About

Tiffany Russell is a Hampton Roads-based marketing communications executive with over 22 years’ experience managing advertising, media and stakeholder relations for non-profit, government and private sector initiatives. She currently serves as Director of Communications for the largest city in Virginia. In her current role, Russell has executed effective communications strategies for citywide election system redistricting, hosted a presidential visit, managed hundreds of media inquiries as spokesperson, launched a public input campaign for the city’s election system as part of an advanced DEI communications strategy, developed a successful police recruitment campaign and oversaw an organizational brand refresh for 30+ departments.

On leadership staff at the Virginia Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB) as VP Marketing Communications, Russell developed robust, integrated brand campaigns that contributed towards #1 hotel occupancy in the nation during COVID-19 and increased top-of-mind consumer awareness, intent to travel, lodging occupancy growth and tax revenues for the coastal city.

In her role as Executive Director for youth development program Girls on the Run South Hampton Roads, she ideated, marketed and generated new revenue streams that allowed for program expansion into new markets. For several years as a dedicated non-profit development professional, Russell oversaw one of the country’s longest-running and award-winning fine art festivals, Boardwalk Art Show, art exhibit openings and signature fundraising special events to bring national recognition to the re-branded organizing entity Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA).

Russell’s commitment to diversity and inclusion is reflected in her hiring practices as well as her team’s pledge to ensuring Virginia Beach is promoted and recognized as a welcoming, accessible destination for 10.5 million annual overnight visitors. Russell has shared her expertise as a panelist at the Hampton Roads Diversity & Inclusion Consortium (HJRDIC) Conference. She holds a M.A. in Strategic Communications with a specialization in Marketing Management from National University in San Diego, CA and a DEI Advanced Communications Certificate from the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA).

SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS

Workshop Presenter, Hampton Roads Diversity & Inclusion Consortium (HJRDIC) Conference, Virginia Beach, November 2017

Presenter, American Alliance of Museums 2016 Annual Meeting & MuseumExpo, Washington D.C. May 2016: “Marketing Matters: Museums as Cultural Tourism Destinations”

Presenter, VA-1 Tourism Summit Conference on Digital Media, Richmond, VA, November 2015: “You Can’t Fool Me: Six Ways to Outsmart Today’s Savvy Travel Planner”

Presenter, Virginia Association of Museums annual conference: “Green Initiatives in Print, Marketing and Special Events,” March 2009

EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT TRAINING, COURSES & CERTIFICATIONS

Certified Destination Marketing Executive (CDME) | Destination Marketing Association International

Accredited Public Relations (APR) | Public Relations Society of America

DEI Advanced Communications Strategy Certificate | Public Relations Society of America (PRSA)

Certified Meeting Planner (CMP) | Convention Industry Council (2004-2009)

Certification in Hotel Industry Analytics (CHIA) | American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute

International Economic Development Council (IEDC) | Basic Economic Development Course (BEDC) | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

FEMA Emergency Management Institute Advanced PIO Courses Completion: PIO Awareness, Social Media in Emergency Management, Introduction to Incident Command Systems

International Association of Assembly Management (IAAM) Public Assembly Facility Management School

City of Virginia Beach Strategy, Transparency, Innovation & Resiliency (STIR) Innovation Academy

University of Virginia Walden Cooper Center for Public Service program LEAD Leadership Development

National Recreation & Parks Association (NPRA) | Leadership Certificate

EDUCATION

M.A. Strategic Communications with specialization in Marketing Management | National University, San Diego, CA

B.A. Public Relations | Harding University, Searcy, AR

AFFILIATIONS | COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTIONS

Hampton Roads Alliance | Regional 757 Recovery & Resiliency Task Force Committee, Vice Chair, Tourism/Travel/Hospitality/F&B Sector, 2020

U.S. Travel Association | Communications Committee Member 2014-2017

Coastal Virginia Tourism Alliance | Chair, Content Marketing Committee 2016

Public Relations Society of America Hampton Roads Chapter | Chair, Pinnacles Committee 2015-2016; Co-chair Ethic Committee 2019

Travel and Tourism Research Association | Member, 2015

American Marketing Association Hampton Roads Chapter | Member, 2017

Engaging Local Government Leadership (ELGL)| Member, 2020

CAREER EXPERIENCE

Director of Communications, City of Virginia Beach (2022- current)

Oversee the planning and development of internal (7,500 employees) and external communications (450K residents) for City of Virginia Beach municipal government; manage high level public relations issues; provide counsel for staff and leadership in issues management; strategic planning and citizen engagement/communication; manage 20+ FTEs to include Employee Communications business unit; and collaborate with 30+ department directors and public affairs liaisons on media relations and crisis communications. Lead the development and execution of integrated communications efforts across all channels in support of key City events, programs and services. Key projects include:

