ERROL GERSON

Curriculum Vitae –Errol Gerson:

Professional practice:

Errol Gerson is the Managing Partner at The Gerson Group Consultants, with offices in Los Angeles, London and Johannesburg, South Africa. The Gerson Group provides strategic Management consulting services to mid-size to large enterprises – specializing in strategic Financial Management planning, Strategic Tax planning, Succession Planning, Strategic Marketing and Management, Merger and Acquisition Strategies and Blue Ocean Strategy consulting.

After graduation from the University of Southern California (BS Accounting 1970, MBA Finance and Management 1972) Gerson worked in public accounting and Consulting for the first 6 years of his career. In 1978 he went out on his own and founded a Business Management and Accounting company which began with one employee, and ended up with over 80 employees in two states. He sold the company to his partners and so-founded cow, the first Interactive Design firm in the US in 1992 and subsequently sold his share to investors in 1998.

Gerson was then recruited to joining Creative Artists Agency in 1998 as Director of New Media Consulting, and was there until he was recruited to become the COO of the National Lampoon Television network which he ran for five years. Since leaving the Lampoon, he has been the Principal of the Gerson Group until today.

Educational Practice:

As an educator Errol Gerson has been teaching Business Management, Entrepreneurship and Leadership for Designers at the world-renowned Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, for the past 47 years. Errol has now taught some 6,500 students over a period of more than 141 continuous semesters at Art Center. During his tenure at Art Center, Errol Gerson has been the recipient of numerous Great Teacher awards, culminating with him being the recipient of the ‘first’ Legacy teaching Award given in 2006 for 100 semesters of teaching. Gerson teacher both The Entrepreneurial Spirit as well as Business 101, a course which was mandatory for most students for over 25 years. The course covered all aspects of operating, running and growing a ‘design based’ business, but the course content is applicable to virtually any and every small business. The advanced ‘Spirit of Entrepreneurship’ course is limited to 25 -30 students who have a desire to learn how to develop and grow an enterprise venture. Gerson also teaches a new course at Art Center called, “The Art and Practice of Leadership” which focuses on preparing designers for long-term leadership roles in their chosen field.

Errol Gerson has also guest lectured at his Alma Mater USC-Marshall, The Drucker School of Management at Claremont Graduate School, the Kelly School of Business at Indiana University, Cal-State Northridge and many other colleges and universities. He lectures on Negotiation Strategies, Blue Ocean Strategies, Sales and Marketing, Wealth Creation, and other related areas of business. He has taught professional seminars for the A.I.G.A., Advertising Photographers of America, Society of Illustrators, Industrial Design Society of America, Wedding Photographers International and others. Gerson has been widely published on a myriad of subjects related to the Business of Design, The Role of Design in Society, The basics of Entrepreneurship, Success and Motivation strategies, Goal setting and Life planning. Many of these articles can be found in LinkedIn, The Huffington Post, the AIGA quarterly, American Management Association, Journal of Social Science Review and others.

Gerson is on the Board of several local charities in Southern California, served as an officer of The USC-MBA association, The American Institute of Graphic Artists where he is the Senior Adviser) and also Mentors students each semester at the Art Center. He is a passionate golfer, avid English football (soccer fan) and is in the process of writing his first academic book entitled, ‘MOTIV8’ – the 8 Steps to keep constantly motivated. Gerson was awarded the prestigious “Fellow” award by the A.I.G.A. in 2017 recognising his decades of contribution to design education. Errol Gerson was born and raised in Johannesburg South Africa, where after high School he attended the University of the Witwatersrand studying accounting, prior to immigrating to the United States in 1966. Gerson received a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Southern California (USC) in 1970, and subsequently earned an MBA at USC in 1972 majoring in Finance and Management. Mr. Gerson has also completed extensive coursework (non degree) in Management, Finance, Tax law, Psychology, Business Law, and attended the Harvard Negotiation Project

