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The El Dorado County Tourism Summit will provide attendees with the latest in tourism trends,  social media strategies and changes, experiential tourism, and more. We’re thrilled to feature the following speakers who represent the highest caliber in their fields.

2025 Speakers

Tourism Summit Bios

Lynn Carpenter
Vice President of Marketing for Visit California

Lynn Carpenter is vice president of Marketing for Visit California. Lynn oversees all of Visit California’s marketing, including advertising, cooperative promotions, travel trade, web and interactive, and publications.

Lynn steers a marketing budget that has grown from $6 million in 2006 to $131 million today. Under her leadership, Visit California has marketed the state as a place of abundance and opportunity. Lynn has added international offices in China, Mexico, and South Korea – among others – to Visit California’s portfolio, spreading the state’s brand around the globe in an effort to grow California’s share of tourism revenues.

Lynn has more than 20 years of professional marketing experience and extensive knowledge of online technology promotions and brand development. She began her career in the technology industry, serving as Vice President of Marketing at Netscape Communications and AOL Time Warner. She crossed the threshold into the travel industry as Executive Director of Marketing and Sales for Mammoth Mountain Resort.

She is a resident of Loomis, where she lives with her husband and two children. They enjoy spending their time in the outdoors

Tourism Summit Bios

Jennifer Sweeney
Jennifer Sweeney Communications

Jennifer has more than 20 years of experience in public relations and media, including positions as a broadcast news producer, a Governor’s appointee, a global public relations director and as an entrepreneur. She started her own public relations consulting business in 2018, mainly serving clients in the travel and tourism industry, including Yosemite Mariposa County, Sonoma Valley Visitors Bureau, Visit El Dorado, and the Sacramento International Airport.

Prior to starting her own business, Jennifer was the Director of Public Relations for Visit California, with the mission to promote the state as one of the world’s premier travel destinations. In this role, Jennifer oversaw global public relations strategy, crisis communications and public affairs outreach

Jennifer began her at career working as a producer for several news stations around the western U.S., including Sacramento’s KCRA, Salt Lake City’s KTVX, and Reno’s KTVN.

Travel is not only a professional passion for Jennifer but a personal one as well. When she’s not promoting travel, she’s usually planning her next vacation. She is also obsessed with her dog, Stevie.

Tourism Summit Bios

Dave Bratton

Dave is a widely respected DMO industry thought leader, well known for his creative approach to market research which is supported by rigorous, carefully-designed programs.

Since founding his market research firm, Future Partners, in 2003, the company has become one of top tourism research service providers in the travel industry and a go-to resource for the now and next in traveler trends.

Dave’s work has been recognized with several awards, including being named as one of HSMAI’s 25 Most Extraordinary Minds in Sales and Marketing.

Prior to founding Future Partners, he spent a decade pioneering new tourism research techniques and digital marketing tactics for San Francisco Travel as Director of Marketing and Research.

Before coming to the travel industry, he worked as an economist for the United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis in Washington, D.C. and was a contributor to the noted journal, Survey of Current Business.

Dave holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Iowa State University and a Master of Arts in Economics from the University of Arizona. When he is not studying travelers, you can find him out on a hiking trail, camping or otherwise exploring the great outdoors.

Tourism Summit Bios

Brian Wright
Director of Trade and Group Business for Visit California

Brian Wright serves as the Director of Trade and Group Business at Visit California, where he oversees programs that position California as the premier destination for leisure travel, meetings, and group events. With a career rooted in tourism, Brian brings deep industry expertise from his work with some of the nation’s most iconic attractions and destinations.

Originally from Florida, Brian began his journey in hospitality at renowned venues like Wet`N Wild, Disney, U.S. Space Camp, and the Kennedy Space Center, where he cultivated a lasting passion for tourism. Drawn to California by the natural beauty of Yosemite National Park, Brian has since devoted his career to showcasing the state’s unparalleled appeal. His extensive background includes leadership roles with Visit California, Santa Monica Travel & Tourism, and most recently, Mammoth Lakes Tourism.

Brian’s commitment to promoting California as a top travel and meeting destination continues to drive his work, ensuring that the state remains a leading choice for travelers worldwide.

 

Tourism Summit Bios

Carl Ribaudo
President + Chief Strategic of SMG Consulting

Carl is a multifaceted professional in the tourism industry, serving as an analyst, strategy consultant, and thought leader. He has been instrumental in integrating economic modeling, scenario planning, and asymmetric thinking into strategic development for tourism and recreation.

His innovative approaches focus on leveraging a destination’s creativity as a competitive advantage while formulating change strategies that align a Destination Marketing Organization’s capabilities with market dynamics.

As a trusted advisor to CEOs and senior executives, Carl has also contributed significantly as a writer and speaker on business strategy, participating in various industry committees and partnerships, including the Travel Analytics Group and Insights Collective.

He holds a Bachelor of Science from California State University, an MBA from San Francisco State University, and certificates in Organizational Change Leadership from Cornell University and Strategic Thinking from Dartmouth College.

In his leisure time, Carl enjoys riding his BMW motorcycle, trap shooting, river rafting, and skiing.

Tourism Summit Bios

Maddy Edmunds
Creator, Beginner’s Guide to Sacramento

Maddy Edmunds is originally from San Diego, currently living in Sacramento for the past seven years.

She started creating content when she moved here, kicking things off with “Beginners Guide to Sacramento” series, where she tried something new each week and shared it on her blog.

Since then, she has grown to over 160,000 followers across all social media. She is passionate about travel, discovering new restaurants, and sharing her adventures!

Tourism Summit Bios

Erika Mailman

Erika Mailman is a travel writer and freelancer for publications including Wall Street Journal, Condé Nast Traveler, Fodor’s, Washington Post, Smithsonian, Thrillist, Rolling Stone, Atlas Obscura, and more.

She’s currently on Time Out’s US and San Francisco travel teams as a day-rate freelancer. Under her real name, she’s a historical novelist (Random House) and, using the pen name Lynn Carthage, a Y.A. author.

She has been a newspaper editor-in-chief and has a useless but beloved MFA in poetry.

 

Tourism Summit Bios

Jody Franklin
Executive Director of Tourism, El Dorado County Visitors Authority

With 17 years of success in the tourism industry as well as 20 years as an entrepreneur, Jody has a proven track record in the dynamic landscape of destination marketing and leadership skills.

Under her leadership, El Dorado County Visitors Authority has seen huge growth in both its marketing programs and community support.

She has developed and implemented several collaborative programs, created and organized events designed to increase off season room nights, and cultivated and maintained positive relationships with community leaders, industry partners, city and county officials.

Jody has also expanded strategic alliances and assumed leadership role on the rural marketing committee of Visit California and the Gold Country Visitors Association.