Board of Directors

Officers & Executive Committee

Chairman
Henry Harteveldt, Hudson Crossing

Vice Chairman
Susan Black, American Express Vacations and Travel Impressions

Immediate Past Chairman
Joel Chusid, Hainan Airline Corporation

Secretary
Jeffrey DeKorte, RCCL

Treasurer
Jacqueline Johnson, Global Bridal Group

Executive Director
Kristin Zern, ATME

Members at Large of Executive Committee
Pamela Johnston, Cloud 12 Group
John T. Peters, USA Today
Rob Torres, Google

Board of Directors

Peggy Bendel, Bendel Communications
Simon Bradley, Virgin Atlantic Airways
Greg Brown, Choice Hotels International
Elizabeth Crabill, Travel Bound/GTA
Cynthia Fontayne, The Fontayne Group
Adam Goldstein, Hipmunk
Marc Kazlauskas, Insight Vacations
Shri Lildharrie, XO Group/The Knot
Greg Marshall, Greater Rochester VA
Krista Pappas
Madigan Pratt, Madigan Pratt & Associates
Stephan Rigopoulos, Discover Financial Services
Hugh Riley, Caribbean Tourism Organization
Robert Sharak, CLIA
Joanne Smith, Delta Airlines

Bios

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	PEGGY BENDEL Principal Bendel Communications International ATME Board Member Peggy Bendel is a globally-recognized expert in travel marketing, crisis communications and media training, and has worked for clients around the world, from Australia to Arizona, California to Chile, South Africa to Sweden. A principal in the seminal I Love New York campaign, Peggy began her career as a travel writer for the State of New York, and worked in economic development and international trade as well as tourism. Recognized with a "Lifetime Achievement" award by the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International, Peggy is a frequent speaker at conferences and workshops, and contributes to a range of industry publications, including Travel Marketing Decisions, PR Tactics and O'Dwyer's PR Report. She has been profiled in a variety of international media, most recently in Vienna, Austria and Portugal. She sits on the Boards of ATME and the Public Relations Society of America's (PRSA) Travel & Tourism section, and is an active member of the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW), Bay Area Travel Writers (BATW) and other industry organizations. A frequent speaker at conferences around the U.S. and internationally on the topics of branding, crisis communications, marketing and public relations, Peggy is also an experienced media coach and trainer. A graduate of Georgian Court College (now University), Peggy was named to their "Court of Honor" in 2008. She also studied at NYU's Graduate School of Public Administration. Peggy lives in New York and Tucson, AZ, with her husband Richard Gussaroff and multiple felines.
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	SUSAN BLACK Executive Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer American Express Vacations and Travel Impressions ATME Vice Chairman Susan Black, co-founder and partner of The Black & Wright Group, a travel industry strategic advisory firm, joined Travel Impressions as executive vice president, global e-commerce. Black is responsible for advancing the company’s global online expansion and providing leadership for Travel Impressions’ e-commerce suite of products, including American Express Vacations. She is also directing the development and launch of new online opportunities to leverage Travel Impressions’ portfolio of world-class travel products and services. As co-founder of The Black & Wright Group, Black has advised leading online travel brands, traditional travel distributors, suppliers and publishers, and travel industry start-ups. She also is also a speaker and moderator at travel industry marketing and e-commerce conferences. Black's previous posts include chief marketing officer of CheapCaribbean.com; executive vice president, marketing for Liberty Travel/GOGO Worldwide Vacations; founder, TravelCom Conference & Expo; general manager and publisher of Thomas Publishing's Travel Group; and associate publisher of Corporate Travel Magazine. As an active social media participant, she currently helps marketers develop and implement social media strategies for their travel brands.
