Meet Christina, Chapter Leader of San Francisco

This week in our Leader of the Pack series, we meet chapter leader Christina Leigh Morgan from San Francisco Travel Massive. Since 2009, Christina’s managed digital marketing and PR efforts for travel brands. Recently Christina quit her life in the corporate world to take her first big trip. She started blogging at Currently Exploring and consulting, and never looked back. Her response to the experience: “It was the best (and most challenging) decision I’ve made yet!”

Photo Credit: Currently Exploring

How did you first get involved with Travel Massive?

When I got back to San Francisco after my first-ever “big adventure,” I did what any newly minted blogger and consultant would do — dove deep into the networking scene! I needed to completely rebuild my professional network from scratch… again. Of the dozens of events I went to around the Bay, Travel Massive stood out. Erika and I grabbed coffee one day, she mentioned needing help with the chapter, and I was in!

What motivates you to be part of Travel Massive?

The community is amazing. It’s as simple as that. The people I’ve connected with at Travel Massive actually wanted to, well, connect. To talk about each other’s businesses, travel experiences, personal lives… to find overlaps and create meaningful synergies. It wasn’t just a place for drinks after work, but it wasn’t a pushy sales lead group either. It was a genuine group of people who wanted to help move each other and the industry forward, laughing all the way.

Who attends your events?

Oh man, we have it all! You’d think we’d be really over-run by startups, but we have involvement from the local tourism board, major booking companies, writers, bloggers, photographers, lots of awesome tour operators (local and international), consultants like me and people who work in all sorts of operational roles. It’s such a mixed bag, and there’s always a solid mix of new people and vets. You never know who you’re going to meet!

Do you do anything unique at your meet-ups?

This chapter just celebrated 5 years (woot woot!), so we’re lucky to get sponsors with relative ease. We like to loop them into the engagement activities. For example, Visit Oakland sponsored an event so we had attendees write their favorite East Bay spot on name tags as a conversation opener.

If you’re a newer chapter, don’t hesitate to ask for sponsors! The Travel Massive community is a global name even if it isn’t known in your city yet, and there are brands who would love to reach your attendees. The Chapter Leader Resources have info on how to get started.

How has Travel Massive helped you professionally?

Is it safe to say that my professional travel network kind of is Travel Massive. Anyone in the industry I didn’t meet through TM, I’ve brought to an event or at least told about it! I’ve picked up a few projects and literally hundreds of valuable contacts/opportunities for my blog. Hotel partners, tour operator partners, introductions to tourism boards, other bloggers to learn from, press invites, the list is infinite.