From Bill Powell #1

ALLFELDALUMNI, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. Buckles, I just returned from a week on the road that started with this past Monday’s memorial service for Allen Bloom in Washington D.C. As befitting a great showman Washington Hebrew Congregation was packed with supporters and admirers of Allen. Many traveled thousands of miles and a few even crossed oceans to be there on short notice (2 days) to pay respect for what he had done for them in their lives. As Karen Swope most accurately said earlier on you blog, "Allen Bloom was an incredible influence in the lives of so many young executives in the circus and live event industry." Allen set the gold standard for recruiting, training, mentoring and organizing a marketing and sales force into one cohesive unstoppable machine. I was proud to be part of that era and will forever be in debt to his memory for what he taught me. Allen Bloom was more than a boss. He was a father figure, friend, teacher and taskmaster all rolled into one. If Allen was your friend, you could have no better person at your side. He treated everyone with respect and kindness. It did not matter if you were a pauper or president. His contributions to the industry were acknowledged in 2006 when he received the Pioneer in Sport and Entertainment Award at the International Conference on Sport and Entertainment. Like his recent memorial service many of his ‘disciples’ traveled great distances to the conference to pay tribute to Allen. I am attaching a picture of the participants. People pictured in the photo represent current leaders in modern live event management. To think that everyone pictured started their careers promoting the circus is a tribute to the man who led them. Pictured left to right: Front Row: Karen Swope – V.P Tickmaster/Atlanta, Ga. Ken Wachter - President PMI Inc. in Green Bay, Wisconsin (Hockey Team, Arena, Concession Company, Packer Hall of Fame) Frank Roach – Chairman/Department of Sport and Entertainment Management, University of South Carolina Susannah Smith – Business Development Analyst/Cataphora Inc./Washinton, D.C. Tom Crangle – President/Global Entertainment/Las Vegas Sherry Powell – Director of Marketing and Sales/Florida Orchestra Bill Powell – V.P. Event Marketing and Sales/Southern Region/Mexico/Feld Entertainment Joe Gold- President/Joe Gold Entertainment/Museums and Exhibitions/Boston, Mass. Jeff Cogen- President of Dallas Stars Hockey Team/COO of Texas Rangers Baseball Team Randy Bloom- Principal/Themestar Productions/Worldwide distributor of live family entertainment./Potomac, MD. Earl Duryea- Senior Consultant to Fair and Exposition Industry/LA, Calif. Mike Franks- V.P. Hicks Sports Group/Dallas Stars/NASCAR/Texas Rangers/Rodeos/American Airlines Center Arena