Topock Marina - Topock, Arizona

Most recently, I have been involved in a management role in the purchase and operation of a marina on the Colorado River in Topock, Arizona. My personal responsibilities include marketing and advertising for the entire operation, as well as overseeing customer service, retail store, fuel operations, two websites (www.topockarizona.com and www.topocksandbar.com) and commemorative photo sales. In addition, we are in the process of launching the new ClubTopock.Com which will be not only a portal for our river-going customers, but a monthly outreach program for offering specials and discounts as well as tying all of our brands under one cohesive banner.

By cultivating new vendors and attending all of the major gift and apparel shows and markets, we have transformed a small souvenir store into a wildly successful clothing and gift shop with plans to build a 1,000 square foot stand-alone retail store during the winter of 2009.

Once the purchase of the marina was complete, I was made responsible for the launch of a Maitre d’, seven terminal POS system. This system has not only allowed us to operate more efficiently, but has helped control inventory and labor costs. The system is in use in the restaurant, bar and retail store, and we have successfully implemented a wireless hand-held terminal at our fuel dock, allowing customer service heretofore unheard of in the area.

Our Management Team is now in the planning stages for a 130 unit hotel complex to be built on the property, with groundbreaking scheduled for 2010. (See www.http://topock66.com)

Sunset Marketing - Victorville, California

Using direct marketing, tradeshows, internet and direct mail, my team and I have moved the Treasured Keepsakes line of custom memorial products from an in-house product to an industry recognized product sold to funeral providers throughout California.

We are currently producing a direct-mail marketing piece which is unlike anything ever done in the funeral business. This piece will include a dvd featuring a one-half hour video about our facility, a video piece showcasing our custom theme song, Roy Rogers images, marketing vignettes featuring our staff as well as a companion booklet complete with discount offers from local partners. This piece is expected to start mailing to residents of the High Desert during the summer of 2008. This package was produced entirely in-house.

In 2004, I conceived, developed and implemented the Reflections of a Lifetime custom DVD memorial tribute. This fully digital memorial utilizes video, photography and music to create a lasting memory for our families. Since its inception, more than 400 families have utilized the Reflections of a Lifetime tribute as a part of the memorial service.

I authored the entry that earned our company the “Ginny” award for public relations from the National Funeral Directors Association. The Sunset Hills Companies are a nationally recognized leader in the industry for their innovative approach to memorialization and the funeral service. Many of these innovations are the direct result of my department’s involvement. In an industry that is known for an inability to progress, our company has utilized electronic media such as digital video, print on demand, variable data mailing, websites and dvd authoring to drive our marketing efforts.

With my help, the owner of our company has become an industry spokesman on “outside the box” marketing. Our company has been featured in scores of newspapers, magazines and television news programs including The National Enquirer, Playboy Magazine and the Sun, the UK’s largest newspaper. In addition, he has been the featured speaker and a number of national industry events. At each of these events I was responsible for the entire presentation from scripting to high quality projected presentations.

In 2004 I was charged with developing a startup floral operation. Through some truly innovative marketing, that department is now known as the premiere floral shop in the area and has developed many retail and corporate accounts.

In the last few years we have developed the Pavilion at Sunset Hills as a unique and first-class facility offering weddings, social and corporate events. My training as a Certified Corporate Event Planner has allowed us to operate “ahead of the curve”, thereby maintaining a regional lead as an event destination.

In addition, my 25+ years of community service have provided me with the following opportunities:

• Regularly speaking in front of audiences as large as 500
• Planning and presenting special events for as many as 3,000 attendees
• Writing, editing and designing many different types of publications on a regular basis
• Producing radio and television advertising
• Coordinating newspaper advertising as well as press material and articles.

As a freelance marketing guru, I have helped many companies throughout Southern California with website design, writing, editing and production of promotional and marketing materials and marketing strategies.