LOS ANGELES, USA
Allen Cook is the founder of TourTech and co-founder of SignalShare, providers of IT solutions and large scale Wi-Fi networks for concert tours and special events. Beginning in the industry as a lighting technician, Allen worked in every facet of production. Merging that production experience with his passion for technology, Allen has developed Mobile Office Systems for touring productions of the Eagles and Bon Jovi as well as large scale, rapid deployment networks for music festivals like Lollapalooza and the Dave Matthews Band Caravan. He is pleased to return to Event Live for its second year.
Andy Cowlishaw is the founder and MD of Live Apps. He has 20 years experience in media and publishing in national newspapers, web/ online and for the last 8 years, mobile. Andy set up Live Apps two years ago to focus on delivering high quality multiplatform mobile apps, for festivals and live events of all sizes. The technology that Live Apps have developed allows a festival, no matter how large or small, to have their own app that won’t break the bank but doesn't compromise on quality. His company have produced apps for festivals and events across Europe, the UK and North America; these include Sonisphere by Kilimanjaro, Winter Wonderland by AEG Live and Bestival, to name a few.
Biasha Mitchell manages Eventbrite’s largest accounts and has over 15 years of experience in event production from the ticket on-sale to successful day of show entry management operations and logistics. She has more than five years of experience managing credential check-in operations for the largest festivals in the United States, including Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival and Coachella Festival. She has also served as Production Coordinator at such festivals as All Good Music Festival and Wanderlust Music & Yoga Festival. Biasha holds a B.A. in International Relations and Latin American Studies and an M.A. in Latin American Studies from Stanford University.
Chuck Randall has 25 years of international touring experience as Tour Manager and Tour Accountant. Bands include Alice in Chains, 311, Scott Stapp, Bob Weir and Ratdog, THE DEAD, The Neville Brothers and many others.
Dave Shadoan became a partner at Sound Image, located in southern California, in 1976. In 1992 they opened a Nashville office and in 2003, an office in Scottsdale. Acts the company has supported through the years include Jimmy Buffet, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Brad Paisley, Rascal Flatts, Tom Petty, and Taylor Swift among many others. In 2010 Sound Image won the Parnelli Sound Company of the Year award.
David Stern is President of Precise Corporate Staging (PCS), one of the industry’s most sought-after live event production companies. At the age of 19, David started touring with national and international acts such as Frankie and the Knockouts, Joe Lynn Turner, and Meatloaf. In 1984 he was hired as Keyboard Technician for Bon Jovi. With his wife, Marla, he founded PCS and today they have a thriving business with two locations, Phoenix and Atlanta. The company handles concerts and corporate events, and also big festivals like Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, MountainFest, Country USA, and Rock USA. The company is frequently a Parnelli Award Nominee for Audio and Lighting, and won in 2009.
Jason Alt is an executive of concert touring for Delicate Productions who cut his teeth running sound for local L.A. bands from 1989 to 1994. From there he became a professional studio engineer, opening his own recording story. From 2000 to 2008 he was vice president of production for Vox Entertainment, before going to work for Delicate. He’s toured with Barry Manilow, Julio Iglesias, Nine Inch Nails, Rush, Mötely Crüe, Rob Zombie and many more.
Jennifer Fong is the Client Services Manager at Flavorus, Inc., a company that believes and lives by the idea that life’s better when you go out and experience new things. Jennifer started in post-production, but found her passion in live event production. She was an assistant production manager for Avalon Attractions and held a part time position with Insomniac Events for three years as an Artist Logistics Manager. Jennifer then worked as a production manager for Live Nation for 5 years before joining Flavorus as Field Operations Manager in May of 2011. At Flavorus, Jennifer is in charge of client technical support, equipment training, repair, and distribution. Along with providing equipment and customer service representatives at larger events, Jennifer has a BA from Loyola Marymount University. She lives in Los Angeles where she enjoys knitting and sewing.
