Jon is an award-winning business owner with more than 25 years in the hospitality and event industry.  His forward thinking and unending drive took Travel Zone, a two-person operation in 1983, to one of the largest full service agencies in Utah with over $25 million in sales.  Over the 20 years Jon owned and operated Travel Zone, his skills in designing, developing, and administering national and international events were refined, and he found himself drawn to the incentive group travel and event management market. In 1997 Jon added an inbound Destination Management Company to his business as well as expanding his portfolio by investing in a joint partnership in two hotel properties in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

Jon’s interest in the Olympic movement began in 1984 at the Los Angeles Games and evolved with his support of the Salt Lake City bid for the 1998 and 2002 Winter Games.  As a result of Utah winning the bid for the Salt Lake City Olympics in 2002, Jon and Travel Zone were awarded The Coca-Cola Company’s Global Hospitality Program for the Games.  Jon was an integral part of The Coca-Cola Company’s Global team that welcomed over 3,500 guests from around the world, managing 4 hotels, 70 transportation vehicles, and 200 locally recruited and trained staff to assist in the execution of the program.  His success led to other important partnerships with The Coca-Cola Company including the 2003 and 2004 Sundance Film Festivals, the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, the 2007 World of Coca-Cola Grand Opening, and the 2010 South Africa World Cup. 

After the completion of the Salt Lake City 2002 Olympic Games, Jon sold the retail travel agency portion of the business in order to focus his energy on special events, Olympic programs, and his thriving hotel business in Mexico. In 2006, Jon’s attention was once again peaked when he had the opportunity to work with the International Paralympic Committee on the protocol, VIP and guest services components for the Torino Paralympic Games.  Since catching the fever for the Paralympic movement, Jon has focused his event management and Olympic experience on the Paralympic Games with the creation and development of eVenture zone.

Jon’s drive to exceed his client’s expectations permeates every aspect of his business.  His commitment, honesty, and “get it done attitude” has won him acclaim from clients and peers, and proven him to be a respected leader in the hospitality industry.

 

Cari launched her career into the hospitality industry in 1995 as a travel consultant.  Fresh from Brigham Young University with a B.S. degree in Travel and Tourism, Cari quickly discovered that groups, meetings and incentives were her passion. 

Over the past 15 years Cari has created, managed, and escorted events of various size groups and businesses around the world.  She has also specialized in handling VIP clientele including Bob Wright, Vice Chairman and Executive Officer, General Electric Company and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, NBC Universal.  Additional clients have included JP Morgan Chase, The Sundance Channel, ER Carpenter Company, and The Coca-Cola Company. A few years in the Human Resources sector proved valuable as well when Cari was given the opportunity to be the Human Resources Manager over 200 temporary employees for The Coca-Cola Global Hospitality Program for the Salt Lake City 2002 Olympic Games.

Cari’s ability to easily build a positive repertoire with people of all backgrounds, her talent for quickly mastering technology and her unrelenting attention to detail have proven to be invaluable assets.  Her ultimate goal is to help you create a program unsurpassed in ease of operation and guest experience.   

 

Denise’s unique and varied career, spanning over 20 years in the event industry, began with planning and executing unique, customized group educational travel experiences around the world for university alumni associations. Denise was in charge of designing, planning, marketing, and leading programs on five continents. This was followed by a move into the corporate incentive arena where she was contracted by several companies to plan and produce high level; big budget global media incentive programs both domestically and abroad.

Denise eventually segued her skills into the specialized field of Olympic and World Cup sponsorship, where she planned, managed, and executed VIP corporate sponsor hospitality programs for clients including the United States Postal Service for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, the Eastman Kodak Company for the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics, and The Coca-Cola Company for the Sydney 2000, the Salt Lake City 2002,  and the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, along with the Berlin 2006 and South Africa 2010 World Cup Soccer programs. Denise also served for two years as the Director of Sponsor Services for the Atlanta Organizing Committee, working with all the TOP Worldwide Sponsors on their respective hospitality sponsor components for the 1996 Centennial Olympic Summer Games.

In the latter part of 1996, Denise relocated to Washington DC, the United States Postal Service headquarters, in order to plan, manage, and execute their three year “Celebrate the Century” national campaign and stamp program, the largest marketing and public relations undertaking in the history of the postal service. This unprecedented program entailed executing dozens of blockbuster events across the United States, as well as overseeing a customized educational exhibit train that toured the country for 16 months.

As a principle of eVenture zone, Denise’s professionalism, skills, creative energy, and “hands on” attitude is one of the driving forces behind the company. Her years of expertise in working with high profile clients and corporations brings a very unique perspective to the eVenture zone core team and we think you will experience the highest level of commitment and service from her involvement in your program.