Daniel moved with his wife from Seattle, WA to Northwest Arkansas in late 2004, where he had previously been working with the national marketing firm Pyramid Communications on clients such as The Nature Conservancy, Seattle Art Museum, Friends of Puget Sound, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and others. While in Seattle, he also worked for the Downtown Seattle YMCA, founding an all-ages music venue that booked numerous of acts from around the country, and a downtown art gallery that mentored emerging artists.
Daniel worked for two years as a contract professional specialist at the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza School of Business, teaching innovation and creativity in the undergraduate, graduate and the Executive MBA programs. He started an arts-based experience design consulting firm and worked with such as the Milwaukee Art Museum, First Stage Children’s Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Milwaukee Public Theatre, Seattle’s ACT Theatre and Intiman Theatre, Seattle Parks and Recreation, Milwaukee Public Schools, and the Walton Arts Center. In 2005, he also co-founded TheatreSquared, a regional professional theatre company in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Over the past seven years, he has focused primarily on merging innovative urban planning concepts and experience design to transform community relationships with their downtown districts. Prior to Downtown Bentonville, Inc., he served as executive director of Fayetteville Downtown Partners. While there, the organization developed Arkansas’ first civically created Cultural Arts District, founded the Fayetteville Arts Council and established the City’s first Public Art Policy. Downtown Bentonville, Inc. also helped lead efforts to adopt the Downtown Fayetteville Master Plan, which rezoned over 340 acres of the city. In 2007, the organization successfully advocated for changes in Arkansas’ Business Improvement District legislation to expand funding for the arts as an allowable expense.
A published author and poet, Daniel worked for several years in the restaurant industry, working as line and sous chef at several award winning restaurants throughout the United States. In 2008, he earned an internationally competitive slot in an Experience Economy Expert certification program taught by renowned economists Joe Pine and Jim Gilmore. He currently serves on the advisory board for Ohio-based Marko Wineries and the Northwest Arkansas Community College Culinary Program, and holds a BFA-Film from the University of Colorado-Boulder.
Andy has over 40 years experience in the entertainment, television, hospitality, special event/facility management and development fields. Some professional highlights include eleven years as the Road, Tour and Production Manager of REO Speedwagon; six years as event manager for the University of Illinois Assembly Hall; two years each as the Director/General Manager of the Decatur, Illinois and Oberlin Kansas Civic Centers; four years with LMI (Leisure Management International) as Vice President/General Manager of the Monroe, LA Civic Center complex, Louisiana Purchase Gardens and Zoo and the Twin City Queen (riverboat); two more years as part of the grand opening team and Director of Business Development for LMI’s award winning Nashville Arena.
He also served two years as Vice President and General Manager of Warner/TBA and 6 years as the GM of the Redding (CA) Convention Center and Visitors bureau, acting as the Executive Producer for the week long grand opening ceremonies of the Calatrava designed Sundial Bridge.
During his career, he has produced, or assisted in producing thousands of special events, festivals, tournaments, sporting and television events, including Farm Aid I at the University of Illinois and seven television productions including specials for MTV, TNN, and multiple pay-per view programs. He also produced and managed multiple large special events, including Rockfest ’99, and 2000 (attendance exceeded 90,000 at each), the Music City News Awards television special, the Dove awards, the Commissioner’s Night at the NBA All Star weekend in 2000 and the Montreux Festival 21 city tour and PPV television special. He also worked as a consultant on facility development for the 2000 Sydney Summer Olympics, and special events for NBC and the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.
He is currently an officer with the International Association of Assembly Managers and sits on the core policy guiding IAAM Industry Affairs Council. He currently serves as an advisor to Rippetoe Solutions Group of Las Vegas.
Sonia graduated from Colorado College in 2009 with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance. In addition to her Dance classes, she also studied Financial Accounting, Microeconomics, Entrepreneurship, and worked part time in the college’s I.d.e.a. Space Art Gallery.
Upon graduation, Sonia interned with the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt; National Museum of Design in the Membership & Development Department, where she learned the inner workings of their programs and discovered the membership management software Rasier’s Edge. She went on to use her knowledge at The Mustard Seed School in Hoboken, NJ. She also worked with the Capuchin Franciscan Friars, where she oversaw projects including direct mailing campaigns to over 70,000 households.
A native of Bentonville, Nicki graduated from the University of Arkansas with a degree in Agricultural Education. Her degree has allowed her to take classes varying from agricultural economics, crop science, animal science, to welding. Her internship at Pea Ridge High School allowed her to develop her skills and be an integral part of the Pea Ridge FFA program.
Nick is a native of Benton County and is a member of the Benton County Farm Bureau. In 2010, Nicki made top 5 in the Young Farmers and Ranchers Discussion meet held in Hot Springs.
Nicki and her husband enjoy their hobby farm, where they raise and train American Quarter Horses and American Paint Horses. They also enjoy a mixed vegetable and flower garden, as well as a flock of layer hens. They are planning to include a Boer goat operation in the near future.
