Guests
For much of his career, R.F. Hemphill, author of Dust Tea, Dingoes & Dragons, was employed at AES, a highly regarded global electric power generating and distribution company, where he served as Executive Vice President and Chief of Staff to the CEO. Hemphill was one of the three executives who began the company in 1981, growing it from a million dollar six person start up. AES owns and operates 38,000 MW of power plants in 21 countries around the globe, is publicly listed on the NYSE, and had approximately $18 billion of revenues in 2013. Recently, Robert Hemphill was the founder and CEO of AES Solar Power Ltd from its inception until his retirement in December 2013. The company, formed in March 2008, is a joint venture of the AES Corporation and Riverstone LLC, an energy focused private equity fund. AES Solar is a leading developer, owner and operator of [...]
Chun Wright is the owner of Law Office of Chun T. Wright, which is based in Washington, DC. Chun’s passion is serving the legal needs of the adventure travel community to help companies build, grow, sustain and protect their businesses. She combines her extensive legal experience and industry insight to create tailor-made legal solutions for her clients. Chun advises her clients on a variety of legal issues, including contracts, risk management, international business, dispute resolution, regulatory compliance, intellectual property (copyright and trademark), Internet and e-commerce, and litigation. She represents companies of all sizes, from start-up to large corporations, and in all stages of the business life cycle. Chun is also an active member of the Adventure Travel Trade Association (“ATTA”) and has presented a number of webinars and workshops for ATTA members, including at the Adventure Travel World Summit. Chun’s legal experience includes a vice president position at the trade [...]
Josh deBerge joined Make-A-Wish in December 2011 and currently serves as Senior Manager, National Communications and PR where he manages internal communications and oversees communications and media relations for the organization. He oversees a team that is responsible for coordinating national media opportunities; developing and implementing nationwide campaigns; handling crisis communications and brand reputation management; and providing counsel to chapters throughout the country on media and communication issues. Prior to joining Make-A-Wish, Josh deBerge worked for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) where he led external affairs and crisis communications for the federal government at some of the largest disasters in the nation’s history. Josh also has a background in meteorology and has worked in television – most recently in Phoenix – and in radio, and print media. He enjoys traveling – particularly to national parks and wilderness areas, reading, photography, and riding bikes around his home in downtown Phoenix. [...]
As the executive director of the San Antonio Convention & Visitors Bureau (SACVB), Casandra Matej leads San Antonio’s $12 billion hospitality industry to welcome more than 30 million visitors annually. The SACVB is the key driver for this industry, which is a leading economic sector, employing approximately 112,000 San Antonians. Her 20-plus years of experience in the tourism industry has spanned convention and visitors bureaus, hotel and leisure industries. Most recently, she served as the Senior Vice President of Sales and Services for the Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau, during which time Casandra restructured the sales divisions, resulting in a 40 percent growth of convention room night sales. During her tenure in San Antonio, Casandra launched the Top 100 Sales Strategy that targets key local industries (biosciences, cyber security, oil/gas, higher education and green energy) to bring their next meeting or convention to the city. She led the SACVB in [...]
Todd Pitock is a travel and investigative writer. His articles have appeared in more than 150 publications, including Discover, The Atlantic, the Wall St. Journal, the New York Times, Reader’s Digest, ForbesLife, The Discovery Channel Magazine, National Geographic Traveler, the Washington Post, The Economist’s Intelligent Life, the Washington Post Magazine, Forbes FYI, Washingtonian, the American Lawyer, Tikkun, the Jerusalem Report, the Saturday Evening Post and other publications worldwide. Todd Pitock 's work has been recognized with eight awards by the American Society of Journalists & Authors, most recently in 2018 for a story about the Japanese obsession with baseball, and four Lowell Thomas Awards, the top American honor for travel writing, including gold in 2015 as Travel Journalist of the Year and silver in 2018 in the cruise travel category. I’ve been the recipient of grants from Investigative Reporters and Editors, the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, and the Lily Foundation for [...]
When Stephanie Jallen was 9-years-old she was invited to the Camelback Adaptive Ski Camp in Tannersville, Pa., and was instantly hooked on the sport. While instructors initially wanted to put her in a bi-ski tethered to an instructor, Jallen insisted on learning to ski standing up. Jallen quickly developed as a ski-racer through the Pennsylvania Center Adapted Sports, a chapter of Disabled Sports USA. She was first named to the U.S. Paralympics Alpine National B Team in 2011 at only 15-years-old. She is the second-youngest member of the national team, just two months older than teammate Staci Mannella. Stephanie Jallen was born with a rare birth defect called CHILDS, Congenital Hemidysplasia with Ichthyosiform Erythroderma and Limb Defects Syndrome. CHILDS is a chromosomal disorder that affects the entire left side of the body, leaving Jallen with only one leg and one fully developed arm. Her nickname, Hopper, comes from the fact that [...]
