Thank You to our Sponsors!
46th Annual Conference & AGM Speakers
Kevin Krueger, Minister of Tourism, Culture and the Arts
Kevin Krueger was appointed Minister of Tourism, Culture and the Arts on June 10, 2009. He was re-elected as MLA for Kamloops-South Thompson on May 12, 2009. He had served as Minister of Community Development since January 19, 2009 and as Minister of Small Business and Revenue and Minister Responsible for Deregulation since June 23, 2008. Kevin previously was Minister of State for Mining.
Kevin Krueger was re-elected as MLA for Kamloops-North Thompson in 2005 after being elected in 1996 and re-elected in 2001. Kevin is also a member of the Government Caucus Committee on Natural Resources and Economy, where he previously served as Chair.
While in Opposition, Kevin served as the BC Liberal Critic for Labour. He was Caucus Whip as well as a member of the Select Standing Committee on Education. Kevin was named to the Legislative Standing Committees for Committee of Selection and the Special Committee for the Citizen’s Assembly on Electoral Reform. He was also a member of the Legislative Assembly Management Committee. He previously was a member of the Small Scale Salvage Committee.
Before becoming an MLA, Kevin worked with the Insurance Corporation of BC for 20 years, and at the time of his departure was a road safety regional manager.
His community work includes the Kamloops Chamber of Commerce, Kamloops Community Counterattack Committee, Rotary Club past-president, coordinator with the Heart and Stroke Foundation, and secretary of the Protocol Committee for the 1993 Canada Summer Games. He arranged the twinning of the Rotary Clubs of Kamloops and Uji, Japan. He is a former board member, executive councillor and shop steward of the Office and Technical Employees Union, Local 378. He was a director of the Prince George & District Credit Union.
Kevin and his wife Debbie, a school teacher, have six children, including two daughters-in-law and a son-in-law. They are the proud grandparents of seven children.
Rick Traer, Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance
Rick Traer is the Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance (CSTA), a tourism industry driven organization whose mission is to increase Canadian capacity to attract and host sport events.
Mr. Traer joined the CSTA in November, 2000 from the Marketing and Sponsorship Division of the National Capital Commission (NCC) in Ottawa where he managed a portfolio of blue chip corporate clients. Prior to his involvement with the NCC, Mr. Traer spent approximately 15 years in the national and provincial sport systems, including nine years as Executive Director of Basketball Canada (1989 -1997).
A graduate of the University of Ottawa with a Masters degree in Sport Administration, Rick has an extensive background in international sport. He served two terms as President of FIBA Americas (2000-2006), the governing body for basketball in the Americas with 44 member countries, whose headquarters are based in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He also served as Vice President of the Association of Pan American Sport Confederations (2003-2007) and was a member of the Canadian Olympic Association from 1993-97.
Rick has led successful bids for three international basketball events. He Co-chaired the bid committee and served as Vice President of the 1994 Men’s World Basketball Championships in Toronto, which set records for total attendance (326,000), single game attendance (33,600), event budget ($14.8 million) and total estimated television audience (1.8 billion).
As a busy father raising two active children with his wife Francine, Rick coaches minor basketball and soccer and serves the community in a variety of other volunteer capacities. Rick and his family live in Chelsea, Quebec.
Dave Petryk, President & CEO, Tourism Vancouver Island
In Dave’s present capacity as the President and CEO of Tourism Vancouver Island he steers the organization toward its vision of “positioning Vancouver Island as a premier destination”.
Dave has been with Tourism Vancouver Island since December 2000 and has nearly 30 years experience working in various sectors of the Tourism industry. He has held lead positions with destination marketing organizations such as: Tourism Prince George and Lesser Slave Lake Regional Tourism. Dave has also been a college instructor teaching Hospitality Administration and has held positions as hotel manager, food and beverage manager, restaurant manager and executive chef.
Rick Thomas, Ambient Inc.
Dr. Rick Thomas assists individuals, teams, and organizations to seek and live their authentic purpose. Rick's passion and expertise revolves around enhancing corporate atmosphere through inspired keynotes, facilitation, team & leader development, individual & team coaching and personal and work space design.
Authentic conversation is at the heart of everything Rick does. He believes that community, leadership, team and individual growth and deepening begins with conversation.
A bit of background info, Rick . . .
- Is a seasoned human resources development and learning strategist, facilitator, and organization development consultant
- Is an Associate Sr. Learning Consultant with Insights Learning and Development (Vancouver) - a global solutions-focused learning and development organization. For more information about Insights, please visit www.insightsvancouver.com
- Has enjoyed twelve + years of experience in multiple contexts facilitating leadership development, culture change, and strategic organizational effectiveness initiatives for progressive organizations of 55 to 23,000 employees
- Has acquired experience in both public and private sectors
- Has led various educational and leadership programs, including the creation of the City of Richmond's Corporate University - the first municipal corporate university in Canada.