Joe Sanchez has twenty years experience in the live music and production industry. He has worked with a wide variety of artists including The Cult, Rihanna, Arctic Monkeys, Sarah Brightman, Snow Patrol, Pet Shop Boys and many more. Joe is hugely experienced in all areas of touring and event production - at 40 years old he has the experience but also still the enthusiasm required for a truly creative and stress free event or tour. Joe is well versed in production management, health and safety, accounting, production design, logistics, security, promotional work etc. Joe was nominated for production manager of the year at the TPI 2010 awards
Julie Cash is Director of Service at Flavorus, Inc., a company that believes and lives by the idea that life’s better when you get out and experience new things. Julie began her career at Apple as a Mac Specialist where she did sales and taught classes on new software. She then worked at Telepictures studios in the music department placing scores in tv shows and producing cue sheets for royalty payments. She joined Flavorus, Inc in 2010 and is in charge of managing all events, and runs the client services department. In her spare time, Julie likes to discover new music, read, ride her bike and travel. Julie has a BA and is working on her Masters at Cal State Fullerton. She lives in Los Angeles with her fiancé, Stephen, and her cat, Princess Me.
Kevin Bilida comes from a background in aviation and entertainment. From flying helicopters and skydiving, to full production in special events, Kevin feels at home meeting the challenges inherent in critical work. Kevin owns TLC-CREATIVE, an award winning Design & Production Company that specializes in creating excitement! Live special effects, laser entertainment and pyrotechnics are among the unique talents at TLC. Kevin has worked in many aspects of the special events industry since 1978. Kevin’s ability to anticipate challenges and overcome obstacles leads to seamless productions with unsurpassed creativity that motivates and entertains beyond expectations.
Laurie Kirby, Esq. is currently the Executive Director of the IFFS (International Film Festival Summit) and the IMFCON (International Music Festival Conference). She is the strategic leader for these two organizations, which intersect leaders of film, music and the entertainment industry and hold annual conferences in the US and Europe.
Luis is a member of the Entertainment Agency Council for a leading entertainment insurance carrier, and has excellent and long-standing relationships with insurance companies. Luis is a licensed property and casualty insurance broker.
As Director of Business and Communications for Black Rock City, LLC, Ms. Goodell oversees year-round public and on-site media relations, print production, the writing of a 100,000+ member email newsletter, management of accounting, legal, government relations and administrative processes. In 2003 she added oversight of the event’s pre- and post-production team, known as the DPW, or Department of Public Works. Her supervision of technology infrastructure for the organization has included an internal extranet, a several thousand page website, multiple blogs, and the moderation of the participant-submitted image gallery. Ms. Goodell is also actively involved with the Burning Man Regional Network that she developed in 1997. Individuals worldwide, who are identified as representatives, are committed to supporting local communities, inspiring civic participation, and engaging people through Burning Man's ethics and values. As of 2011, this network includes over 185 individuals in 125 locations worldwide. Ms. Goodell is a founding board member of the Black Rock Arts Foundation, and currently sits on its Advisory Board. She is also a founding board member of Black Rock Solar. Ms. Goodell holds a BA in Creative Writing from Goucher College in Baltimore and an MFA in photography from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. Before arriving at Burning Man in 1995, she worked in sales and public relations, and as a project manager for a software development firm. Other interests include traveling abroad, honing her motorcycling skills and volunteering.
At only 30 years of age, Mr.Rompre executes his duties as Director of sales and Rentals, promoting Stageline and MSR Mobile Stage Rentals, with great vision. For the past 6 years, his exceptional sense of business, along with his technical expertise and knowledge of the field has made him one of the company’s most valuable asset today and a key element for the futur. As a graduate in Industrial engineering, Mr Rompre oversees all commercial operations for the companies, in Canada, USA and the rest of the world. Conducting business in over 35 countries and with more than 10,000 events taking place on Stageline units each year, Mr Rompre is directly connected with the safety needs of the industry and the technical challenges faced by production people.
Ron is a seasoned entertainment professional, offering over 20 years of demonstrated success in producing local, national and international events. Ron has expertise in all areas of the special event industry and a proven track record in delivering projects, big and small, on time and budget. As Tour Director for Live Nation Global Touring, Ron has worked with a number of high profile artists including Rhianna, Rammstein, Nickleback and Alicia Keys.
Ron is driven by unique events, which celebrate diversity. That drive is what brought Ron to be a part of pinnacle events such as Woodstock ’94, Pope John Paul II, The Mass in Central Park, The Tibetan Freedom Concerts, and Coachella. His credits include Director of Production- Rolling Rock Town Fair and Producer of Festival Imperial in Costa Rica, Production Coordinator - Neil Diamond and Barbra Streisand, and Production Manager for Paul Simon, Brian Wilson, Dixie Chicks, and Yanni, among others. As Director of Production for AEG Live, Ron negotiated national contracts and supervised production staffing, technical direction and execution of many concerts, tours, and festivals in North and South America. Currently, Ron is producing the 2nd annual Railroad Revival Tour. Railroad Revival will visit 8 cities in 2012 and plans are underway for rapid growth for this unique touring experience.
