Our People

Rodney Payne
Chief Executive Officer

Rodney has been involved in tourism marketing through social media since 2005. As the founder and CEO of Think! he is responsible for setting the vision and driving the overall development of the company.

Rodney earned a Bachelor in Commerce (Management/Marketing) and in Law with Honors. Rodney focused on Intellectual Property law and was awarded a scholarship to study International Law and Environmental Law at The University of Oregon.

Ben Vadasz
Chief Relationship Officer &
Director of Business Development

Ben has extensive marketing experience in Australia, the United States & Canada. Ben joins Think! from a sales and marketing role with one of the largest tour operators in the world. Ben’s focus is on building strategic relationships and business development.

He earned a Bachelor of Technology and a Bachelor of Business & Economics (International Marketing).

William Bakker
Chief Strategist & Partner

William has been a key member of British Columbia’s tourism field for over 10 years and is considered a leader in the world of digital destination marketing.

William created the digital strategy for Tourism British Columiba related to the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games. His opinions on the direction of social media marketing in the tourism industry are widely respected globally. William is a well-recognized keynote speaker and is invited to speak at a wide variety of tourism conferences worldwide.

Holly Cuny
Chief Implementer & Magic 8ball

Holly built her first website in 1995 and hasn’t been offline since. She has been developing digital strategies and implementing online communication specifically for the tourism industry for the past five years, working for Think! and Tourism British Columbia in that time.

Her expertise is strategies for approaching international markets and diverse cultures, gained from jobs in Europe and North America at multinational corporations, publishing companies and start-ups. Having worn nearly every hat in the online world over the past 18 years, she’s likely to have an answer for most challenges, or at least knows where to find one.

See the teams in: Amsterdam | Detroit | Sydney | Vancouver

  In Amsterdam

Isabel Mosk
Strategist

Responsibilities: strategy consultation for clients, business development

Isabel leads our office in the Netherlands. She joins us from the Netherlands’ Board of Tourism and Conventions (NBTC) where she started in 2007 as a marketing consultant. In 2009, she made the jump to being an online consultant and started focusing on social media, online campaigns, trends and development.

While at the NBTC, she established the Innovatielab – a joint initiative between the NBTC, HSMAI Netherlands and NHTV Breda University.

Steven de Jong
Community Manager & Client Services Manager

Responsibilities: community management, client services management, project implementation

Steven is our Community Manager and Client Services Manager in Amsterdam. He gained experience in destination marketing working as a web editor at the Netherlands Board of Tourism and Conventions and travelling the world his whole life.

Steven holds a Masters in New Media & Digital Culture at the University of Utrecht and degrees in Journalism and Marketing Communication. In his spare time he wrote a book with life lessons from successful Dutch women and donated the benefits to charity. As a master of words, Steven is a valuable asset to any project.

Victoria Pearce
International Business Development Manager

Responsibilities: business development

Tori is our International Business Development Manager, based in Amsterdam but travelling the world to meet with prospective and existing clients. She was with TripAdvisor for five years as senior account manager looking after display and sponsorship sales with DMOs internationally.

She has spoken at tourism industry conferences in many international destinations, including Croatia, South Africa, Estonia, Netherlands, Czech Republic, Kenya, Poland and Ireland. Tori has also worked in publishing, and she holds a degree in Drama and Theatre Studies.

  In Detroit

Brian V. Matson
Strategist

Responsibilities: strategy consultation for clients, client services management, project implementation

Brian is an 8-year veteran of the travel and tourism industry and has a solid background working on various capacities and departments of DMO’s. He is a well-recognized presenter at national conferences and has a deep passion for technology and authentic experiences. Brian was formerly the Director of Marketing at the Fargo-Moorhead CVB and launched the award-winning “Woodchipper in Fargo” campaign.

David Serino
Strategist and Educator

Responsibilities: strategy consultation for clients, business development

Dave leads our office in the United States. He developed “How Social is Your DMO?” a tourism focused social media ranking systems. He has presented at more than 85 travel industry conferences. He launched the Social Media in the Tourism Industry Symposium (#SoMeT). Dave is also a featured presenter in the Certified Destination Management Executive Program [CDME] sponsored by DMAI.

Sara Kate Raymond
Community Manager

Responsibilities: community management

Before joining Think!, Sara worked closely with Tourism Australia’s youth campaigns, social media, content development, and press trips out of their Americas/Los Angeles office. Always a history buff, she started out in the travel industry as a tour guide of Boston’s historic sites before returning to her home state of California.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism with an archaeology minor from Boston University and also gained international experience while studying abroad in three countries.

  In Sydney

Holly Galbraith
Strategist

Responsibilities: strategy consultation for clients, business development

Holly heads up the Australia Think! office based out of Sydney. Her experience in Australia’s tourism and hospitality industries spans over 15 years with experience in both business operations as well as marketing strategy and implementation. She started #TourismTweetup in 2011, a monthly meet up for those working with social media in the tourism industry.

Katie Shriner
Community Manager

Responsibilities: community management, client services management, project implementation

Katie has been creating content across multiple platforms for the past seven years. As a producer, she has developed and implemented social media and online strategies for the health, lifestyle and entertainment industry. Her writing, design, art and photography work have been published internationally. She holds a degree in Media and Communications from Adelaide University.

