Nearly a decade ago, “Bright, Shiny, New Objects” took to the stage at eTourism Summit to make presentations as startup companies with creative concepts that held marketing promise for destinations and attractions. A handful of newly curated presenters continued to bring their ideas forward in this shark tank-style session in each of the following years.
Why? Because since 2000, eTourism Summit has been about innovation at the intersection of digital and tourism for DMOs, attractions, and their vendors. It’s a community for present, sharing and receiving updates on the latest trends in marketing, platforms, content, tools, search, social media, mobile and web design.
What happened? Some took another direction, some didn’t resonate, and a few went “Boom!” in that room and never looked back.
Jake Steinman, Founder and Chairman Emeritus of eTourism Summit (founded in 2000) says intense networking every year (a.k.a. “the listening tour”) unearthed innovation. He recalls these five vendors—once bright, shiny, and new—certainly changed the destination ecosystem for marketers.
Note: The following four bright, shiny, new vendors will swim in the shark tank at eTourism Summit in September:
- Chris Lukenbill, Co-founder, Shrpa
- Jason Holic, VP- Business Applications & Insights at Experience Kissimmee, Impactulator
- John Mark Eberhardt, CEO, Stroll
- Bob Gilbert, Chief Travel and Tourism Strategist, Tourism Alchemy
We reached out to the founders of Arrivalist, Bandwango, Clicktivated, CrowdRiff, and Zartico to hear about their journey from shark tank to success.
It’s striking how snippets from those (unprompted!) interviews highlight the importance of personal networking within the eTourism Community:
Cree Lawson — Arrivalist
Arrivalist’s Founder & CEO Cree Lawson was introduced to the eTourism Summit community at a time when destination marketers were just beginning to learn about location data.
Q: Through your involvement with eTourism Summit over the years, any memorable networking moments?
A: Someone from Visit Fort Worth walked up after our presentation and said, “What you’re doing makes a lot of sense. How do we sign up?” after seeing our presentation.
Mo Parikh — Bandwango
In 2021, Co-founder & CEO Mo Parikh announced that Bandwango raised a seed funding round of $3.1 million as the experience-focused startup hit its stride in connecting DMOs, small businesses and communities.
Q: How did you and the eTourism Summit cross paths initially?
A: Eric Thompson, Vice President of Marketing at Visit Salt Lake (our first customer), introduced me to Jake Steinman and we got featured as a “Bright Shiny New Object” at eTourism 2015.
Ben Hatata — Clicktivated
Ben Hatata, Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer, introduced Clicktivated to the destination marketer audience as a Bright New Shiny Object at eTourism Summit in 2016. The startup won the popular vote and, as a prize, went to CES in Las Vegas the following January.
Q: How did you and the eTourism Summit cross paths initially?
A: By referral: Adam Johnson, with Visit Saint Paul at the time, recommended we get involved.
Dan Holowack — CrowdRiff
Dan Holowack, Co-Founder and CEO, says his vision has always been about addressing the challenges faced by our industry and “inventing better ways to create, coordinate, and scale how authentic stories compel travel decisions.”
Q: Through your involvement with eTourism Summit over the years, any memorable networking moments?
A: eTourism Summit was where the rubber hit the road. There were lots of smart tactical ideas, but even more laughs. I could really feel the sense of community and as the years went by, I looked forward to catching up with old friends. Sometimes that was over drinks, and sometimes it was singing at the top of our lungs in a streetcar rattling down the streets of San Francisco.
Darren Dunn — Zartico
Darren Dunn, Founder President, recalls, “Yikes, 17 years ago in Dallas was my first eTourism Summit.” Founded in 2019, Zartico (formerly Entrada Insights) was a Bright Shiny New Object at eTourism Summit two years ago.
Q: How did you and the eTourism Summit cross paths initially?
A: Those paths were crossed years ago, back when our favorite sweater-wearing Jake Steinman (founder of eTourism Summit) would hold the event at the Hotel Kabuki in San Francisco’s Japantown. Our team has debated, presented, attended many innovative and creative sessions over the years…and joined in plenty of Karaoke sessions, too.
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