It started out quite small, and at one time there were over 20 members; but today there are 15 Parnelli Board of Advisors who shape the awards. We reached out to some who have been part of the group since the earliest days, and one who was just asked to join.
John Brown: It was the hatching of a new egg — one with new promise, and a vehicle for us who needed to share our wares. Terry put a picture of my stage for the Paralympics on the cover of the first PLSN, and I called him out for not getting permission to use it, and he immediately put me on the board, and gave me free advertising. LOL.
I can’t say enough about Terry, and his will to succeed after his tenure at Performance magazine. I remember the Studio City office meetings when we met as a board for the first time, and then when we moved to Patrick Stansfield’s house. Terry had a vision, and he had the intelligence to gather people in the industry around him that could advance the interests of all of us. Without PLSN, the touring publication industry would have died after Performance, but Terry was focused, and I liked that. I signed on to the Parnelli Board of Advisors on day one, and Terry took care of us. Patrick was a big influence, as I had worked for him for decades, even up to that point. Terry and Patrick had a very special bond.
In the early years, I would hold a poker game after the bar closed at the hotel for the Parnellis, and it then became known as the official “after after party,” where you’d go to John Brown’s suite. I would pay for the suite, and Terry would buy all the food and booze. We would play until early hours of the next afternoon, or until Keith Kevan got completely out of control. For years, Terry and I continued this late-night tradition, and it became the networking hub of the event. You could rub elbows with the elite of our industry: Michael Tait, Steve Lawler, Benny Collins, Patrick — I loved that. I cannot reveal details of the debauchery that ensued when we all got together, but I can tell you, ultimately, the marriage between Terry’s vision and the industry’s embrace of him and his magazine was magic from day one. —John Brown, Brown United
Kent Black: In the early days, we use to have the Parnelli Board meetings in Patrick’s dining room at his house in Sherman Oaks. No conference calls or Zoom back then! It was Terry, Patrick, Marshall [Bissett], John [Brown], a few others, and Marc Brickman. At that time, Patrick had a beautiful young woman staying with him from Vancouver. Her name was Catharine and Mr. Brickman became very smitten with her. Within six months they were living together and within a year they were married! And they are still together! —Kent Black, Production Manager
Robin Shaw: I have been a member of the Parnelli Board of Advisors since its earliest years. Rick O’Brien was a good friend of mine and mentored me during the early days of Upstaging. I have met and learned from so many people along the way as I grew up in this industry and Rick set the bar of what a gentleman and a friend should be, so it was an honor and a privilege to be included and serve on the board of the Parnelli awards.
At the board meetings, I have been active and outspoken (those of you who know me are probably not surprised). At times, I have been shut down with my ideas (rightly so); other times if I felt strongly about something, I would never concede and could be quite persuasive.
One memory of my extreme stubbornness was for Mo Morrison. I was a friend and worked with Mo while he was working with Lady Gaga. I knew that he was quite ill, even though he was completely certain that he would win his fight. When it was time to decide for person of the year, I fought hard for Mo. The other person up for the award was George Travis, who had just finished a huge tour and was also due this honor.
I love George and respect him as much as I respected Rick O’Brien. There couldn’t be a better choice that year. Even so, I argued for Mo Morrison, which I had to make clear without mentioning his illness, as he was keeping that a personal matter. I am sure the board couldn’t understand my insistence, especially since George Travis was certainly the choice. We became a mixed board, however we decided to give Mo Morrison a once-in-a-lifetime achievement award to solve this issue and put him in the Hall of Fame. I was so happy about this compromise. Mo gave the acceptance speech of his life, and sadly he passed away not long after.
To make this Parnelli award year even more special, George Travis gave an amazing acceptance speech, thanking those who had helped him along the way and helped make our business grow, especially honoring the women who started in our business, and he included me in his shout out. I don’t think I could ever have been prouder in my life on that day and that show.