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	SIMON BRADLEY VP, Marketing, North America Virgin Atlantic Airways ATME Board Member Simon Bradley is a travel marketer with over 15 years experience in international marketing for a range of organisations across the globe. He is currently VP of Marketing, N.America for Virgin Atlantic – one of the most iconic airline brands in the world. His responsibilities include brand development, brand communications, partnerships, online and CRM. Previous to that Simon held a number of senior positions for VisitBritain, the organisation responsible for marketing Britain for leisure and business travel. During his career he has worked in many countries in both Europe and the Americas including the Nordic region, Brazil, Canada, Mexico and of course the UK. Born and educated in the UK, Simon graduated in History from Bristol University, and followed this with Tourism Management and Chartered Institute of Marketing postgraduate diplomas. He currently resides with his wife and three children in Westchester County, New York. He spends most of his spare time exploring the US with his family and is also an avid soccer and music fan.
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	GREG BROWN Vice President, Loyalty and Relationship Marketing Choice Hotels International ATME Board Member Greg has held a variety of marketing and finance leadership roles during his 20-year plus career, 17 of which were with American Airlines. He began his career with Andersen Consulting (now Accenture). Greg then joined American’s Finance department in the late-80s, and subsequently led organizations in Financial Analysis, Airport Resource Planning, Revenue Management, and Sales. He was recruited to Choice Hotels initially as Vice President of Choice Privileges, and has been with Choice for three and a half years.
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	ELIZABETH CRABILL President, North America Travel Bound and GTA ATME Board Member Elizabeth joined Travel Bound as president in 2012. Travel Bound is the North America retail brand within GTA, the leading global wholesaler and a division of Kuoni Group. In addition to her role leading the Travel Bound brand, she holds additional corporate responsibility for FIT sales and marketing throughout the Americas region. Previously, Elizabeth was vice president of sales and marketing at Lindblad Expeditions where she led sales and marketing strategy and operations across consumer and travel agent channels, including web development and digital marketing to further expand Lindblad’s online brand and community. Elizabeth came to Lindblad from Travel Impressions, a subsidiary of American Express, where she led brand and partnership marketing, sales support, creative strategy, advertising and communications. She began her career in travel as part of the startup team of Global Adrenaline, a high-end tour operator specializing in luxury adventure travel for affinity and educational groups. Earlier experience includes marketing, sales and strategy in consumer products and entertainment brands including Clinique, Revlon and ABC. Elizabeth is a graduate of Smith College, with an A.B. in Spanish Literature. She also holds an MBA from Harvard Business School.
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	JOEL CHUSID Managing Director, North America Hainan Airline Corporation ATME Immediate Past Chairman Joel Chusid joined Hainan Airlines in January 2007 following a lifelong career in the in travel and tourism industry, dealing with strategic positioning in sales and business development, marketing, and branding. A 25-year veteran of American Airlines, Joel was a founder of American Eagle, one of the largest regional airlines in the industry where he was Vice President, Sales & Marketing. He spent two years as Managing Director, China Eastern Airlines, which launched his interest into the Chinese airline marketplace. At Hainan Airlines, Joel is responsible for the company’s activities and growth in North America including sales, marketing, government affairs, public relations and operations. He has worked closely with senior management on introducing the Hainan brand outside of China, from online marketing to public relations to playing an advisory role in product enhancement, technology and marketing. Joel has chaired and moderated numerous travel industry conferences and has had articles published in various publications. He has been quoted in the national press and is a regular guest editor at Airliner Gallery News online. His passion for foreign travel and things international has deepened his appreciation for the entrepreneurial spirit of Hainan Airlines which differs from the state-owned companies. Joel received his M.B.A. in International Management from the University of Dallas Graduate School of Management in Dallas, TX and his B.S. in Marketing & Transportation from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, TN. He is on the Executive Committee of the Washington State China Relations Council and was recently appointed to the Board of the Global Business Travel Association Foundation. Well traveled, Joel has most recently spent his time between Dallas, Seattle and Buenos Aires, Argentina.
