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Meet the Member - Michael Eisman

Meet the Member

Michael Eisman, AAA Auto Club Group

Name: Michael Eisman

Organization: AAA Auto Club Group

Number of Years with your current company:  21

What does your company do? Membership, Travel, Insurance, Publication

What makes your company stand out from your competition?  Trust and Loyalty to the club – 91% renewal rate every year

First Paying Job: Paperboy

First Break into your business:  Florida Society of Association Executives in Orlando, FL

Best Book You Have Read: Stephen Kings, It

Best Advice you have ever received: Don’t Give Up

Birthday: September 12

Spouse / Children:  Yes, 2

Pets:  Yes, 1 Dog (mutt)

College/Education:  Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing/Sales          

Favorite Sports Team(s):  Tampa Bay Lightning

What is one of your favorite quotes?   “You were born to win, but to be a winner, you must plan to win, prepare to win, and expect to win.”, Zig Ziglar

Why did you join FFEA / What is the best benefit of being an FFEA Member?  Networking opportunities

What is the single most important piece of advice you would give to someone in the event industry?  Get the word out!

Meet the Member - Marty Harris

Meet the Member

Marty Harris, President, SEP Communications


Number of Years with your current company: 3

What does your company do? Printing and Promotional items… Ink on Anything!

What makes your company stand out from your competition? 95% of what we offer is produced is done in house!

First Paying Job: Newspaper delivery (had a family route for 25 years that started with my oldest brother and all 9 kids worked it at some point over the years)

First Break into your business: 1985

Best Book You Have Read: The Invention of Wings

Best Advice you have ever received: The CEO of any company has to be the #1 sales person. 

College/Education: BS in Marketing

Favorite Sports Team(s):  St Louis Cardinals

What is one of your favorite quotes? If only Closed minds came with closed mouths.

Why did you join FFEA / What is the best benefit of being an FFEA Member? Meeting great entrepreneurs and organizations who care about bringing culture and entertainment to Florida. 

What is the single most important piece of advice you would give to someone in the event industry? Give Back!

Meet the Member - Retta Logan

Meet the Member
Retta Logan, AAA Flag and Banner MFG, INC

Number of Years with your current company: 13

What does your company do? AAA Flag and Banner manufactures and installs FLOOR GRAPHICS, CAR WRAPS, TRADESHOW DISPLAYS, BUILDING BANNERS, WINDOW DISPLAYS, BILLBOARDS, POP DISPLAYS,DIRECTIONAL SIGNAGE, PENNANTS, HANGING & DISPLAY HARDWARE. STADIUM GRAPHICS, WALL COVERINGS, FABRIC PRINTING, POLE BANNERS .

What makes your company stand out from your competition? We use top of the line products, have G& master Ratings, 3 M warranty , our products are Eco-friendly and we install nationwide. No job is too big or too small for us.

First Paying Job: Summer Camp Counselor

First Break into your business: Super Bowl 95

Best Book You Have Read: Catcher and the Rye

Best Advice you have ever received: Never eat yellow snow

Birthday: July 25

Children: 2 boys Trey and Logan

Pets: 2 dogs and 12 Fish

College/Education: MS

Favorite Sports Team(s): Miami Dolphins, Miami Heat and the University of Georgia Bulldogs

What is one of your favorite quotes?  Life is not measured in the breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away.

Why did you join FFEA / What is the best benefit of being an FFEA Member?  We joined FFEA on the recommendation of one of our valued customers .  Best Benefit has been able to connect with our current customers , build new relationship and new customers and it provides an opportunity to showcase our new products.

What is the single most important piece of advice you would give to someone in the event industry? Be educated, professional and nice. Network  Network  Network

Meet the Member - Jim Luce

Meet the Member
Jim Luce, CAL Productions – King Guys Bands

Number of Years with your current company:  CAL Productions recently celebrated its 9 month anniversary.

What does your company do?  We provide “Just Really Good Music”

What makes your company stand out from your competition?  The music is really good. 

First Paying Job:  Shoe shine boy.

First Break into your business:  Disney Student Musician Program

Best Book You Have Read: 100 Years of Florida Gator Football

Best Advice you have ever received:  Don’t eat yellow snow.

Birthday:  September 21, ****

Spouse / Children:  1 Spouse, 2 Children, 25 and 23 yrs. old

Pets:  Beagle – Dolly, 14 yrs. old

College/Education: University of Florida, Rollins College – BA in Music

Favorite Sports Team(s): Gator Football, Gator Basketball, Gator Baseball, Gator Tennis, Gator Softball, Gator Lacrosse etc..

What is one of your favorite quotes?  “For I know the plans I have for you”, says the Lord.”

Why did you join FFEA / What is the best benefit of being an FFEA Member?  To meet cool festival people.  Meeting cool festival people.  

What is the single most important piece of advice you would give to someone in the event industry?  I’ve been in the industry 9 months.  Will someone please give me advice?

