LRCVB promotes three

The Little Rock Convention & Visitors Bureau (LRCVB) announced Wednesday (June 29) the promotions of Joy Barlogie to director of marketing, Diana Long to director of community engagement, and Stasha Irby to sales director.

As director of marketing, Barlogie oversees the LRCVB’s development, implementation, and management of marketing strategies to position Little Rock as a premier leisure, meeting and event destination. She oversees the planning, development and implementation of website management and digital marketing strategies and serves as a primary contact for the bureau’s advertising agencies.

Additionally, Barlogie will lead and facilitate the development of the LRCVB’s tourism master plan for the city of Little Rock – a plan that will identify competitive positioning, tourism infrastructure needs, programmatic opportunities, potential funding sources, products, amenities, and experiences, as well as pinpoint necessary policies that will guide long-term planning and development.

Prior to joining the LRCVB, Barlogie served as research and development manager for the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism. She also has experience with local ad agencies CJRW, Thoma Thoma, and Stone Ward.

Long leads the LRCVB’s brand new community engagement department that is charged with developing and fostering relationships with stakeholders for local attractions, partners, festivals, non-profit organizations and various other community groups and associations that include or impact tourism partners to increase awareness, educate and support various initiatives that positively impacts the city of Little Rock as a tourism destination. A crucial component of the team’s role also includes hospitality workforce development initiatives.

Long joined the LRCVB in 2011 as the director of River Market operations. There, she managed day-to-day operations of Ottenheimer Market Hall and pavilions, and planned, executed and marketed all River Market programming including the Little Rock Farmers Market, Jazz in the Park, Movies in the Park, and more. She earned her marketing MBA at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

Irby assumes the role of sales director for state, regional and national agricultural and religious market segments. She is responsible for identifying potential meetings and convention business for the city. Irby develops and maintains relationships with meeting planners and group organizers to effectively position Little Rock as a prime business destination.

Irby joined the LRCVB in October 2021 as destination services manager where she led leisure and group travel activities and services for the bureau, and worked to develop strategies to increase visitor attendance, spending, and customer satisfaction. She also helped develop and implement new and innovative service programs to best serve the LRCVB’s clients and cultivate industry partnerships. She has more than 10 years of experience in the hospitality industry ranging from sales manager to global account manager. She is a 2003 graduate of Southern Arkansas University with a Bachelors in Business Administration, and a 2012 graduate from Webster University with a Masters of Arts in Marketing.