Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/22095
He is an accomplished speaker and has presented nation- wide and in Canada,London,England,Vienna,Austria, the Caribbean, Mexico, and in Beijing, China. MICHAEL GUNN, CMP is the vice president of Convention Sales for the Greater Birmingham Conven- tion & Visitors Bureau. In this position he is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Convention Sales staff in booking state, regional, national and inter- national convention business for the Greater Birmingham area. He supervises a staff of 14, and pre- pares monthly, quarterly and annual sales and marketing business plans. Gunn is a board member of the National Coalition of Black Meeting Planners (NCBMP), CMP Board, and a former member of the Destination Marketing Association International (DMAI) foundation board. He has over 27 years of industry experience. TANYA HALL works as the execu- tive director of the Philadelphia Multicultural Affairs Congress (MAC), a division of the PCVB, to ensure that Philadelphia’s multi- cultural communities are included in every aspect of the Philadelphia hospitality industry. Since MAC’s inception in 1987 as the first divi- sion of a CVB in the nation, the MAC and PCVB have measured an increase of more than 800%in multicultural bookings, resulting in an economic impact of more than $1.5 billion. SARA B. HAMLIN has been in the tourism industry for more than 20 years. She has been vice president of Tourism for the Greater Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau for eight years. Hamlin is responsible for pro- moting and booking motor coach business, family reunions, imple- mentation of the tourismdivision’s marketing plan and budget for the greater Birmingham area. She also supervises the operations of three Birmingham area visitor centers. Hamlin serves on the Board of the American Bus Association. Hamlin serves on the Board ofGovernors of ABA Foundation. She is involved in the following organ- izations:DestinationMarketingAssociation International, Bank Travel, National Tour Association, Ontario 58 Motorcoach Association, African-American Travel Conference,YWCA, andTheWomen Network. CHARLOTTE HAYMORE, serves as both president of TPOC (Travel Professionals of Color), and pro- gram director of TPOC’s annual minority travel agents conference. TPOC is an organization whose focus is on education, train- ing and networking with and for minority travel agency owners, managers, agents and sales staff with a special emphasis on the African-Americans, Hispanics, Asian Americans and Native Americans. Haymore formed TPOC with the help of Betty Jones of CB Jones Travel Service, another minority travel agent also located Denver, Co. Haymore has more than 30 years experience in the travel industry, including 25 years as an airline employee and 14 years as a travel agency owner, and is passionate about minority travel businesses being run professionally and providing the very best in customer service. GLORIA M. HERBERT is the associate publisher/editor of Black Meetings&Tourismmagazine, the award winning, international bi- monthly industry trade publica- tion for the African-American meeting planner, incentive man- ager, travel agent and hospitali- ty/tourism professional. Herbert also serves as associate producer of “Globetrotting,” a television travel series that premiered in November of 2002 on BET on Jazz. Before creating Black Meetings & Tourism along with her husband, Solomon Herbert, who serves as the maga- zine’s publisher/editor-in-chief, Gloria was a part of their print and photo journalism team that produced over 800 articles which appeared in numerous regional, national and international publications. Herbert’s early work experience was as an educational consultant for children with neurological deficiencies. She holds an undergraduate degree from California State University at Long Beach and a Masters of Science from the University of Southern California. Also,Herbert has the distinction of having attained the level of “Sensei” (teacher) in the art of Ikebana (Japanese FlowerArrangement)with over 15 years of training in this specialized area of floral design. SOLOMON J. HERBERT is the publisher/editor-in-chief ofBlack Meetings & Tourism magazine, the multi award-winning international industry trade publication for the African- Black Meetings & Tourism November/December 2010: www.blackmeetingsandtourism.com