A futurist, facilitator and strategist, Chris holds a Masters degree in Studies of the Future and has married his tourism, economic development, real estate and and marketing expertise with futures methodologies to help a wide variety of clients envision and create development strategies, plans and brands that shape the future of places around the world. As President of Resonance Consultancy, Chris leads a team that has completed more than 100 visioning, strategy, planning, and branding projects for developers and destinations in more than 30 destinations.

He has been featured in Fast Company magazine and is a frequent commentator on lifestyle and leisure trends for leading publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, The Globe & Mail, Los Angeles Times, The Economist and Worth magazine. In 2013, Chris was recognized as the “Place Branding Thought Leader of the Year” at the World Sense of Place Summit. He designed the World’s Best Cities index, a ranking that analyzes and measures cities based on a unique benchmarking model that blends core statistics with millions of consumer ratings and reviews across 23 categories. The result is a measure of relative “place equity”—attractiveness for talent, investment and tourism—for cities around the world.

Richard has produced more than 50 Strategic Plans for tourism-focused economies (national, state and regional) ranging from China, Hong Kong and Macau to South Carolina, the Former Soviet Union, the Caribbean and Montenegro.

A 25-year travel industry veteran, Richard was Executive Vice President for the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) and played a principal role in shaping and directing the organization, policy agenda, research program, communications and membership services for the organization.

During his 16-year tenure with WTTC, Richard traveled worldwide, consulting and speaking on the topic of travel and tourism economics, policy and advocacy, and produced more than 100 strategy and policy projects for regions such as the Caribbean, the Mercosur and APEC, and countries as diverse as China, Montenegro, Qatar, Indonesia, Australia, Thailand, Namibia and South Africa. In total, Richard has worked in 64 countries and more than 350 cities.

As Executive Vice-President at Resonance, he has led complex tourism consulting projects including master plans for Travel Portland, scenario planning and forecasting for Tourism Vancouver, destination assessments for the Bermuda Tourism Authority and organizational strategic planning with the Aruba Tourism Authority.

For the past three decades, Dianna has honed her storytelling skills in print, television, radio, video and across social media as a journalist, advertising creative director, writer and consultant. Her keen curiosity and singular prose style has found its way into every medium.

Her storytelling career began in journalism in Vancouver, British Columbia, and Montréal, where she became editor-in-chief of the city magazine there, then founded MTL, a bilingual lifestyle publication. Her knowledge of and passion for the city landed her at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation—where she worked as a columnist, writing and performing weekly radio scripts on a wide range of cultural subjects—and on camera at CTV, a national television broadcaster.

As Vice President, Storytelling, of Resonance Consultancy, she has helped organizations and destinations tell the stories that define sense of place, aid economic development, articulate future scenarios in tourism, engage community, and market urban neighborhoods, luxury resorts, regions and developing countries. Her work on projects for tourism marketing organizations, complex urban developments and destinations helps humanize data, clarify positions and engage prospects.

An expert in real estate and economic development research and strategy, marketing and place branding, Steven has advised cities, universities, real estate developers, nonprofit organizations, Fortune 500 companies, and major media outlets across the globe.

As Vice President, Strategy, at Resonance, Steven leads the economic development practice and works with real estate developers to build more inclusive, creative communities. He is also the director of the NYU Schack Institute of Real Estate Urban Lab, and a clinical professor at New York University.

Earlier in his career, Steven was a vice president and member of the senior management team for the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC), a national research organization founded by Harvard Business School professor Michael Porter to encourage private-sector investment into distressed urban areas in the U.S. He was also the founding vice president for business attraction and research for Greater Portland, Inc. (GPI), a regional economic development organization for the Portland – Vancouver metropolitan region.

Steven’s research has been featured in The New York Times, Boston Globe, Washington Post, The Atlantic’s CityLab, Governing, Dallas Morning News, and many others.

Tom is an award-winning journalist and marketer with a proven record of developing multi-platform, editorially driven marketing strategies that engage audiences and infuse brand communication with a sense of purpose and utility.

He leads Resonance Consultancy’s marketing, communications and thought-leadership content to drive new business, client retention, audience engagement, and brand influence.

Tom’s experience in the travel and tourism industry ranges from launching an adventure travel outfitter in South America with a global clientele, to leading WestJet Airlines’ inflight magazine and destination content, for which he received ‘Editor of the Year’ honors in 2010. At Rogers Media, Tom led the Marketing Group and Marketing Magazine, Canada’s largest advertising, PR and media resource. As Publisher and GM of Vancouver magazine and Western Living, Tom transitioned legacy brands struggling with online engagement and revenue into lean, daily audience-first resources focused on vital journalism, creative services and event activation.

His writing and insights about marketing, tourism and place branding have appeared in The New York Times, Entrepreneur, The Globe and Mail, and many other outlets.

A global marketing leader, Scott has worked across startup and established organizations to craft marketing and brand initiatives that drive awareness, engagement and advocacy. From Russian TV advertising, to social media in Latin America, to launching products simultaneously around the globe, Scott’s experience infuses creative intuition with real-world practicality.  

As Vice President, Marketing Strategy, at Resonance, Scott leads the destination marketing practice and works alongside DMOs, economic development and regional marketing teams to craft integrated and sustainable promotion strategies. Drawing on decades of insight, he tailors the approach and solutions for each project to customize marketing strategies as unique as each destination.  

Prior to Resonance, Scott was a Partner and General Manager at Microsoft where he launched the world’s first holographic computer, reimagined the future of entertainment on Xbox and created worldwide advertising for Nokia. Through his business and research consultancies, he has advised clients across numerous industries how to develop robust brands and sustainable marketing initiatives. Scott’s background in omnichannel marketing, consumer research, brand development and design are central to his holistic approach to destination marketing and placemaking. 

With an academic background spanning International Affairs, Executive Management and Hospitality Marketing, Scott continues to advise and lecture on international marketing and brand strategy. He holds a US patent on brand design, serves as a startup advisor and consults students, companies, and boards on effective strategies for growth.