Gerson is on the Board of several local charities in Southern California, served as an officer of The USC-MBA association, The American Institute of Graphic Artists where he is the Senior Adviser) and also Mentors students each semester at the Art Center. He is a passionate golfer,avid English football (soccer fan) and is in the process of writing his first academic book entitled, ‘MOTIV8’ – the 8 Steps to keep constantly motivated. Gerson was awarded the prestigious “Fellow” award by the A.I.G.A. in 2017 recognising his decades of contribution to design education. Errol Gerson was born and raised in Johannesburg South Africa, where after high Schoolhe attended the University of the Witwatersrand studying accounting, prior to immigrating to the United States in 1966. Gerson received a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Southern California (USC) in 1970, and subsequently earned an MBA at USC in 1972 majoring in Finance and Management.Mr. Gerson has also completed extensive coursework (non degree) in Management, Finance,Tax law, Psychology, Business Law, and attended the Harvard Negotiation Project

SLIM MAN (aka SLIM MANICOTTI)

2018! It’s been a good year so far for the Slim Man!

He just won Best Jazz Vocalist at the Coachella Music Awards! Third year in a row. Threepeat!

How did Mr. Man arrive at this point? What’s the skinny on Slim Man?

It’s a long story. Settle in, Slim People…

When he was 5 years old, Slim Man’s dad showed him a movie. That film was The Five Pennies, and when Young Slim Boy saw Louis Armstrong play the trumpet and sing, he told his Dad, ”That’s what I want to do.”

Slim Man studied trumpet for the next 9 years, and also taught himself how to play piano and guitar. After studying classical piano, composition, and harmony at Peabody Institute of Music in Baltimore, MD, Slim Man got signed as a songwriter to Motown Records. He’s had songs recorded by the Temptations, Angela Bofill, Carl Anderson, and other artists.

Slim Man also recorded a CD for Motown, which gave birth to his signature style–a unique blend of jazz, soul, and pop..

Slim Man went on to form the band BootCamp,who had two of the first 100 videos ever played on MTV. Those videos catapulted BootCamp into a successful concert career, performing with The Tubes, TheB-52s, Squeeze, Split Enz, Johnny Winter, and tons of others.

After BootCamp broke up, Slim Man organized and hosted a nationwide talent contest sponsored by Marlboro. It was during this contest that he got the nickname Slim Man. Slim’s big discovery during the talent contest was in Tulsa, Oklahoma, at a honky tonk called Tulsa City Limits.

The guy who won the contest that night was named Ronnie Dunn, who went on to win the national finals in Nashville, and later hooked up with Kix Brooks to form the multiple Grammy award-winning country music duo, Brooks and Dunn.

Slim Man then started writing songs for Brian Jack, a singer from a band called Child’s Play. The 12-song CD that Mr. Man wrote and produced landed Brian Jack a management contract with Dee Anthony (Frampton, J. Geils, Basia) and a recording contract with Epic Records, but the record company decided to cut Slim Man out of the deal.

Undaunted, Mr. Man went back into the studio, re-recorded some of the songs, and released his debut CD End of the Rainbow. This CD made many Top Ten lists for the year, and inspired JD Considine (Rolling Stone) to write…

“A near-perfect example of how jazz and soul can be combined as pop.”

That started the ball rolling, and it hasn’t stopped since. Slim Man has released 12 CDs; the latest is called “Young at Heart”. It’s a collection of Rat-Packin’, toe-tappin’ swinging songs from the 60s that sound like Vegas at the height of coolness.

In the late 1990s, Slim Man started another band, Bona Fide, an instrumental group whose combination of funk and jazz brought forth the Number One single “XRay Hip”. Bona Fide received the Best New Artist Award at the Smooth Jazz Awards. They’ve released 4 CDs, the latest produced by Marc Antoine.

Not content with just writing music, Slim Man has written screenplays, the latest of which, Marlboro Men, is currently being pitched around Hollywood.

