Richmond Metropolitan CVB Executive Team Bios

Jack Berry
Cleo Battle
Jennifer Carnam

Jack Berry, President and CEO

Jack Berry is the president and CEO of the Richmond Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau (RMCVB). As the Richmond Region’s official destination marketing and tourism organization, RMCVB is responsible for promoting the Historic Richmond Region – including the counties of Chesterfield, Hanover, Henrico and New Kent, and the city of Richmond – as a premier tourism and convention destination, as well as for sales and marketing of the Greater Richmond Convention Center. RMCVB promotes the Region to meeting planners, tour operators and leisure travelers. A private, not-for-profit organization, RMCVB also operates the Visitor Centers located at the Greater Richmond Convention Center, the Richmond International Airport and the Bass Pro Shops on Interstate 95.

Jack Berry was raised outside of Chicago.  He graduated from Georgetown University in 1974.  In 1975 he moved to Salisbury, Maryland to work for the Independent Players Association.  Its Executive Director, the late Bill Riordan, managed Jimmy Connors, and Ilie Nastase, and promoted an indoor men's professional tennis circuit.

In 1979 Norfolk SCOPE hired Berry as the Promotion and Sales Manager of the multi‑purpose facility. He moved to Richmond, Virginia in 1988 to become Director of Marketing & Sales for the Richmond Centre for Conventions & Exhibitions.  The City promoted him to General Manager in 1990.  In December 1992 he was named President & CEO of the Richmond Metropolitan Convention & Visitors Bureau (RMCVB).

In 2010, The Richmond Metropolitan Convention & Visitors Bureau was presented with Southeast Tourism Society’s Shining Example Award for Internet Excellence and was recognized by Meetings & Conventions with a Gold Service Award.

Berry is a member of the Board for Richmond Sports Backers, Richmond Strikers Soccer Club, Jefferson Davis Association, James River Advisory Committee, Capital Region Taxi Advisory Board, chairman of the board for Virginia Civil War Trails, and the past president of the Virginia Association of Convention & Visitors Bureaus.

His wife, Lynn, is a Norfolk native.  They have three children, twenty-two year‑old son, John, III, a twenty-one year-old daughter, Elizabeth, and a twenty year-old daughter, Rachel.

Community Involvement Includes:

• Capital Region Taxi Cab Advisory Board CRTAB
• Chesterfield Sports Tourism Advisory Committee
• CultureWorks Board of Directors
• Henrico 2011 Commemoration Advisory Commission
• Henricus Board of Directors
• Homeward Advisory Council
• James River Task Force, Committee Member
• Jefferson Davis Association Board of Directors
• Junior Achievement Volunteer
• Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens, Marketing Committee
• Richmond Sports Backers Board of Directors
• Richmond Strikers Soccer Club, Inc. Board of Directors
• Virginia Association of Convention & Visitor Bureaus (VACVB) – Executive Board; Secretary
• Virginia Chamber of Commerce Tourism Committee
• Virginia Civil War Trails, Chairman of the Board

Cleo Battle, Vice President of Sales and Services

Cleo Battle is Vice President of Sales and Services for the Richmond Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau.

 Battle has worked in the hospitality industry for 23 years. He began his position as Vice President at the Bureau in 2000.  Previously he served as the Bureau’s Director of Sales and Sales Manager.  Before joining the Richmond Metro CVB, he spent 10 years in the hotel industry as General Manager, Assistant General Manager and Director of Sales in Syracuse, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Denver. 

 Battle, a native of Denver, Colorado attended Metropolitan State College earning a B.A. degree in Hotel/Restaurant Management in 1988.  He later earned a Masters of Business Administration degree from Averett College in Virginia in 1997.

Battle currently serves as President of the Virginia State University Hospitality Advisory Board, American Society of Association Executives Industry Partner Alliance Committee, International Association of Exhibitions & Events Diversity Task Force, Destination Marketing Association International Sales & Marketing Committee and a member of the Manchester YMCA Board.

Jennifer H. Carnam, Vice President of Marketing

Jennifer Carnam is Vice President of Marketing for the Richmond Metropolitan Convention & Visitors Bureau (RMCVB). She is responsible for leading the strategic development, planning, coordination and execution of all activities related to marketing the Richmond Region as a tourism and meetings destination. Jennifer oversees advertising, public relations, online marketing, social media, tourism sales, customer service, event management, and Visitor Center operations for this regional destination marketing and management organization in Central Virginia. She also leads multijurisdictional tourism development and marketing outreach efforts focused on the Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War and Emancipation, and the Historic Route 1 initiative. 

Jennifer’s industry experience includes her position as vice president at Southeastern Institute of Research(SIR)/The Boomer Project in Richmond, VA. Before relocating to Virginia, Jennifer was the chief marketing executive for Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc., in Memphis, TN, with responsibility for brand management, communications, advertising and online marketing for the world-famous Elvis Presley brand and Elvis Presley’s Graceland. Jennifer’s career experience also includes several management positions in the gaming and hotel industries. She was a senior brand marketing executive at Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc., a key member of the original team that developed Hilton’s Homewood Suites hotel brand, and the director of field marketing for the Homewood Suites, Hampton Inn, and Embassy Suites hotel chains. 

Jennifer is a member of the board of the U.S. Travel Association’s National Council of Destination Organizations, and she co-chairs U.S. Travel’s ESTO Conference Education Committee. She is a member of the Advisory Board of J. Sergeant Reynolds Community College - School of Culinary Arts, Tourism and Hospitality, the Venture Richmond Marketing/Advocacy Committee, and the Signature Events and Activities Work Group for the Virginia Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War Commission. She volunteers for and supports many local and national charitable organizations. A California native, Jennifer graduated from California State University, Northridge, with a degree in communications.