Inside Travel-Ticker

Orr Shakked Business Development

If anyone knows Travel-Ticker, it's Orr. As a founding member of the brand, he's had the enviable position of helping (and watching) Travel-Ticker grow from its precocious beginnings to the full site and robust newsletter it is today. In his current role as Director of Business Development, Orr is in charge of creating partnerships that help bring Travel-Ticker's stellar travel deals to new consumers.

Most recently, Orr served as Director of Product at Travel-Ticker, and prior to that was Director of Product at Hotwire. He also spent some time as VP of Customer Operations at a B2B technology company, and has a BA from The Hebrew University in Jerusalem as well as an MA from University of California at Berkeley.

Dan Tieu Product Marketing & Management

Dan thinks like a customer, acts like a strategist, and executes like a pro. He's always two steps ahead of the game as he calls the shots for Travel-Ticker's product marketing strategies. He leads the research, development, and execution of new products, spearheads the evolution of existing products as well as drives innovative ways to grow the customer base and support advertisers.

Dan came to us by way of Hotwire where he was Director of Marketing. Before that, Dan held management positions at E-Loan, NexTag, and PricewaterhouseCoopers. He's a graduate of University of California at Berkeley.

Josh Skoko Marketing

Who's got that marketing mojo? The juju for the job? None other than our very own Josh. A superstar in the online media space, Josh's pioneering efforts have introduced Travel-Ticker to millions of new customers looking for — and now finding — unbeatable travel deals. Josh and his team continue to see success as they secure media placements with relevant partners, resulting in more customers experiencing Travel-Ticker's deals and more subscribers to the newsletter.

Josh previously worked in media planning at Avenue A Razorfish and in marketing at Blue Nile. Josh graduated from Western Washington University in the Pacific Northwest.

Ron Stenger Production / Editorial

Ron is that what-a-nice-guy kind of guy, but he's one tough cookie when it comes to approving deals. Not only do our offers have to be scrutinized and approved by our producers, but they then have to go head-to-head with Ron, who oversees the Production/Editorial team.

He loves it when his team of seasoned travelers is excited about an offer because he knows that means it'll be a win with our customers. Ron has spent almost his entire career in the travel industry, and previously served as Director of Hotel Relations at Hotwire. He holds a degree from The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio.

Cynthia Taylor Strategic Sales Accounts

Cynthia's had her fair share of exciting beginnings. She managed to score her first travel job in the airline industry — in Australia, no less. She's also part of the original team that launched Travel-Ticker in 2006. These days, she oversees Travel-Ticker's account management team. Cynthia and her cohorts spend practically every minute of their working day making sure our top partners and search technologies receive extra special attention.

Cynthia spent her early years at Travel-Ticker building and managing the Production/Editorial team and prior to that was managing Supplier Relations at Hotwire. She graduated from the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado.

Sandy Johnston National Sales

A sales superstar, a natural leader, a travel industry veteran — and she loves her job. Everybody wins. Sandy leads the national sales team to grow the Travel-Ticker business far and wide. She also services all of our clients, ranging from airlines to packagers. Sandy is an active member in the travel industry, and she wields her clout to tout Travel-Ticker's marketing solutions to our more than 10,000 partners.

Sandy has been in sales her entire career, and comes to us most recently from Cheapflights Media, where she served as Manager of U.S. Business Development. She has also held senior sales positions at WeatherBug, Market Perspective, AOL/Digital City, among others. Sandy is a graduate of Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Christina Wu Editor

Christina is the consummate multitasker. She doesn't let her role of making sure everything is editorially sound, interacting with social media fans, and being the nit-picky grammar nag of the group get in the way of daydreaming about her next trip (and the one after that). As far as travel addictions go, Christina's got it bad, but she's found the perfect place to channel her wanderlust and put her travel expertise to use. She previously worked at Gap Inc., and has a BA from University of California at Berkeley and an MA from City University in London.

Lee Decker Production/Editorial

In between annual trips to Spain, Lee can be found curating amazing — and amazingly inspiring — travel deals for Las Vegas as well as some of our national and international accounts. He's also the man behind the curtain for our Priority Alerts, with superstar skills at negotiating some of our very best, most exclusive offers. Lee came to us from Wired Magazine and holds a degree from San Francisco State University in Northern California.

Sonia Deninzon Production/Editorial

Sonia's been there, done that. She's done the trip planning. She's traveled the world. And she knows firsthand what it takes for an offer to spark the interest of a very discerning vacationer. Sonia's an old pro on the Production/Editorial team, and she uses her experience both as a traveler and travel-industry insider to secure truly aspirational deals in Southern California, Hawaii, and internationally. Sonia is a graduate of Northwestern University in Chicago, and previously worked at a marketing/design startup.

Katy Cannon Production/Editorial

Katy's jet-setter lifestyle began with a high school trip to Australia (one that she didn't appreciate at the time — teenagers!). What followed were many adventures, and these days a career creating inspirational escapes for like-minded travelers. She teams up with partners in the Midwest and East Coast to negotiate big discounts and sweet perks for our savvy customers. Katy joined us from the human resources department at Hotwire, and she has a degree from University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona.

