![\"Erika](\"http:\/\/idopr.com\/wedding\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Erikasmall-679x1024.jpg\")
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Name<\/strong>: Erika Hueneke<\/p>\n Title: <\/strong>Editor in Chief, Destination Weddings & Honeymoons<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Follow her on Twitter:<\/strong> @erika_hueneke<\/a><\/p>\n About Erika<\/strong>: Erika has been with\u00c2\u00a0Destination Weddings & Honeymoons <\/em>magazine, the leading travel source for destination couples, for a decade, wearing many hats, including copy editor, managing editor, brand ambassador and travel writer. She had enjoyed roaming the world from Aruba to Zanzibar to spot trends and report on the best wedding and honeymoon locales. In her current role, she oversees all aspects of DWH<\/em>\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s editorial development, including print, Web, social, events, digital guides and vendor partnerships. She has been a featured expert at multiple travel and wedding panels hosted by organizations such as Engaging Concepts, the Saint Lucia Tourist Board, SAVEUR<\/em>, Anne Chertoff Media and the Panama City Beach CVB. Erika also regularly contributes to publications including Islands<\/em>, Caribbean Travel + Life<\/em>, Florida Travel + Life <\/em>and Jetsetter.com. She unknowingly planned her own destination wedding in 2005 and is saving her \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Tahiti virginity\u00e2\u20ac\u009d for a 15-year-anniversary vow renewal in Bora Bora.<\/p>\n Erika, how\u00c2\u00a0do you feel\u00c2\u00a0writing about the wedding industry is different from other topics?<\/strong><\/p>\n The wedding audience is constantly turning over. When people are planning their weddings, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s their biggest priority; they can barely think of anything else. But then once it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s over, they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t care at all. So you have to keep covering the same exact topics over and over again for new batches of couples. Still, you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to just keep churning out the same content \u00e2\u20ac\u201d you want to keep it fresh and modern and interesting for yourself. If you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re bored with it, your audience will be too. So the challenge is to keep telling the same story in a new, compelling way. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been doing it for 10 years and still get excited to find a different spin on gowns, cakes and invites!<\/p>\n What has been your favorite project to work on?<\/strong><\/p>\n I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been blessed to work with some of the most creative people in publishing, and we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve done so many innovative projects, but one I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m really proud of is a digital destination-wedding guide we recently created specifically for the LGBTQ audience<\/a>. It was a joy to celebrate marriage equality, share real couples\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 stories, and connect LGBTQ readers with locations, hotels and vendors that are excited to help them bring their wedding dreams to life. My hope is that soon we won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t need special editorial dedicated to this audience, as a wedding will just be a wedding and won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t need to be qualified as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153same-sex\u00e2\u20ac\u009d or otherwise.<\/p>\n How do you usually find sources for your stories?<\/strong><\/p>\n The sources we use most are destination-wedding planners, travel specialists and hospitality professionals. A Google search, while it brings up zillions of results, is usually my last resort. I prefer to turn to professionals I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve met at industry events such as Engage summit<\/a>! and out in the field on FAM trips.<\/p>\n What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the best way to get your attention?<\/strong><\/p>\n True destination-wedding expertise will always get my attention. Lots of wedding professionals do a little destination-wedding business on the side, or would like to break into travel. But we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re looking for insight from people who work on destination weddings every day and really know the ins and outs of pulling off a wedding far from home. Show me that you and my audience are a match made in heaven.<\/p>\n Recently I received a mailing from a travel specialist \u00e2\u20ac\u201d she had gorgeous, modern branding, and the high-quality letterpress card showed she was investing in her business. But there wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t some trite saying on the card like \u00e2\u20ac\u0153love what you do\u00e2\u20ac\u009d; there was real information demonstrating that she genuinely understands the destination-wedding niche. We quoted her in an article in the very next issue of the magazine.<\/p>\n What one piece of advice would you give to wedding professionals looking to get publicity?<\/strong><\/p>\n Connect and collaborate. Go to industry events and meet people. Invite them to do creative work with you. Share that work with editors. If you plan ahead, you can solicit editors\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 input on the front end to align your efforts with their editorial needs.<\/p>\n Thanks, Erika! We love your magazine, so keep it up! And don’t forget to\u00c2\u00a0invite us on the next fun FAM trip with you \ud83d\ude42<\/strong><\/p>\n – Sasha<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Welcome to Meet the Press! Every month on this new segment, you will get to meet a prominent editor from one of the top wedding magazines and blogs. Too often editors are hidden behind closed doors and email addresses and…<\/span><\/p>\n![\"Destination](\"http:\/\/idopr.com\/wedding\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/DWH0415_01_Cover-page-001-829x1024.jpg\")
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