This past week during the annual Ohio Conference on Tourism, I took the oath to lead the Ohio Travel Association as its 46^th president. I am truly honored and humbled to accept the responsibility. I have the advantage of becoming president at a very exciting time for the tourism industry in Ohio. On Monday evening, Chief Mary Cusick with the office of TourismOhio launched its new state branding campaign, “Ohio. find it here.” at the opening night gala event held at the Columbus Hilton Polaris. The brand was received with applause by the nearly 500 hospitality and tourism individuals present as it signifies a new spirit of place that transcends beyond tourism into other facets of all things Ohio. It represents where we work, live, play and stay. The brand is flexible, inclusive and authentic. And now there is a lot of work to accomplish. The Pure Michigan campaign was launched in 2004. It will not happen overnight, but I believe Ohio has the opportunity for similar success. I am very excited to lead the OTA in strengthening Ohio’s fourth-largest industry – the $40 billion economic driver known as tourism.