Caroline Beteta
President & CEO, Visit California and Director, California Office of Tourism
Motivating Force: Improving the lives of all Californians through travel and meaningful experiences that are innovative, inviting, and inclusive. Leveraging travel as a force for good, to inspire communities to embrace responsible stewardship of the natural and cultural resources that make California a leading global destination. And foundationally, Visit California’s highest objective is finding ways to leverage our expertise as a catalyst for inspiring travel through a world-class marketing program that will move the needle and inspire global travelers to come explore the state’s abundance for themselves.
Approach to Supercharging Experiences: Visit California’s creativity, full embrace of the state’s diverse spirit, commitment to sustainable tourism and abundance of riches in visitor experiences have made California the top travel destination in the United States. California’s coalition of tourism industry partners, led by Visit California, has established the state as a trailblazer in the global tourism industry, and a force to be reckoned with in the highly competitive professional meetings and events space. Planners and attendees are both invited to “meet what’s possible” in the Golden State, where an amazing breadth of meeting spaces, venues, destinations, and attractions await.
California is a state of imagination and forward-thinking, home to the world’s largest technology companies and the birthplace of the Internet. Innovation is woven into California’s culture, influencing our meetings and events industry to dream bigger. Meeting planners have access to the newest technology, state of art facilities and endless educational and research resources.
Hospitality Career Highlights: It’s the moments of turmoil that serve as major catalysts for change and growth, and California has seen more than its fair share of growth coming out of the pandemic, from an explosion of new products coming online to the launch of the Visit Native California initiative, which is dedicated to increasing awareness of the state’s cultural heritage experiences, by curating, preserving and uplifting Native stories. It’s a program made possible by federal funding, and one that has been life-changingly moving to me, personally.
Steering California’s travel industry through the pandemic recovery process has been exceptionally challenging and rewarding. Every border reopening, in-person event and milestone since the state reopened in 2021 has felt like a true celebration, and a reminder of how important our industry is to the health and vitality of California. Seeing the recovery trajectory quicken thanks to the immense collaboration of California’s travel industry, and the success of Visit California’s global marketing program of work has certainly been a highlight of my career.
Next Advance Pursuing: California is leading the way in the effort to embrace sustainable tourism practices, and Visit California takes its leadership mission seriously—working to facilitate an ongoing tourism sustainability conversation in our state. Working on behalf of more than 16,0000 assessed tourism businesses and more than 300 local destination organizations, Visit California collaborates daily, not only to inspire visitation and meetings, and the economic benefits that flow from those—but to build sustainable destinations that benefit everyone—businesses, workers, residents and visitors.
Clearly, this means finding ways to reduce the impacts tourism has on the environment, but successful destination stewardship is much more than that. It means ensuring tourism is serving its communities in beneficial ways while maintaining the visitor experience at the highest level.
This year, Visit California launched an unprecedented effort to facilitate the development of 10-year strategic regional tourism plans for each of the 12 tourism regions across the state. The process will chart a path forward for our industry and hundreds of communities that will have the opportunity to understand how tourism intersects with their civic planning and priorities for the next decade. I am confident that in many instances travel will lead the way forward.
Carrie Charlick
Founder and CEO, Essential Bodywear
Motivating Force: Reflecting on my 20-year journey in business, I can’t help but feel grateful for the past 18 months in the meetings and events industry. Initially, it was a hotel supplier who encouraged me to embark on this path and I’m forever indebted to her. The relationships I’ve formed during this relatively short time have been incredible. The people in this industry are a constant source of ideas and inspiration, always ready to lend a helping hand and offer support. I now see Essential Bodywear in a new light. However, what truly motivates me is witnessing the joy and appreciation on the faces of planners, suppliers and attendees when they receive our gifts. It’s a reminder that even the smallest gestures can make a significant impact. I want to continue to be part of uplifting and inspiring each another, because together, we can achieve greatness.
Approach to Supercharging Experiences: I believe you can have a supercharged experience with creativity, planning, flexibility and a great product—even if a client does not have a budget for gifting, we will make it work. Essential Bodywear offers a range of flexible experiences including an onsite option for those gatherings without a budget for our experience. That’s how much we believe in the amazing experience we offer.
Recently, we did a Mechanics Conference in Puerto Rico. While the meeting planner couldn’t afford a gift for all 750 wives, she offered to cover our hotel room expenses to bring our bra fitting expertise to their event. Those two days spent with this group were incredibly uplifting, and we received hugs and huge appreciation from everyone. One husband even asked, “Can I hug you?” Then added, “Thank you, I have my wife back. You made her feel beautiful again.” That’s what our experience is all about.
