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Written by Clayton Whitehead, Sports Leisure Vacations
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Saturday, 09 August 2008 04:24 |
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Some of our readers may already know Clayton Whitehead, or at least have met him along the trade show circuit – he’s been the lead trade show volunteer for National Tour Association, thirteen years running.
“I truly enjoy it and I truly believe in charity – but, honestly, I do it because I’m literally the first person that up to 1,000 people meet at the show,” he says. “I’m their first friend and that goes such a long way in this business.” This personal touch is Whitehead’s trademark and has made it the trademark of Sports Leisure Vacations, where he has been leading groups since 1990.
At the age of 17, he began his education at University of Georgia in Athens. Pursuing a Fine Arts degree, a job giving tours of the school was the perfect outlet for his love of the stage.
As he continued on with his education, he began doing city tours and, when he graduated, took to escorting outbound alumni groups while earning a Masters in Architectural History. “That’s my true love,” he says fondly. “And it’s helped me tremendously on the road. You know something about art and architecture, and you’ll never run out of things to say on a tour bus.”
In 1990, after 10 years in the travel business, Clayton met Mark Hoffmann, President of Sports Leisure Vacations, at NTA. During their sevenminute meeting, it was clear that Clayton had a broad knowledge of the Southeastern Seaboard, and Hoffmann offered him a job on the spot. But Clayton was still in Athens and Sports Leisure Vacations was in Sacramento, Calif. “I told him that it’d be a cold day in Hell when I moved to the land of fruits and nuts. But lo and behold, three months later,” he trailed off with a laugh. Read More
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 09 August 2008 04:34 )
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