27
years
Adam brings over 27 years of national event experience (all with PWE) encompassing professional development, logistical planning, and entertainment production. His extensive background cultivates a refined perspective in project development and ensures precise and focused detail management during program execution. Under his creative direction, national organizations with multifaceted events, often spanning multiple cities, consistently entrust the company with their needs, which include contract negotiations, coordination with city services, site logistics, crowd management, security, and comprehensive entertainment production.
Adam has served as Project Lead for notable initiatives such as The Prentice Women’s Hospital Campaign, The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, Chicago Gourmet, Ferraris On Oak, The Illinois Governor’s Conference on Tourism, and numerous projects for The Chicago Cubs including The 1060 Project.
In 2015, Adam was appointed President following the successful completion of campaigns with NetApp/CDW, Peak6, and The Chicago Cubs, where he managed all facets of event production and management.
Since assuming the role of President, Adam has focused on incentive travel experiences for clients. This includes the creation of bespoke websites, location and venue scouting, the arrangement of air, hotel, and ground transportation, as well as the management of all audiovisual and food and beverage requirements for customized destination events and meetings.
Adam’s meticulous attention to detail as well as his anticipatory approach to problem solving, allows for the formulation of non-obvious solutions to logistical challenges.
WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE EVENT & WHY?
It’s nearly impossible to pick just one – there have so many cool things that I’ve gotten to experience. My first event, the Baltimore ESPNZone Grand Opening, was a really great experience. I was barely a month into my internship, so to be a part of something that was so high-profile and athlete and celebrity-driven was a really eye-opening beginning to my career. Also, The Ft. Lauderdale/McDonald’s Air & Sea Show, which we produced for 13 years was another favorite. I left for college with the intention of becoming a fighter pilot, so to be involved that closely in what was, in my opinion, one of the best air shows in the country, was a lot of fun. I like projects that are large in scope and complexity, and very little that we’ve done has been as large or complex as that show. One of my favorite things about being part of this company is the team mentality. What we were able to accomplish, especially as a relatively small team, for that show was really remarkable.
Recently, we produced an event for the Chicago Cubs and the 1060 Project ~ The Wrigley Field renovation campaign, on the infield at Wrigley Field. For a lifelong Cubs fan, to be able to spend that much time on the field and have access to areas of the ballpark that are normally off-limits to fans was really amazing.
Who was your favorite celebrity to work with & why?
This is another question for which it’s hard to give one answer. I’ve been lucky enough to work with some really iconic artists who I’ve also happened to be a fan of – Buddy Guy, BB King, Jeff Beck & Ray Charles to name a few. Getting to experience those performances, usually from side stage, never gets old, and is something I try to never take for granted.
The celebrity thing is kind of interesting – when we work with a band or a celebrity, we’re working, and so are they, so you really try to maintain a professionalism. For me, the celebrity interactions that stand out for me are the ones where someone exceeds your expectations. The fact remains, in this industry, occasionally you find yourself in some pretty unique situations. I once spent an hour talking with Jerry Seinfeld about baseball and the state of stand up comedy before he performed at an event for us. I also got to introduce Barack Obama to Muhammad Ali. There are certain situations where it’s hard not to walk away and not acknowledge the cool factor.
What is your favorite thing about being in events?
The variance from one event to the next has always been my favorite part. We’re rarely in the same venue with the same client doing the same type of event. That being said, regardless of the scope of the project, the overall procedure of putting together an event usually has certain recurring operational processes. By having a constantly-expanding set of experience based on new venues, timeframes, scenarios, entertainment and technologies, you’ve got a great pool of resources to be able to apply takeaways from one client to another. There are always new challenges and scenarios, which keeps things interesting.