Slim Man recently released a cookbook, Slim Man Cooks, which features 52 recipes of his own creation, and 52 funny stories about growing up Slim. There are links in the cookbook to more than 50 cooking videos.

And we thought we’d close with this…Slim Man sang for Pope John Paul II at the Vatican on Christmas Day, 1999.

CHRISTY WILHELMI

Christy Wilhelmi empowers people to grow their own food, to be more self-reliant, and to reduce pollution and waste, one garden at a time.

Christy is author of Gardening for Geeks, and founder of Gardenerd, the ultimate resource for garden nerds, where she publishes information-packed monthly newsletters, weekly blog posts, and podcasts. She also specializes in small-space, organic vegetable garden design and consulting. She holds regular organic gardening classes in California, and has co-taught organic gardening at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, CA. Christy has been a board member of Ocean View Farms Organic Community Garden in Mar Vista, California since 1999, and gardens almost entirely with heirloom vegetables.

Between 70-80 percent of her family’s produce comes from her garden of less than 200 square feet. Her writing has appeared in Edible Los Angeles magazine, Edible Westside magazine, The Good Food Blog, and LowImpactLiving and the Mar Vista Farmers’ Market Wrap-Up for Patch.

Christy’s newest book, 400+ Tips for Organic Gardening Success: A Decade of Tricks, Tools, Recipes, and Resources from Gardenerd.com was published in 2017 on Amazon. She lives in Los Angeles, CA with her husband, some chickens and two gardens.

BURBANK HIGH SCHOOL GENTLEMEN’S OCTET

Burbank High School’s Gentlemen’s Octet is an a capella group of eight young men. This year’s group features Senior Christopher Aguirre, Senior Brandon Powell, Junior Noah Damasen, Junior Nathan Mai, Junior Travis Nichols, Sophomore Jonathan Coleman, Sophomore William Rodriguez, and Sophomore Eric Serna. They are under the direction of Mr. Brett Carroll, the musical director at Burbank High, and alumni Erin McGuire, who arranges the group’s music.

More About Burbank High School’s Gentlemen’s Octet at: https://www.bhsvocal.com

Check their performance calendar to enjoy the group in-person. The group can also be hired to perform at private parties, sporting events & celebrations.

BURBANK HIGH SCHOOL SIRENS

Burbank High School’s Sirens is an acapella group of eight young women. This year’s group features Senior Melanie Burckes, Senior Ali Diaz, Senior Kayla Pino, Junior Jasmine Cap, Junior Lindsey Miller, Junior Julia Skillsky, Junior Sydney Sugars, and Sophomore Bella Jade. They are under the direction of Mr. Brett Carroll, the musical director at Burbank High, and alumni Erin McGuire, who arranges the group’s music.

Learn More About the Burbank High School’s Sirens at https://www.bhsvocal.com

Check their performance calendar to enjoy the group in-person. The group can also be hired to perform at private parties, sporting events & celebrations.  Contact them at their website above.

Anthony Montes

Anthony Montes, is an award winning Actor, Director, Writer and Producer. Anthony has been part of the film and theater industry for over 40 years.

Anthony Montes has been teaching and coaching actors for 30 years. Anthony teaches his Acting Technique, the Montes Method Internationally and Domestically. Anthony has published 13 books of plays that are available on Amazon.

His Award Winning Feature Film, THE LAST NIGHT INN which he wrote and stars in as also available on Amazon. His 2nd Award Winning Feature, THE LAST TRAIN is currently looking for distribution. He has just finished a run of his uniquely original One-Man Show, OUTTA THE DARKNESS INTO THE LIGHT.

When Anthony was 27 he was tired of the struggle and tried to take his life by jumping in front of a train in NY. Once he hit the tracks, he knew that he couldn’t do that to his Mother and tried to jump out of the way, getting clipped by the train which fractured his arm.

He has taken that dark place in his life, and put it into his Writing & Acting to help others, to see that they are worth it.

