Kirk named 2018 KTIA emerging leader

Dave Kirk, destination management director for the Owensboro-Daviess County Convention & Visitors Bureau, was named 2018 Emerging Leader by the Kentucky Travel Industry Association at its conference Wednesday at the Owensboro Convention Center.

Kirk, public information officer for Owensboro Public Schools from 2012 through 2017, began his new job in January.

He has been in charge of the CVB’s social media campaign that has seen visits to the website grow more than 50 percent and Facebook likes double.

“Through strategic digital marketing like social media, we want to give consumers a reason to come back to Owensboro while at the same time attracting new customers to this incredible city,” Kirk said when he was hired.

Kirk, an Owensboro native, graduated from the University of Kentucky in 2010 with a degree in journalism and communications.

He worked for television stations in Tennessee and Evansville before moving to the city school system in 2012.

Kirk serves as the chair-man of Chamber Young Professionals.

He was voted “young professional of the year” by the CYP in 2016 and was a member of the Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce’s 2017 “40 Under 40” class.

About 350 travel professional from across the state are attending.

Messenger-Inquirer article written by Keith Lawrence, 270-691-7301, [email protected]