Music

Design

Film

Books

Highlights: 

* Successfully integrated casino acquisitions for Penn National in 2018 and Pinnacle Entertainment in 2014.
* Rebranded a large-scale resort property after acquisition. Led marketing in major property expansion including
the addition of a 33 story, 536 room hotel in the Colorado Rockies.
* Developed and launched universal casino host VIP programs for Penn National and Pinnacle Entertainment.
* Managed branch office programs at multiple gaming companies to produce multimillion-dollar sales channel.
* Created numerous enterprise wide VIP programs for regional and destination casinos that realized
repeated quarterly growth.
* Awarded Ameristar Casino & Resort Black Hawk Team Leader of the Year



I like to make things…from various forms of art, to creating models and platforms that help businesses make better strategic decisions. It’s what my mind is geared for.

I’m an artist, marketer, husband, and a father of 2. For the past 8 years I’ve been working as a casino marketing executive in Las Vegas, building VIP marketing programs for large casino companies with numerous properties and brands.

During my time in the hospitality and entertainment industries I’ve had to be flexible and take on projects that required a wide range of skill sets. I’ve learned that if you can identify talented people around you and excite them  in contributing their unique skill set, projects can exceed expectations and spur other learnings and revenue generation or optimization projects. 

One example of this comes from my time with Penn National Gaming, I was able to execute a vision of optimizing sales leads for over 250 VIP casino hosts, which resulted in a $45M increase in the program’s hosted revenue. Not only did we increase the quality of players being taken care of within the exclusive host program, but we were able to use technology and training to significantly increase the level of service being delivered to the top 2% of the database. Casino hosts were able to manage their book of business more efficiently, allowing them to optimize their time and efforts. This was the most impactful and rewarding project of my career so far.  


My biggest challenges have come from navigating two company acquisitions during my time with Penn and Pinnacle. I was fortunate enough to be hired by both acquiring companies and recruited to build and scale an integrated marketing program that covered everything from automated analytics, survey program design, incentive program design, sales enablement platforms to full-scale implementation and adoption of a universal sales and service program for 41 casino properties. The best part of being thrown into massive integration projects is the wisdom and knowledge gained from helping shape a new frontier amidst the many challenges a company faces during this time. For that, I’m eternally grateful. It’s not only helped me to become a better leader, but it’s allowed me to build valuable skills that transfer to other personal and professional problem-solving challenges.





Find out detailed information about Travis Grode,  in Fort Collins, CO

Travis Grode: in Fort Collins, CO

Travis Grode

Southwest Minnesota State University