We’re please to announce another group of speakers for TBEX North America in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Auston Matta

Auston is a blogger and freelance writer and has contributed to Edge Travel, Man About World, Gaycation Magazine, and more. He grew up in Phoenix, later moved to Chicago and in 2012 sold his belongings and embarked on a round-the-world trip. After traveling non-stop for a year, he finally settled in Spain with his husband. When he’s not traveling or writing about events, festivals or the best LGBT destinations, he enjoys the long sunny days and nightlife of Madrid.

Auston will be speaking in the industry track about marketing to the LGBT community.

Chris Gray Faust

Chris Gray Faust is Senior Editor at Cruise Critic, where she oversees all of the website’s destination and port content, as well as news coverage and blog. Creator and publisher of Chris Around The World, Chris has won a Lowell Thomas Travel Writing award for blogging and has worked as a staff writer at the (New Orleans) Times-Picayune, the Philadelphia Inquirer and USA TODAY, where she served as travel editor. She has a journalism degree from Northwestern University and a master’s degree from Brown University.

Chris will be leading a session on how to write a review.

Dave Bouskill & Deb Corbeil

Dave Bouskill and Deb Corbeil founded ThePlanetD after cycling the continent of Africa. Now well-known travel personalities both online and in mainstream media, they make regular TV and radio appearances as travel experts. ThePlanetD won Gold Medal for Best Travel blog at the Society of American Travel writers, and has been featured in major international media outlets such as The Today Show, BBC Travel, Canada AM, National Geographic and more. Dave won SATW’s best Photo Illustration of Travel, and has been named one of the top travel instagrammers by publications such as USA Today, Yahoo Travel, Forbes, and more. Dave and Deb have worked closely with destinations on major campaigns, and have worked with dozens of brands and tourism boards on individual travel projects.

Dave and Deb will be speaking in the industry track on strategic blogger-brand campaigns.

Jessica Woodbury

Jessica Woodbury has been blogging since 2001 and had a previous career as a lawyer before she pivoted to digital marketing. Jessica was on the SEO team at Wayfair.com where she started the innovative Homemaker blogger program. She is now at Commision Junction helping bloggers monetize and build their businesses through affiliate marketing. She still blogs regularly and is a contributor for several sites including the Huffington Post.

Jessica will be speaking on affiliate marketing.

Katie Hammel

Katie Hammel is Viator’s Senior Travel Editor. She manages the Viator blog network and Viator’s blogger ambassador program.

Katie will be speaking on how to be the blogger that all brands want to work with.

Marko & Alex Ayling

Marko and Alex Ayling, vagabonds and brothers, are known online as the Vaga-brothers. They’re travel videographers, photographers and writers – globally-engaged storytellers on a mission to explore the planet by connecting with other young people and inspiring viewers to do the same. They produce a weekly online travel show aimed at young travelers who are interested in discovering the world through its cultures.

Marko and Alex will be speaking about building a YouTube channel and community.

Rachelle Lucas

A foodie with a zest for life and passion for travel, Rachelle Lucas has been blogging since 2007 when she started documenting her life as an innkeeper. As her wanderlust grew, she sold the inn to pursue travel writing full-time and has since been to over 40 countries in pursuit of the tastiest meal. She’s been recognized in PEOPLE Magazine, USA Today, and Trip Advisor.  as one of the Top 25 Culinary Travel Blogs to follow.

Rachelle will be talking about how to use your community presence to become a paid Twitter influencer.

Syed Balkhi

Syed is the founder of WPBeginner (the largest free WordPress resource site) and List25, a fairly large entertainment site with over 1.4 Million subscribers and 245 Million video views. Syed’s work has been featured in Inc, Fox Business, Forbes, Entrepreneur, Washington Post, and countless other well-reputed online magazines.

Syed will be speaking about content strategy.

Sharon Gourlay

Sharon Gourlay is a travel blogger, internet marketer and passionate about working online and being location independent. She is a permanent nomad and shares her travels with her young family with the world, as well as how she makes an online income.

Sharon will be speaking about SEO.

Look for additional speaker and program announcements about TBEX at Sea, TBEX Asia, and TBEX North America, all coming up this week.