Ellen Oppenheim officially began her post as the new head of the Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority (RSCVA) on April 21, 2006 after being appointed by its Board of Directors as the agency’s new president and CEO, a position that had been vacant since October 2005.

The RSCVA is the region’s primary tourism agency, supporting convention and tourism business for the Reno-Tahoe destination. 

“Reno-Tahoe is first and foremost committed to bringing more meetings, conventions and tradeshows to the area, said Oppenheim.

“This destination is truly America’s Adventure Place and offers a breadth of amenities attractive to the business and leisure travelers alike. We will focus on reintroducing the region, it’s outdoor recreation, state-of-the-art facilities featuring stellar customer service, over 20,000 close proximity hotel rooms and one-stop air service any where in the world.”

Oppenheim will oversee a staff of 400 within the RSCVA. In addition to convention sales, marketing, travel and tourism, finance and other business functions, the RSCVA staff is responsible for management of several owned and operated facilities including: Reno-Sparks Convention Center, Reno Events Center, National Bowling Stadium, Livestock Events Center, Wildcreek Golf Course and Northgate Golf Club. 

Prior to accepting this position, Oppenheim was the Deputy Chief of Neighborhood and Customer Services for the City of San Diego. Previous to serving as the Deputy Chief, she also held the positions Deputy City Manager and Director of Park and Recreation for the City of San Diego.

From 1999 to 2002, Oppenheim was the General Manager of the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks. From 1996 until 1999 she served as Vice President/General Manager for GES Exposition Services managing the Northern California office based in South San Francisco.

Oppenheim was Director of Conventions, Cultural and Visitor Services for the City of San Jose from 1990 to 1996. Other top level posts include the position of Associate Dean of Students at Stanford University in the eighties. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in psychology and M.B.A. in management from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.