WHO ARE WE
Through a collaborative strategic partnership, Mickey Schaefer & Associates LLC and The Republik Corporation have worked together to define the consumer-based standards that comprise a positive visitor experience, culminating in a formal joint venture between two companies with the creation of The EXPERIENCE Institute®.
Both founding companies have received industry recognition and awards for their work in serving destinations and the industry ─ bringing new focus to destination brand differentiation, the importance of ongoing visitor / consumer data, and the holistic view of the total visitor experience.
We share the same values. We are innovative. And, we care about delivering results to our clients. When these core beliefs are combined with our enthusiasm for moving the industry in a new direction ─ toward a relentless focus on the visitor / consumer ─ there’s a palpable force that keeps us focused, motivated and energized.
We hope you, too, will catch the passion.
FOUNDING COMPANIES
Mickey Schaefer & Associates
Mickey Schaefer & Associates LLC and its companies provide a variety of innovative consulting services that focus on guiding the strategic direction of the meetings industry, tourism and associations. MSA has provided services to over 100 Destination Marketing Organizations (DMO/CVBs) on strategic planning & visioning; customer advisory boards; front-line training & certification; and community-wide stakeholder alignment to live the brand and drive tourism by Enhancing the Visitor Experience™. In 2006, MSA founded the Tourism Ambassador Institute® which serves as the licensing & accrediting body for the ground-breaking, industry-recognized certification program, Certified Tourism Ambassador™ (e.g. John Smith, CTA). The certification program’s hallmark is that it centers upon building a lasting structure upon which destination stakeholders work together ─ not apart ─ to drive tourism and create memorable visitor experiences. The CTA program has resulted in proven behavior change at the front-line, through the certification of over 40,000 in 18 states and growing!
The Republik
The Republik has decades of experience executing innovative ideas covering every facet of integrated marketing communications from corporate ID packages to multi-million dollar television campaigns. They have also helped create and grow some of the most successful brands of the last two decades; AT&T, RCA, MasterCard, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines and others. Their work with the Fayetteville Convention & Visitors Bureau involved destination-wide stakeholder alignment to the destination brand case study and resulted in receipt of the North Carolina Association of CVB’s 2007 Destination Marketing Achievement Award for Best Destination Marketing Initiative and a 2007 Bronze Adrian Award for Positioning, from the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI).
The Republik is dedicated to turning the unpredictable business of advertising into one that is both measurable and accountable. By rigorously analyzing consumer needs, The Republik consistently constructs their client’s brands to surpass expectations.
MEET THE TEAM
Mickey Schaefer
Founder, Chief Executive Officer
A prominent industry leader, Mickey Schaefer has been honored in many ways: for her service as Chairman of the Board of the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA); named five times to the “25 Most Influential in the Meetings Industry” by Meeting News and Successful Meetings magazines, most recently in 2015; among the Top Six Industry Leaders by Smart Meetings magazine in 2012; selected 2013 to HSMAI’s Top 25 Most Extraordinary Minds in Sales & Marketing; and as an inductee into the Events Industry Council’s prestigious Hall of Leaders – the highest honor in the industry – for her leadership in standardizing the industry through the CIC APEX initiative. Her twenty years of strategic planning and meetings & conventions experience with the American Academy of Family Physicians, combined with her CVB sales and board of directors’ experience has fueled her passion for aligning people to strategy.
Dwayne Fry
President, Chief Strategic Officer
Dwayne is a strategic leader with a wealth of successful agency and client management experience. He guides clients to look critically at any given situation, ask tough questions and find the precise answer for their brand. His role is to research and evaluate business environments – monitor consumer trends and competitive sets – and develop insights for a brand’s successful positioning. Dwayne has taken the lead on developing strategies for Royal Caribbean International, Norwegian Cruise Line, Midway Airlines, Raleigh CVB, Fayetteville CVB, Bacardi, Ben&Jerry’s and Seagram’s among others. His approach? “I try to look at information through fresh eyes and get to the core of what’s really going on — to understand consumers and what motivates them.”
Robert Shaw West
Chief Creative Officer
Robert has spent most of his life working for Fortune 500 clients. With a keen sense of design and a sharp imagination, Robert’s ideas are regularly translated into executions that are not only brilliant but also highly effective. One of his greatest achievements is the defining role he played in developing the vision for The Republik, a 100% employee-owned, performance-based international advertising network. As The Republik’s Chairman and CEO Robert is proud of the tremendous recognition the new company is getting. Fast Company named The Republik a finalist in its 2002 annual listing the top 50 Fast Companies to watch, while CMYK magazine called The Republik the new agency model by which all others will be measured.
Want to know more about The Experience Institute?
Call us at +1 (919) 956-9400
Or feel free to contact us via email by filling out our contact form.