Hospitality Career Highlights: You never know how you and your product can touch someone with a gifting experience. In the past 18 months of my journey in this industry, one of the most memorable moments was organizing a pajama-party-themed event where we distributed pajamas, specifically our beautiful Charlee Chemise. The day after the event, an attendee approached me and expressed her gratitude, saying, “Thank you so much for the chemise. You have no idea about my personal struggles with infertility, which has become a burden for both my husband and me. But last night, the Charlee Chemise sparked some romance, and I can’t express how heartwarming that experience was for me.”
Next Advance Pursuing: As part of our outreach, Essential Bodywear launched Project Uplift, an initiative that aims to give back to the community in a unique way. We provide bras and underwear to women in shelters or to those who have been affected by natural disasters or war, making a significant impact on their lives. Having clean, well fitting, attractive undergarments is often overlooked when donating clothing for women in need. By providing them with essential undergarments, we aim to restore their confidence and offer comfort during difficult times.
During our events, we encourage attendees to participate in our bra collection drive. We kindly ask them to bring in their clean, gently used bras, which we collect and distribute to women in need. Through this effort, we have donated thousands of bras to those affected by natural disasters and wars from Hurricane Sandy to Ukraine. The generous support of our event attendees plays a vital role in helping us make a difference.
Project Uplift is a testament to our commitment to uplift and support women facing challenging circumstances. We are immensely proud of the collective impact we have made so far and eagerly look forward to continuing this meaningful and uplifting cause.
Stephen Cutchins
Senior Manager-Accessibility, Cvent
Motivating Force: Accessibility is deeply personal for me. I have a neurological disorder called Tourette Syndrome; my mother was an amputee; and I grew up with two cousins in wheelchairs, one of whom was nonverbal. I have seen and experienced the impact that accessibility—and the lack of accessibility—has on individuals. This connection has inspired me to work for nearly 20 years towards transforming organizations, helping them become truly inclusive through their products, hiring practices, and employee support.
Prioritizing accessibility is clearly the right thing to do, but it’s also necessary for businesses to grow and succeed. Recognizing that 26% of adults have some form of disability (according to the CDC), if you are not providing an accessible event, you are overlooking a significant portion of potential attendees/customers. How can a company exclude that many people and expect to thrive?
Approach to Supercharging Experiences: My approach revolves around ensuring events are accessible to everyone, including individuals who rely on assistive technology. It’s incredibly satisfying to see people using our software to register, choose sessions or sign-in at events, regardless of their needs. Our commitment to enhancing accessibility is ongoing and we value feedback from users who benefit from these accommodations, as it keeps us on the right track. I’m working with our User Research team to identify people who use our products with assistive technology, such as screen readers. By gathering direct feedback from users who rely on these tools, we can gain valuable insights that will help us improve our products even more.
Hospitality Career Highlights: I was honored to have an accessibility booth at Cvent CONNECT 2023, our annual conference. While demonstrating screen reader usage to a planner, I saw her excitement when she realized the importance of image alt text. “So that is what that’s for!” she said with a huge grin on her face. She knew she needed to add image alt text, but she didn’t realize why. She was so excited to hear it, and it always makes me happy to see another accessibility champion get on board.
Another highlight was attending an accessibility conference where our products were used. I was in the vendor area when I saw Stevie Wonder at a booth checking out Braille displays. Stevie Wonder was there as an attendee! Knowing that someone as iconic as Stevie Wonder could have benefited from our commitment to accessibility reinforced the significance of our work. It served as a reminder that the efforts we put into creating inclusive and accessible experiences can impact a wide range of individuals.
Moments like these reinforce my dedication to championing accessibility in the event industry, ensuring everyone can participate in and enjoy events to the fullest extent possible.
Next Advance Pursuing: After making significant progress with attendee-facing products (we have been audited by an independent accessibility firm and have since closed over 1,200 defects) my next goal is to enhance accessibility for event planners and hospitality users. While the numbers of users are much less than the attendee side, there is still the chance that 26% of those users have a disability and I want them to be able to successfully use our products also. By prioritizing accessibility in our product development, we’ll empower planners and hospitality professionals to create inclusive and engaging events that accommodate the needs of their entire audience.
In addition to product improvements for our customers, we’re also focused internally on our employee experience. We continue to improve our work environment to deliver a truly inclusive experience—from the tools we use and meetings we host, to the way we operate and grow our business.