Taylor Imus is a junior at Ball State University, studying public relations. She is from Carmel, Indiana and acted as a media relations coordinator for BSU at the Games during the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. After graduation, she hopes to work in the field of travel and tourism. Connect with and follow Taylor @TayIm.
Patrick McDonald is a member of the 2014 U.S. Paralympic Curling team. He is a U.S. Army veteran who lost the use of his legs when the armored personnel carrier he was riding in rolled on the way back from patrol in Korea. McDonald is active in adaptive sports, playing golf, bowling and kayaking in addition to wheelchair curling. He hopes to win a medal at both the Summer and Winter Paralympic Games and is working towards making the Paralympic shooting team in the near future. McDonald lives with his wife, Carrie, and two children - a daughter, Andie, and a son, Kaelan, in Madison, Wisconsin. McDonald first started curling in 2008. McDonald first represented the United States in international competition as the alternate for the American team at the 2009 World Wheelchair Curling Championship. He then represented the United States as third under skip Augusto Perez in the 2010 Winter Paralympics in Vancouver, where they finished fourth. McDonald became the skip of [...]
Nikko Landeros was a member of the 2014 U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Roster. He plays the position of defenceman. 2013-14 Member of the U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team Helped Team USA win two of three games vs. Canada in January 2014 in Indian Trail, N.C. Contributed to Team USA's second-place finish at December 2013 World Sledge Hockey Challenge in Toronto, Ontario 2012-13 Member of the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team Led U.S. defensemen with five assists Helped Team USA to a silver medal at the 2013 International Paralympic Committee Ice Sledge World Championship in Goyang City, South Korea Helped Team USA to a first-place finish at the December 2012 World Sledge Hockey Challenge in Calgary, Alta. Skated in all five games, tallying a goal and an assist Helped Team USA to a first-place finish at the January 2013 USA Hockey Sled Cup in Indian Trail, N.C. Played in all four games, posting [...]
Charlie Huebner was named Chief of Paralympics for the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) in July 2006. In this role, he serves as the senior manager of Paralympic programs across all USOC divisions. He joined the USOC in 2001 as the director of the newly formed U.S. Paralympics division. During the USOC governance reform of 2003-06, Huebner served in interim roles overseeing alumni, development and Paralympic programs. Prior to the USOC, he spent 10 years as executive director of the U.S. Association of Blind Athletes (USABA) and three years as coordinator of communications for Arizona Governor Rose Mofford. Huebner is very active in volunteer community service projects that impact children’s charities. He currently serves on the board of directors of The Christopher Ames Matthews Project (CAMP), The Grace Fund, Pennies for Nicoll, and is cofounder of the Colorado Springs YOT Club, which is a cost effective black-tie event that collects toys [...]
Myron Magnet, prize-winning author of The Founders at Home: The Building of America, 1735-1817, was the editor of City Journal from 1994 through 2006 and is now the magazine’s editor-at-large. A former member of the board of editors of Fortune magazine, Magnet has written about a wide variety of topics, from American society and social policy, economics, and corporate management to intellectual history, literature, architecture, and the American Founding. His earlier book,The Dream and the Nightmare: The Sixties’ Legacy to the Underclass (William Morrow, 1993; second edition: Encounter Books, 2000) argues that the radical transformation of elite and mainstream American culture that took place in the 1960s produced catastrophic changes in behavior at the bottom of society that gave rise to the urban underclass. Hilton Kramer called the book “an indispensable guide to the outstanding question of the day,” while columnist Mona Charen deemed it “the book of the decade". President [...]
Marina Verenikina - Born in Soviet Russia to a Communist nuclear physicist father and a child psychologist mother, Marina grew up in Moscow singing and making up her own melodies before she could talk. Marina's grandma started teaching Marina piano when she was only 4. Noticing her daughter's musical talents, Marina's mom insisted that Marina receive her music education. So, Marina went to a school of music each day right after her regular school. "The school of music was very rigid. I resisted it for a long time - like a normal kid, I just wanted to go play with other kids after school, and not go to the school of music every night" - Marina says about her 8 year experience at the school of music. When she was about ten, Marina decided to play a song of her own for her piano teacher, who scolded Marina saying that it [...]
