PHILL FEST

Phill Fest is a natural born talent, making his performances a fun and exciting experience. With 35 years of professional stage experience, being onstage is like being at home. Phill Fest is one of Florida’s (including Tampa Bay & South Florida) most in-demand guitarist/vocalists.

Whether performing as a solo, duo, trio or full ensemble, the audience is always captivated and left wanting more. Often asked to emcee an event, in English and Portuguese, speaking to a crowd/audience always flows with comfort and ease.

Phill Fest’s background and training give his musicality a unique twist uncommon for his generation.Phill was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota to Brazilian parents, and currently resides in West Palm Beach, Florida. Phill grew up in a musical family. His father was a recording artist and his mother a composer and music instructor. Phill was exposed to Brazilian and American Jazz right from the start. “I remember hangin’ with Sergio Mendes backstage many times as a kid.” His father, Manfredo Fest, was the Keyboardist and Music Director for Bossa Rio, the opening act for Brasil ’66 for three years.

Phill started guitar at age 16. Having already studied clarinet and violin, the ‘six string’ came easy. Phill studied at Music Tech of Minneapolis in ’89. “My training is a combination of school and self-taught techniques.”Phill performed for five years with Deeforce, an all original eclectic rock-n-roll band that won best original band of Florida ’93-’94 at the Florida Jammy Awards. During this period, the band also moonlighted as The Starliters as in ‘Joey Dee and The Starliters’, known for the hit singles Peppermint Twist and Shout. “I’ve played with the who’s-who of oldies; Bo Didley, Spencer Davis, Coasters, Drifters, to name a few.

“Phill recorded four compact discs with his father Manfredo Fest for Concord Jazz. Each of these recordings feature a composition by Phill.2009 saw the release of his CD “Smooth Edges” which garnished critical acclaim. Returning to his Brazilian Jazz roots, 2013 saw the release of “Projeto B.F.C.”, which reached 18 on the Jazz Charts,Followed by 2015’s “That’s What She Says” reaching 23

ROBERT C. JACOBSON

Robert C. Jacobson is a multi-faceted entrepreneur and accomplished space industry enabler, advocate, and investor. Jacobson is the founder of Space Advisors, a strategic and financial consulting firm for space startups.

His decade-plus of professional experience in NewSpace includes roles at Arch Mission Foundation, where he notably worked to initiate the first Solar Library (the payload famously launched in Elon Musk’s Tesla in 2018), and Space Angels (formerly Space Angels Network), the world’s first space-focused angel investment group. Jacobson is a graduate of University of Southern California and California Institute of the Arts. 

John O'Connor has tried over 70 cases in federal and state venues throughout the country, with highly enviable success in complex, contentious disputes. Retained by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company as trial counsel in key cases, he achieved a pretrial dismissal in each concluded action. A former Federal Prosecutor, Mr. O'Connor was appointed lead outside counsel in certain S&L crisis litigation, defended a California Attorney General in campaign-related litigation, and successfully represented Golden State Warriors basketball Coach Don Nelson in significant contract claims. His greatest successes have been in the satisfactory resolution of closely-held business disputes.

Mr. O'Connor has held the highest Martindale-Hubbell "AV" rating for over 25 years, and has consistently been named a "SuperLawyer" by his Northern California peers. He has tried cases at the highest levels of practice since 1972.

Mr. O'Connor currently serves on the Board of Directors of Graduate Theological Union, The Lincoln Club of Northern California, and Alliance for Smiles, Inc.

Michael Thau

Investigative Columnist

Carey is from Springfield, Missouri. He earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Sociology at Missouri State University where he played the number one position on the varsity tennis team.

Carey has over 25 years experience in the tennis industry. He is currently the Adult Director of Tennis at MIDTOWN ATHLETIC CLUB / WESTON. He was selected as the 2006 Missouri Valley USPTA Pro of the Year and 2005 Missouri Pro of the year. He received the 2003 USTA Missouri Valley Outstanding Contributor USA Team Tennis, 2002 USPTA Missouri Valley Division Community Service, the Gerald Perry Lifetime Achievement Award and numerous awards for his dedication to the game of tennis. As a player he has competed on the USTA Futures Circuit as will as professional tournaments in Sweden and Germany. As Tennis Director at Sandpiper Bay Resort and Palm Beach Polo in Florida he received Tennis Magazine’s Top 50 Tennis Resorts in America award for 18 consecutive years.

Carey has worked with novice to nationally ranked players as well as having had the privilege of coaching professional players on the WTA circuit. He wrote and produced the video, Instant Tennis, a simplified teaching system to make learning tennis easy and fun. He directed the Carey Powell Junior Tournament Camp and was the Tournament Director for the USTA National 35’s Clay Court Championship.