The 2024 El Dorado County Tourism Summit will provide attendees with the latest in tourism trends, social media strategies and changes, using AI in your marketing, and more. We’re thrilled to feature the following speakers who represent the highest caliber in their fields.
2024 Speakers
Lynn Carpenter
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 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 outdoors.
Lauren Lindley
Lauren Lindley Photography
A fierce, loud, and unapologetic presence, Lauren Lindley captures life’s wild moments with a razor-sharp eye, a devilish grin, and a whole lotta moxie. With a camera in one hand and a glass of wine in the other, Lauren has spent the last decade of her life fearlessly diving headfirst into the chaos of concerts, events, weddings, adventures, and everything in between, leaving a trail of crisp, clean, vibrant images and laughter in her wake. She’s not afraid to shake things up, turning tradition on its head and creating images that’ll leave you with a smile on your face.
When Lauren’s not busy snapping shots, you’ll find her dominating the dance floor, wielding sarcasm like a weapon, and reminding the world that artistry and audacity go hand in hand. So buckle up: with Lauren Lindley at the helm, the world becomes a playground of rebellion, revelry, and revelations.
Lee Hodo
A marketing professional specializing in brand building, from trade associations to luxury products and non-profit organizations. As a proven marketing consultant, Lee Hodo’s portfolio has included such impressive clients as; Schramsberg Champagne, Napa Valley Wine Auction, and Rodney Strong Vineyards. Other collaborations include Weight Watchers International, Paperboy, the first paper wine bottle, Sonoma County Council on Aging American River College, and Folsom Lake College.
Currently, Lee spearheads the “El Dorado Eight”– a quality-driven group of winemakers and growers in the El Dorado wine region authenticating and marketing its distinctions to the broader wine industry, establishing its importance in the context of California’s wine.
Leslie Williams
Sierra Small Business Development Center
Leslie Williams had a 31-year career in banking, primarily in SBA lending. She is currently the Associate Director for the Sierra SDC, interfacing between new clients and the Center’s Advisors/Consultants. She brings expertise to clients in access to capital, general business, financing, loan readiness, recordkeeping, and business plan development. She performs outreach for the center as well, expanding awareness to potential clients all over the region about Sierra SBDC’s confidential, no-cost, one-on-one advising.
Sarah Isabel Moe
CERF
Sarah Isabel Moe is a seasoned sustainability expert with over 15 years of experience in strategic planning, community engagement, and whole-system collaboration. She is a leading bilingual climate action strategist who’s created impactful triple-bottom-line sustainability and resilience plans and programs for leading cities, including Folsom, Palo Alto, Sunnyvale, San Mateo, Santa Monica, Napa, Kauai County, and San Francisco. She currently serves as Sierra Business Council’s economic empowerment project manager and CERF subregion lead for Placer and El Dorado Counties.
Sonya Bradley
Chief of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and Community Relations
Visit Sacramento
Sonya Bradley serves as Visit Sacramento’s Chief of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and Community Relations. Prior to this role, she was the Chief Marketing Officer, overseeing marketing, which included content creation and distribution, social media, and digital operations, as well as tourism trade and Sacramento365, the citywide events calendar.
In her new role (since 2021), she is involved with all Visit Sacramento departments to ensure that DEI is brought to the forefront of programs and practices to improve representation in the tourism industry locally and beyond.
Jody Franklin
Executive Director of Tourism, El Dorado County Visitors Authority
With 15 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 a huge growth in both its marketing programs and community support. She has developed and implemented several collaborative programs, created & organized events designed to increase off-season room nights, and cultivated and maintained positive relationships with community leaders, industry partners, and city and county officials.
Jody has also expanded strategic alliances and assumed a leadership role on the rural marketing committee of Visit California and the Gold Country Visitors Association.