Jenelle Blanchard Production/Editorial

If you love saving money without sacrificing luxury, Jenelle "feels ya." She, too, scours the internet looking for all kinds of deals — travel included. You can browse Travel-Ticker in confidence knowing that every one of Jenelle's offers has passed her own does-this-make-me-want-to-drop-everything-and-go test. She specializes in Caribbean, Mexico, East Coast, and Seattle deals. Jenelle came by way of Travelocity and prior to that was at Gap Inc. Her degree is from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana.

Derrick Escorpizo Production/Editorial

Derrick was on a one-way flight to Italy at just a few months old. How's that for early beginnings? Today as a Travel-Ticker producer, Derrick loves helping fellow travelers discover new experiences in fun destinations. He's responsible for deals in Northern California, Arizona, the Caribbean, and Mexico, and he always keeps the customer in mind because he wants his offers to be irresistible — better than anything else out there. Derrick previously worked at Booking.com, and he has a degree from Western Washington University in the Pacific Northwest.

Lizet Rodriguez-Hampton Sales

With a travel career spanning over 20 years and travel experiences spanning nearly her entire life, Lizet is all you want in a seasoned sales executive — and then some (just meet her). She's a pro at creating revenue-generating solutions for advertisers while also meeting the needs of our customers. Lizet also heads up the national hotel and cruise accounts. Prior to Travel-Ticker, she was National Accounts Manager at Hotwire. She's a graduate of University of Miami in Florida.

Alicia Langer Sales

Alicia may be a newcomer to the travel industry, but she's no stranger to media sales. She brings 20 years of experience to the team and has hit the ground running by helping advertisers grow their business with Travel-Ticker. In her free time, Alicia prefers to be in Latin America, whether it be diving in Honduras, hiking in Peru, or taking in the culture of Mexico. Alicia previously worked at IDG, and was most recently at a leading in-text ad network. She graduated from Penn State in Pennsylvania.

Todd Nieto Product Management

Think Jimmy Fallon (doppelganger). Meet Todd. A self-professed funnyman, Todd oversees the development and analysis of products for the Travel-Ticker site, mobile, and social media. He observes industry trends and works with our designers and engineers to build new features to test. Prior to Travel-Ticker, Todd spent three years at Netflix in email production, and he holds an MBA and a BA from the University of Notre Dame.

Rhys Morris Product Management

Imagine an analytics junkie who thinks spending hours each day trawling through piles of data is the best job ever. Meet Rhys. He gets his kicks from finding clues and trends — CSI detective style — on what deals our travelers love and hate, and making sure that only the most appealing reach each unique customer. Rhys came to us from the IT world with senior positions in marketing and engineering, and holds degrees from Staffordshire University in Staffordshire, UK and Kingston University in London.

Angela Lyda Sales Accounts

Overachiever Angela gets the job done — two, actually. She holds an important double position at Travel-Ticker that helps spread her travel expertise on a broader scale. Angela manages our most active sales accounts, making sure their offers are as successful as possible with our customers. She also shares her industry and on-the-road travel experience on Ask Angela, where customers receive personalized responses to their travel queries. Angela has a marketing background and graduated from University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Molly Hicks Sales Accounts

More Molly, please. Simply put, Molly is an account management rock star. She works with our top travel advertisers to build and maintain long-term partnerships, which is critical to the continued success of our business. As if that wasn't enough, she's also responsible for business development, contract negotiation, and managing advertising spend for our comparison-tool clients. Molly previously worked as a recruiter in human resources and is a graduate of California State University in San Diego.

Megan Godecke Marketing

Genuine enthusiasm, sheer exhilaration — the love Megan has for the Travel-Ticker brand cannot be put into words (but we tried). Her contagious devotion is felt every day as she works with marketing partners to introduce new users to Travel-Ticker through banner ads and email placements. Megan constantly reviews our offers and hand selects the ones that will resonate best with a travel site's particular audience. She loves it when a partner is excited about featuring a specific deal, because she knows that means customers are going to be equally excited.

Jesse Vasquez Public Relations

Jesse's words of wisdom: Dream vacations can come true with Travel-Ticker. Corny, maybe, but true. If you hear Travel-Ticker mentioned on your favorite morning talk show or read about us in the news, you have Jesse to thank. His job is to inspire people to travel by bringing our messaging and deals to the masses, whether it's through newspapers, magazines, television, radio, or the internet. Jesse came to us from the agency world, primarily in event marketing and public relations. He has a degree from University of San Francisco in Northern California.

Colette Lesch Sales Operations

Colette wears hats — many hats — at Travel-Ticker. Her day-to-day responsibilities touch practically every department, from account management to production, finance, and legal, but her primary role is to support the sales team, making sure our sales executives are as successful as possible. Travel is her number one passion, and that puts her in good company around here. Prior to Travel-Ticker, Colette held sales and support positions at Teachscape and Oracle, and she has a degree from California State University in San Diego.