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	JEFFREY DEKORTE Vice President Digital Marketing Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines ATME Secretary Jeff DeKorte began his online travel career in 1996 in the Electronic Distribution department at US Airways developing and operating PC-based travel booking tools and the Company’s early web site. He also served as Director, Electronic Commerce and Distribution at US Airways and co-directed the team responsible for the design and re-launch of their award-winning web site and self-service kiosks. Jeff’s experience in the travel industry and expertise in the online travel field led him to his role as Senior Vice President, Travel & Digital Media, at Rand McNally. Previously, Jeff was Vice President of Business Development at Travel Ad Network, President & COO at LeisureLogix, LLC and Vice President & General Manager, Travel at America Online. Jeff serves as a member of the advisory board for the Travel Commerce Conference & Expo and on the board of directors of the Association of Travel Marketing Executives.
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	CYNTHIA FONTAYNE CEO + Chief Ephemerist The Fontayne Group ATME Board Member When she joined Swissair in 1969, Cynthia Fontayne had already been flying for 22 years. Her first flight was at six months, her first solo at age 5. She's been on the go ever since. She headed the airline's North American public relations department with additional assignments in marketing and sales. She left Swissair in 1982 to start The Fontayne Group, Inc., a marketing communications consultancy headquartered in Santa Monica, California. She is a founding Board member of the Association of Travel Marketing Executives, a former Board member of the Society of American Travel Writers, past chairman of the North American Airline PR Association and a member of the Industry Council of the Pacific Asia Travel Association. In 1988, she was named a Senior Associate of the Tourism Policy Forum at George Washington University under the aegis of the World Tourism Organization. She also is a member of the Public Relations Society of America's Counsellors Academy and Travel and Tourism Section While at Vassar, from which she was graduated with a B.A. in sociology, she studied with future new media guru Ted Nelson, then a professor of sociology at the College. She was in the room when he first introduced the word "hypertext" in a lecture. Her first Computer Experience was a Ted Project on an IBM 360 Counter- Sorter. So it's only natural that the interactive world would hold great appeal to her. Its hold on her was complete when hyperfiction pioneer Michael Joyce, currently a professor of English at Vassar, showed her how to use a mouse. The Fontayne Group as a company became involved in New Media in the early 1990s, with Cynthia leading the charge. She and the firm have been assisting clients in understanding and exploiting these exciting opportunities. Cynthia has conducted numerous seminars and presentations on the Internet and Web for ATME, SATW and Infocom. She has addressed the General Assembly of the World Tourism Organization on strategic communications planning and on media relations using the Internet and World Wide Web in Cairo and Madrid. Cynthia speaks French and Italian but limits her public speaking to English which she embellishes with expansive hand gestures. Her frequent travels allow her to grow her collections of art stamps, old travel and etiquette books, antique postcards and paper, folk art animals, world music and floaty pens. She gathers vintage linens, aprons, kitchenware, pottery, Depression Glass -- and other oddments too wonderful to be thrown in the Great American Dustbin -- for her modest antiques + collectibles business. She keeps the Fire-King jadite, Lu-Ray and Vernon pastel china, old linens and matte glaze pottery she finds all to herself. She currently is house hunting in the California wine country, Sonoma County, so she has a place to stash all her stuff. She still never leaves home without her laptop and a Pez dispenser.
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	ADAM GOLDSTEIN Co-Founder & CEO Hipmunk ATME Board Member Adam Goldstein is the co-founder and CEO of Hipmunk, the site that takes the agony out of searching for travel. Previously he was the co-founder of BookTour.com. He was the author of AppleScript: The Missing Manual at age 16. Adam graduated from MIT in 2010 with dual S.B. degrees in Computer Science and Mechanical Engineering; in that year he was also North American Debating Champion. Adam now lives in San Francisco.
