Full Conference Agenda

Roundtable: Modern Sales & Services Strategies

Wednesday, May 13th (Day 1)

Grand 6
Connect with fellow sales and services professionals to discuss the evolving challenges shaping your work today. From managing complex leads and partner expectations to tracking performance and demonstrating impact, this conversation will surface practical tips, shared experiences, and real-world solutions. Exchange ideas, troubleshoot common hurdles, and leave with actionable approaches you can apply immediately within your team and tools.

Roundtable: Marketing Momentum & Measuring Impact

Wednesday, May 13th (Day 1)

Grand 7
How are you proving the value of your work in a time of shifting search behavior, tighter budgets, and increased scrutiny? This open discussion invites destination professionals to share how they’re balancing paid, owned, and earned media, communicating results to boards and stakeholders, and adapting to changing visitor behavior. Bring your wins, challenges, and questions — this is a space to exchange practical ideas that move the needle.

Roundtable: Destination Advocacy & Public Policy Engagement

Wednesday, May 13th (Day 1)

Grand 8
Advocacy is no longer optional for destination organizations. This roundtable brings together leaders to discuss how to effectively engage local elected officials, build lasting relationships with policymakers, and clearly communicate your organization’s value to the community. Share strategies, challenges, and real-world examples for positioning your DMO as an essential economic driver while navigating today’s evolving political landscape.

Roundtable: Small But Mighty

Wednesday, May 13th (Day 1)

Grand 6
Connect with fellow destination marketers from smaller-budget organizations to share nimble strategies, creative problem-solving, and resourceful wins. This fast-paced session is all about idea exchange, peer learning, and building relationships with those navigating similar challenges.

Roundtable: Partnership Pros

Wednesday, May 13th (Day 1)

Grand 7
This roundtable brings together partnership professionals to trade ideas on engaging local businesses, managing partner data in iDSS, and improving visibility on your destination website. Come ready to share what’s working, learn how other DMOs structure their programs, and leave with new ideas for deepening partner value and streamlining operations.

Roundtable: AI in Action

Wednesday, May 13th (Day 1)

Grand 8
From marketing to sales to visitor services, AI is reshaping how destination teams operate. This session is a collaborative space to explore emerging tools, swap go-to prompts and GPT hacks, and learn how your peers are incorporating AI into daily workflows. If you're experimenting with AI — or ready to start — this roundtable will leave you with fresh ideas and practical use cases.

iDSS Release Notes: Year in Review

Wednesday, May 13th (Day 1)

Grand 6
Catch up on everything new in iDSS. This session recaps the most impactful product updates and enhancements released over the past year — and how to make the most of them.

iDSS API: A Case Study

Wednesday, May 13th (Day 1)

Grand 7
See how destination organizations are using the iDSS API to integrate third-party tools, automate workflows, and centralize data for more efficient operations.

Optimizing for AI Discovery: Navigating SEO, GEO & Hard Truths

Wednesday, May 13th (Day 1)

Grand 8
AI has already upended how travelers find information — and if your website hasn’t kept pace, you’re already behind. This session cuts through the noise and outdated checklists to show what still works, what doesn’t, and how to build a future-proof strategy rooted in helpful, original content. No gimmicks. No fluff. Just what it takes to stay visible and relevant in the age of AI and zero-click search.

Training Session: iDSS Fundamentals

Wednesday, May 13th (Day 1)

Grand 6
Master the essentials of iDSS in this entry-level training. Learn how to manage Accounts and Contacts, track Activities, and use Dashboard widgets to transform CRM data into smarter workflows and better decisions.

Session Information Coming Soon

Wednesday, May 13th (Day 1)

Grand 7
Session details coming soon!

Proving the Website’s Value: Attributing Digital Engagement to Economic Impact

Wednesday, May 13th (Day 1)

Grand 8
Your website drives more than traffic — it drives visitation, spending, and measurable economic impact. In this session, Tempest and Tourism Economics will showcase how the Website Impact Calculator helps destinations connect GA4 engagement, attribution data, and real-world visitation outcomes. Through case studies from Lancaster, Colorado Springs, and Galveston, you’ll learn how to translate website performance into clear, board-ready economic impact insights.

Partner Engagement & Retention

Wednesday, May 13th (Day 1)

Grand 6
Explore how to track partner engagement, manage dues, and tie itineraries to ROI. Includes practical exercises to map partner touchpoints and reviews of key reports that strengthen relationships.

Session Information Coming Soon

Wednesday, May 13th (Day 1)

Grand 7
Session details coming soon!

