DCI Names New Director of Strategic Partnership and Events

DCI is excited to announce that Laura Cyrille is stepping into the role Director of Strategic Partnerships and Events for the agency. This new role will advance the agency’s storytelling in exciting ways for clients around the world.

As PR evolves, strategic partnerships play a crucial role in advancing placemaking efforts. While place brands continue to develop social media strategies and engage with AI, they also need to look beyond their traditional partners. Adapting to the new realities of how consumers operate and make decisions is vital to staying ahead of the curve.

A fresh approach to PR through strategic partnerships will create new narratives that amplify reach, add credibility, and enhance storytelling potential for a place. At DCI, that’s our main goal for every city, state, region, or country we represent. This new role will enhance our agency’s ability to support our client work in creative and impactful ways.

Strategic partnerships allow DMOs to meet potential travelers where they are but allows these same travelers to meet the DMO in unexpected places. Laura already has ample experience bridging brands through partnerships in this way. She built partnerships between beauty brands and destinations, bringing Fenty Beauty, Ulta, and JetBlue to support Barbados during Caribbean Tourism Week in NYC. By mixing beauty and travel, she helped Barbados tap into a fresh audience.

For Explore Western Mass, Laura organized a partnership with the Black Travel Alliance to host a Creators Weekend to connect with diverse audiences. The campaign reached more than 99,000 impressions with more than 2.7 million impressions through influencer content, helping reinforce Western Mass as a welcoming, inclusive destination for all travelers.

Furthermore, she forged partnerships between Visit Florida and wedding planning site The Knot, and organized itineraries for Explore Western Mass on planning website Pack Up & Go.

Another goal of strategic partnerships is to build immersive experiences for media, to create an engaging launchpad for storytelling. On behalf of VisitPA, Laura organized an interactive media event at New York City golf course Swingers NoMad, with custom cocktails and VisitPA branded giveaways. The event attracted media from AFAR, CNN, and The Sherri Show among the RSVPs, allowing Pennsylvania to share its travel messages in a unique, memorable way. 

Laura’s new role supports more than tourism efforts. As Director of Strategic Partnerships and Events, she will also generate PR opportunities for talent attraction goals. By thinking outside of traditional travel partnerships, DCI wants clients to understand how creative synergy can help showcase a destination as a place to live, not just visit.

Destinations understand the value of working with local partners in the hospitality sector, but a creative partnership strategy takes it one step further. It could be a partnership between a region and a moving company like Mayflower or U-Haul that helps drive messaging about moving to that region. A collaboration with Coursera or Udemy can help a city that’s looking to promote its lifelong learning potential to attract new talent. 

A destination brand could even build a relationship with a company like Petco or Chewy to highlight how a city is dog-friendly and full of green recreational spaces. The right strategic partnership enhances a brand’s reputation and makes it more attractive for top talent—and for a dog-owner choosing between two cities, this type of partnership could make all the difference. 

The exciting part about Laura’s new role as Director of Strategic Partnerships and Events is the endless potential. Any destination can generate a host of creative, engaging, and entirely unique partnerships that will push their PR in the direction they want. Attracting visitors and talent don’t have to be mutually exclusive. A positive visit to a city or nation is the first step to imagining a life in that place. 

Strategic partnerships provide the storytelling and PR opportunities that help drive that messaging in the right direction. Working with a trusted partner will generate more results while sharing the investment—and Laura is ready to help guide you on that journey with the rest of DCI’s team.

Get in touch with Laura Cyrille at laura.cyrille@old.aboutdci.com to learn more about developing a partnership strategy to elevate your destination marketing and jumpstart your talent acquisition efforts.