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CENTURION KEYNOTE SPEAKERS AND ENTERTAINERS TO ROCK FROM MORNING TO MIDNIGHT | January 23, 2013 (0 comments)
Scottsdale, AZ—The Centurion Show always features top business experts and rocking entertainment. This year is no different, as super-entrepreneur Jerry Greenfield of Ben & Jerry's talks about how to make your business stand out, Commander Retired Mike Abrashoff speaks about turning around a business, and the nights will rock out to Earth, Wind & Fire and Billy Joel cover master Wade Preston and the Movin' Out band, fresh from Broadway.
Want to know how to make your store stand out from the competition, or turn a problem situation around to become a market leader? Greenfield will tell his company story during "A Morning of Entrepreneurial Spirit, Social Responsibility and Radical Business Philosophy" and (Commander Retired) Mike Abrashoff will tell how he and his team turned a losing vessel into the "Best Damn Ship in the Navy" at his talk "It’s Your Ship."
Co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s Homemade, Inc., Greenfield and his business partner Ben Cohen built a storefront venture into a $300 million ice cream empire by making social responsibility and creative management strengths instead of weaknesses. Indeed, the duo’s ice cream grew so popular that in 1984 Pillsbury, parent company of the then-reigning premium ice cream brand, Haagen-Dazs, tried to limit distribution of the Ben & Jerry’s brand in Boston, prompting not only a lawsuit from Greenfield & Cohen but also their famous “What’s the Doughboy Afraid Of” marketing campaign that later became a textbook classic. Pillsbury tried again in 1987 to limit Ben & Jerry’s distribution, but to no avail, and in 1988 the duo were named U.S. Small Businesspersons of the Year by former president Ronald Reagan.
With his best seller, Ben & Jerry’s Double-Dip: Lead with Your Values and Make Money, Too (co-authored with Cohen), Greenfield created both a nuts-and-bolts guidebook to the promise and pitfalls of “values-led” business, and an inspiring wake-up call about the growing international influence of the “socially conscious” or “mission driven” corporation.
At the age of 36, the Navy selected Mike Abrashoff to become commander of the USS Benfold. At the time, he was the most junior commanding officer in the Navy’s Pacific fleet. The immediate challenges that faced him on this underperforming naval war ship were staggering: exceptionally low morale, high turnover, and unacceptably low performance evaluations. Few thought that this ship could improve. In many ways, the USS Benfold was actually an extreme example of the same problems facing many organizations today. Employing principles he will share with you in his sessions, Abrashoff and his crew turned the Benfold into the finest ship in the Pacific fleet, and the Benfold won the prestigious Spokane Trophy for having the highest degree of combat readiness. Most important – this transformation took place with the same crew, and Abrashoff will tell you how you can drive the same transformation in your own business.
On Super Bowl Sunday, Centurion attendees will kick it up with friends and colleagues at a giant Super Bowl party, watching the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers duke it out on really big screens, and nibbling on an array of tailgate party favorites.
After the game, Earth, Wind & Fire will perform. Earth, Wind & Fire is an American band that has spanned the musical genres: soul, disco, R&B, funk, jazz and rock. They are one of the most successful and critically acclaimed bands of the twentieth century, described by Rolling Stone as "innovative, precise yet sensual, calculated yet galvanizing."
The band was founded in Chicago in 1969, by Maurice White. The band has received 20 Grammy nominations; they won six as a group and two of its members, Maurice White and Bailey, won separate individual awards. Earth, Wind & Fire has 12 American Music Awards nominations and four awards. They have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame, received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and sold over 90 million albums worldwide.
Today, EWF is Philip Bailey: Vocals, Kalimba, Conga, Percussion; Verdine White: Bass, Percussion, Vocals; Ralph Johnson: Vocals, Drums, Percussion; Myron McKinley: Keyboards; Philip Bailey, Jr.: Background Vocals; B. David Whitworth: Vocals, Percussion; Greg Moore: Guitar, Vocals; Morris O’Connor: Guitar; and John Paris: Drums, Vocals.
On Monday’s Gala Awards Night, sponsored by VERANDA, Centurion attendees will be enchanted by Wade Preston and the Movin' Out band, fresh from Broadway, where Wade starred as Billy Joel for three years.
Wade Preston
The Movin' Out Band is the smokin' original band from the Tony Award-winning, Grammy nominated Broadway musical, "Movin' Out.” The Movin' Out Band includes several members of Billy Joel's own band, and is fronted by the incredibly talented pianist and vocalist Wade Preston, the original 'Piano Man' in the hit musical, hand-selected by Billy Joel himself.
He fronted the show on Broadway for its entire 3-1/2 year run from 2002 – 2005, and went on to star in the national tour until 2008. He holds the record as the Piano Man with the most consecutive shows performed without a break and is the only Piano Man who has played the lead role and the synth chair at the same time.
In June and July of 2008, Wade did the rehearsals and sound checks for Billy Joel for the historic "Last Play at Shea" performances; his job description was "Stunt Billy". On January 20, 2009, Wade performed at the Pennsylvania Inauguration Ball in Washington, DC, for president Obama, vice president Biden and Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell. Prior to Movin' Out, Wade was celebrated in Los Angeles as the preeminent Billy boogie/stride pianist, revered for his rollicking performance and masterful piano playing.