by KARA SCHWEISS
As executive director of Visit Omaha, the city’s official tourism authority and convention and visitors bureau, Jasmyn Goodwin taps into her imagination every day. But her work isn’t about building attractions; it’s about reimagining what already exists.
“I promote a product I don’t control,” she explained. “I can’t say, ‘okay, I need an amusement park’ and it gets built. That’s not what my job empowers me to do, so we have to be creative in how we sell it, so we take the product and what we have and we package it differently based off of the interests of the target audience.”
Goodwin’s team considers a broad spectrum of happenings, from major annual sporting events like the NCAA Men’s College World Series to periodic competitions like the U.S. Olympic Swim Trials and the FEI World Cup Finals, and from major international business meetings like the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting to regional conferences like the ICAN Women’s Leadership Conference.
They work with meeting planners, sports organizers and other groups to bring large-scale events and conferences to the city. They also market Omaha’s local attractions, restaurants and hotels, and products from Runzas to local craft beers year-round. In every case, the challenge is the same: creatively reframing Omaha for people who haven’t yet experienced it.
“I will tell you, you have to get very creative when you do that,” she said.
One of her greatest advantages is knowing the business inside and out. Goodwin joined Visit Omaha (known as the Omaha Convention and Visitors Bureau until November 2008) as a marketing assistant in 2007, the same year she graduated from UNO with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and communications. She eventually served as social media manager, director of marketing-content, and vice president of marketing and communications before being named to the top position in 2025.
She has amassed some fun stories over the years. In 2014, Goodwin posted a Visit Omaha tweet, “We certainly appreciate all the love from #PeytonManning 🙂 #OmahaOmaha,” referencing then-Denver Bronco’s quarterback Peyton Manning’s pre-snap audible call.
“I thought it would just be funny to send that tweet. It was a Sunday night, and things kept picking up—growing, growing, growing—and I kept getting all these alerts, so I texted my boss. I’m like, ‘Hey, I’m fairly certain we’re going viral,” she said, adding that the tweet was shared thousands of times. “My phone is hot from getting all these alerts, and sure enough, the next day, everything just blew up, and it took off.”
Hailing from a military family, Goodwin came to UNO for in-state tuition when her father chose to retire in the Omaha area. She’s embraced her adoptive home city, serving on various past and present boards and advisory groups for community-focused organizations such as Omaha Community Playhouse, Omaha Sister Cities, City of Omaha Mayor’s Office, Greater Omaha Chamber and All About Omaha. She’s also raising her young children here.
Goodwin emphasized that citizens shouldn’t keep the city’s unique offerings to themselves.
“When you help bring a visitor or an event to Omaha, you’re supporting the city in more ways than you realize,” she said.