It is through this work that Rick began to feel the need for individuals, teams and organizations to embrace work in a more inspired and passionate way.
Patricia Brusha, Co-Founder ‘acoupleofchicks.com’
Patricia Brusha is the co-founder of 'acoupleofchicks.com' an Internet Marketing, Distribution & Revenue Measurement Company. She has spent 26 years working in the Hospitality Industry in the United States and Canada in the fields of Sales, Hotel Marketing , Internet Distribution and Revenue Management.
Patricia is also a Google-approved Qualified Google Advertising Professional and has extensive experience managing SEO and paid online advertising strategies for a variety of clients. Patricia is the Co-Chair, and Co-founder of the first-ever Canadian Online Marketing Conference - Online Revealed Canada. Patricia has also been on numerous industry panels including the Hotel Association Conference, Quebec Tourism, and the Search Engine Strategy Conference in Toronto.
Hugh MacDonald, Executive Director, SportHost Victoria
After a thirty year career in the Canadian Airline Industry, primarily responsible for the development of special interest travel markets, Hugh’s sports marketing experience has led him to serving in senior sales and marketing positions with a series of major international sports events.
These included the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics, the 1994 Victoria Commonwealth Games and the 1999 Winnipeg Pan Am Games.
Since 1996 Hugh has held the position of Marketing Associate with the PacificSport National Sports Centre specializing in sponsorship sales and services, corporate promotions and event management.
Hugh is currently the Executive Director of the Greater Victoria Sport Tourism Partnership operating as SportHost Victoria.
Hugh serves as:
- Advisor to Camosun College Tourism & Hospitality program
- Director of the Island Open Golf Society
- Director on the British Columbia Rugby Union Board
- Member of the Pacific Cup Hockey Organizing Committee
- Co-chair of the Greater Victoria Spirit of BC 2010 Committee
Michelle is the current Manager of Sport Tourism with 2010 Legacies Now. In her role, Michelle is responsible for leading sport tourism initiatives, delivering tools and resources to BC communities and promoting the benefits and value of hosting events in British Columbia.
Prior to joining 2010 Legacies Now in September 2007, Michelle was the Event Coordinator of Sport Kelowna, where she successfully led several bids, including the 2007 World Sledge Hockey Challenge and the 2008 BC Summer Games. A UBC Graduate, playing varsity volleyball from 1997-2001, Michelle has continued her love for sport by actively volunteering in the sport system. After being selected to attend the 2006 Canadian Olympic Academy, Michelle continues to promote the values of Olympism through her roles as Team BC Mission Staff and volunteering her time with host organizing committees and national sport events.
Dan Stefanson, Executive Director, Tourism Abbostford Society
Dan Stefanson has been a tourism industry senior executive since 1999 and is currently the Executive Director of the Tourism Abbotsford Society. In that capacity, Dan functions as the General Manager of the Fraser Valley Trade & Exhibition Centre; he is the chairperson for the BC DMO Association and is a Board Member of the Council of Tourism Associations of British Columbia. Dan has enjoyed being active his entire life and over the years has competed in provincial and national competitions in a number of sports including cycling, baseball, volleyball and curling. His current passion is distance running, which has included completing the 2008 Royal Victoria Marathon.
Since arriving in Abbotsford Dan has been fully engaged in sport tourism and was one of the founding community members of the BC Sport Tourism Network. In 2005, after 18 months of sector research and planning, Dan led the launch of Abbotsford’s sport hosting strategy called “Sport Town Canada”. The Sport Town Canada efforts have been instrumental in Abbotsford realizing a number of incremental high yield sport hosting opportunities and in 2009 these efforts were recognized when Tourism Abbotsford was announced as the BC Tourism Industry award winner in the category of Sport Tourism Community Legacy.
Norman Lee, Executive Director, Tourism Operations, Ministry of Tourism, Culture & the Arts
Norman Lee is the Executive Director, Tourism Operations, Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts, working primarily in the area of all-season resort development. Previous to his current position, Norman has worked with various BC tourism associations and industry partners in the development and implementation of business and marketing plans of emerging tourism sectors, including sport tourism, aboriginal tourism and BC's cruise ship sector. He holds an Master of Business Administration from McGill University and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Victoria.
Outside of the office, Norman enjoys sailing, visiting BC wineries and perfecting his "slice'.