Beyond Discovery: Designing Websites That Inspire

Wednesday, May 13th (Day 1)

Grand 8
Great destination websites do more than inform — they evoke emotion, tell stories, and create a true sense of place. In this session, we’ll explore how thoughtful branding and creative problem-solving can transform a website into an immersive experience. You’ll learn strategies for expressing identity through design, shaping stories that resonate with travelers, and solving creative challenges with intention. Along the way, we’ll share insights from recent projects to spark fresh ideas and inspire new ways of thinking about your own work.

Mastering Events & Leads in iDSS

Thursday, May 14th (Day 2)

Grand 6
Get hands-on with lead management from start to finish. Learn how to enter data, track follow-ups, and convert leads in iDSS through guided practice and real-world workflows.

The AI-Ready CRM: Preparing iDSS for Smarter Insights

Thursday, May 14th (Day 2)

Grand 7
Get your CRM ready for what’s next. This session explores how to structure data, clean records, and set up workflows that unlock AI-driven insights, automation, and predictive intelligence.

A Smart(er) CMS: What’s New (and What’s Next) for Tempest Websites

Thursday, May 14th (Day 2)

Grand 8
The destination website just leveled up. Get a behind-the-scenes look at the latest AI-infused enhancements and powerful new tools Tempest has introduced in Craft CMS. From intelligent content support to workflow accelerators, this session spotlights new features that make it easier for your team to manage, scale, and evolve your digital presence.

Achieving Visitor Experience Excellence with iDSS

Thursday, May 14th (Day 2)

Grand 6
See how visitor services teams use iDSS to deliver seamless guest experiences. This interactive session covers managing requests, coordinating services, and tracking follow-ups — all in real time.

Session Information Coming Soon

Thursday, May 14th (Day 2)

Grand 7
Session details coming soon!

Panel: What I Wish I Knew Before My Website Redesign

Thursday, May 14th (Day 2)

Grand 8
Three destination marketers share their biggest lessons learned from recent website redesigns — from managing branding updates and building a strong content foundation to navigating assets, DNS, and internal stakeholder expectations. This candid conversation will surface common pitfalls, creative solutions, and tactical tips you can use to prepare for your next redesign.

Mastering Team Activities & Itinerary Management

Thursday, May 14th (Day 2)

Grand 6
Discover how to build and manage collaborative itineraries and activities in iDSS. You’ll learn how to schedule tasks, assign responsibilities, and monitor team progress for smooth execution across departments.

Partner Onboarding & Engagement Playbook for iDSS

Thursday, May 14th (Day 2)

Grand 7
Explore a step-by-step partner engagement strategy using the Partner Portal, structured onboarding, and automated outreach. Includes templates, tools, and lessons learned from real DMOs.

Print Isn’t Dead, But Boring Visitor Guides Are: How to Reframe the Traditional Visitor Guide as an Audit of Your Website & Content Strategy

Thursday, May 14th (Day 2)

Grand 8
Is the printed Visitor Guide dead? Definitely not! I can share how we created a stunning guide that led to an overwhelming response both locally and nationally. Through the power of storytelling, user generated content, and a magazine style mindset, Marana broke through the noise to get guides in hand and in the mail with the goal of bringing the visitor full circle from print to website and in-market. The proof: visitors coming into our Visitor Center with their guide in hand after we mailed it to them! Bonus--our scrappy small but mighty team did it on a budget!

Meeting Visitors Where They Are: Experience Centers and Data-Driven Customer Insights

Thursday, May 14th (Day 2)

Grand 6
Modern destinations like Ottawa and Pittsburgh meet visitors where they are — physically and digitally. Experience Centers and digital touchpoints engage visitors in real time, helping DMOs learn preferences, improve the visitor journey, and drive greater economic impact.

Attendee Takeaways:

• Strategies for seamless, personalized experiences across physical and digital channels.
• How to generate valuable behavioral and preference data from visitor interactions.
• Data insights that can inform marketing, events, and district promotion.
• Integrated engagement tools that help destinations measure and improve visitor impact.

Making Places Matter: Ideas That Bring Destinations to Life

Thursday, May 14th (Day 2)

Grand 7
From immersive storytelling and interactive experiences to community-driven initiatives, DMOs are finding new ways to bring destinations to life. This session highlights inspiring ideas from around the world, including a featured case study from Visit Overland Park, and explores how creative approaches help places stand out and stay memorable.

The Paid Media Playbook for Destination Marketers: Smarter Spending, Stronger Results

Thursday, May 14th (Day 2)

Grand 8
What’s the right balance between search, programmatic, and that shiny new ad platform everyone’s buzzing about? Join Tempest’s media experts for a practical, no-fluff breakdown of paid media strategies that actually work — and those that waste your budget. We’ll explore smarter ways to segment spend, build landing pages that convert, and use first-party data to power retargeting and reinforce your message across the full travel planning journey.

