Speakers

John Dicks
Chair, HNL

HNL AGM & Chair’s Message
Date: Thursday, February 23
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:30 pm
Location: Arts and Culture Center

As Mr. Dicks finishes his term as Chair of Hospitality Newfoundland and Labrador, he reflects on what HNL has taught him about tourism, the industry and himself. Already having a great deal of experience in the tourism industry, a change in John’s professional life this year has given him further insight on how the industry operators and what it needs to continue to grow. After working as Manager of Marketing, Systems & Human Resources with Steele Hotels, as Executive Director with Destination Labrador in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, as Director of Marketing with Destination St. John’s, and as Marketing Manager with Destination Newfoundland and Labrador, John is taking his experience to the world of consulting. This change is one John is tremendously excited about because it allows him to use the knowledge he’s accumulated over the years and parlay it into something that can have a direct effect on operators and the industry.

John is a graduate of the School of Business at Memorial University of Newfoundland, B. Comm. (1975). In earlier years John attended school in St. John’s at St. Bonaventure’s College, Brother Rice Regional High School and in Wabush at J. R. Smallwood Collegiate.

John has a long history of community involvement. Having served as Chair of the 2004 East Coast Music Awards and on various arts, theatre and community projects, John welcomes the opportunity for continued involvement. In addition to his volunteer position on the HNL Board of Directors, John is currently on the Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism Board of Directors that will guide Uncommon Potential: A Vision for Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism.

John’s efforts on a professional and volunteer basis have not gone unnoticed. John has been the recipient of the Golden Umbrella Award, now known as the John Atkins & Co. Tourism Champion Award. This award is presented by Hospitality Newfoundland and Labrador in recognition of outstanding individual contribution to the tourism industry in Newfoundland and Labrador. John has also been the recipient of the St. John’s Board of Trade Business Achievement Award for marketing and promotion excellence and the St. John’s City Council Tourism Award for the 2004 ECMA’s as Event of the Year.

David Carroll

Keynote
Date: Friday, February 24
Time: 9:00 am – 10:00 am
Location: Arts and Culture Center
Sponsor: Marine Atlantic Inc.

Dave Carroll is an award winning singer-songwriter, professional speaker and social media innovator who began his musiccareer with his brother Don in the band Sons of Maxwell. For over two decades,Dave has charmed fans with his approach to music. Dave’s ability to extract the essence of a message and craft it into song is a rare gift that is attracting fans of all ages.

Known as a master storyteller, Dave’s incredible talent was introduced to millions when his 2009 YouTube music video ‘United Breaks Guitars’ became a worldwide sensation. The song chronicledhis experience in the customer service process with United Airlines.His creative use of social media to share that message has reached over 150 million people. United Breaks Guitarswas named one of the five most important videos in Google’s History.

The United Breaks Guitars trilogy has awakened companies everywhere to the importance of focusing on the customer and on delivering exceptional customer experience. Dave Carroll is a musician with a message, demonstrating the power one voice can have in today’s socially driven world. Dave has become internationally famous as one of the world’s top media relations innovators& customer experience authorities. He is also widely sought after as a content creator & songwriter.

Dave Carroll has been featured in major news media around the world (including ABC’s ‘The View,’ ABC’s 20/20, CNN, LA Times, Chicago Tribune, Rolling Stone Magazine, Wall Street Journal & BBC to name a few). Several case studies and book references about United Breaks Guitars have been published including one’s by Harvard Business School, University of Toronto and a Thesis by Allison Soule for University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Dave has testified (and sung) on Capitol Hill in Washington, delivered keynotes at Columbia University’s Brite Conference, NewComm Forum, Mesh Conference, Atlantic Brand Confabulation (with Gene Simmons) , SXSW Interactive, The Power of PR CPRS Conference, G-Force Prague, G-Force Melbourne& other significant customer service &corporate events (including for RightNow Technologies &SandvikCoromant).

