Teachers. Mentors. Guides.
Julia Carcamo
Following the successful launch of Wynn Las Vegas, Julia served as the Vice President of Brand Marketing for Isle of Capri Casinos. Leading the development of a new brand portfolio for the company as well as the reintroduction of the ubiquitous Lady Luck Casino brand and the first farm-to-table casino buffet concept. Julia currently leads a team of marketers as the president of J Carcamo & Associates – developing new brands as well as refining existing ones and providing consulting and complete project management for both strategic and tactical services to a diverse client base. Recognizing a shift in demographics, she has formed espÑOLA, a joint venture matching mainstream marketers with the growing Hispanic market.
Heidi Hamers
Heidi joined the Grand Casinos in 1992 as the Market and Research Analyst in 1992. In 1995, she was promoted to Director of Marketing at a sister property in Louisiana. She consulted for Grand Casinos Mille Lacs and Hinckley from 1998-2001 and rejoined Grand Casinos in 2005, assuming the Vice President of Marketing role. In 2013, she returned home to Grand Casinos as the Corporate Vice President of Marketing. Drawing on more than 28 years of marketing experience, including senior leadership roles with nationally recognized gaming brands like Park Place Entertainment (Ceasers), Harrah’s and Lake’s Entertainment, Heidi has opened three Native American casinos and has led the opening of live table games in Pennsylvania while working for Cannery Casino Resorts. While at Cannery Casino Resorts, she acted as a marketing consult point-person in the revitalization efforts of Jackson Rancheria Resort. Heidi is a graduate of St. Cloud State University in Minnesota and has taken Executive Education classes at Harvard Business School and Carlson School of Business, a division of the University of Minnesota. She has successfully framed new brands and developed brand standards and style guides drafted operating procedures, as well as the advancement of strategic opening and operating plans to include data analytics and management science.
Mary Loftness
Mary Loftness is a 25-year veteran marketing strategist with extensive experience in Customer Relationship Management. Having spent her career driving the measurability of marketing and the need to define and track acceptable return on investment, she understands the need to quickly assess marketing issues and propose solutions which yield both immediate and impressive results. She learned the importance of effective value-based pricing and yield management, working with Radisson and Westin hotels. As Vice President of Relationship Management at Station Casinos, she knew how to combine direct marketing, an effective call center, and the web into a powerful marketing engine to drive both new and repeat customer behavior. She drove the project planning and launch of one of the first, and to this day, most successful multi-property loyalty programs in the industry. Mary’s company Profitable Customers,, has been providing CRM consulting to the gaming industry for more than 15 years.
Vince Manfredi
Meet Vince, a result oriented, collaborative marketing executive with 30+ years of consistently providing profitable solutions for Gaming and Hospitality companies. Manfredi reinvents himself as needs dictate. He has served in senior marketing positions for major gaming corporations, as a persuasive salesman of cutting edge casino marketing systems, as an inventor having co-authored numerous patents, and as a consultant, assisting casinos worldwide to improve profitability of their marketing and loyalty programs. Vince also sits on the advisory board of the California Council on Problem Gambling.
Kaitlin Kubisch Payne
Kaitlin is innovative, results-driven marketing strategist with experience building and leading highly profitable and competitive marketing, advertising and communication campaigns. She currently serves as media manager at the award-winning Spears Group in New Orleans. Her passion is meeting and working with clients to help them find solutions to solve business pain points, while identifying and implementing marketing solutions to increase their bottom line. She has worked with clients as diverse as Zatarain’s, Sanderson Farms, Sazerac and CenturyLink. She had managed digital advertising, geofencing and social media for healthcare, automotive and retail clients, and currently provides a robust suite of marketing solutions to a portfolio of 50+ clients in the Gulf South ranging from medical to retail to casinos. When she is not traveling to the corners of the world, you can find her riding horses or snuggled up in front of a good horror film with her husband Edward and pup Floyd.
Paul Tuennerman
Paul G. Tuennerman, Chief Executive Officer for Dat Dog, brings 40 years of progressive experience in the hospitality industry and a distinguished record of accomplishments in both operations and development, with exceptional skills in navigating dynamic, demanding environments, leading cross-functional teams, while remaining pragmatic and focused. Most recently, Paul served as Senior Vice President of Business Development for Raising Cane’s Restaurants (Plano, Texas), where he led a variety of business development initiatives for this US$1 Billion fast-casual restaurant chain with restaurants across the United States and the Middle East. At Raising Cane’s he distinguished himself for his ability to conceptualize and implement business development plans to expand into non-traditional segments, including colleges, universities, sports & entertainment complexes, casinos, retail centers, and airports. Before that, Paul served as Vice President of Piccadilly Restaurants in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Paul and his wife Ann live in New Orleans.
Sam Wedll
Sam grew up on the Mille Lacs Indian Reservation in northern Minnesota and but has lived in northern California for the past 20 years. He got his start in the casino industry selling rolls of quarters and nickels on the slot floor at Grand Casino Mille Lacs in 1995 and has held numerous positions at different properties from Cage Manager to General Manager. Currently, he serves as the Marketing Manager at Blue Lake Casino Hotel. He enjoys all aspects of marketing tribal casinos and building relationships with casino guests, but most enjoys finding interesting ways to help develop ongoing programs through tribal business enterprises that benefit their community.
Jim White
As president and chief experience officer at Jim White Advantage, Jim brings more than 30 years of experience in hospitality operations across multiple industries and a true passion for treating each customer as his guest. His expertise lies in understanding the nuances of customer service and creating customer experience programs focused on increased visitation and positive word of mouth recommendation. While working in the casino gaming industry, he created a signature customer experience program changing the service culture of the organization and creating a connection between employees and customers. Moving into the healthcare space, Jim spent time with skilled nursing and rehabilitation facilities perfecting the service culture in medical resort type facilities where he is credited with the creation and implementation of NPS-based programs with scores comparable to those at luxury resorts.
Jim, his wife and daughter live in Chicago. When not working, he enjoys traveling and spending time with his friends and family.
“Because no matter how small an act of kindness or generosity or simple positivity you put out into the world, it will make a difference.”
—Wonder Woman