Developed campaign theme concepting, social media engagement creative and paid media plan for $567 million “Ripple Effect” flood protection program bond referendum, which successfully passed in fall 2022
Created Virginia Beach Police Department’s “More” employee recruitment campaign, which helped lift application pace by 150% at launch in 2022
Developed and managed citywide voter election system redistricting communications plan leading into November 2022 election and DEI community engagement plan for resident input on election system (2023)
Launched brand refresh initiative in conjunction with City’s 60th anniversary celebration with strong emphasis on employee recognition and new employee recruitment campaign in 2023
Citywide communications support for President Biden visit (2023) and event logistics support for Congressional Badge of Bravery ceremony (2021)

VP Marketing Communications, Virginia Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau, City of Virginia Beach (2016-2021)

About the CVB:

The Virginia Beach CVB is the official tourism marketing organization for the City of Virginia Beach and is a department within the local municipality government. With an annual budget of $22M, the CVB is responsible for promoting year-round leisure, business, meetings and conventions, international and sports travel to Virginia’s most populous city. Virginia Beach also is the number one vacation destination in Virginia. As the official destination marketing organization for the coastal city, the Virginia Beach CVB is responsible for ongoing advocacy for the tourism and hospitality industry – which is one of Virginia Beach’s largest industries. To drive tourism revenue that powers our local economy, the Virginia Beach CVB also focuses on attracting tourism product development to ensure our destination stays competitive.

Responsibilities:

Served as part of the Virginia Beach CVB leadership team developing strategic marketing communication plans that support City of Virginia Beach economic vitality, diversity and inclusion initiatives. Efforts have led to year-over-year hotel/lodging sales tax revenue increases (+4.7% FY17, +3.5% FY18, +5.7% FY19).

Responsible for brand management, strategic communications plans, strategic stakeholder value analysis and developing and managing an $11M integrated marketing communications budget. Budget segments include paid digital and traditional media, content, PR, research, production, collateral, account management, website, social media, marketing travel, dues and memberships, team professional development, contract labor, technology and team salaries/benefits.

Oversee 15-member Council-appointed Advertising Advisory Committee to enhance transparency with public and cultivate enhanced partnerships with tourism stakeholder community. Regularly develop presentations and bi-annual reports on budget resources, marketing campaign efforts and tourism performance metrics to city leadership, committees and elected public officials.

Led the development of new processes and procedures using design thinking methodologies for digital media, web, PR, social, content, collateral development, analytics and media planning/buying/trafficking for domestic leisure travel efforts and seven internal business unit clients: international (Europe, China, Canada), sports marketing, meetings and conventions, group tour, visitor information services, resort management and convention center.

Led marketing communications team through significant change including transitioning away from 28-year full-service agency of record relationship to a hybrid/in-house model, business unit restructure, two CEO turnovers, the 5/31/19 mass casualty employee tragedy and a consultant-led department privatization analysis during this time.

Developed robust communication plans that help inform and engage the general public and other key stakeholders in supporting tourism product development initiatives measured through strategically segmented consumer sentiment survey analysis every two years.

Coached and developed 12 communications team professionals using the High Performance Organization (HPO) model and Networked Talent Model that allows leadership and problem solving at all levels, thus delivering excellent execution quality, sound financial performance and outstanding customer/stakeholder value. Write annual individual performance plans and develop progression plans.

Team Accomplishments:

Led Norfolk/Virginia Beach DMA to #1 hotel occupancy recovery market in Top 25 markets during COVID-19 for 13 straight weeks (Source: STR)
Development and execution of an integrated consumer/media experiential activation that generated 81 million press release impressions generated from 257 media placements, 295K people reached via social media, eight percent increase in organic traffic from the previous month to VisitVirginiaBeach.com from the New York DMA and lift in total New York DMA arrivals up from 7.7% to 8.3% year over year.
Supported team innovation and continuous learning efforts through vacation guide design improvements, ultimately saving $2.7M over next 10 years in hard and soft costs while maintaining quality integrity.
Identified need and developed new industry relations training program and staffing plan that serviced more than 2,000 local stakeholder inquiries, created 1,930 active CRM contacts, led 31 training sessions for 300 stakeholders and 915 dedicated hours of stakeholder communications support within 11 months of launching.
Developed city-council approved marketing team restructure plan contributing towards an increased media buy from $3.1M to $7.6M in 24 months. Developed staffing plans to execute restructure in accordance with City of Virginia Beach EOO policies.
Developed and maintained successful relationships with local media outlets, appointed City Council public officials and community organizations such as Virginia Beach Hotel Association, Virginia Beach Restaurant Association, Central Business District Association, Atlantic Avenue Association, Central Business District Association, civic leagues, and other strategic partners to maximize reach and frequency of Virginia Beach tourism advocacy communication efforts.
Lead RFP/procurement process to secure third-party media buying, consumer research, creative and production vendor partners to supplement in-house resources. Managed performance-based contracted advertising agencies to improve year-over-year growth metrics.
Supported city initiatives for diversity and inclusion by launching LGBT tourism brand efforts, creating a dedicated FTE for tourism advocacy public outreach and diversity efforts and establishing partnerships with stakeholder groups like Hampton Roads Pride, Coastal Virginia Tourism Alliance and City of Virginia Beach Minority Business Coordinators. Collaborated with celebrity producer and musician Pharrell Williams’ i am OTHER creative studio to create $4M spring 2020 tourism campaign “We’re Open” to highlight Virginia Beach as an inclusive, welcoming vacation destination.