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	HENRY HARTEVELDT Travel Industry Analyst Hudson Crossing ATME Chairman Prior to joining Hudson Crossing, Henry Harteveldt led the travel industry worldwide consulting and research practice at Forrester Research and, more recently, co-founded Atmosphere Research Group. Throughout his distinguished career, Mr. Harteveldt has either worked for or provided consulting and research to some of the worlds leading hotel brands, airlines, online travel agencies, global distribution systems and key industry associations. Mr. Harteveldt is widely regarded as a trusted “voice of the travel industry” and is arguably one of the most frequently and widely quoted analysts in the industry. Leading media, including the The New York Times, Associated Press, CNN, CNBC, The Wall Street Journal, and Bloomberg regularly seek his insights. Mr. Harteveldt is a graduate of the Tulane University School of Business in New Orleans, and lives in San Francisco, California.
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	JACQUELINE JOHNSON President/CEO Global Bridal Group ATME Treasurer Jacqueline Johnson: CTC, President/CEO of Global Bridal Group, is a specialist and frequent lecturer on the wedding and honeymoon markets. She directs and oversee the strategic marketing and sales development of MarryCaribbean.com, GlobalWeddingResource.com, CaribbeanWeddingAssociation.com, web sites for both prospective brides and grooms and those with an interest in understanding and learning about the power and profitability of this market. Jacqueline has worked with Conde Nast Bridal Media, which includes Brides, Modern Bride, Elegant Bride, and more. She was also a Vice President/Assoc. Publisher of Bridal Guide Magazine and Executive Director for New York Magazine. She is also the Wedding and Honeymoon Correspondent for the Questex Travel Group. In this role she provides editorial content to all of The Travel Group’s editorial properties, which include Travel Agent magazine, TravelAgentCentral.com, Luxury Travel Advisor and LuxuryTA.com. She also provides her expertise for special editorial projects, such as roundtables, webinars and other events that unite buyers and sellers of travel. As a seasoned veteran of the travel industry, her 25+ year career has spanned the full spectrum of all phases, from the advertising agency where she oversaw and implemented marketing/media strategies for various travel accounts (cruise, destinations and hotels) to the field of consumer and trade magazines where she further honed her skills. She is a Certified Travel Counselor (CTC) a certification process acknowledging professional recognition through the Travel Institute’s Educational Program. The vast knowledge that she has garnered in the understanding of travel agents, wholesalers and tour operators forms the crucial element in the marketing of her chosen specialty, Travel Marketing. For her involvement in the industry, she was given the NOAH Award for distinguished service in the travel industry from the Academy of Tourism Organization. An award that honors role models and mentors in each of the travel disciplines within the expanding field of MACROTOURISM. She was also given the Outstanding Service Award from the Caribbean Tourism Organization in recognition of dedicated service and professional excellence in the development and promotion of tourism to the Caribbean. She was also acknowledged at the 50th Anniversary of the Caribbean Tourism Organization with the Tourism Medal of Excellence as one of the 50th most powerful persons in the Caribbean: and was again acknowledged at this year’s Caribbean Ball with the CTO Award of Excellence for her tireless dedication and exceptional support in the region. She was recently acknowledged by United States Virgin Islands Hotel & Tourism, as Media Travel Partner of the Year.
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	PAMELA JOHNSTON President Cloud 12 Group ATME Executive Committee Member Since its founding in 1997, Pamela and Cloud 12 have earned a reputation for precision, innovation, and most importantly, results. What her varied clients have in common is that they’ve been featured everywhere that’s anywhere. Pamela’s career began with handling a variety of accounts at Marina Maher Communications, GCI Group, Grey Advertising, and at Adams Unlimited. Just a few years out of school, Pamela won the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International’s award for Best TV Placement. And only two years after launching the firm, Pamela was named one of Brandweek magazine's “Guerilla Marketers of the Year”. She is a regular industry speaker, having been invited to speak at PhocusWright, HSMAI and Good Morning America as an expert on pr, marketing and multitasking, and has been featured in media including New York Times, USA Today and the Wall St. Journal. She has also been lauded by Investor's Business Daily for her innovative thinking and campaigns. Most recently, PJ Inc. swept up the TIA Odyssey award for best travel marketing.