Every one of us in this business deserves every award, especially during this extremely difficult and confusing time. I wish our business was called upon to task force this pandemic. We are rapid thinking, intelligent problem solvers. We don’t have months or a year or years to solve a problem. I am also not sure that any other industry could say that the people they work with become their lifelong friends. This is why the Parnelli awards are so important. —Robin Shaw, Upstaging Co-Founder
Mark Haney: I was part of the “second group” of people who came onto the Parnelli Board. I had written for PLSN for several years, and Patrick Stansfield brought me on to consult for one of the shows. More than once I’ve been asked to present awards, which I’ve always enjoyed, and been happy to oblige. Then in 2010, he thought it would be a good idea if the Parnelli Board of Advisor’s had someone with a video perspective. Patrick was a mentor and an important person in my career, so I was humbled and honored that he’d ask. I watched him help so many others on their career path in this business, many are dear friends. His constant mentoring throughout his career speaks to what a kind and benevolent person he was.
This was around the time when Terry changed the magazine from Pro Lights & Staging News to Projection Lights and Staging News — which I thought was a sage move. It also was around this time when even medium sized acts started carrying video. It was becoming a more important part of the touring industry as a whole, and I was pleased that Patrick and Terry thought I could contribute something to the board. It has been a pleasure to advocate for this segment and represent my fellow contemporaries in touring video. It makes me sad that Patrick’s gone, but if I can somehow continue a part of his legacy, be part of what he and Terry has built, I am still humbled and honored to do so. —Mark Haney, VP of Concert Touring, ChoiceLIVE (formerly Upstage Video)
Stan Miller: Receiving the 2009 Audio Innovator Award for doing what I loved and had been doing since the early 60’s. Not really doing anything special, just what necessity dictated. Then to continue another 10 years to retirement, I still love being able to be involved as an advisory Board member. —Stan Miller, Neil Diamond’s Audio Engineer
Chris Weathers: Two years ago, I got a call from Nook [Schoenfeld] who said, “Welcome to the Parnelli Awards Board of Advisors.” I was shocked and surprised. I was good friends with Patrick Stansfield — I met him way back when he was tour manager for Neil Diamond. Every time he would come to my hometown of Chicago, we would always go out for steak at the Capital Grille. When I met him, I was a young promoter rep, and saw that he ran a great tour. His tours were always very well organized, and he ran a first-class ship. He taught me a lot, and in turn, I always wanted to shine for him.
I knew about the Parnelli Awards, and knew about his involvement, but never thought I’d be involved. I was humbled when I was asked to join, and as a member, being part of it has made me appreciate the efforts of Patrick and Terry even more.
As a youngster in the business and not knowing a lot, I used many of the articles in PLSN and FOH magazines to help educate me on things I didn’t know. There needs to be a lot of educating [on equity issues] directed to various vendors. As a board member, I hope we can redirect our attention and refocus on people who aren’t just “the old guard,” but focus on some young industry professionals as well. Nook was very honest with me: “I hope guys like you can bring new changes.”
Being a Black man, at Live Nation, I have a diverse staff, including mostly women working what have traditionally been jobs that men held. There needs to be more of that by everyone (artist, management, promoters, vendors; etc.) and not have the issue be just lip service. We also need to look to the new and future artists like H.E.R., Billie Eilish, etc., to feature some of their young and diverse talent pool. Get more young people involved in our efforts through acts such as these. Going forward, I hope the Parnelli Board can ask, “What direction is the industry going in” and then focus our features on some of the “New Guard!” —Chris Weathers, Live Nation
Parnelli Board of Advisors
Posthumous Members:
- Patrick Stansfield, Parnelli Awards Co-Founder, 1943-2014
- Stephen Gudis, 1951-2020
- Bob See, See Factor, 1947-2015
Active Members:
- Marshall Bissett, Chairman
- Rob Barber, Atomic Design
- Kent Black, Production Manager
- John Brown, Brown United
- Shaun Clair, Clair Global
- Joey Gallagher, Gallagher Staging
- Mark Haney, ChoiceLIVE
- Peter Hendrickson, Tour Tech East
- Randy Hutson, PRG
- Karrie Keyes, SoundGirls.org
- James Leasing, Parnelli Associate Producer
- Stanley Miller, FOH Engineer
- Debi Moen, PLSN Columnist/Contributor
- Danny O’Bryen, Screenworks
- Michael O’Keefe, Technical Productions Inc.
- Dean Roney, Solotech
- Dave Shadoan, Sound Image
- Robin Shaw, Upstaging
- Chris Weathers, Live Nation