Performance Highlights:

Norfolk/Virginia Beach DMA leads Top 25 markets nationally in hotel occupancy recovery during COVID-19
Increased unaided destination top-of-mind awareness in key consumer target markets (ranking moved from #13 to #7 from 2016-2018 in global beach vacation destinations Top 15 list)
Reservations on the books up 7-22% year over year (2017 vs. 2018) in six-month pace forecasts every month through March 2019; year over year lodging revenue increases between 3.5% to 5.4%
Increased visitation to Virginia Beach by African American travelers from 12% (2016) to 17% (2018)
Higher ratings of destination familiarity, perceived safety and higher intent to visit in consumer perception study research
20% more conversion actions, with consumers three times more likely to sign up for email newsletter than previous year
Millennial website traffic increase of 35% while decreasing bounce rate by 10%
Directed website redesign efforts for VisitVirginiaBeach.com for improved SEO, international translation, ADA and GDPR compliance, integrated CRM and CMS systems
Launched automated, personalized email marketing program that increased open rate by 12%
Created welcome series email marketing initiative that increased open rate by 29%

Director of Public Relations, Virginia Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau, City of Virginia Beach (2014-2016)

Responsible for local media relations, management of contract out-of-market PR agency and development of annual PR budget, internal employee communications, corporate social responsibility (CSR) and local tourism advocacy public engagement and outreach. Advised department leader on messaging strategies for various written correspondences, annual State of Tourism presentations and media interviews. Developed relationships with regional and national travel news media through desksides and media FAMs to secure ongoing earned media coverage for the destination. Regularly engaged with diverse community groups to build continued support for tourism initiatives.

Created and launched new internal employee communications tactic “CVB Life” blog as a result of employee survey feedback in order to drive improved department engagement.
Managed performance-based contract PR agency ($500K budget) for comprehensive out-of-market public relations media strategy in order to maximize impressions and increase share of voice.
Developed communications Plan of Action & Milestones (POAM) for College Beach Week outreach.
Advised department director on messages and approaches for State of Tourism events and state tourism initiatives; reviewed speeches for continuity of messaging strategy; regularly developed media briefing sheets and press releases.
Developed mid-year reports on communications metrics to city leadership and elected public officials.
Provided coaching and career development opportunities for three staff team members; wrote annual individual performance plans.

Team Accomplishments:

Earned media coverage ad equivalency grew from $7.9M in 2014 to $12.9M in 2015
Launched new integrated digital press room/content channel “The Daily Life” on VisitVirginiaBeach.com that increased time on site from 15 seconds to surpassing 1 minute; decreased bounce rate by 30%

Executive Director, Girls on the Run South Hampton Roads, Norfolk, VA (2012-2014)

About the Program:

Girls on the Run, a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is a physical activity-based positive youth development (PA-PYD) program designed to enhance girls’ social, emotional and physical skills and behaviors to successfully navigate life experiences. The program’s intentional curriculum places an emphasis on developing competence, confidence, connection, character, caring and contribution in young girls through lessons that incorporate running and other physical activities. The life skills curriculum is delivered by caring and competent volunteer coaches who are trained to teach lessons as intended. More than 200+ local councils serve 200,000+ girls nationwide.

Responsibilities:

Developed the South Hampton Roads council’s first five-year strategic plan with a 12-member Board to set overall strategy, vision and goals for the organization.

Developed annual program development and operations budget and staffing plans. Oversaw execution of program operational plan at local level to ensure program integrity.

Created comprehensive integrated marketing communication plans that increased program participant growth by 38%, social media followers by 75%, event registration revenue by 50% and merchandise sales by 300% in 22 months, contributing to unprecedented growth.

Served as media spokesperson for the organization. Conducted new CRM software launch (fall 2013) for more efficient data metrics tracking to Girls on the Run International headquarters in Charlotte, NC.

Implemented crisis plan with contracted public relations agency for Girls on the Run International.

Managed performance-based contract advertising agency to create comprehensive public relations media strategy in order to maximize media outreach.