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	MARC KAZLAUSKAS President Insight Vacations ATME Board Member Marc has worked in the travel industry for over 15 years primarily holding executive level sales positions with Tauck, Orient Cruise Lines and Trafalgar Tours, where he started his career. Currently, Marc is President of Insight Vacations, the leader in premium first-class escorted tours to Europe, the USA and Canada. He is responsible for overall growth and operations of the business. He has been with Insight since August of 2002 and is credited with increasing Insight’s sales to record breaking levels as well as securing partnerships with major industry accounts. Marc has a degree in Accounting and has completed executive education programs at both Harvard and Columbia. He has also traveled extensively throughout the world and has been on more than 20 escorted tours.
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	GREG MARSHALL Vice President and Director of Marketing Greater Rochester Visitor's Association ATME Board Member
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	SHRI LILDHARRIE Global Travel Director XO Group/The Knot ATME Board Member Shri Lildharrie is currently Global Travel Director at XO Group/The Knot Inc., the only lifestage media company devoted to weddings, pregnancy and everything in between. In this position, he is responsible for leading all sales initiatives for major travel partners, properties and destinations worldwide. Over the past few years he has worked with most of the top destinations in the Caribbean, numerous U.S. hot spots such as Miami and Las Vegas and the majority of leading hospitality companies including Starwood and Disney. Additionally, Shri has developed marketing partnership programs with such leading organizations as Caribbean Hotel & Travel Association (CHTA), Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) and the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI). He also pioneered the development of B2B applications utilizing enhanced and unified e-message services for clients within the financial and travel services industries including the New York Stock Exchange and Travel Impressions. Shri came to The Knot in 2006 with almost 20 years of executive sales experience after a successful track record of driving revenue growth for companies including Cable & Wireless, AdVal Communications, Advanstar Communications, and Questex Travel Media. Shri holds a degree in marketing and advertising from Baruch College.
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	KRISTA PAPPAS Entrepreneur, Investor, Internet Executive ATME Board Member Krista Pappas is considered a veteran online travel industry executive with more than a decade of experience creating and growing online media properties. She is a highly regarded business leader whose focus is on the intersection of digital travel and search, media, multi platform distribution, infrastructure, technology, and markets. Ms. Pappas is known for her deep knowledge of the travel industry and for her ability to identify and aid the development of trends years before they become global. For example: she was the first professional analyst to cover Internet travel in 1996-97, a key player in the launch of online travel services in 1997-2001, and a critical participant in the development of online travel sites since 2001. Since 1999 her batting average has been 1000 due to a track record of successful acquisitions to date. Most recently, in April 2008, Farecast was acquired by Microsoft. She has been quoted as an expert source on travel topics dozens of times in newspapers such as the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal and has been interviewed on CNN, NBC, ABC and MSNBC and published scores of articles and reports widely read by Wall Street analysts. Today, Krista is the Global Head of Business Development of Bing.com/Travel, a Microsoft Company which has combined live search, Farecast and MSN Travel under one brand. Her role is to establish and drive the key business deals, partnerships and strategic alliances for Bing Travel. Leading up to her career at Microsoft, Krista was Senior Executive Vice President of the smart travel search site Farecast, led the business as Senior Vice President of SmarterTravel Media, was Head of Travel for New York Times Digital, EVP of FareChase, the first travel search engine and the Executive Director at Gomez Advisor’s. Krista sits on numerous travel industry boards including CASMA, U.S. Travel, Women’s Executive Travel Leadership Organization and TheiFive.com and ATME.
