Douglas Childs Traub is an American marketing executive who specialized in managing destination marketing organizations (DMOs). He created a plan and raised funds to restore an historic railway station in North Carolina that now serves as the Fayetteville History Museum, and played a leading role in securing registration of the Surf City USA trademark for Huntington Beach, CA.

Early life and education

Traub was born on May 3, 1958, in New York City, the son of Mary Catherine (née Childs) and Ellis Traub Jr. He grew up in Nissequogue, New York. His parents moved to Miami, divorced and remarried in 1968. With encouragement from his stepfather, Gene Rodney LaNier, he earned the rank of Eagle Scout in 1971. He attended Miami Killian Senior High School, where he wrote for the student newspaper, The Cougar's Roar, graduating in 1975.

Traub earned a B.A. in journalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1979,[1] the university where his stepfather graduated. During his undergraduate years, he was a disc jockey for Bacchae Disco on Franklin Street and the campus radio station, WXYC. Traub earned an M.B.A. in International Business/Marketing from Mercer University/Atlanta in 1990.

Traub was accredited (APR) by the Public Relations Society of America in 1984.[2] He was named a Certified Destination Marketing Executive (CDME) by Destinations International in 2004.

Professional marketing career

During the first five years in his profession, Traub worked in advertising agency executive positions in New York City and Atlanta. His moved into corporate marketing jobs in 1984 and spent the next seven years working for companies including Equifax, Georgia-Pacific[3] and NYNEX. In 1991, he joined Zoo Atlanta as marketing director.

Traub's destination marketing career began in 1993 as Director of the Jekyll Island Authority on Jekyll Island. In 1995, he moved to Fayetteville, NC to become President & CEO of the Fayetteville Area Convention & Visitors Bureau (now DistiNCtly Fayetteville) where he championed restoration of a historic railway station which now serves as the Fayetteville History Museum.[4] "The project is the brainchild of Doug Traub, director of the county's Convention & Visitors Bureau. Traub will apply for a transportation grant for $3.8 million to cover 80 percent of the project[5][6]." Traub was also responsible for writing a grant that funded the first segment of the scenic Cape Fear River Trail in Fayetteville[7].

In 2001, Traub was selected as President & CEO of the Huntington Beach Conference & Visitors Bureau (now Visit Huntington Beach).[8] He established the city's first integrated professional marketing program including an information kiosk at the foot of the Huntington Beach Pier, and the Surf City USA® brand supported by several trademark applications.[9]With the help of surf music legend Dean Torrence of the American rock duo Jan & Dean, news about the trademark attracted significant media attention.[10] A California State Senator introduced a resolution to name Santa Cruz as the official “Surf City USA" and local merchants filed a lawsuit to invalidate it.[11] After nearly two years of legal wrangling, challenges to the trademark collapsed.[12]

Traub was named President/CEO of the Lake Havasu City Convention & Visitors Bureau (now Go Lake Havasu) in 2010.[13] During his tenure, he pioneered numerous destination enhancements including a wayfinding signage system,[14] the city's distinctive logo and the “Play Like You Mean It” brand.[15] On June 16, 2014, a British tabloid, The Sun, published a false story claiming the London Bridge was being torn down. Traub demandied a retraction[16][17]. The news was picked up by publications around the globe[18]. Within a matter of weeks, the story was removed from circulation and The Sun printed a correction[19].

After seven years, Traub resigned.[20] He moved to the Tampa Bay Area in 2016 as Pasco County’s first Director of Tourism[21] and quit three months later.[22]

Personal life

Traub married Elisa Larsen (born in 1961) on March 8, 1986; they had a daughter, Catherine, and divorced in 2007. On October 13, 2020, Traub married his college sweetheart, Carol Vipperman (born 1959) on the 40th anniversary of the day they once intended to marry. He now serves as a consumer advocate on the Pasco County Construction Board.[23]

References

  1. ↑ "Annual Commencement 1979" (PDF). The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  2. ↑ Traub, Douglas (May 1986). "Getting Online - and Out of the Dust". Public Relations Journal. 42: 7. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  3. ↑ Renner-Smith, Susan (April 1986). "New Products For Your Home". Popular Science. Archived from the original on 7 January 2024. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  4. ↑ "Fayetteville Looks At Train Depot to Help Revitalize Downtown". WRAL-TV NEWS. 2 December 1999. Archived from the original on 7 January 2024. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  5. ↑ Kinsler, Laura (24 August 1999). "Depot project gains steam". Fayetteville Observer-Times.
  6. ↑ Burton, Janice. "Traub's Trolley Moves Forward". No. March 1-14, 2000. Up & Coming Magazine.
  7. ↑ Stoddard, Missy. "2 city projects backed". No. 25 August 2000. The Fayetteville Observer.
  8. ↑ Cain, Sandi (6 January 2002). "Huntington Beach Visitors Bureau Gets New Head". Orange County Business Journal. Archived from the original on 7 January 2024. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  9. ↑ Epting, Chris (27 May 2014). Huntington Beach Chronicles: The Heart of Surf City. History Press. ISBN 978-1-62584-948-9. Archived from the original on 7 January 2024. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  10. ↑ "Huntington Beach now official Surf City". The San Diego Union-Tribune/North Country Times Wire Services. 4 December 2004. Archived from the original on 7 January 2024. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  11. ↑ "Yo, brah, these cities are so bubbles!". NBC News/The Associated Press. 14 May 2006. Archived from the original on 7 January 2024. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  12. ↑ "Huntington Beach takes name 'Surf City USA'". NBC News/The Associated Press. 14 May 2006. Archived from the original on 7 January 2024. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  13. ↑ Bruttell, Nathan (11 April 2010). "Making a masterpiece, New visitors bureau president and CEO has big plans for Lake Havasu City". Todays News-Herald. Archived from the original on 7 January 2024. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  14. ↑ Baird, Kevin. "Havasu's way finding program funding OK'd". Today's News-Herald. Archived from the original on 7 January 2024. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  15. ↑ Messick, Brandon (18 December 2014). "Havasu CVB extends president's contract". Today's News-Herald. Archived from the original on 7 January 2024. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  16. ↑ "Arizona's London Bridge not falling down, no drugs around, cries dared city". The Guardian. 2 July 2014. Archived from the original on 9 January 2024. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
  17. ↑ Fonseca, Felicia (2 July 2014). "Arizona's London Bridge not falling down". Las Vegas Review-Journal/Associated Press. Archived from the original on 8 January 2024. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  18. ↑ "London Bridge is NOT falling down, Arizona tourism chiefs insist". London SE1 News. 21 July 2014. Archived from the original on 8 January 2024. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  19. ↑ Forgione, Mary (22 July 2014). "Arizona: London Bridge isn't falling down! Tabloid retracts story". The Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 9 January 2024. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  20. ↑ Messick, Brandon (7 August 2016). "Havasu CVB boss Doug Traub resigns; gets undisclosed six-figure settlement". Today's News-Herald. Archived from the original on 7 January 2024. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  21. ↑ Bowen, C.T. (18 January 2017). "Pasco taps new tourism chief". Tampa Bay Times. Archived from the original on 7 January 2024. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  22. ↑ Orth, Carl (20 April 2017). "Abrupt departure of Pasco Tourism director leaves void". Suncoast News. Archived from the original on 7 January 2024. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  23. ↑ Manion, B.C. (15 August 2023). "Pasco plans to designate ecological corridor on 1,500 acres". The Laker/Lutz News. Archived from the original on 7 January 2024. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
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