Few people have experience representing and selling a business-events destination that is far and away larger than all the others, because there are only two such places: Las Vegas and Orlando.
But as of August 19, Lisa Messina will become part of an even smaller group of hospitality-industry professionals: those who have represented both of those mega-destinations in the meeting, convention, and trade-show market.
After 15 years in Las Vegas, where she was most recently chief sales officer for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, Messina will begin as chief sales officer for Visit Orlando, overseeing the meeting and convention sales and services team, travel-industry sales, membership, and support services.
“Lisa joins the organization at a crucial time, as the Orange County Convention Center embarks on an expansion project to its North-South Building, opening up opportunities for new business to our region,” said Visit Orlando CEO Casandra Matej.
In mid-July, Messina answered a few questions from MeetingsNet about the approach she’ll take in her new role.
MeetingsNet: What drew you to this job opportunity in Orlando?
Lisa Messina: Well, it is the most-visited destination in North America, and there are a lot of parallels between Las Vegas and Orlando. They are the entertainment and theme-park capitals of the world and the meeting capitals too, and they continue to innovate to drive tourism from both the leisure- and business- travel sectors.
Orlando has always been a competitor to Vegas for meetings—they have similar convention campuses, similar hotel packages, similar off-premise entertainment venues to attract conventions and their attendees.
MeetingsNet: How will you strive to have a strong impact on the Orlando meetings sector?
Lisa Messina: First, what really excites me is that there’s so much development going on, like the expansion of OCCC and with Universal set to build Epic, a new entertainment and theme park that will be the first that’s within walking distance of the convention-center district. There will also be two upper-upscale hotels along with that plus a complete re-imagination of the restaurants in Icon Park, which sits right outside the convention-center campus.
So, what I will be able to do is take the storytelling created around those projects and share that with the customer base that drives trade shows and conventions. And with several shows on Orlando’s calendar that rotate with Vegas, I am also excited to work with those customers here in Orlando.
MeetingsNet: Over your career, what have you learned about what attendees want that you didn’t know when you started in the business?
Lisa Messina: Personally, I learned how to choose which events I am going to attend—the business value has to be evident; I need to be able to achieve certain objectives there. Also, is the destination interesting to me? Is there something unique I will learn or experience by being there?
From that, I understand that most meeting attendees think that way, and as a result I have evolved my approach: How can I help the meeting organizer communicate the right things to attendees while also getting that message across to the key decision-makers so they will approve a destination they might not think is ideal because of the potential distractions. Las Vegas and Orlando have both had to deal with this.
So, we are trying to create a win-win where attendees understand that they will accomplish their business goals but also go home with memories of unique experiences.
MeetingsNet: Destinations must sell engagement now. What is the hardest part of delivering results in that area?
Lisa Messina: The measurement of that is the toughest part. We ask people for details about their experience—what went well and what can we do better? But event organizers need data, so we’re helping them partner with other organizations who can collect that information so they can make good event decisions for future years. We're helping planners to connect those dots for the C-suite so that those executives conclude it was a good decision to hold the event there. Like the LVCVA, Visit Orlando has a strong research department that helps customers understand the ROI of their events.
MeetingsNet: What might someone be amused to learn about you?
Lisa Messina: I am big fan of the Philadelphia Eagles football team—but my new CEO, Casandra Matej, is a Dallas Cowboys fan. So, we will see how that works out.
Also, I’d say that my personality aligns well with the culture of Orlando. I can show up as different things for different people based on their needs and help create delight-and-surprise moments. If I was a Disney character, I’d be Goofy—I have a serious professional persona but also a lighter side that wants to have fun and help people discover the magic of whichever part of our destination they are using.
