for Ex Officio to become a subsidiary of K2 Inc. in May
2004. Rick continues to influence apparel design,
marketing, and general management of Ex Officio. In
addition to Ex Officio, Rick currently serves on an
advisory group for World Concern and coordinates many
company volunteer efforts. His years of extensive travel
spans the globe including 24 countries. Most of Rick’s
free time is spent helping his wife with their 5
children (3 of which were adopted from a Siberian
orphanage.) |
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CHRISTINA HEYNIGER |
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Christina Heyniger worked for
8 years as a management consultant with BearingPoint,
Inc. Her clients included Fortune 500 companies,
non-profit organizations and government agencies. A
former Research Associate with the Carnegie Endowment
for International Peace's "Project on the Information
Revolution and World Politics," Christina helped develop
research on international telecommunications
trends/events. In the adventure travel industry she has
worked with tour operators, industry associations, and
travel companies promoting sustainable development.
Christina's unique perspective, gained not only through
her work in traditional organizations, but also through
her experience in unconventional settings, is an asset
to her clients and the driving force behind Xola
Consulting, her new venture. Christina holds a Bachelors
degree in communication from Cornell University, a
Masters degree in Communication, Culture and Technology
from Georgetown University, and a Masters of Business
Administration from American University. |
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Robert Hirsch |
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Robert is a career
entrepreneur who founded his first company, a bead shop,
at the age of sixteen - growing his operation to six
stores before graduating from high school. He has
founded and sold several companies since and has focused
on the online space starting in 1996 with his first
online travel company, Global Courier Travel (GCT). GCT
gathered data on “courier” flights and brought them to
an easy-to-use Web site – the first time such an
offering was available to consumers seeking this
low-cost method of travel. After selling GCT in 1999,
Robert lead Internet Marketing and Digital Branding for
Siemens Telecommunications. Though Robert started out in
the position as head of U.S. operations, his uncanny
vision and infectious leadership led Siemens to expand
his role globally, allowing him to lead teams inboth
Germany and the United Kingdom. Robert holds a B.S. from
the University of Colorado, Magna Cum Laude in
Entrepreneurship and Marketing. His background also
includes management consulting, real estate investing,
working at a technology incubator, and teaching at the
University of Colorado. Robert is an avid adventure
traveler and has explored six of the seven continents,
but is happy to once again call Colorado home. He is a
skier/snowboarder, fly-fisherman, golfer, hiker, and
white-water kayaker. |
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Hugh Hough |
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Hugh Hough began his
advertising career as an art director in Madrid in 1980.
For 13 years, he worked in around the globe (Madrid,
Colombia, New
York) in big, international agencies (Ogilvy, Grey) for
big, international clients (Panasonic, Ralston-Purina).
In 1993, Hugh walked away from the security of a
bi-weekly Madison Avenue paycheck, and opened Green
Team, New York's first (and only) environmental and
social advertising agency. In the subsequent
years, Hugh expanded his agency's core capabilities to
include sustainable tourism and travel. Green Team
has a long history of serving the travel industry with
project work for British Airways, United Airlines,
Belize, Belgium and the Smithsonian Sustainable Tourism
Awards. Today the Green Team client roster includes the
Principality of Monaco, Visit Britain, Visit Scotland,
Ecuador, Puerto Vallarta, Raffles Resort Canouan Island,
Lindblad Expeditions, and Peter Deilmann Cruises.
G-think, the research and analysis arm of Green Team,
helps the agency's clients gain a deeper understanding
of relevant trends affecting their businesses. G-Think
is also a Web site and free, monthly e-newsletter, that
gets inside the mind of the Awakening Consumer, 50
million socially and environmentally aware Americans who
are awakening to the power of their purchases.
Hugh is a recognized industry expert on the topic of
environmentally responsible and sustainable tourism. |
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Carmen Hudson |
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Carmen Hudson is currently
the staffing manager, North America, for Starbucks
Coffee Company. She manages the team responsible for
hiring hundreds of marketing, product development,
financial and systems talent into the corporate
organization. Prior to joining Starbucks, she was a
staffing consultant for Microsoft Corporation, and was
Senior Manager, Recruiting for Amazon.com. Ms. Hudson
has implemented recruiting strategies that increase
organizational diversity and capability as well as
developed innovative sourcing, interviewing and
recruiting process tools. Earlier in her career, she was
a research associate for Egon Zehnder, an international
executive search firm. Ms. Hudson has presented at
industry conferences and seminars, and is a member of
SHRM, the Association of African American Human Resource
Professionals, and is on the Board of Directors of the
Seattle Chapter of the Employment Management
Association. |
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Frank Hugelmeyer |
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Frank Hugelmeyer is president
of Outdoor Industry Association (OIA). Founded in 1989,
OIA provides trade services for thousands of
manufacturers, distributors, suppliers, sales
representatives and retailers in the outdoor industry
and is the exclusive endorser of Outdoor Retailer, the
world’s premiere outdoor tradeshow. OIA members include
the who’s, who of recognized outdoor companies and
retail stores such as American Recreation Products,
Coleman, Columbia Sportswear, Eagle Creek, Eastern
Mountain Sports, JanSport, Johnson Outdoors, Kelty, K2,
L.L. Bean, Malden Mills, Merrell, Nike, Patagonia, Pearl
Izumi, Timberland, The North Face, REI, W.L. Gore and
numerous others. Frank, who joined Outdoor Industry
Association (OIA) in early 2000, is an eighteen year
