Leisure Publishing

Management

Richard Wells

As the publisher and president of Leisure Publishing, Richard possesses a body of knowledge and expertise in both publishing and tourism that spans three decades. He is integrally involved in all custom-publishing relationships as well as the company's three periodicals, The Roanoker, the city magazine of the Roanoke Valley, in continuous publication since 1974; Blue Ridge Country, a 20-year old regional magazine of the Southern Appalachians now with more than 425,000 readers; and Mountain Homes, the company's newest periodical, which covers the booming second home market in the Southern Highlands.

Richard has received numerous service and excellence awards during his ownership of Leisure; notable recognitions include the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce Small Business Person of the Year and the Roanoke Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau's Golden Star Award as the Roanoke Valley's number one tourism advocate and the CVB's Tourism Excellence Award for his "long-time leadership, service and commitment to the tourism industry."

Richard is immediate past president of the national environmental organization Friends of the Blue Ridge Parkway and, during his 2000-2008 tenure, membership has grown from a meager 968 members to more than 8600 members. He is a past president of the Roanoke Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Kurt Rheinheimer

Beginning in 1984, Kurt has been day-to-day managing editor for each and currently is supervising editor-in-chief for all Leisure publications. Magazines and custom publications under his editorship have won regional, national and international editorial awards from associations including the International Regional Magazine Association, Small Magazine Publishers Group and others. Virginia Travel Guide 2008, under his role as Leisure editor-in-chief/project liaison, won the TIA Mercury Award as the best travel guide among all 50 U.S. guides.

As a writer, his work has won national awards and has been compared positively to Hemingway's by The Wall Street Journal. Seven of his fiction and non-fiction pieces have been selected for inclusion in book anthologies. Kurt has also served as an adjunct faculty member at two local colleges and read his work at several other colleges and universities throughout the Southeast.

Denise Koff

Denise has 27 years of marketing and advertising experience both in non-profit marketing and publishing, working with clients such as CARE, US News & World Report, NAACP and many others. She and her sales team have generated growth in 100 percent of Leisure products in the past four years and increased circulation by 35 percent for Blue Ridge Country through her expertise in direct mail and related programs.

She has been instrumental in the concept and creation of several new custom publishing products for Leisure including Virginia Wine Guide, Southeast Tourism Society Heritage Travel magazine insert and Virginia Spring Planner newspaper insert.

Denise speaks frequently on topics such as direct response and ad design. In addition to head of the Leisure sales team, she and her marketing team are responsible for all marketing materials including print, web and e-mail.