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	JOHN T. PETERS President, Travel Media Group USA Today ATME Executive Committee Member Currently, John is President, Travel Media Group for USA TODAY. Prior to that, he was SVP/GM Digital Strategy & Business Development at Rand McNally. Former CEO of Tripology, John sold Tripology.com to Rand McNally in March, 2010. He joined Tripology as President and CEO in 2008. Since then, John has guided the team at Tripology in hitting critical growth milestones. In 2009, Tripology processed its 140,000th trip request and assembled a network of nearly 15,000 Travel Specialists. In March of 2011, John successfully led the efforts of the acquisition of Tripology.com by Rand McNally, the map and navigation giant. Prior to Tripology, John was Vice President of Business Development & Travel Trade where he led the successful launch of Endless Vacation Rentals® by Wyndham Worldwide. Earlier in his career, John founded Zeus Tours & Yacht Cruises, an international yacht cruise/tour and hotel business that grew to over $50 million in sales with over 100 employees in offices in New York, Athens, Rome and Buenos Aires. John successfully sold the business in 1999. No matter what his role, John has always focused on technology. John is a frequent speaker at conferences, trade shows and international meetings including World Travel Market, EyeforTravel, Vacation Home Expo, The New York Times Travel Show, International Cruise-a-thon and others. He has made guest appearances on radio and television programs (including Arthur Frommer and Erik Hastings) and has been featured in such publications as The New York Times, USA Today, MSNBC, Internet Weekly, Argentina's largest newspaper; La Nacion. In 2009, John accepted the "Innovator of the Year" award from US Travel Association. John was also named one of the Travel Industry's 100 Rising Stars for three consecutive years by Travel Agent Magazine. John holds a Bachelor of Arts degree with honors from Fairleigh Dickinson University and a Certified Travel Industry Executive certification from The Travel Institute.
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	MADIGAN PRATT Managing Director Madigan Pratt & Associates ATME Board Member Prior to founding MP&A, Madigan Pratt spent 15 years providing strategic marketing communications for sophisticated marketing-oriented Fortune 500 companies, including Procter & Gamble, Colgate Palmolive, Citibank, Xerox, and M&M/Mars. Madigan spearheaded the integration of general advertising and direct marketing for Xerox. Highly successful, sales-focused communications programs led him to pioneer many of the relationship marketing disciplines practiced widely today. He is expert at helping clients build brand advocates. In the late 1980's he formed Madigan Pratt & Associates, Inc. a marketing firm dedicated exclusively to bringing new and more effective brand building solutions to luxury hotels and resorts. Madigan has served on numerous travel industry association boards including The Association of Travel Marketing Executives (Chairman), the Caribbean Tourism Organization (Executive Committee) and the Travel & Tourism Research Association/NY (President). He also serves on the Advisory Committee for the HSMAI Luxury Resort Special Interest Group. His articles are widely published and he is a frequent speaker at industry conferences. Madigan is often quoted in trade publications on issues relating to relationship marketing and branding. Madigan is a key contributor to MP&A's Hospitality Blog "Hotel Brand Advocates" which is widely followed by senior marketing executives.
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	STEPHAN RIGOPOULOS Strategic Merchant Relations - Senior Manager Discover Financial Services ATME Board Member
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	HUGH RILEY Secretary General Caribbean Tourism Organization ATME Board Member Last year, the Caribbean Tourism Organization’s (CTO) Director of Marketing for the Americas, Hugh Riley, was chosen as the Interim Secretary General of the organization. Mr Riley had assumed the position at the beginning of July when the Bahamian Secretary General, Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace, returned home to become Minister of Tourism and Aviation. Riley was appointed Director of Marketing for the Americas in March 2002 and has since overseen the Caribbean’s marketing programme in the United States of America and Canada. He is also co-Chief Operating Officer of the Caribbean Tourism Development Company (CTDC), the marketing and business development unit owned equally by the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) and the CTO.
