The following is taken from an interview in Leaders magazine of Stan Bernstein, Global Entertainment Networks President and CEO.

How Corporate Entertainment Can Mean Big Business Leaders Magazine, Volume 22, Number 4, page 184 As Stan Bernstein describes it, corporate events today are "a far cry from the sales meetings and conventions of yesterday." People now demand entertainment "because it acts as both inspiration and reward" Furthermore, "corporate entertainment is big business because it helps companies do business." For these reasons and more, he has been heading Global Entertainment Network East for the past two and half decades, supplying fundraisers and the corporate arena with the echelon of performers they crave. Having started his career on the stage as a singer/pianist. Bernstein moved on to managing some of the acts with which he toured. Eventually he opened his own talent management firm.
Why did you decide to found Global Entertainment Network East ? The importance of corporate entertainment has come into its own in the past 20 years. Entertainment plays an integral role in the overall success of a meeting or convention because it acts as both inspiration and reward. It is a far cry from the sales meetings and conventions of yesterday, with their back-to-back pie charts, motivational speeches and awards. Only a handful of employees were recognized. Now everyone wins. How can Global's services help corporations increase their business and secure new clients ? Corporate entertainment is big business because it helps companies do business. The excitement, optimism, and inspiration generated by the event ups the ante, creating a sky's-the-limit setting conducive to doing corporate business. Our mission therefore, is to fulfill the objectives of the client within budgetary and creative goals. Our success is predicated on first listening to our clients, determining what their objective is, and then creating a team comprised of the corporate decision makers, meeting planners, and us. We work together to produce the finest event possible for their purpose. You are known to be able to secure almost any talent or speakers that a corporation desires. Can you really fufill any company's request? Yes, provided that the company with which we are dealing has realistic expectations. Some marquee artists are never available for corporate shows. We can secure any artist who wishes to work and is available for the date selected.	You have been involved in the Cipriani Concert Series in New York. How has this series progressed, and have you been happy with the way corporations have become involved in this event? Happy? We're ecstatic! When Sidney Kimmel, CEO of Jones New York, who along with Giuseppe Cipriani, is a partner and cofounder of the series, invited me to produce it, I never dreamed that the first season would be so incredibly successful. It was even more extraordinary than we had imagined. The Cipriani Concert Series is a 10-month, 10-dinner/concert sequence of superstar performances, which we produced for its premiere season in 1998-99 and are now preparing for the 1999-2000 season. Three generations of Ciprianis have brough their culinary artistry to corporate America, and it's a singular honor to be part of such an extraordinary undertaking. This is the creme de la creme of corporate entertainment. Last season legendary artists Rod Stewart, Diana Ross, Whitney Houston, Barry Manilow, Natalie Cole, Paul Anka, James Taylor, Aretha Franklin, and Tony Bennet performed and received standing ovations. Last season we used the extraordinary Cipriani 55 Wall Street venue. This year we will be based in the newly renovated Cipriani 42nd Street, adjacent to Grand Central Station. We've just about completed signing this season's roster of talent, and it's very exciting. Word travels quickly in music circles, and it's very gratifying to make an offer to superstars and have them immediately recognize the venue and our name.	And as far as the way companies have become involved, word travels quickly in corporate circles too, and the list of subscribers grows daily. This, by every definition of the word, is success. Is there a specific event that you are most proud of? There have been so many events and people over the past decades, it's hard to isolate one. I feel like the mother of quintuplets, who was asked if she has a favorite, and her answer was, "Whichever one I'm holding at the moment." The business of the "show" is an ongoing process of talent acquisition and production for the corporate giants and the little guys with big dreams and limited budgets. And, you know, it's a nice way to make a living.   CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD A ACROBAT VIEWER FILE OF THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE

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