In 2010 Dave’s newest song and video ‘Everyday Heroes’ was released on 911Song.com. In a world where broken promises are commonplace, when it counts most, there are people willing to help strangers because they gave their word that they would. The essence of ‘Everyday Heroes’ is about these individuals keeping their promise to respond, regardless of who is in need or the unknown risks that may await the First Responders. As a volunteer firefighter himself for 5 years, Dave wrote ‘Everyday Heroes’ after being challenged by a friend to honour those who answer the call.

Dave Carroll is set to release a follow up to his solo album, Perfect Blue, in 2012. He is also currently writing a book about his customer experience: “United Breaks Guitars: The Power of One Voice in the Age of Social Media.” It is set to be published by Hayhouse in May 2012. Said to be ‘one of the nicest guys in the business,’ Dave Carroll is one of Atlantic Canada’s brightest shining stars.

Please click here for a pdf version of Dave Carroll’s bio.

Duncan Bureau
Vice-President Sales, Cargo and Owner WestJet Airlines/WestJet Vacations

There’s Something in the Air
Date: Friday, February 24
Time: 10:30 am – 11:30 am
Location: Arts and Culture Center

Duncan joined WestJet in April of 2002 as Senior Analyst Route Development. In 2003 he was appointed Director Sales and Business Development and in April 2006 Duncan was appointed VP of Sales.

He is responsible for the corporation’s sales and business development teams and provides leadership in distribution objectives, strategies, and programs to meet long – and short-term goals.

Prior to WestJet, Duncan was with a New York based Coalition Loyalty startup in a business development role, prior to that he was with Nortel Networks in Mergers and Acquisitions role and at Canadian Airlines International where he held the position of Financial Controller Europe, Middle East and Africa. Duncan holds a Bachelor of Commerce Degree in Accounting and Finance from the University of Lethbridge.

Please click here for a pdf version of Duncan Bureau’s bio.

Keith Collins
CEO, St. John’s International Airport

There’s Something in the Air
Date: Friday, February 24
Time: 10:30 am – 11:30 am
Location: Arts and Culture Center

Keith Collins became President & CEO of the St. John’s International Airport Authority in 2005 following a long career in the telecom and information technology industries. Keith has a wealth of local, national and international business experience and has served in a number of senior management roles, including the position as senior executive of the province’s largest information technology company. Under his leadership, the Airport Authority has grown its passenger volume and airline capacity at twice the national average, has grown the employee complement to support the strategic goals of the organization and has won awards for achieving a positive airport experience for its passengers. Keith has been recognized as one of the Top 50 CEOs in Atlantic Canada by Atlantic Business Magazine and serves as the President of the Atlantic Canada Airports Association.

Please click here for a pdf version of Keith Collins bio.

Greg Klassen
Senior Vice-President, Marketing Strategy and Communications, Canadian Tourism Commission

The Pathway to Purchase
Date: Friday, February 24
Time: 2:30 pm – 2:30 pm
Location: Arts and Culture Center

Greg joined the Canadian Tourism Commission in November 2001 as the Executive Director, E-marketing. He has since taken on progressive marketing roles, first supporting the US market, then as Vice President, Marketing in 2005 and Senior Vice President, Marketing Strategy and Communications in 2007.

Greg has successfully navigated the development and execution of Canada’s international tourism brand through some pretty murky waters, achieving Canada’s Marketer of the Year for 2009 from Marketing magazine and the world’s No. 1 tourism brand from FutureBrand in 2010. The focus for the future is to leverage technology, innovation and new channels to communicate “Canada. Keep Exploring” to international customers around the world.

Greg holds an MBA from Thunderbird, The American Graduate School of International Management and an undergraduate degree in Economics from the University of Victoria. Prior to the CTC, Greg worked in marketing with both Telus and AT&T and taught marketing at Algonquin College in Ottawa.

Please click here for a pdf version of Greg Klassen’s bio.

