TENTATIVE SYMPOSIUM SCHEDULE
Subject to change
Monday, February 1
3:40 PM - 4:00 PM
Welcome and Introductions
Maura Gast, Irving CVB Executive Director (and our official emcee), will introduce our experts, our attendees and our guests, setting the stage for an incredible conference experience.
4:00 PM - 4:30 PM
The DMO Board Imperative
Just as the role that DMOs play in our communities has evolved, so has the role of the Boards that lead and govern them. To kick off the Symposium, sector consultant and author Bill Geist will chronicle that evolution and explain how Board Leadership must elevate the impact and significantly underpin the relevance of today’s DMO. Among the topics to be covered:
The importance of Purpose, Vision, Mission, Values, Stewardship and Advocacy
Why Community Influence is the primary currency of today’s best Boards
The critical need for Board cohesion into today’s volatile environment
That DMO CEOs can take Destination Development only so far; it’s the Board that brings it home (or starts the ball rolling…or is the first follower for a stellar idea).
The Role of the Board vs. the Role of the CEO … whose job is it?
4:30 PM - 6:30 PM
Meet and Greet Reception
Weather permitting, step out onto the Terrace to mix and mingle, enjoying the conversation with all of our attendees (and your peers) from across North America.
Tuesday, February 2
7:30 AM - 8:10 AM
Breakfast Buffet
Fuel up and get ready for a jam-packed couple of days.
8:15 AM - 9:00 AM
Limiting Liability, Liquidity, & Legal Issues
To continue to strengthen and stay competitive in the tourism industry, DMO leaders and Board members need to become knowledgeable in sustainable funding, advocacy, public policy and compliance. John Lambeth will impart vital information on topics such as:
Board Planning for Diversifying and Stabilizing Funding
Strategies for Working with Your Board on Advocacy Issues (including funding advocacy)
Nonprofit Corporation Formation or Modification, including starting a (c)(3) Foundation
And, much much more…
9:15 AM - 10:00 AM
Beyond the Balance Sheet: Financial Intelligence for DMO Leaders
Financial leadership is about more than understanding the numbers—it’s about using them to make better decisions. This session moves beyond financial statements to explore how financial intelligence can help leaders anticipate challenges, align resources with priorities, manage risk, and make more confident decisions. Topics we’ll explore together:
Sustainability: Can the current business model withstand disruption?
Strategy: Are the dollars following our priorities?
Risk: Where are the areas of financial exposure?
Governance: What is the board’s responsibility versus management’s responsibility?
10:15 AM - 11:30 AM
Expert-Facilitated Roundtable Discussions
In the first of our three Roundtable Discussions, we’ll break out and encourage participants to introduce themselves and then facilitate conversations in rooms specifically reserved for CEOs, Board Chairs and Board Members. In this Roundtable, we’ll divide participants by budget size. In future Roundtables, you’ll be free to join any table within the room, regardless of budget.
11:40 AM - 12:50 PM
Lunch, Live Polling and Group Discussions
Mix it up, sit with someone new and learn about the challenges and opportunities other Destination Organization Boards are facing. We have so much to share with each other.
As part of our Luncheon, we’ll ask a series of questions in which we’ll utilize live polling sofware to determine the direction of the conversations.
1:00 PM - 2:15 PM
Expert Facilitated Roundtable Discussions
Chairs: Topic > TBD
CEOs: Topic > TBD
Board Members: Topic > TBD
2:30 PM - 3:15 PM
Beyond “Who’s Next?”: The New Playbook for Board & CEO Leadership Continuity
“Who’s next?” is only the beginning. The future of leadership isn’t simply about identifying the next CEO. It’s about creating the conditions for leadership continuity long before a transition occurs: a board prepared to navigate change, a CEO relationship built on trust, and leadership structures designed to support the organization through its next chapter.
As the Board Leadership Symposium enters its fifth year, Mike Gamble, Chairman & CEO, and Cambria Jones, Chief Marketing & Experience Officer of SearchWide Global, will introduce a new playbook for thinking about board and CEO leadership continuity. Drawing on industry data, boardroom insights, and real-world experiences, they’ll explore four essential plays:
Build the Pipeline Before You Need It: CEO succession isn’t an event. Explore how boards can prepare for planned and unexpected transitions while developing a stronger leadership pipeline for the future.
