Experience and Clients

Jeanne Sullivan counsels clients with sound strategy and creativity, drawing on more than 20 years of extensive experience in a broad range of public relations, marketing, coaching and communications services, including crisis communications. Current consulting clients include Visit California (where for nearly two years she served as Acting Director of Communications and now does ongoing consulting, team building, public affairs and writing projects), San Jose Convention & Visitors Bureau/Team San Jose (now handles meeting trade PR), Wine Institute (in association with Malm Communications) and San Luis Obispo County Visitors and Conference Bureau (in association with Black Ink PR). Recent project clients include Doubletree Grand Key West, Riu Hotels & Resorts (in association with Watkins PR), Development Counsellors International (DCI) PR Agency in New York (for clients such as Chile Tourism), Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau, Treister Murray PR Agency, Miami Beach Marriott Oceanfront, etc. During the past four years in California Sullivan has worked with international media and PR agencies from US, Canada, Asia, Europe, South America and Australia.

For nearly 10 years, Sullivan headed up of one of the most dynamic and impactful destination public relations departments in the U.S. During her 13-year tenure at the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau (GMCVB), the official marketing agency for Miami, she played a key role in re-branding one of the hottest consumer destination brands in the world. While at the GMCVB Sullivan:

re-built and coached a team of global public relations and marketing staff;
leveraged an annual $800K budget into $40 million in publicity;
achieved with her team 575 million impressions in global TV, radio, print and internet media coverage;
handled crisis management for various issues, including crime, natural disasters, social conflict, etc.;
conducted media training for destination spokespeople, senior/junior staff and business/industry partners;
did extensive speech writing;
handled promotion and collateral development;
oversaw corporate/internal communications and government relations;
conducted team building;
developed website content;
produced an industry renowned weekly President’s newsletter; and
Oversaw media management for major events.

Prior to joining the GMCVB, Sullivan built and ran the marketing and communications department at the Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce, handling internal/external communications, writing releases, conducting news conferences as well as researching, writing, designing and selling/creating advertising for a self-sustaining monthly membership newsletter and direct mail program. She promoted networking events and workshops, as well as press conferences. Before the Chamber, Sullivan worked as a PR account executive at boutique agency Marketing Ink, Inc., handling clients from hospitality and real estate to automotive and high tech. She also worked in public affairs at the University of Florida.

Sullivan has become a trusted resource for major media such as "Good Morning America", BBC, "CBS Early Show", "Despierta America", Travel Channel, Travel + Leisure, New York Post, and Wall Street Journal. See her recent article about California on the Today Show website. She is an active member of the U.S. Travel Association's Communications Council, an intimate group of national industry PR experts. She also belongs to the Society of American Travel Writers, travel's most trusted voices, as well as the Bay Area Travel Writers, PR Roundtable, Public Relations Society of America and Coachville.

She is a regular speaker on tourism PR and contributed to the first-ever "how to" book on travel PR, Travel and Tourism Public Relations: An Introductory Guide for Hospitality Managers (Published by Butterworth-Heinemann on October 13, 2005).