“Musician’s singer” Cathy Segal-Garcia is a vocalist of “real music integrity” poignantly reports Critical Jazz reviewer.  Wherever she travels in the world, audiences and musicians are moved.

Segal-Garcia’s deep connection to rhythm and her earthy and organic voice bring a nakedness to her communication, a direct line in to one’s heart. Her repertoire includes original compositions and modern interpretations of standards and jazz musicians’ compositions.

 Critical Jazz says, “The vibeof artistic integrity coupled with honest emotion for a captivating experience.”  Don Heckman of the Los Angeles Times added, “Segal-Garcia’s most compelling quality is a warm, dark sound, luxurious enough to wrap a song in an envelope of lush timbres.” Segal-Garcia has been a tireless supporter and producer of the L.A. jazz scene for years.  Recognized for such by musicians,singers, jazz fans, students of jazz singing and organizations such as L.A.Jazz Scene, lajazz.com, CA Jazz Foundation, Jazzvocalalliance.com, Great American Songbook Preservation Society, CA Lawyers for the Arts, and named a“Jazz Living Legend” in L.A.

Recording and performing with jazz legends is part of her career heritage.  Guitarists Ted Greene, Joe Diorio, Larry Koonse, John Pisano. Pianists Ross Tompkins, Billy Childs, Otmaro Ruiz, Josh Nelson.  Drummer Peter Erskine & bassist Marc Johnson are on her recording “Song of The Heart”…Erskine says, “The freshest vocal project which I’ve ever been involved in, and it’s one of my favorite tapes of the past year…This recording deserves to be heard by as many people as possible.”  Marc Johnsonadds, “The choice of material is top notch — very interesting.  The duets were special, the interplay, dynamics, Cathy’s range and intonation are great!”

Her teaching is as well known as her singing, receiving accolades from her students who have had their voices and their lives changed. Her workshops for vocalists have been consistently produced since 1998,including such luminary guest clinicians as Mark Murphy, Cheryl Bentyne, Barbara Morrison, Rhiannon, Gretchen Parlato, Kate McGary, Nancy King,

Peter Eldridge, Meredith D’Ambrosio, Sachal Vasandani, and Rebecca Parris.

Cathy Segal-Garcia is known throughout the world for her performing and teaching, especially in Japan where she has toured every year for over 20 years, performing in jazz clubs and festivals throughout the country. She has 12 CDs to date, with another coming out in January 2019.

NICOLE DRAKULICH

Artist / Graphic Designer, diagnosed with a rare genetic eye disease in 2008 is slowly loosing her eyesight but gaining her inner vision. She speaks about turning a negative into a positive with finding a new career path and appreciation for life through her spiritual journey. She is bringing an IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE for ALL…

Travel through space and time in every class, inside immersive landscapes designed to elevate your soul and expand your consciousness using projected imagery and sound.

ORAYA offers a new paradigm of PILATES – YOGA – WELLNESS and proples this global movement toward a more connected and elevated human species.

Oraya’s mission is to create a heart centered movement through a global community that raises mind, body and soul awareness. Similar to Soul Cycle and Crossfit, Oraya’s Pilates and yoga classes will inspire beyond the physical, guiding participants toward an elevated fitness experience through curated teaching techniques and a unique, immersive environment combined with visuals and sound.

A big part will be giving back with a portion of proceeds flowing toward women’s education and the evolution toward a more balanced work force and, ultimately, world. Our goal is to boost the economy and expand female empowerment. This is the time for women to rise and come to the forefront.

Taking the mind body connection to a deeper level than other Pilates and yoga studios, we will offer meditation classes, inspiring lectures and workshops about spirituality, metaphysics, sacred geometry and healing modalities.

The wellness aspect will offer light medicine, Reiki, sound healing and detoxification.

Our organic bar offers snacks, juices, elixirs, tonics, coffee and teas.

We will also have a clothing line, skincare line, and yoga mats. A portion of all proceeds will benefit women’s education and women in the arts.