Katie Goyette
Vice President of Sales, TC Restaurant Group
Motivating Force: I am about to celebrate my 10-year work anniversary with TC Restaurant Group and have my absolute dream job. It has been so much fun creating unforgettable client experiences in Nashville. So grateful to be part of such a progressive and forward-moving events community.
Approach to Supercharging Experiences: I am all about the “wow!” In today’s fast-moving, sensory-driven world, it’s important to focus on great food, presentation, service and memorable branding activation. We use video mapping technology on the exterior of the building to make events truly immersive and memorable.
Hospitality Career Highlights: 10 years with TC Restaurant group overseeing the top country celebrity-themed restaurants: FGL House, Jason Aldean’s, Luke’s 32 & Miranda’s Casa Rosa. Shut down Nashville for Luke’s Grand Opening which had over 30,000 guests for a street concert. Working with hundreds of clients including: NHL, NFL, CMA related events, music videos, television shows and so many more. Being part of Nashville becoming a private event metropolis.
Next Advance Pursuing: Every day I strive to create and encourage my team to continually be the best! We have created tools to help the city host mega-sized corporate events for more than 5,000 people. My goal is to be regularly hosting large-scale events where we collaborate and work with the adjoining businesses and restaurants downtown.
Cynthia Kunz
Senior Global Sales Director, Meetings & Incentives, Velas Resorts
Motivating Force: I’m motivated by building a successful team to ensure we are not only meeting but exceeding targets on an ongoing basis. Developing strategies that will boost the entire team’s overall performance has also given me a real sense of pride as we are collectively acquiring professional development and success in this fantastic industry. Another impactful aspect for me is the ability to grow our repeat client base by forming successful relationships with new clients and continue to nurture those connections that have been solidly established throughout the years.
Approach to Supercharging Experiences: I’m a firm believer that attracting, retaining and growing human and creative talent is vital to delivering the outstanding experiences we offer our clients. One of the most effective frameworks I can personally relate to is the level of engagement on a multi-level basis we create for every event, which can only be achieved with the right team at the forefront. It all starts with defining common goals and creating a sense of purpose and direction. This has ultimately revolutionized our clients’ journeys when they are in the process of creating something that is as meaningful to them as it is to us.
Hospitality Career Highlights: I’ve been gifted with the opportunity to experience the joys and at times challenges that the hospitality industry can bring from a couple of different perspectives. As a hotelier within the Velas Resorts brand, a mindset of swift problem-solving, effective communication and empathy have been key to the overall success of my career. Having the opportunity to fully manage and lead the establishment of the first Grand Velas Sales Office based in the U.S., has been a vital component of our growth as a brand. On the other hand, the client approach I was able to cultivate within an incentive house for 10 years also provided a completely different set of responsibilities and expectations that untroubledly built my character and helped me develop effective decision-making skills.
Next Advance Pursuing: Shining a light on the beauty and magic of the Mexican culture has always been a goal in both my personal and professional paths. The continuous aim is to share the most beautiful aspects of this genuinely beautiful culture through experiences that can be positively transformative. The core of our existence is to captivate the world and our commitment within the luxury hospitality space in Mexico remains so we can push ourselves through improvement and enlightenment.
Reese O’Toole
Founder, Joycoast Gifting Experiences
Motivating Force: My motivation to create Joycoast was a fusion of my love for unforgettable experiences, environmental consciousness, and the desire to create a better, greener future for everyone involved. Witnessing the vast amount of waste generated by events, including discarded single-use eyewear, fueled my determination to create a sustainable alternative. I envisioned eyewear that not only protects attendees from the sun but also protects the planet. By crafting eco-friendly accessories from sustainable sources and planting 10 trees for every product sold, Joycoast aims to reduce the event industry’s carbon footprint and reach our goal of planting one million trees!
Approach to Supercharging Experiences: At Joycoast, we are not just in the business of crafting exceptional sunglasses; we are in the business of enhancing experiences. Our unique eco-sunglasses fitting experiences are designed to do just that by ensuring that every attendee works 1:1 with our knowledgeable team members to find the perfect pair of sunglasses to complement their style and comfort.
Our fitting experience goes beyond aesthetics; each pair of sunglasses is made from sustainably sourced wood and materials, and we plant 10 trees for every product gifted. This means a single event can plant hundreds or thousands of trees, contributing to reforestation efforts, combating world hunger and climate change on a major scale.
So, when you choose Joycoast for your sunglasses, you not only find the perfect pair to elevate your experience, but you also participate in a meaningful initiative to preserve and nurture our planet. It’s our way of supercharging experiences while leaving a lasting positive impact on the environment. Together, we create memorable moments and a greener, more sustainable future.