Worked with large, cross-functional, and geographically-dispersed volunteers, school administration leadership, sponsors, donors, vendors, participants and families throughout southeast Virginia that included a diverse set of demographic backgrounds, experience levels and knowledge in order to meet program scholarship needs.

Operated across geographic locations including Chesapeake, Eastern Shore, Franklin City, Hampton, Isle of Wight, Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Southampton County, Virginia Beach, Williamsburg, York County.

Assessed new geographic markets like Outer Banks and Eastern Shore for potential program expansion; fulfilled strategic expansion goal with addition of Suffolk, VA market via new financial grant partners.

Selected as a “Next Generation Council Collaborative Alliance (CCA) Leader” by Girls on the Run International, June 2014.

Provided coaching and career development opportunities for four staff team members.

Art Show Director, Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, Virginia Beach, VA (2006-2012)

Oversaw all event marketing, advertising, brand management, artist communications and public relations for art festivals including Boardwalk Art Show and Neptune Festival Art & Craft Show. Developed and managed museum’s annual festival and events budget. Developed all event marketing/branding strategies, including national advertising placement and key event sponsorship exploitation. Successes include increasing event merchandise sales by 40%, reception revenue by 44%, beverage sales by 27% and auction sales by 40%.

About the Museum:

The Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art is a non-profit institution which exists to foster awareness, exploration, and understanding of the significant art of our time. Through excellence and diversity in changing exhibitions, special events and educational programming, MOCA stimulates critical thinking and dialogue throughout the Hampton Roads community. MOCA received accreditation from the American Alliance of Museums in 2010.

Responsibilities:

Managed large, strategic events to further the mission of the museum. Developed all Boardwalk Art Show & Festival (estimated attendance: 300,000) operational plans and event marketing/branding strategies, including national advertising placement and key event sponsorship exploitation, helping to secure festival’s first major title sponsorship. Served as media spokesperson for art show.

Oversaw all event marketing, advertising direction, brand management, artist communications and volunteer/board communications.

Developed and managed museum’s annual festival and events budget ($450K).

Organized all exhibit opening special events and created several new special events to drive museum visitation and revenues during shoulder season need periods.

Supervised one employee and 250 volunteers.

Served as point of contact for key stakeholders including national art media outlets, City of Virginia Beach Resort Management and CVB staff, police force, hotel association, local media outlets, 40 Board of Trustees, 300+ artisans, 250+ volunteers and 20 internal staff members.

Team Accomplishments:

Tripled database of artist mailing list and increased revenues by 20% for artist applications; Increased event merchandise sales by 40%, reception revenue by 44%, beverage sales by 27% and auction sales by 40%.

Events Coordinator, Virginia Beach Convention Center, City of Virginia Beach (2004-2006)

Managed 248 contracted events for this public assembly facility as a certified meeting planner (CMP). Provided creative direction and theme implementation for convention center grand opening events. Clients included J & A Racing, Unites States Field Hockey Association, Virginia Arts Festival, Tidewater Builders Association, United States Naval Institute, American Society of Naval Engineers, Hampton Roads Automotive Dealers Association, USA Gymnastics 2005 National Classic, Events Management Group (EMG) and Mid-Atlantic Boat Show.

Provided creative direction and theme implementation for 500,000 square foot convention center grand opening events as member of core planning committee.

Affiliate Relations, The Dave Ramsey Show, Nashville, TN (2002-2004)

Cultivated strong and productive working relationships with contracted broadcast partners as member of Affiliate Relations business unit, which oversees all syndication, affiliate relations and network sales for the nationally syndicated The Dave Ramsey Show. Guided 200+ sales managers and radio promotions teams on successful local market ad sales approaches, contributing towards 62% affiliate growth. Executed a 60-destination national media tour for book release “The Total Money Makeover,” which sold 280,000 units in first 90 days, debuted on the NY & LA TIMES best seller lists, and has sold more than two million units to date.

Revised and amended advertiser spot copy for local radio broadcast; wrote creative copy or national radio broadcast. Performed on-air interviews for local community events. Generated monthly affiliate sales support digital e-newsletter.

Creative Oversight: Internal: Creative direction on sales tools ( i.e. videos, sponsorship ROI, sales scripts, promotional flyers); External: Generated concepts for local market promotional directors on how to enhance exposure of The Dave Ramsey Show in their community for their benefit

Live Event Seminar Coordination (attendance 2,000-5,000): Emcee event; supervised media appearances, radio/sponsor fulfillment, tickets, and promotional products; regulated and monitored radio and sponsorship involvement during events; post-event written correspondence on behalf of Dave Ramsey (personally) and executive communication for The Dave Ramsey Show

Published journalist in national trade magazine Radio Ink, “Sell a Book By Its Cover”