TravelCon is different.
Unlike many other travel blogging conferences, our primary goal is to help people learn the skills needed to develop a profitable and sustainable career in the travel industry. We help our attendees:
- Improve their craft in the four major areas of travel: video, photography, writing, and blogging.
- Learn what’s hot, what works, and what’s new in the industry.
- Keep current on the best practices in digital travel publishing.
- Learn about new products and services in the industry.
- Meet destinations and travel brands.
- Network with experts outside the travel industry.
- Learn from experts outside the travel industry.
- Make connections with other travel lovers.
- Have a ton of fun.
Our goal at TravelCon is to create an environment that facilitates networking between experts inside and outside of the travel industry. We want our attendees to learn from everyone’s victories, failures, and strategies so they succeed quicker than their competition.
The travel media landscape is constantly changing. TravelCon is here to teach you about what’s working right now, timeless business practices, and the skills you need to succeed long-term. We welcome new and experienced travel media professionals! Here are just a few things you can expect.
An Emphasis on Developing Your Business Skills – You’ll learn things like how to work with brands, the art of negotiating a deal, how to manage your website, and the ins and outs of social media.
Small Group Photography/Writing Workshops – Spend some time in a small group setting with industry experts as you hone your writing and/or photography skills.
How to Navigate the Ever-Changing Blogging Landscape – Hear from well-known bloggers and leaders on a variety of topics such as solo female travel, LGBT travel, new social media practices, and so much more.
How to Monetize Your Work – An in-depth look at newsletter and email marketing, community building, copywriting, and all the tools you need to make a career out of blogging, even if you’ve been blogging for years!
If you are interested in learning how to succeed in the travel industry, learn new skills, meet amazing people, brands, and tourism boards, just have some serious fun, put TravelCon on your list of must attend conferences!
About the Team
Matt Kepnes – Founder
Matt Kepnes, otherwise known as Nomadic Matt, is the authority on cost-conscious travel. An intrepid globetrotter, blogger, and author of How to Travel the World on $50 a Day: Travel Cheaper, Longer, Smarter, Matt and his money-saving travel secrets have been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Time, The Huffington Post, The Guardian, National Geographic, and countless other publications, and on CNN and the BBC.
First launched in 2008 as a means of cataloging his personal travel experiences, Matt’s website, NomadicMatt.com, has evolved into a valuable trip-planning tool for budding and savvy travelers, alike. An online arsenal of Matt’s practical travel tips — from how to score cheap flights and accommodations with frequent-flyer miles and credit card points, to how to frugally navigate more than 90 far-reaching destinations across the globe by finding cheap local eats and free activities — Matt educates consumers about how to live their travel dreams without breaking the bank, reaching over 1.2 million readers a month.
When he’s not trekking the globe in search of new money-saving secrets, Matt can be found exploring New York City and Austin.
Jessica Parker – Sponsor Coordinator
Jessica Parker is a public relations and marketing expert, specializing in travel and hospitality. Over the course of her 10 years in New York City, she has worked for top brands such as Singapore Airlines, Expedia, The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, IHG, and Hilton Luxury Brands. She worked in-house as Director of Marketing at Denihan Hospitality managing two New York City boutique hotels and Iron Chef restaurant The National, before most recently, going on to consult for the last two years for brands like Destination BC, American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA), Kenya Airways, Tohoku, Japan, Trafalgar, Kind Traveler, and many others. As the key sponsor coordinator and industry expert for TravelCon, she hopes to bring together the brightest minds under one roof, each year and continue to elevate our industry overall by sharing best practices.
From press launches to influencer media trips, Jessica has secured great coverage for her clients. She has built an amazing media and industry network, and now heads up the largest travel community group in NYC called Travel Massive NYC and manages Travel Massive North America. Travel Massive provides unique branding events (often sold out!) by and for the travel industry. As a regular travel event planner, she finds in-person events make true long-term relationships and finds TravelCon to be a cornerstone event for the digital media space for travel this point forward.