transforming the mundane into the memorable. With considerable
trepidation, we followed.
As we grew in the profession, we found ourselves teaching and
practicing his concepts (because we discovered, to our dismay,
that they actually worked). His marketing skills emphasized the
surprise factor, and the masses came to see what new delights
awaited them. He made almost as many enemies as friends (his de-
mands drove hoteliers and suppliers to distraction, but when the
smoke cleared they would usually revel in the success of the event
and the enthusiastic crowds that they drew). Whether a detractor
or a disciple, no one could deny his creative genius.
Even today, I recognize his touch and his early contributions
in every event industry seminar I attend and book I read. You will
rarely hear his name anymore, but you will benefit from his work.
His challenges to the industry were daunting, but the results
were exhilarating. I love him still.Acknowledgments
There is no single, definitive instruction manual in the glove com-
partment of the event marketing vehicle. In reality, there are thou-
sands of such manuals, each building on the books of knowledge
that preceded them and adding to the bodies of knowledge that
will fill the stream of future information.
I am blessed to have been associated with the best of the best
during my career. Among my mentors are scholars, marketers,
managers, writers, educators, financial analysts, researchers, asso-
ciation and corporate executives, producers, and attorneys. Yet
they have a striking commonality. They have expertise in all dis-
ciplines of the events industry: marketing and management of spe-
cial events, conventions, expositions, corporate meetings, tours,
fundraisers, international study missions, educational symposia
ad infinitum. And in so doing, they maintain the health and wel-
fare of the organizations that sponsor these events. Every one of
these disciplines required one universal skill. Someone had to sell
an idea, and then sell an event.
They are consummate professionals who have contributed di-
rectly to this text or counseled me in its development and en-
couraged me to pursue the project. Others are those whose influ-xxii In Appreciation Of