NCBMP Opens Annual Conference Registration
Speakers Announced for Annual Conference
and State of Black Tourism
By Todd McElwee
Registration is open for the National Coalition of Black Meeting Professionals’ (NCBMP) 43rd Annual Conference in Louisville. Being staged under the banner of “Be Bigger Than The Moment,” the event will feature a quintet of mainstage speakers during its December 9–12 run in Bourbon City.
“The easy conversations aren’t the ones that move industries forward,” Jason E. Dunn Sr., CEO, NCBMP, told USAE. “We designed this conference to challenge assumptions, elevate thinking, and bring together professional who are willing to have the conversations this moment demands. When you leave Louisville, we don’t just want you inspired, WE want you equipped to make decisions that still matter years from now. Come BE BIG”
Zeek Coleman, President, Adgenuity; Dr. Angela Y. Davis, scholar, author, activist; Morgan DeBaun, Founder & CEO, Blavity Inc.; Marsha Flanagan, CEM, President & CEO; and Joy-Ann Reid, political analyst, journalist, bestselling author, headline NCBMP’s speaking lineup.
Presenting “Build Your Brand. Expand Your Influence. Own Your Market,” Coleman helps tourism leaders translate complex marketing and economic signals into clear decisions. Adgenuity is performance-driven media for destinations and travel organizations, NCBMP said.
Through her activism and scholarship, Davis has been deeply involved in movements for social justice around the world, NCBMP said. Teaching credits include UCLA, Syracuse, Stanford University, San Francisco State and more. She spent 15 years at the University of California Santa Cruz where she is now Distinguished Professor Emerita of History of Consciousness—an interdisciplinary Ph.D program—and of Feminist Studies. She’s written 10 books
and draws upon her own experiences in the early 1970s as a person who spent 18 months in jail after being placed on the FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted List. She was acquitted on all charges in 1972. The National Museum of African American History & Culture said she was the inspiration for John Lennon and Yoko Ono to write “Angela” and the Rolling Stones’ “Sweet Black Angel.” She will present “What Will Outlive You.”
“Rewrite Your Own Rules: Becoming Bigger Than the Moment,” is DeBaun’s session. NCBMP called her a “visionary leader in media and technology, adding she is renowned for a dedication to inclusive advertising and tech innovation. Clients include Nike, Microsoft and American Express. She is in the American Advertising Hall of Fame and a bestselling author.
Flanagan has guided IAEE since 2023. Recognized throughout the meetings industry for her collaborations and advocacy, she is a graduate of Texas Christian University and earned her Master’s in Education from the University of Arkansas specializing in meeting, tourism and recreation management. Her session is “Leading Beyond the Moment: A Global Outlook on Meetings, Events, and Exhibitions.”
The State of Black Tourism is an annual convening examining the current and future outlook of tourism across the U.S. and global communities.
Sacks and Tourism Economics supply analytically grounded consulting for governments, destinations, airlines, hotel chains and the entire tourism sector.
A frequent industry speaker, he is a graduate of Lehigh University.
Find more information here.
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