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	ROBERT SHARAK Executive VP Marketing & Distribution CLIA ATME Board Member As the executive vice president of marketing and distribution for the nonprofit Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), Bob Sharak is charged with furthering the association’s strategic promotional goals and objectives and serving the needs of its over 16,000 travel agency members and the world’s 24 major cruise lines, which collectively represent 98 percent of the cruise capacity marketed in North America. Sharak, who joined CLIA in March 1993, directs all consumer and trade marketing efforts and promotional initiatives, including the association’s annual cruise3sixty travel agent conference and trade show, Web site development cruising.org, advertising and E-marketing, collateral production, CLIA’s annual National Cruise Vacation Month and World’s Largest Cruise Night campaigns. In addition, he manages industry alliances and partnerships, and spearheads CLIA’s travel agency membership programs, including its portfolio of gold-standard training programs. Prior to entering the nonprofit arena, Sharak held senior marketing positions for several travel companies, including the Hertz Corporation, the Trump Organization, PeopleExpress and Continental Airlines. Sharak graduated from Kent State University in 1980, with a Bachelor’s degree in marketing. He and his family currently reside in Summit, N.J.
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	JOANNE SMITH Senior Vice President, In-Flight Service and Global Product Development Delta Airlines ATME Board Member Joanne Smith is senior vice president of In-Flight Service and Global Product Development for Delta Air Lines at its world headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. In this position, Smith leads more than 11,000 flight attendants, supervisory and administrative personnel worldwide. Smith is also responsible for integrating the personalized service of Delta’s flight attendants with a global product strategy that truly differentiates the airline from its competitors, as well as overseeing the airline’s onboard services operations, including 100 global catering kitchens across the world. Smith previously served as vice president of marketing with responsibility for the airline’s brand management, worldwide marketing communications, marketing sponsorships, community affairs, customer research, and product and service development. Prior to this position, Smith served as president of Song, the airline’s low-fare air service. Smith joined Song is 2003 as vice president of marketing and customers, where she responsible for marketing, brand development, sales, in-flight service and airport customer service. She was responsible for launching Song in April 2003 as a unique and highly-differentiated new low-fare air service. This included developing and implementing Song’s award-winning brand, product and marketing strategy, as well as hiring in-flight and airport staff. Prior to joining Delta, Smith served in senior marketing and planning positions at Reno Air, Midway Airlines and AMR Eagle where her experiences gave her invaluable knowledge about airline customer service, network and routing, airport operations, in-flight service and marketing. Smith graduated in 1982 from California Polytechnic State University with a Bachelors degree in Business Administration.
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	ROB TORRES Managing Director, Advertising & Marketing, NA Travel Google ATME Board Member With over 15 years of travel industry experience, Rob Torres serves as Google’s Managing Director of advertising and marketing for the North American Travel sector. In this role, Rob oversees the strategy development and profitable growth of integrated and innovative advertising campaigns. His group serves some of the largest Web and brick-and-mortar travel brands in the US. Prior to joining Google, Rob was Vice President of Strategic Hotel Partnerships at Expedia.com. During his seven-year career at Expedia, Rob managed a team that had Global responsibility for 30 strategic accounts, generating gross bookings in excess of $2 billion.
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	KRISTIN ZERN Executive Director ATME Kristin Zern has been a travel marketing executive for the past 35 years holding executive marketing positions in several segments of the travel industry. She was CEO of a family travel tour operator, was a consultant to several resorts in Spain and Portugal as well as several airlines re the family market, sales director for a Caribbean resort, and VP at a company specializing in worldwide luxury condominium vacations. She was also the Editor and Publisher of Family Travel News rated as a top 10 travel newsletter by Travel & Leisure. Zern was the Director of Travel Marketing at Berlitz Publishing Company for 14 years, where she developed a 3 million dollar profit center from scratch. She has been the Executive Director of the Association of Travel Marketing Executives (ATME) since 1992 where she is responsible for all the educational programs and events including the annual conference. She is also responsible for all of ATME's publications and products, including the website and social media. Ms. Zern has been on several industry boards and committees including ASTA's Allied Committee, US Travel's Marketing Committee, ATME's Board, and the Executive Committee of the Academy of Travel & Tourism.
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