outdoor industry veteran. He moved into the role of
president of OIA after serving as an elected member of
the OIA Board of Directors. During Hugelmeyer’s tenure,
the OIA team developed and launched the OIA brand,
formed Outdoor Industry Foundation (OIF), and gained
national attention for its public policy efforts to
increase recreation access and funding, public relations
and market research. OIA is known as the premiere source
for industry and consumer research and Frank is a
recognized authority on the outdoor industry supply
chain, retail sales, active outdoor consumer and
lifestyle and related public lands issues. Frank is a
frequent guest lecturer, speaker, and commentator for
businesses, congressional hearings, federal agencies,
universities and national media. Prior to OIA,
Hugelmeyer was vice president of sales and marketing for
Lowe Alpine Holdings, a manufacturer of technical
backpacks and outdoor apparel. During his seven years,
Frank was an integral part of the international
management team that grew company’s sales to more than
$65 million worldwide and eventually sold Lowe to
William Baird, PLC in 1999. Prior to Lowe, Hugelmeyer
was director of sales and marketing for Bodyguard
Fitness and grew the startup high-tech specialty fitness
company’s sales from $1.6 million to $13 million in two
years. Before Bodyguard, Hugelmeyer was the buyer of
fitness and outdoor hard goods for Paragon Sporting
Goods, the premiere sporting goods retailer in New York
City. An active outdoorsman and family man,
Hugelmeyer enjoys all the benefits of living in the
Rocky Mountain foothills of Colorado and has climbed,
hiked and skied extensively in the mountains of North
America and Europe. Frank now spends most of his time
introducing his son to the joys of biking, camping,
hiking, paddling, fly-fishing and skiing. |
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Barbara Hvasta |
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Barbara Hvasta is Vice
President of Passport and Privileges for AARP Services.
AARP members spend almost $2 billion annually in travel
through the AARP partners and the Passport team manages
these relationships. Prior to joining AARP in May 2004,
Barbara was head of MasterCard’s international loyalty
consulting division. She has developed a variety of
loyalty and rewards programs for companies in 18
countries from the Rolling Stones and the National
Football League to Banco Serfin Santander and Sears
Canada. |
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Stuart
Jenner |
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Stuart Jenner is Principal
of the Marketek Consulting Group. He assists companies
with web site planning, search engine strategy and other
online marketing initiatives. Search engine services
include assessment and benchmarking, implementation and
training focused on driving traffic, building brands and
protecting trade secrets and confidential information.
Marketek is currently serving clients in software and
technology, health care, professional services and
ecommerce. Stuart previously worked for Microsoft,
SureFind Classifieds By Telephone and Hewlett-Packard.
He has an MBA from the Wharton School of the University
of Pennsylvania and a Bachelors in Economics and
International Studies from the UW. He is a former board
member of the MIT Forum of Western Washington. |
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Didrik Johnck |
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Didrik Johnck is a
professional photographer and videographer who regularly
travels to the farthest corners of the Earth documenting
modern day adventures, while creating and producing
original editorial content for some of the most
well-known sites in the world, including MSNBC.com,
MSN.com, and Yahoo.com. His assignments have taken him
across the Himalayas and to the top of Mount Everest,
deep in the jungles of Colombia, and through the city
streets of Bangkok. Didrik's imagery has graced the
cover of Time magazine and was featured in Life
magazine's "Year in Pictures." Although his career was
established in print publications, Didrik’s roots in
heart of the dot com launch pad of San Francisco
positioned him to become a major player in online
adventure content during those boom years. After too
many unpaid invoices from bankrupt dot coms, Didrik was
forced to redouble his efforts towards the print market,
but with the resurgence of the industry, Didrik’s has
gone back to his niche. “I prefer working in the online
medium because of the opportunities to create a really
rich user experience. Building a story with sounds and
still and moving images woven throughout the piece is
what I enjoy the most and what I do best.” |
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Alan Josephs |
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Alan Josephs is vice
president of packaging for the Consumer Travel Americas
group within Cendant Travel Distribution Services. In
this role, Josephs oversees all vacation package
reservation revenues for Orbitz, CheapTickets,
Lodging.com and the NEAT private label packaging
business, as well as supplier relationships, product
functionality, and the marketing and merchandising of
vacation packages to consumers. Alan also manages the
cruise and destination services business units.
Josephs was most recently the director of product
marketing for the packaging group at Travelocity where
he was responsible for product and marketing strategy
for the packaging product line and the Travelocity
Vacations brand. He successfully led Travelocity’s
transition from an agency vacations business model to a
new merchant model supported by direct negotiations with
air, hotel, car and other travel partners. Prior to
Travelocity, Josephs was director of marketing for Hyatt
Vacations, within the Global Vacations Group where he
oversaw the P&L for the private label Hyatt Vacations
brand, developing new consumer marketing strategies that
increased revenues significantly over the previous
years. Josephs also served as director of marketing
operations for Preview Travel, Inc., managing the day to
day production of the travel television infomercial
“Preview Vacation Bargains” and the successful launch of
previewtravel.com, one of the leading travel-related
Internet brands at the time. Mr. Josephs holds an MBA
from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and a
B.A. degree in Economics from the University of
California, Berkeley. |
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