PITCHFEST IS JUST A WEEK AWAY…

and the judges are ready!

Here’s a preview of the esteemed panel of judges who

will score the creative concepts presented at the

Sacramento Region Brandathon Pitchfest on March

27th. Details on the judging process are also provided.

CAROLINE BETETA PRESIDENT & CEO | Visit California

Carolyn is president & CEO of the industry-led Visit California, a nonprofit

organization created to market California as a premier travel destination

and to increase the state’s share of tourism-related revenues. She recently

finished a term as Chair of the Board of Brand USA, where she provided

strategic direction for the $200 million global program. Before that, she

served two years as Vice Chair of Operations. Additionally, she has

received numerous awards for her creative work and leadership in the

travel industry, including 2009 State Tourism Director of the Year and the

Robert Mondavi Wine & Food Award in 2013.

Caroline simultaneously serves as the Director of Tourism in California’s Governor’s Office of Business &

Economic Development (GO-Biz). In her dual capacity, she is responsible for implementing Visit

California’s $50 million global marketing program and serves as the lead spokesperson for California’s

$106.4 billion travel industry. Caroline has shepherded the growth of Visit California into a global

marketing franchise whose brand advertising alone generated incremental visitor spending returns of

more than $7.1 billion in 2012. Under her leadership, California’s share of U.S. domestic travel has

grown by more than 1 percent, bringing tens of millions of additional visitors to the state every year.

TIFFANY FRYE BRANDING EXPERT/MARKETING EXECUTIVE

Tiffany graduated from The George Washington University with a B.A. in

Marketing, focused on Advertising and Branding. After years of being

obsessed with the effects of branding on consumer behavior and loyalty,

she debated going for her Ph.D. in Neuro-Marketing, but ended up

keeping her dark geek side a secret (and saving the money). Instead, she

decided on real world experience and has been focused on branding in

Silicon Valley for more than 10 years. Although her current address is in

the Bay Area, she still proudly identifies with her Sacramento roots and

stays close to the community in any way possible.

PITCHFEST IS JUST A WEEK AWAY…

and the judges are ready!

DANIELLE COHN VP MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS | Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau

Danielle Cohn is responsible for positioning Philadelphia as a first-class

convention, meeting and tourist destination to national and international

audiences. She develops and implements strategic communications and

marketing activities for Philadelphia on local, regional, national and

international levels. She was responsible for directing the communications

efforts for the city's first international consumer marketing campaign, a

program launched in March 2002 in Western Europe by the PCVB. Under

her direction, the program generated millions of media impressions on

Philadelphia worldwide. As a result of these efforts, Philadelphia moved up

from 21st place to the 12th-most-visited U.S. city.

Danielle is co-chair of the Mayor's Philadelphia Executive Marketing Council, a group of volunteer

consultants that worked on the city's new brand identity. Danielle was a lead panelist on “Place Making

– What draws people to a place?” during the Sacramento Metro Chamber’s Study Mission this past

September in Philadelphia and has served as inspiration to the Sacramento Brandathon effort.

ROB TURNER CEO & EDITOR-IN-CHIEF | Sactown Magazine

Rob Turner launched Sactown Magazine in 2006 with his wife and co-

editor Elyssa Lee. A Sacramento native and graduate of UC Davis, Rob

began his career in journalism as the entertainment editor of the

Sacramento News & Review. In 1995, he moved to New York City,

where he spent 10 years working as a staff writer for both Money and

SmartMoney magazines and as a freelance writer for publications such

as New York Magazine, Metropolis, U.S. News & World Report, The

New York Times and The Wall Street Journal (all of which he wrote

stories about Sacramento for!). Since Sactown's inception, Rob has

penned dozens of essays and articles about ideas for the city and

region—with a frequent focus on establishing the city's identity—

including those in his "Why Not Here?" column on the magazine's last

page. Some of his ideas have come to fruition as a result of these

articles, such as bringing the Zagat Dining Guide to Sacramento in 2009, and inspiring the Bastille Day

Waiters Race & Festival in 2010, The Blue Trees Project in 2012, and the Tower Bridge Dinner in 2013.

PITCHFEST IS JUST A WEEK AWAY…

and the judges are ready!

TARA AUGUST VP TALENT RELATIONS | Turner Sports

Tara August went to college in San Diego, she has a fabulous job based in

Atlanta, and she travels all over the world with her famous athlete charges.

But her heart – and parents – still live in Sacramento where she grew

up. Tara's PR career started as a summer intern in Deen+Black's

Sacramento office. She eventually ran the firm's San Diego office before

moving to Los Angeles to work for Ogilvy. During this time Tara got her

Master’s degree in Sport Management from the University of San Francisco.

Today, she oversees sports talent for Turner Sports which includes TNT, TBS

and CNN, plus online and new media. Tara touches just about every sport

platform for the Atlanta-based media giant. In charge of talent acquisition,

contract negotiations, media assignments, and booking on-air guests, her

job melds together aspects of management, PR and TV production.

KONSTANTIN DIMOPOULOS ARTIST

Konstantin Dimopoulos is a conceptual artist who creates social

and environmental public artworks, as well as permanent

sculptures and temporary installations. Through his thinking of

using art to inspire change, he was invited to speak at TEDx

Sacramento 2012 with his talk Can Art Change The World. His

environmental art installation, The Blue Trees about global

deforestation has gained him international recognition. In 2013 it

was nominated by the Danish Index Awards as one of 60 ideas that

changed the world; and was named by TrendHunter as one of the

top 100 activism trends of 2012.

The Blue Trees is an ongoing global artwork that launched at the Vancouver Biennale in 2011 and since

then Dimopoulos has created the work in more than 12 global locations including London, Houston,

Seattle, Albuquerque and here in Sacramento in 2012. Dimopoulos’s works are in collections in the

United States, Australia, United Arab Emirates and New Zealand.

PITCHFEST IS JUST A WEEK AWAY…

and the judges are ready!

JUDGING DETAILS All presentations made at the The Pitchfest on March 27th will be video recorded and provided to the

Judges for viewing and scoring. The Judges will assess each concept, assigning a score of one to 10 (10

being highest on a scale) using the following criteria:

Connection to the provided Sacramento Region Brand Platform and Creative Brief

Thoughtful design and execution

Usability – an idea or design that our varied audiences are likely to use in conjunction with their brand

Overall look and feel

The Judge’s scores will determine three finalists that they deem best represent the region’s brand. The

results will be announced by mid April.

A region-wide online public voting process will open immediately following the announcement of the

three finalists and will conclude May 6th. The winning concept will be unveiled by May 15th.

PITCHFEST IS JUST A WEEK AWAY…

and the judges are ready!

For more information on Sacramento Region Brandathon or Pitchfest, please

contact:

Christine Ault at christine.Ault@valleyvision.org | Christi Black-Davis at christi.Black@edelman.com | Gordon Fowler at gordon@3foldcomm.com