Profile
From Arizona to the Windy City
NEW CEO AT CHOOSE CHICAGO, KRISTEN REYNOLDS SHARES SOME OF HER BIG PLANS FOR THE CITY’ S CONFERENCING AGENDA
Kristen Reynolds
K risten Reynolds has had quite
the journey to reach the top of one of America ' s most influential destination marketing organisations. As the new CEO and president of Choose Chicago, she’ s taken the helm promoting a city that hosts citywide conferences every single day – a pace that would challenge even the most seasoned tourism professional.
A career built on community connections Reynolds’ path to Chicago began at Arizona State University’ s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism, but like many in the tourism industry, she“ kind of fell into tourism at the state tourism office”. What followed was a methodical climb through various sectors of the industry – from state tourism to luxury resort management, and eventually to lobbying for Arizona ' s tourism industry. Reynolds then made a bold crosscountry leap to Long Island, New York.
During her decade there as CEO of Long Island Tourism, she rebranded the organisation and destination, doubled the budget, and secured funding for the region’ s first conference centre.
But it was Chicago that represents the ultimate career milestone. The decision was also personal – her husband grew up in Chicago’ s suburbs.
Stepping up to the big leagues Moving from Long Island to Chicago represents a significant step up in scale and complexity. Chicago boasts the largest convention centre in North America, along with a much bigger budget, staff, and operational footprint.“ It’ s going to be a challenge, but I’ m up for the challenge,” Reynolds says with characteristic confidence.
Her first few months have been intense, coinciding with major industry events( like the US travel industry’ s IPW international marketplace).“ It has been wild, but in the best way,” she reflects.
Political and strategy skills Chicago is famously a very political city made up of 77 different neighbourhoods, each with unique character. This mirrors her Long Island experience, where she navigated“ two separate counties and 119 different towns, villages and hamlets” with 120 Chambers of Commerce.
“ I can bring that kind of integrated community communication strategy to this destination, so that everybody is working together,” she says.
Reynolds is positioning Choose Chicago as a leader in digital innovation. On Long Island, she built 11 social media channels reaching over 10 million people, plus a weekly podcast and YouTube show.“ You should be everywhere where people are downloading and consuming content,” she says.
But her approach goes deeper than marketing campaigns. Reynolds emphasises data-driven strategy and long-term sustainability. Her lobbying background has made her acutely aware of potential organisational vulnerabilities and likes to prioritise compliance and organisational protection.
Reynolds sees Chicago’ s authenticity as its greatest asset.“ Chicago is a community. That’ s the difference. We’ re a deep, rooted community with an incredible history, and the people are so friendly.”
The city ' s central location provides obvious logistical advantages and, Reynolds emphasises it is a business community rather than a tourism destination.
The road ahead With Chicago hosting citywide conferences daily – a constant cycle of‘ move in and move out’ – Reynolds has inherited an organisation that operates at an impressive pace, but she’ s clear about the evolution ahead.“ There’ s probably a lot that I ' m going to change,” she says, clearly keen to leverage the city’ s natural advantages while embracing the digital transformation that modern business events demand. n
ISSUE 138 / CONFERENCE & MEETINGS WORLD / 53