25: Is Code Switching The Untapped Superpower For DMOs? (Matt Stiker & Kwaku Amuti)

Welcome back to Destination Discourse! In this episode, hosts Stuart Butler and Adam Stoker are joined by not one but TWO powerhouse guests—Matt Stiker of Madden Media and Kwaku Amuti, a branding expert with decades of experience. This roundtable-style discussion explores the real challenges of collaboration in the destination marketing world. Are DMOs set up to collaborate, or is the system stacked against them? What happens when egos, outdated structures, or lack of trust get in the way? And how do we stop trying to be everything to everyone and start aligning around what really matters?

We dive into the tension between branding and bureaucracy, explore how code switching plays out both personally and professionally, and ask whether DMOs are doing enough to create spaces of genuine belonging—for their communities, their visitors, and each other.

Takeaways & Quotes:
 • “Collaboration is hard when no one is willing to give up credit.”
 • “We’ve got to stop code switching just to fit in—and start doing it as a bridge to belonging.”
 • “You can’t market your way out of a leadership problem.”
 • “Most DMOs don’t have a branding problem—they have an identity problem.”
 • “If we can’t align internally, how are we ever going to create clarity for the visitor?”

Don’t miss this fun, foggy-headed (thanks to Stuart’s cleanse) and fiery discussion about what’s broken in DMOs—and how we might actually fix it.

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