Meet Your FY 22 Visit Pensacola Board Chair Brent Lane

Hello… I’m Brent Lane and I am honored to be serving as the board chair of Visit Pensacola for the next year. There have been many great board chairs over the last 9 years at Visit Pensacola and I look forward to adding what I can to a wonderful mix of talent that makes our community special and this organization special. Most of you know me as a radio personality and my work at Cat Country 98.7 has allowed me to provide a unique perspective for advocacy of our beautiful city both in our community and in a larger national setting. We are a locally owned and operated radio station. Owners, Dave and Mary Hoxeng, have set the tone for our company with “Success through Service.” I believe it works.

First, I came to be involved with Visit Pensacola after I was challenged to do so by the previous CEO, Steve Hayes. In 2012, He was brand new to town and signed off on an advertising plan with an out-of-town agency that meant local agencies and creative talent were no longer involved. I invited him on the air with me and spent 10 minutes telling him why I didn’t like that. Many in our local community felt that way. I spoke passionately about our creative teams and why I was passionate about the story that Pensacola had to tell. Steve asked for an appointment, and we made time to talk.

Steve asked me to step up and be a vested leader and help guide the future of Tourism and what would become Visit Pensacola. I joined the marketing committee and came to be an advisor and work with an organization that doesn’t get enough credit in our community “Showcase.” Showcase is the combination of several local agencies… Currently EW Bullock, Appleyard Agency, Duncan McCall and Southern Media.

Today, The Visit Pensacola Team provides vision, guidance and direction and these agencies split the duties of ad creative, digital, TV, Radio, Print, Web and whatever is next. While I’m sure it may happen in other communities, whenever I describe the relationship to friends in other radio communities, I always hear the same thing… “that could never happen here.” It is special, and I am proud of the work that Visit Pensacola Team and Showcase does on behalf of Pensacola as a destination.

I love Pensacola… I am passionate about why this place… is the absolute best place to be from. We have History… We have arts and culture… we have white sands… and research says overwhelmingly when someone brings their family to Visit Pensacola, they feel at home. We have a vibe… We have a special “Way to Beach!”.

For our incoming board of directors… this is an opportunity to further the mission of Visit Pensacola. To add your unique perspectives to a leadership group that will help Darien and the incredibly talented Team Members continue to tell the story both in and out of town. We get to do this… we get to help make this community better and we get to help this incredible team by providing them with tools, the guidance and the positive reinforcement that the job they are doing is making a difference. Remember for every dollar we spend, we get 3 dollars back.

It is my goal to create a good stewardship for Visit Pensacola by empowering Darien and this team to create the desire for people from everywhere around the world to share the experience that we love in Pensacola.

Passionately,

Brent Lane
Director of Programming
Cat Country 98.7