Meet the Member - Lanie Shapiro

Meet the Member
Lanie Shapiro, TouchPoll South Florida

Number of Years with your current company: 7 years

What does your company do? TouchPoll South Florida does on-site surveys. We work with festivals, events, tourism boards, community redevelopment associations, conferences, museums, venues and attractions all over the country to design surveys and collect data onsite so that our clients can better strategically plan their marketing, promotions and sales materials; as well as optimize sponsorships and grants, evaluate marketing efforts, and receive valuable visitor feedback.

What makes your company stand out from your competition? We are easy to work with, thorough, knowledgeable on how to create the best survey to fit our clients' needs and how to best gather the data. We also interact well with our client's visitors, and we deliver a concise report containing data that will help our clients.

First Paying Job: Selling home improvements over the phone at 16.

First Break into your business: My friend and PR Guru Shari Lynn Rothstein connected me with Lee Schrager who runs the Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival--and that was my first well known large event.

Best Book You Have Read:  The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz - I refer to it all the time.

Best Advice you have ever received: Practice gratitude every day, bring joy to all you do and find the positive and possibility in every situation. Also, take time each day to take good care of your health and well-being.

Birthday: August 9 (I'm a true Leo!)

Spouse / Children:  Robert - married for 27 years, Jordan 23 years old

Pets: Chukkie - our 10 year old Shih Tzu

College/Education:  Associates in Graphic Arts from SUNY Farmingdale  and a Bachelor's of Business Administration from Hofstra University

Favorite Sports Team(s): I am originally from NY but with marrying into a sports-obsessed Boston family, I had to swear my allegiance to all the Boston teams! 

What is one of your favorite quotes? "You are never upset for the reason you think."

Why did you join FFEA / What is the best benefit of being an FFEA Member? I joined FFEA to meet people who value on-site visitor surveys. The best benefit of being a member are the relationships that have been created and getting to know so many wonderful and talented event professionals. Of course, it's been a tremendous benefit to my business, so mission accomplished and more!   

What is the single most important piece of advice you would give to someone in the event industry? Get measurable feedback from your event attendees--people see things that may not occur to you. It's their experience of your event that matters most

Meet the Member - Cinde Martin

Meet the Member
Cinde Martin, Marketing & Event Consultant

Number of Years with your current company: 10+

What does your company do? Marketing and Event Consultant

What makes your company stand out from your competition? Experience, First-Hand Knowledge and Ability to Get the Job Done

First Paying Job: Lifeguard

First Break into your business: Worked as Marketing Assistant at an Anheuser Busch Theme Park called Sesame Place located in Langhorne, Pennsylvania

Best Book You Have Read: Can't Decide...too many good ones!

Best Advice you have ever received: Always Fail Forward

Birthday: May 31, 1963

Spouse / Children: Craig - 21 years married,  Chandler - 17 and Corrine - 14

Pets: 2 cats (Toby & Delilah) and 1 dog (Chewbacca)

College/Education: Trenton State College - now known as University of New Jersey

Favorite Sports Team(s): Ohio State Buckeyes

What is one of your favorite quotes? Great spirits have often met with violent opposition from mediocre minds - Einstein

Why did you join FFEA / What is the best benefit of being an FFEA Member? Networking, learning from peers  

What is the single most important piece of advice you would give to someone in the event industry? Stay Calm and Carry On....pray for grace to handle all the issues that will arise during your event!

Meet the Member - Kendra Wright

 

Meet the Member
Kendra Wright, President, Saffire Events

Number of Years with your current company: 15 years

What does your company do? “We provide festivals with a beautiful, interactive online destination they can manage themselves. In plain English, we get people excited to come to festivals!”

What makes your company stand out from your competition? Our websites increase revenue. Our content management increases sanity. Our customer service makes us friends for life.

First Paying Job: Working at a go-kart track in Branson, Missouri (the hardest job of all – working for my dad!)

First Break into your business: I was so lucky to be “around” when the internet began. There was a very lazy guy managing our company’s website; I made a deal with him that I would secretly do his job for him if he’d teach me everything he knew!

Best Book You Have Read: Right now, I’m reading a book called “Dinner: A Love Story,” which is great for anyone who has a picky eater in the family. (It’s like she knows me!)

Best Advice you have ever received: When I started my company, someone said “Leap, and the net will appear!” Such great advice that has served me well!

Birthday: May 28

Spouse / Children: Husband Kirk (who I have dragged into Saffire with me), son Hudson (4 ½ - the half is very important) and a new foreign exchange student from Berlin Marie (16)

College/Education: Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas

Favorite Sports Team(s): I’d be kicked out of Austin if I didn’t say the Longhorns!

What is one of your favorite quotes? See above. Leap, and the net will appear! (Unfortunately you don’t get to see the net until you leap – you have to have faith!!)

Why did you join FFEA / What is the best benefit of being an FFEA Member?  We love FFEA! Going to convention reminded us of the reason we got into this industry – we get to work with nice, smart people who happen to have really cool jobs!

What is the single most important piece of advice you would give to someone in the event industry? I hope you like roller coasters! Seriously, enjoy the ride. We happen to love the thrill of events, and for people like us, the craziness is worth it!

