Mya’s Bio
With 10 years of DMO experience as an Interim President & CEO, Deputy Director and Vice President of Marketing for various DMO’s, Mya uses her expertise to shape marketing strategies & solutions for the agency’s roster of clients. Oh and by the way, she likes to share those meeting marketing strategies while presenting at industry conferences.
Look her up!
Interview Questions:
It definitely feels like this year we are truly getting back to business. As the first two months have progressed, it is clear we have figured out how to live with the pandemic and that meetings can go on. Starting the year off at PCMA Convening Leaders kicked off the enthusiasm and we are seeing the volume of activity for our clients steadily increase as the days go by. It is going to be a good year – mostly because I think we are all determined in this industry to make it one. Where there is effort – there is usually success. We are doing our part to put the effort in and make things happen.
It’s such a great time to be in our industry as we are incredibly motivated to make real change and progress happen. We are seeing this in Los Angeles as they are bringing life to DEI initiatives for groups that have a strong corporate social responsibility tie in. We are seeing this in Park City, where the community is developing Sustainable Tourism practices and using meetings & conventions as part of the leading efforts to do so. We’re also seeing this in Hawaii, where they are leading with their culture and promise to be good stewards. These are just a few of the outstanding efforts being made to not only be an industry that produces strong business results but one that does so responsibly in so many ways.
Just being able to meet again has been such a struggle. We have seen the strength of the leisure industry rebound, but with so many changing policies and the fact that meetings are lumped into the same category as major sporting events or concerts, it has made for a difficult recovery. Getting clear messaging and standards in place for groups and meeting planners is so important so they can resume what they do best. We are so close, but more policy work needs to be done and US Travel has really led the way to help make that happen. I truly admire the work of Tori Emerson Barnes, Executive Vice President, Public Affairs and Policy, and it is so promising to see the Meetings Mean Business Board fold under US Travel in a more official manner.
Remarkably, it’s the fact that our local communities value and see the opportunities that destination marketing organizations bring to the table. Having worked for two destinations in the past, it was always a struggle to get locals to see the value of what we did and understand it. When the pandemic hit, destinations really stepped up and showed their worth. That, plus the initiatives to create more destination management, is truly going to move our industry forward.
Digital Edge is focused on being the leading resource for meetings and conventions marketing and destination sales. Our team wants to provide value for our clients through the strategies we develop, the creative we provide and the marketing services we offer to ensure they are meeting all of their goals. For those who aren’t clients, we still want to be the best resources through our content marketing efforts on our blogs, case studies, speaking engagements and social media efforts. To us, we want to create value for everyone and be the team they turn to when they need cutting edge solutions.
