Rick Taylor is the Executive Director of the Hattiesburg Convention Commission and currently operates a convention center, a visitors center, a performing arts theater, a museum district, a zoo, and a little hidden museum in an alley. He began his 34-year career in the tourism industry with a five-year stint in tourism development in the British, Dutch and French West Indies before coming to Hattiesburg. His experience is in attraction development, operations and marketing. A strong believer that unique and compelling experiences create customers for life, Rick implements this concept at each facility he develops. He is an advocate for motivated professionals to incorporate quality and creativity into every aspect of their career and responsibilities.

Rick is an inductee into the Mississippi Tourism Hall of Fame and a recipient of Hattiesburg’s Hub Award, the international Edward L. Bernays Tourism Award, and USM’s Margaret McCarthy Award for Tourism Industry Partner. He is a past officer of the International Association of Venue Managers and the Mississippi Tourism Association. Rick received an undergraduate degree in Humanities from Ambassador University in Los Angeles and a Master’s degree in Economic Development from the University of Southern Mississippi. He and his wife, Vicki, are parents of two boys, of which only one is still at home and only until next summer (whether he likes it or not).