Build Trust Across Generations: Today’s boards and leadership teams bring different generations, experiences, expectations, and communication styles to the table. Explore what it takes to build the two-way trust that strengthens board and CEO relationships.
Design the Board for What’s Next: Effective boards evolve with their organizations. Examine how board composition, diverse perspectives, expertise, and lived experience can strengthen governance and prepare organizations for an increasingly complex leadership landscape.
Align the Deal With the Strategy: What are CEO contracts and compensation structures telling us about how boards are approaching performance, retention, accountability, and long-term leadership? New industry benchmarks will provide a closer look at emerging trends and what boards should be considering.
Through real-world scenarios, industry benchmarks, and candid discussion, participants will gain practical frameworks to evaluate their board’s readiness, strengthen CEO-board relationships, and build a leadership strategy designed to carry the organization through its next chapter.
The goal isn’t to only predict who comes next. It’s to make sure your organization is ready for whatever comes next.
3:30 PM - 4:15 PM
The Four Conversations That Build Culture and Drive CEO Performance
Every board has exactly one employee. How you hire, align, challenge, and evaluate that person is the loudest culture statement your organization will ever make, and it cascades. What the board measures the CEO on becomes what the CEO measures the team on, becomes what the front line believes actually matters.
Chris Ihrig returns to build on last year's blueprint and go one level deeper, into the four conversations where culture is either made or quietly lost. A good board is informed. An effective board is aligned. Chris will share what that difference looks like inside real DMOs, along with the practical disciplines that move values, clarity, and accountability off the policy page and into the room.
You will leave with language you can use at your next board meeting and a CEO scorecard you can actually defend.
The Clarity Conversation: defining what winning looks like three years out, and why most boards discover they are holding different answers
The Agreement Conversation: roles, responsibilities, and working agreements that hold up under pressure
The Accountability Conversation: hiring and managing the performance of your one employee, with a scorecard that grades the how as well as the what
The Candor Conversation: building the safety that makes honest disagreement possible, and the board self-assessment that keeps accountability from running one way
4:15 PM - 5:00 PM
Fireside Chat with Don Welsh
Formerly the CEO of Choose Chicago, Visit Indy and Visit Seattle, Don Welsh is preparing to step down next year as CEO of the DMO sector’s Trade Association, Destinations International. Mike Gamble sits down with Don to reflect on the evolution of Destination Leadership from a variety of vintage points…and discuss how DI has evolved over the past decade.
Dinner with New Found Friends
Explore and enjoy the Gaslamp Quarter, complete with a variety of restaurants and entertainment options.
5:30 PM - 8:30 PM
Wednesday, February 3
7:30 AM - 8:10 AM
Breakfast
More food. More conversation and networking. Maura will kick off the morning with a recap of the day before…and preview today’s content.
8:30 AM - 9:00 AM
Keynote Presentation: Geoff Freeman • CEO of the US Travel Association
It has been a strange couple years for the travel and hospitality industry, from a staggering loss of international visitation to pledged investment in America’s airport infrastructure (and everything in between). Join us for this timely session on the state of the Travel Industry with the man at the center of the industry’s Advocacy efforts, Geoff Freeman. We need each and every one of us (and especially Board members) to be involved, engaged and advocating for pro-tourism initiatives at the local, state and national level. Your voice matters. And, Geoff will share just how we do that.
Expert Facilitated Roundtable Discussions
Chairs: Topic > TBD
CEOs: Topic > TBD
Board Members: Topic > TBD
9:30 AM - 11:00 AM
11:15 AM - 12:45 PM
Closing Lunch and Discussion
We close the Symposium with our experts back up on stage to cover the topics you want to hear about before heading home.
“My board members have talked about how it was very helpful in illustrating the broader DMO landscape and the highly competitive environment we operate in. They also noted that it was helpful for them to better understand the universal challenges DMOs face.”
- Tania Armenta, Visit Albuquerque