We will hear from Gathan Borden with VisitLEX at J Render’s Southern Table & Bar!
Locally owned and operated since 2012 this Restaurant, Caterer, and Food Truck, J. Render’s Southern Table & Bar offers diners classic BBQ along with other Southern Specialties, such as Buttermilk Fried Chicken, Traditional Burgers, and down-home classics such as Gwyn’s Meatloaf. J.
Render’s also boasts a Full Bar with over 22 Bourbons to choose from, not to mention local Craft Beer, Wine, and Craft Cocktails. Diners can select from a variety of appetizers, interesting salads, numerous specialty sandwiches, Southern specialties, and good old Southern BBQ. All of our meat is smoked on-site, sides, and desserts are made from scratch along with all of our signature sauces. All of this, combined with Patio Dining and Live Music on the weekends, make it the perfect spot for a quick lunch, a night on the town, or a family dinner.
Our speaker, Gathan Borden, will be talking about how VisitLEX uses data to make its marketing decisions and develop creative ideas.
Gathan D. Borden is the Vice President of Marketing for VisitLEX, the Lexington Convention & Visitors Bureau. In this role, he oversees advertising, branding, marketing, public relations, social media, visitor services, and web strategies for the city of Lexington as it relates to travel and tourism.
Gathan is a 15-year veteran of the tourism industry, having spent time at Louisville Tourism in Louisville, KY in various marketing roles, before accepting the role of Vice President of Marketing at VisitLEX in Lexington, KY in July of 2015, where he oversees the Marketing department and the Visitors Center. As a much sought-after industry speaker, he speaks frequently at local, regional, and national tourism conferences across the country on various marketing topics and trends and in 2021 was selected as one of the “Top 25 Most Extraordinary Minds in Sales, Marketing, and Revenue Optimization” by Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI). This national award recognizes high achievers who stand out through their creativity and innovation, cutting-edge campaigns and programs, triumph in challenging situations, and efforts that resulted in dramatic gains.
He received a Bachelor of Business Administration with a double major in Business Management and Business Marketing from the University of Kentucky in 2001, and in May of 2009, he received his Master of Business Administration at Webster University. In July of 2021, he was voted in as the Board President of Horse Country, Inc. which is an organization of horse farms, equine medical clinics, and equine attractions dedicated to sharing the stories of Kentucky’s Horse Country to develop fans of farms and clinics through tourism experiences. He also serves as a board member of the U.S. Travel Association’s Destination Council Board of Advisors, the Kentucky Travel Industry Association, and the American Cancer Society. And given his love for bourbon, he is a founding member of the Lexington-based Kentucky Black Bourbon Guild, which seeks to honor the history of minority’s contributions to the bourbon industry and increase the representation of minority cultures in the spirits industry.
In 2013, Gathan was honored to be a “40 under 40” recipient from Business First of Louisville, given to the top forty leaders under the age of 40 in the city of Louisville, and in that same year, he completed the Certified Hospitality Digital Marketing (CHDM) program through Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI). In 2011 he was recognized as a “Top 40 under 40” recipient by both CONNECT and Rejuvenate magazines, as one of the hospitality industry’s up-and-coming future leaders. He has been featured in the Who’s Who in Black Louisville publication, honoring the city’s professional, community, and civic leaders, and in 2008, he was awarded the “Hot Ten Award” by the American Advertising Federation of Louisville, given annually to the top 10 local advertising professionals under the age of 30 in Louisville. He is a graduate of the Ignite Louisville program at the Leadership Louisville Center, which is a program that prepares the community’s emerging leaders to build a better Louisville, and is a Commissioned Kentucky Colonel.
Please Note: Only 32 spots are available.
Registration closes on Friday, July 29th, at noon! Pre-registration is required.
Choose this option if you paid for all your luncheons at the beginning of the year.