Nicole Mahoney started Break The Ice Media in 2009 in response to the evolving needs of small- to medium-sized businesses, in particular, the rise of social media. Break The Ice Media is a boutique marketing and communications firm with a focus on travel, tourism, food, wine, and hospitality. As CEO, Nicole is responsible for working with clients to understand their marketing needs, develop strategic marketing plans and execute those plans. She is also responsible for building a team that can deliver.
Break The Ice Media specializes in collaborations that leverage resources of multiple partners for the creation of successful marketing programs within the travel and hospitality industry. Break The Ice Media views these programs as “coop-etition” where partners cooperate with their competition to create a program that is larger than one they can execute alone. Building these programs requires a leader who is level-headed, an effective listener, with an ability to move a group towards consensus in order to move forward.
Nicole received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Rochester Institute of Technology and a Master of Arts in Communications from The College at Brockport, SUNY.
Nicole loves the Finger Lakes region of New York State where she was born and raised. She is raising 4 daughters with her husband, John.
Jennifer Ackerson is President and Founder of ALON Marketing Group, a respected tourism sales and marketing consulting company. She specializes in effective strategic development for growing travel and tourism supplier businesses with a focus on B2B and travel-trade client relationship building.
Jennifer is a 20-year veteran of the Travel & Tourism industry with experience in the hotel, destinations, attractions and tours, transportation, restaurant, and travel buyer sectors. Jennifer has an excellent understanding of the tourism and visitor dynamic. Her distinctions include an unparalleled assimilation into the domestic and international buyer/seller relationship, which results in a high level of successful strategic business development activity. Her past work experience includes working for Marriott Hotels, Long Island Convention and Visitors Bureau, Riese Restaurants, New York Apple Tours, Skyline Multimedia Entertainment, CitySights NY, and most recently, 15+ years of independent tourism consultation.
Glenn Clark is the president and creative director of Clark CSM Marketing & Communications. He has worked as a Designer and Creative Director alongside world-class talent at agencies such as Partners + Napier in Rochester and Eric Mower & Associates in Syracuse prior to founding an award-winning agency. His vision for Clark CSM has always been to create amazing work with an attentiveness to a wide-array of clients while specializing in tourism and destination marketing. His clients will agree, Glenn is a blast to work with and usually the most enthusiastic person in the room. Even better, he'll never turn down an invite to grab a beer.
For Leah Mueller, traveling is more than a job -- it’s her passion. After earning a degree in Travel and Tourism Management from Niagara University, she went on to study abroad before starting her career. Leah has broad and varied expertise in the hotel, attraction, restaurant, and private company sector. She has been with Visit Buffalo Niagara for over 15 years and was a key partner in expanding their international appeal.