Shanna A. Smith Joins San Antonio Convention & Visitors Bureau as a Senior Brand Manager

2013-05-21 — /travelprnews.com/ — Shanna A. Smith will join the San Antonio Convention & Visitors Bureau (SACVB) as a Senior Brand Manager, announced SACVB Executive Director Casandra Matej. In her new role, she will focus on partner communications, local media relations, and communicating the importance of the travel and tourism industry to San Antonio.

Smith previously was Director of Communications and Marketing for the City of Granbury, Texas, where she served as the leader for Visit Granbury and as the city’s Public Information Officer working with local, regional and national media. Her experience includes developing and implementing the social media strategy for Visit Granbury and the City of Granbury; managing staff, programming and social media for the city’s charter television station and managing the sales and servicing team for the Granbury Resort Conference Center. For Granbury, she directed the annual advertising strategy, bid presentations, public relations, tourism development, website, event permitting and was responsible for the departmental budget, city’s marketing plan and annual report, as well as local industry relations and overall campaigns.

Prior to Granbury, Smith was Director of Communication for the Abilene Convention and Visitors Bureau working with media, social media programs and executing overall communications programming.

“We are thrilled Shanna is joining our SACVB team,” said Matej. “Our partners are absolutely vital to San Antonio’s success, and Shanna’s role exhibits our commitment to take our communications to the next level and strengthen partnerships to leverage the power of the hospitality industry across our city. We are proud to bring someone of her experience and professional caliber to our team.”  Smith will start with SACVB June 4, 2013.

She is a member of many professional affiliations to include Texas Association of Convention and Visitors Bureau (TACVB), Texas Travel Industry Association (TTIA) where she is the chair of the Education Sub-Committee as well as a graduate of TTIA Tourism College and TTIA Leadership Program Graduate and is an Ex-Officio Board Member.

Among her many achievements:

• TexasTravel Industry Association Rising Star Award, 2011
• Named one of the “Top 20 Under 40 Business Leaders” by the Abilene Reporter-News
• TexasTravel Industry Association Certified Tourism Executive, 2013
• TACVB Texas Destination Marketer – Administration & Finance Certificate, Communication & Technology Certificate
• Professional Gold ADDY Award Recipient (Facebook – Project365), 2011
• Professional Silver ADDY Award Recipient (Abilene InSite Blog), 2011.

Smith is a San Antonio native. Her education includes MBA in Business Management from Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA and a Bachelor of Arts from Hardin-Simmons University, Abilene with a major in Communication – Public Relations and Advertising and a minor in Business Administration.

The San Antonio Convention & Visitors Bureau is a department of the City of San Antonio, and is the sales and marketing arm of San Antonio as a leading leisure and meetings destination. San Antonio welcomes 28 million visitors annually. Hospitality is one of the top five industries on the city, contributing $12 billion into the local economy annually and employing 112,000. For more information, www.visitsanantonio.com

Media Contact:

Sara Gruber
saragruber@visitsanantonio.com
800-447-3372

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