Session Information Coming Soon

Thursday, May 14th (Day 2)

Grand 6
Session details coming soon!

Roadmap to Accessibility: Welcoming Autistic and Sensory-Sensitive Visitors

Thursday, May 14th (Day 2)

Grand 7
Accessibility is not only the right thing to do, but it can help your destination connect with a new and vastly underserved audience. With 1 in 6 people experiencing sensory needs or disorders and 1 in 31 children diagnosed with autism, it's crucial to foster welcoming and accessible spaces for every individual. This session will take a journey to uncover effective strategies for inclusivity by exploring what visitors are looking for, discussing examples of accessibility initiatives, sharing case studies, and reviewing survey data to help leverage effective programs and partnerships that ensure your efforts make a meaningful difference. Let's create a roadmap that transforms your destination into a welcoming adventure for all travelers, making every journey memorable and enriching.

Clicks That Count: Optimizing Sponsored Placements on Your DMO Website

Thursday, May 14th (Day 2)

Grand 8
Not all sponsored placements are created equal. Drawing on insights from thousands of campaigns across DMO websites, this session highlights what actually drives clicks from travel-minded audiences. From images and headlines to subtle creative tweaks, you’ll learn what works, when it's time to refresh, and how to help partners get more out of their placements.

Session Information Coming Soon

Friday, May 15th (Day 3)

Grand 6
Session details coming soon!

CRM Adoption & Change Management

Friday, May 15th (Day 3)

Grand 7
Learn how to drive internal adoption of iDSS with onboarding strategies, training best practices, and workflow standardization. May include peer discussion or real-world case studies.

The Content Clean-Up Lab: How to Audit, Optimize, and Act

Friday, May 15th (Day 3)

Grand 8
This hands-on session gives you the tools and techniques to conduct a meaningful content audit of your destination website. Learn how to export data from Craft CMS, evaluate blog and page effectiveness, and identify next steps — from pruning old content to planning new ideas. Ideal for anyone looking to make smarter decisions about what stays, what goes, and what gets reimagined.

iDSS Reporting Lab: From Data to Decisions

Friday, May 15th (Day 3)

Grand 6
Learn how to build custom iDSS reports that surface meaningful insights across sales, partnerships, services, and events. This session includes walkthroughs of GroupPace, STLY, and other key reports, along with real-world examples of how destinations are combining iDSS data with tools like Power BI to create actionable dashboards.

The Competitive Edge: Advancing Your Sports Tourism Strategy

Friday, May 15th (Day 3)

Grand 7
The Sports Tourism Index™ continues to evolve — and so should your approach. This session showcases new features and expanded capabilities within the Index and iDSS that help destinations move beyond benchmarking and into smarter positioning, stronger storytelling, and more strategic event pursuit. Discover how to align facilities, partners, and data to compete more effectively in today’s sports tourism landscape.

Beyond Prompts: Using AI to Build Real Tools for Destination Marketing

Friday, May 15th (Day 3)

Grand 8
This hands-on session explores how destination teams can use AI tools like Claude Code and Codex to build practical, web-based tools that support internal workflows and partner needs. We’ll start with approachable concepts and scale into more advanced examples, showing how AI can help analyze website, search, and performance data to uncover content gaps, flag outdated pages, and improve decision-making. Attendees will leave with concrete ideas and clear next steps for using AI as a builder, not just a writing assistant.

Training: iDSS Attend

Friday, May 15th (Day 3)

Grand 6
iDSS Attend is Tempest’s registration and housing platform built for destination organizations managing ticketed events and housing blocks. This session covers core workflows from setup to reporting, with a look at recent enhancements like mobile check-in updates, improved admin tools, and expanded reporting to streamline operations and elevate the attendee experience.

Marketing Impact in iDSS: Campaigns, Media Mentions & Brand Tracking

Friday, May 15th (Day 3)

Grand 7
Follow one destination’s approach to managing campaigns, tracking earned media, and monitoring brand visibility — all within iDSS. Learn how to tie marketing outputs to measurable impact.

AI in the Writers’ Room: How We Create Content That Works for Users and Algorithms

Friday, May 15th (Day 3)

Grand 8
Let’s get technical — and creative. This session explores how Tempest blends human creativity with AI-enhanced workflows to develop high-performing content that resonates with both users and algorithms. We’ll unpack how strategies like latent semantic indexing, query expansion, and structured fragments fuel content that ranks, earns points in digital PR efforts, and supports your DMO’s broader marketing goals.