2018 Economic Summit

Roger Brooks – Keynote Address

There are very few change-agents on the planet who have motivated more people in more places than Roger Brooks, CSP, has in the travel industry. Over the past 30 years Roger, as a tourism speaker and expert, has helped thousands of people transform ordinary places, businesses, and attractions into incredibly successful destinations.

One of the most recognized and frequently quoted experts in the travel industry, Roger inspires and empowers audiences around the world to achieve their highest aspirations. He is extraordinarily dynamic. He’s also very funny, combining humorous video clips and fascinating real-life stories, while providing steps, rules and ingredients – bottom line solutions – that every audience member can implement today to make a positive difference tomorrow.

Ralf Garrison – Back By Popular Demand, Researcher, Adviser & Storyteller 

“Destination Resort Communities:  Forces at Play & The Situation, Economic Considerations, and Trends Forthcoming”

Ralf Garrison is a destination travel industry veteran, generally recognized as a thought-leader, innovator and a serial entrepreneur of various  travel related business that he has founded over the years.

After selling his most recent venture,  DestiMetrics,  a destination travel research and resort intelligence company,  he has been overseeing  its transition to the NorthStar/Inntopia  Business Intelligence practice, and working toward purposefully unemployment, and an informal sabbatical, which he jokingly refers to as “Airplane mode”, taking some time to let the dust settle, begin work on his bucket list and turn his attention to  what’s next.

Known both for his research-analytics and storytelling, Garrison is most likely to be found at the confluence of research data, analytics and the story-telling of the related findings  to destination resort communities and their tourism dependent businesses and is looking forward to helping  those doing good work toward reconciling the opportunities and  challenges of resort town communities and their constituents .

His presentation style has been described as “a natural storyteller, witty, sometimes irreverent, but rarely boring”.

Jake Moe – Founder Powder Magazine

“Relocations: How to Attract Talent to Your Community in a Hypercompetitive Market”

In 1968, Jake Moe dropped out of the University of Washington and embarked upon a life of being a ‘ski bum’.

With $95.00 in his pocket, driving a 1955 broken down VW Bug, Moe ventured out into a Western Washington blizzard…destination Sun Valley, Idaho! During the ensuing three years, Moe worked as a Ski Patrolman, dishwasher, roof shoveler, cook, canary worker, painter and any other occupation that would provide the funds to ski in the Winter.

Then, one steely March day, Moe thought of an idea of starting a ski magazine…a magazine with a completely different approach than what the current magazines of the day presented. Told by the Publisher of the largest titles in the category, Skiing Magazine, that he would fail miserably, Moe used that challenge to make sure his new magazine, Powder, would be a success. Teamed with his brother Dave, the two Moe Boys launched what has become the most popular ski magazine in the world.

Moe’s most famous quote is…if you aren’t having FUN, you are FIRED!

Rebecca Rusch – Author,  Seven-Time World Champion, Firefighter. Documentary film maker

“How to Build Community Character Around  Sport & Athletic Events”

Rebecca Rusch is the Queen of Pain with a heart of gold. It doesn’t matter if Rebecca is pedaling through the night on an epic adventure across Italy, riding her bike up Africa’s legendary Mt. Kilimanjaro, or teaching at a #JoinTheRusch camp or clinic, she brings energy, positivity and inspiration to whatever challenge she meets. As a professional athlete for over three decades, the 7x World Champion has continually tested her own limits, and shattered the glass ceiling in whatever sport she tackles.  Rebecca’s work extends far beyond the start line as the best selling author of Rusch to Glory, event producer for Rebecca’s Private Idaho, motivational speaker, firefighter, and cycling advocate.    Through Red Bull Media House in 2017, Rebecca released a full length feature film, Blood Road, which followed her very personal journey along the 1,800 kilometer Ho Chi Minh trail.

Mark Oliver – Proprietor, Hot Water Inn, Filmmaker, Music & Fun Promoter

“Opportunities & Challenges for the Young Business Community”

Mark grew up in the valley and is working hard to prove that you can come home again to the Wood River Valley. He will share his stories, trials and triumphs and help us understand what it means for our next generation of business owners.

Derrick Calderon – Director of Smart Cities,  Cox Business

“Smart City Concepts: How Community Can Shape Sustainable Growth”

Derrick Calderon is a skilled business development executive with extensive experience in the wireless telecom and IoT industries.  Currently, Derrick is the Director of Smart Cities in Cox’s Cox2M business.  In this role, he focuses on enabling Smart City growth throughout the United States, and developing strategic partnerships to build up Cox’s Smart City offering. Prior to joining Cox, Calderon served as VP of Business Development at Ingenu, a provider of Low Power Wide Area Network services, where he led the effort to build out Ingenu’s partner eco-system for the Machine Network.

Previous to Ingenu, Derrick created and executed Kore Wireless’s Latin America strategy, which became the organization’s fastest growing division. Calderon has been involved in the deployment of over 50 IoT projects totaling more than a million connected devices. Calderon holds a bachelor’s degree in Finance and Economics from Utah Valley University.