Meet the Member - Phil Marro

 

Meet the Member
Phil Marro Jr, Sales Manager, Complete Ticket Solutions

Number of Years with your current company: 5 Years

What does your company do?  We are a full service box office that provides online ticket sales, ticket printing and staffing to events all over the world.  If it involves a ticket, we can do it.

What makes your company stand out from your competition?  The fact that we are FULL SERVICE.  Most of our competition only focuses on the advance ticket sales process, which is great, but what happens on event day?  That’s where we can come in and handle everything from A-Z as if we worked out of the same office for the same organization.

First Paying Job:  Box Office Representative for the Miami Dolphins and Florida Marlins.

First Break into your business:  Meeting CTS when I was in college and working with them at SunFest.

Best Book You Have Read: Always By My Side by Jim Nantz

Best Advice you have ever received:  “Find something you love, make a career out of it and you’ll never work a day in your life”.   

Birthday: February 10, 1985

Pets:  Lab/German Shepherd - Sandy

College/Education: 2007 BA – Northwood University

Favorite Sports Team(s):  The U, Chicago Bears, Chicago Bulls, Chicago White Sox and Chicago Blackhawks

What is one of your favorite quotes? “I can accept failure, everyone fails at something.  But I can’t accept not trying” Michael Jordan

Why did you join FFEA / What is the best benefit of being an FFEA Member?  The best part of being an FFEA member is the Hospitality Suite!  

What is the single most important piece of advice you would give to someone in the event industry?  Join and get involved in an association for the events industry such as FFEA.

Meet the Member - Chris Allison

Meet the Member

Chris Allison, The Bucky & GiGi Show

Number of Years with your current company: 17

What does your company do? From the Backyard to the Ballroom….. Center Court to the Center Ring….. these two former Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Clowns will amaze and amuse… dazzle and delight using Circus Skills, Physical Comedy, Mime, Magic Improvisation and Audience Participation!

What makes your company stand out from your competition?  Our versatility and adaptability!  We work with our clients to present a show suitable for their guests.  Not only do we have our unique show, but we also can provide our own sound system, microphones, and custom circus back-drops and circus ring for shows.

First Paying Job: Fast food restaurant

First Break into your business: Being offered a job to travel with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus as a clown right out of high school.

Spouse / Children: Wife and comedy partner Gina and our son Hunter.

College/Education: BFA (Bachelor of Fun Arts) Ringling Bros. Clown College.

Favorite Sports Team(s): NY Yankees / NY Giants

Why did you join FFEA / What is the best benefit of being an FFEA Member?  To meet and network with festival and event members.  Since moving here 6 months ago I am amazed at how many festivals / events take place in Central FL.

What is the single most important piece of advice you would give to someone in the event industry? Undersell and Overdeliver!

Meet the Member - Thomas Mitchell

Meet the Member
Thomas G Mitchell, President, Reflections Productions Inc.

Number of Years with your current company: 35 years

What does your company do? Concert stage, sound, video and lighting production as well as back line rental, power and logistics for events.

What makes your company stand out from your competition? We own all of our equipment, rarely outsourcing, with very competitive rates

First Paying Job:  Door man at Super Skating Centers

First Break into your business: Production for Eastern Airlines

Best Book You Have Read:  50 Shades of Grey

Best Advice you have ever received: Always keep a current membership with Tow Boat US & Sea Tow.

Birthday: Dec. 3rd, 1959

Spouse / Children: Jeannie Mitchell (wife); Michelle Wellman (daughter); Shaun Mitchell (son); Michael Wellman (son-in-law); Sabrina, Alina & Michael Jr (my AWESOME grandchildren)

Pets: Kinko, Sheltie

College/Education:  Hands on learning in the field.

Favorite Sports Team(s):  Miami Dolphins

What is one of your favorite quotes?  Work smart, not hard!  

Why did you join FFEA / What is the best benefit of being an FFEA Member?  To expand our clientele, network with others and educate in the industry

What is the single most important piece of advice you would give to someone in the event industry?  Logistics is the most important part of a spectacular event, after sponsorship.

Meet the Member - John Galloway

 

Meet the Member
John Galloway, Owner, ZipLine Adventures


Number of Years with your current company:  New Family Owned Company

What does your company do?  We operate a Spectrum Sports mobile zipline.

What makes your company stand out from your competition?  Our company was established to provide real work experience for our three college student grandchildren who are very smart with no moxi (street smarts). 

First Paying Job:  Making ten pound potato bags out of 100 pound potato bags.

First Break into your business:  Finding Indiana and Florida Festival and Events Association.

Best Book You Have Read:  God is my Co-Pilot

Best Advice you have ever received:  Never give up.

Birthday:  9/19/42

Spouse / Children: Wife-Donna, Children-Natalie and John

Pets: Miss Kitty (Barn Cat)

College/Education: Porter College-Associate Degree

Favorite Sports Team(s): Chicago Bears and Sprint car racing.

What is one of your favorite quotes?  Nothing offers so much and pays back so little as revenge.

Why did you join FFEA / What is the best benefit of being an FFEA Member?  Help us not make rookie mistakes.  Working with members.

What is the single most important piece of advice you would give to someone in the event industry?  Never forget the importance of a customer.