GIVING BACK

At a certain point in life, you just know it is time to return the favor.  I have been very fortunate in my career working on projects that I love; always applying my experience to new projects and changing markets. As you might guess, this keeps everything new and fresh, and keeps me on my toes!  There aren’t a whole lot of careers you can describe with this range of subjects and experience.

We came in on the ground floor with American Girl Place, the new Academy of Motion Pictures Museum at LACMA, Sega’s new ORBI project, the Edmonton Oiler’s downtown Arena Mixed-Use project and many shopping centers that continue to weather business cycles and thrive such as Fashion Show Mall in Las Vegas.

And what I have realized from all of these diverse feasibility studies/consulting assignments is:

1. I know a lot, or another way to say it, I am old
2. There are few people I haven’t met in the business
3. I could never be a “know it all” type consultant;  and its corollary
4. There is always more to learn!, which leads to
5. Always do as much research as you can afford!

As a grateful recipient of these many projects, I decided this would be my time of giving back.  To that end, I volunteered to chair the Entertainment Development Council for the Urban Land Institute; I am training my Labradoodle, Ricky to be a therapy dog; and I am volunteering to help a few nonprofits plan their futures.  Further, I volunteered to host a fundraising event for a friend who is working on a wonderful new nonprofit called Aid Still Required.  (I am also taking guitar lessons, singing and writing songs, but that’s a whole other story.)

What I am finding is that with organization, one can accomplish quite a bit since of course, I am still up to my elbows in consulting work!  A lot of credit goes to my project manager, Irene Robles, who provides invaluable research and keeps me coordinated and going to the right place at the right time.

Giving back gives me more fulfillment than the time and effort I put into it!

I just remembered, we have two speaking engagements this year that I want all of you to know about.  Please come if you can, we would love to see you!

1. The Grandparent/Grandchild Market – The Themed Entertainment Summit,  9 AM, April 3, Paradise Pier Anaheim CA

1. What Women Want – 10 AM, ICSC, May 20, 2014, Las Vegas, NV

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