Born in Israel, Shaul Zislin received a degree in economics from the University of Calgary and moved to Florida in 1991 to begin a journey of entrepreneurship. Shaul joined Surf Style, a clothing manufacturing company, and quickly became a partner and instrumental in the chain’s development of a retail strategy. Since that first endeavour, Shaul has branched out to become a prominent developer of high-density resort developments, a major owner and board member of a bank, and is an investor in a number of other enterprises. Shaul founded The Hangout restaurant in 2008 on a beach in Gulf Shores, Alabama. The Hangout features family style dining and hosts an entertainment facility that features live music nightly. This was Shaul’s first encounter with the music world, and led him to conceive the idea for the Hangout Music Festival as a vehicle to increase tourist traffic in the area. On May 13 2010, the inaugural Hangout Music Festival was held while the Deepwater Horizon oil spill was brewing in the Gulf Coast waters. Later that summer, while dealing with lingering effects of oil spill, Shaul presented to BP and local authorities a plan to use music concerts to stimulate a crippled tourist market. The series of free to the public Concerts For The Coast were a huge success and featured Jimmy Buffet, Bon Jovi and Brad Paisley. Over 100,000 attendees flocked to the concerts and to the coast to witness the conditions first hand and became ambassadors of good will to the Gulf area. In May 2011, the second annual Hangout Music Festival sold-out all 35,000 tickets and established itself as a legitimate and unique music destination.
Skip Paige, the driving force behind Coachella, leads a panel of festival pioneers outlining the major factors to consider when growing an event. A myriad of issues, including commercial, production and legal implications will be explored to determine how they can have a direct impact on the growth of your event.
Stephanie has created and executed events for more than 10 years. Being an avid fan of live music, she always takes a critical eye on how to enhance a fan’s onsite experience. She is able to combine marketing and loyalty efforts, and expand social networking interaction to create a fully immersive and integrated fan experience. By understanding both fan and client perspectives, she is able to optimize sponsor brands, bands, teams and promoters by directing targeted messages and offers that are relevant and immediately actionable to fans. Stephanie has worked as a consultant for major advertising and media agencies, as well as fortune 500 companies in the US and UK.
Since the 1991 formation of Rehage Entertainment (RE:), Stephen Rehage and his team have produced more than 300 events across the U.S. Since 1999, Rehage Entertainment has annually produced the critically acclaimed Voodoo Experience (an event Steve created), which remains one of the few privately owned and executed musical festivals in America. Throughout the company’s history, Rehage Entertainment (RE:) has produced a variety of high profile events including the Essence Music Festival (2008, 2009, 2010) and the EIF Revlon Run/Walk For Women™ in New York’s Times Square/Central Park (1997-2010). Other recent events include the inaugural Quiksilver Pro New York (2011), Gulf Aid (2010) and Gleason Gras (2011). With offices in New York, Los Angeles and his New Orleans hometown, Rehage has seen his company grow into one of the nation’s leading independent music and live event companies with in-house sales, marketing, design and production teams.
Terry Lowe has been a live event industry advocate for decades. He’s the founder and publisher of Projections Lights & Staging News and Front of House Magazine, which informs nearly 40,000 professionals of trends, new products, industry news, and especially newsworthy leaders. In 2003, he founded the Parnelli Awards, the Oscars™ of the live event world. The event regularly sells out and honors the best in lighting, staging, audio, and all aspects of live event design.
Tim Roberts has been company director and senior adviser at TESS since 2000. He has been Health and Safety Coordinator for the Glastonbury Music Festival since 2002 and has worked on a number of other high profile projects like the U2 360 Tour, Abu Dhabi Grand Prix concert series including Beyonce and Aerosmith and the London Organising Committee Olympic Games (Beijing Handover). His principal duties include oversight of company project management, development of Health & Safety plans and documentation, drafting of risk assessments and policy documents, site analysis and design, license applications and on-site safety management. He is also responsible for planning and implementation of event control and joint agency facilities.
