Archive: Business & Technology

Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce President Jean McPheeters announced the appointment of Bruce Stoff as director of the Ithaca/Tompkins County Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Stoff, a six year veteran of the CVB, was the organization’s Marketing Communications Manager from 2006 to 2012. He has served as interim director since July.

“We’re thrilled to take 'interim' out of his title and have Bruce on board as permanent CVB director,” McPheeters said. “He has the unique combination of experience, vision and leadership necessary to guide the CVB, continue its success and promote this community as a remarkable travel destination.”

Stoff’s hiring follows a four-month national search that attracted applicants from five states. His knowledge of the community, mastery of tourism marketing and prior success at the CVB made him the top choice, said Richard Adie, search committee member and chair of the Tompkins County Strategic Tourism Planning Board.

“Those of us who have worked with Bruce over the years have the utmost confidence in his understanding of our community, his skill in promoting it and his commitment to advancing the strategic goals of our County Tourism Program,” Adie said. “There were several highly qualified candidates and we chose the best. We have in Bruce a tourism leader who has the right stuff to take us to the next level.”

Stoff joined the CVB in 2006 and made an immediate impact with a PR campaign promoting Ithaca as the hometown of the ice cream sundae. The multiyear effort yielded international news coverage and reached a global audience in excess of 50 million. He later spearheaded the Winter Recess teachers festival which brings more than 5,000 educators and family members to town each February.

Prior to the CVB, Stoff spent 20 years in media and marketing, working for ABC News, Gannet Newspapers, New York Times Magazines and Times Mirror Magazines, among others. He covered destination travel for “SKI,” adventure sports for “Outside,” baseball for “Sports Illustrated” and marketing for the “New York Times.” As a brand marketing professional, he worked for Garrity Communications in Ithaca and numerous clients including General Foods, Copper Mountain Resort, Crowley Foods, Heluva Good, Ithaca College and Cornell University.

“My career took me from coast to coast and through a half-dozen cities before I settled in Ithaca to raise my family,” Stoff said. “I’ve been here 14 years now, and I’m still surprised by all the area has to offer. I can’t think of a better place to live, or a better job than telling the world about it. I look forward to expanding the tourism program and increasing the benefits it brings to everyone who works, lives and plays here.”

The Ithaca/Tompkins CVB is the county’s official tourism promotion agency. It is a division of the Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce and funded by room tax revenue collected as part of the Tompkins County Tourism Program. Stoff is the CVB’s fifth director. He takes the reins from Fred Bonn who left the post in July to become regional director of the New York State Parks.

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