Bill Geist is the President of a firm specializing in strategic planning, governance, convention center development and legislative issues for convention and visitor bureaus, chambers of commerce, economic development organizations and communities. He has provided consulting services to over 100 Destination Marketing Organizations since 1995 and is a popular speaker on customer service, trends and marketing across North America. He also hosts the innovative distance learning audio series DMOU, designed for destination marketing and management professionals. He is the author of "Destination Leadership for Boards" and a contributor to "Fundamentals of Destination Marketing." Prior to forming Zeitgeist Consulting, Geist served as the President/CEO of the Greater Madison (WI) Convention & Visitors Bureau from 1990-1995. During his tenure, he served as lead spokesperson and co-strategist for the successful public referendum fight to build the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Monona Terrace Convention Center. He also succeeded in doubling the Bureau's sales and marketing budget and oversaw the launch of one of the Top 25 Marathons in the nation. Before moving to the Madison CVB, Geist led the Kankakee County (IL) CVB and landed the first multi-year contract ever awarded for the American Power Boat Association's National Outboard Championships. Prior to his CVB work, he held various management and programming positions with broadcast media in the Chicago area. Geist has served as the President of the Wisconsin Association of Convention & Visitors Bureaus and the Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Wisconsin Tourism Federation, Vice-Chair of the Wisconsin Governor's Council on Tourism and a Board member of the Illinois Council of Convention & Visitors Bureaus. Geist holds an Executive MBA from the University of Wisconsin and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Kenyon College. Titles Next Generation Internet Tactics Today's Trends are Tomorrow's Dollars Tourism and Trends The 7 Secrets of Signature Service Getting to "Yes" in a "No" Town (political advocacy) Best Practices in Internet Marketing Marketing on a Shoestring Are You Nuts? Topics Humor, Marketing, Strategic Planning, Customer Service, Politics/patriotism, Future, E-commerce Click topic above to see more speakers on that topic Speaker's Asking Fee Range $5,000 - $7,499 Click on fee range to see more speakers. This is the starting keynote fee range - other programs may be higher. State WI Click on state above to see more speakers from that state. Fees The fee range quoted means the speaker's fee starts somewhere within that range. Note that speaker's fees are subject to change and some speakers may have special fee quotes.