  In Vancouver

Aaron ‘Cuddles’ Nissen
Strategist and Problem Solver

Responsibilities: strategy consultation for clients, business development

Aaron is a digital native, who in his 11 years of experience, has worked on just about every kind of web project imaginable. Formerly the Director of e-Strategies for Travel Alberta, he managed an annual budget of $3.8 million. He served 3 years on advisory committees for Canada e-Connect and Online Revealed Canada.

As part of Travel Alberta’s Management Committee, Aaron shared responsibility for setting the organizational strategy. He was responsible for building digital strategies that considered both internal and external stakeholders. Aaron has extensive experience working with large DMOs, governments and consortia partnerships.

Bob Pember
International Sales Coordinator

Responsibilities: business development

Bob, a Vancouver native, joined Think! in 2011. Before being part of the management team for one of downtown’s busiest restaurants, he completed his BA at the University of British Columbia. Having a keen interest in marketing and tourism, Bob coordinates sales across Think!’s international offices. He is responsible for a consistent approach in relationship development with our clients.

Bob sees working at Think! as an opportunity to experience a rare success: high productivity while having a blast. No day is a chore when working with motivated people who share the same sense of humour and ambition.

Dustin Bodnaryk
Strategist

Responsibilities: strategy consultation for clients, community management

Dustin has been involved in the tourism industry since 2001 and has worked in various capacities — including marketing, stakeholder relations, destination development and visitor services — within DMOs, most recently in Northern British Columbia. As part of Think!, Dustin specializes in community management and content strategy.

Dustin earned a Bachelor of Tourism Management from Vancouver Island University and is currently working towards a Masters in Tourism Management in Destination Marketing from Royal Roads University.

Helen De Faye
Client Services Manager

Responsibilities: client services management, project implementation

Helen brings a diverse range of experience from the tourism industry to the team and has a passion that is reflected in our customer service.

Helen is responsible for our internal processes, supporting customer service and business development.

She earned a Bachelor of Commerce (Management/Marketing) with an international focus from the University of Victoria.

Karen Brackett
Client Services Manager

Responsibilities: client services management, project implementation

Karen is a seasoned project manager with almost 10 years’ experience in digital agencies. She is the primary point of contact for clients at Think! and works alongside our clients at every turn to ensure all campaigns are executed flawlessly, on time and on budget. Karen studied communications at Camosun College and has translated her organization and problem-solving skills into a client service methodology that is apparent in every project she manages.

Mikala Taylor
Content Strategist

Responsibilities: strategy consultation for clients, community management

Mikala is a content strategist, editor, writer and photographer with 12 years of online content, social media and community management experience, and 20 years of journalism experience. Before joining Think!, Mikala managed content and social media strategies for Tourism BC, co-managed 10 editors and 450 writers at a general interest website and was an interactive producer for a TV channel in London, England. As a writer, editor and photographer, Mikala’s work has been published internationally in print and online. She is also the creator of irreverent music website BackstageRider.com.

Paul Cubbon
Training Designer and e-Marketing Consultant

Responsibilities: strategy consultation

Paul is an instructor in the Sauder School of Business whose specializations include eMarketing. He currently teaches in undergraduate, MBA and executive programs and has been a member of the full-time faculty since 2005. Paul has designed a large number of eMarketing courses since 2000, and is a pioneer in his use of different approaches to engage learners more effectively.

Paul has worked across a variety of industries and brings a wealth of real world experience to his courses. Over the last 10 years, he has trained well over a thousand people in internet marketing, and his students continue to be sought after by employers. Paul holds a B.A. Honours degree from Oxford University, and an MBA from Simon Fraser University, BC, Canada.

Phil Moad
Community Manager

Responsibilities: community management, project implementation

Growing up, Phil traveled to a small town in Mexico each winter with his family. This gave him a very different education than was offered at the time, which was almost entirely earned through distance learning, and online education.

Being taught through distance learning he found his passion for the internet and online trends very early on. This passion lead him to the New Media Design and web development program at BCIT, where he easily decided he wanted to specialize in Social Media and online trends.

Robyn Hanson
Senior Community Manager

Responsibilities: community management

Robyn has been an active participant and frequent contributor to online travel communities since 1998. She has been one of the most active members on TripAdvisor since 2005, posting over 3500 times and has since been awarded their Destination Expert designation. She is a recognized expert on social media use for tourism operators and has been invited to speak at several conferences.

Robyn has worked for Tourism Vancouver, West Trek Tours, and Vancouver Whale Watch and freelances as a photographer in her spare time. Robyn earned a B.A. in Geography from the University of British Columbia.

Thomas Sprangers
Client Services Manager

Responsibilities: client services management, project implementation

Thomas has worked in nearly every marketing capacity on both the client and agency sides. He managed big governmental campaigns at the Ministry of Health and worked as a Creative Strategist & Project Manager at zootz/DPI, one of The Netherlands’ leading digital visualizing companies. Thomas holds a bachelor’s degree in Communications and has a creative and strategic approach to solving problems.

At Think!, Thomas dedicates those qualities to providing Think!’s clients with energetic, enthusiastic and spot on client services. All with a big smile!