Mike Farrell
Senior Vice President, Research & Strategic Insight, Conversion Marketing Communications

Keynote – For Better or Worse: How Social Media is Impacting the Workplace
Date: Saturday, February 25
Time: 8:30 am – 10:00 am
Location: Arts and Culture Center

Mike Farrell, Senior Vice President, Research & Strategic Insight, Conversion Marketing Communications is one of North America’s leading lights on contemporary trends and values studies. An award winning researcher, strategist and original founder of the now legendary youth insight shop – Youthography, Mike Farrell is a true thought leader. Mike brings a great deal of experience with a diverse array of clients from all sectors of industry and societies to Conversion where he and his pioneering colleagues help clients navigate the new normal modern media.

Please click here for a pdf version of Mike Farrell’s bio.

Mark R. Thompson
President & CEO, McKinley Solutions

Keynote – For Better or Worse: How Social Media is Impacting the Workplace
Date: Saturday, February 25
Time: 8:30 am – 10:00 am
Location: Arts and Culture Center

Mark R. Thompson is the President & CEO, McKinley Solutions, a performance improvement organization that focus on talent management, team building, leadership development, and employee engagement. They are the innovators behind clubjobs.ca, hospitalityhive.com and careersinmining.com; truly practical web based attraction solutions. The McKinley vision is that all companies can “Attract, Hire, Train and Retain the right People”. Mark holds a business degree from Bishop’s University, and is a dedicated ironman triathlete, cancer fundraiser, road cyclist, mountaineer, and proud father of two boys.

Please click here for a pdf version of Mark R. Thompson’s bio.

Richard Innes
President, Brain Trust Marketing & Communications

What Travellers Want
Date: Saturday, February 25
Time: 10:30 am – 12:00 pm
Location: Arts and Culture Center

As a marketing specialist with 30 years of experience Richard has held senior roles in both national and international advertising agencies and managed assignments for some of the countries largest
advertisers including Nestle, Honda, Chrysler, the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Delta Hotels, the Canadian Tourism Commission, and Tourism Toronto. He was Vice President Marketing at Tourism Toronto for seven years, and helped establish Toronto’s position as a leading destination for leisure, meetings, convention and incentive travel.

Richard established BRAIN TRUST in 2000, a firm specializing in strategic planning, marketing plan development, creative execution, tourism product and experience development and industry consultations. The clients that they serve are a long list of private and public sector organizations primarily from the travel, tourism and hospitality sectors.

Richard lives in Mississauga Ontario with Sandra, his wife of 32 years, and has 3 children. He is an avid golfer and is active on several not-for-profit Boards. He currently serves on the Board of the
Tourism Industry Association of Canada.

Please click here for a pdf version of Richard Innes’ bio.

Randy Taylor

Keynote – The Winner Within: The Path to Personal and Professional Success
Date: Saturday, February 25
Time: 2:30 pm – 3:30 pm
Location: Arts and Culture Center

Randy Taylor is an inspiration in the world of personal growth and leadership. Having escaped poverty, parent alcoholism and life on the streets, he was able to reach the very top in Canadian broadcasting at CFRB 1010 and Global Television. His level of expertise has won him several national broadcast awards. Eight years ago Randy left broadcasting to form Taylormadeleadership.

Through his own personal experience and study for over thirty years he now speaks to and coaches some of the top corporations in the world through a dynamic new leadership philosophy called “The Winner Within”.™ This program has received national accreditation from two of the largest financial services companies in Canada. Recently Taylormadeleadership released the ground breaking new coaching program for senior advisors called “Breakthrough Coach”.™ He is quickly gaining notoriety among some of the top corporations and associations in North America. His client list includes Investors Group, Motorola, Freedom 55, Aim Trimark, Xerox, Bell Canada, ReMax Realty, Petro Canada, Kraft Foods, The Government of Canada, London Life, Brookfield Homes, Toronto Youth Services and many more.

Please click here for a pdf version of Randy Taylor’s bio.