Our Founder
Barry Mendelson
President & CEO
Barry Mendelson's passion for entertainment, live events, television and sports has been reflected throughout his entire career. Sustaining more than 50 years in the entertainment industry, some of his career highlights include:
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Executive VP and GM of the New Orleans Jazz team of the NBA;
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Chairman of Framework Entertainment, a co-producing partner with FOX Sports on Beyond the Glory, a 5-year, 91 show series on FOX Sports Network. Producer of FOX Sports TV series, "Pistol Pete Basketball Diaries".
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General Partner of the historical 3,000 seat Saenger Performing Arts Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. Presented over 175 theatrical and concert performances per year;
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Executive Vice President of Madison Square Garden. Responsible for the presentation of live entertainment and sports events in Madison Square Garden, the Theater at Madison Square Garden, and the Beacon Theater.
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President of On Ice, Inc., presenter of 7 worldwide skating tours, and executive producer of 35 network and syndicated television theatrical skating specials;
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Executive Producer of Ice Capades and The Nutcracker on Ice, domestic and international tours;
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Executive Producer of the grand opening events in seven major venues, including the Tokyo Dome and the New Orleans Superdome. Presented the first non-football sports event in the AT&T Stadium in Dallas, Texas. December 19, 2009, University of North Carolina vs. University of Texas (attendance 37,500). The University of North Carolina was the defending NCAA National Champions;
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Mendelson's produced shows have performed in theaters and arenas in every state;
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Co-Owner and President of Ticketmaster Associates;
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Personal Manager for Basketball Legend and NBA Superstar, Jerry West;
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Sports Director at 640 KFI-AM Radio in Los Angeles, California. Co-host of pre and postgame Los Angeles Lakers' shows;
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Director of Radio, Television, and Advertising for the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Kings, the Forum Arena;
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Play-by-Play Radio Announcer for the New York Jets, team of the NFL, Radio Network;
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Color Analyst for the New York Giants, a team of the NFL, Radio Network;
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Vice President of the Boston Celtics, team the NBA;
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President of Barry Mendelson Presents, promoter of over 600 rock and roll concerts. Exclusive licensee of the closed-circuit TV rights in eleven states for the Sugar Ray Leonard vs Marvin Hagler, middleweight championship fight. Exclusive licensee of the closed-circuit TV rights in eleven states for the Mike Tyson vs Michael Spinks world heavyweight championship fight;
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Producer and Writer for the nationally syndicated radio shows, The Red Auerbach show and Pro Football Preview starring Pat Summerall.
Currently, Mendelson is the President and CEO of Mendelson Entertainment Group LLC where he oversees and manages every aspect of the company from conception to completion. In addition, he served as Executive Producer of the international network television series, Courtside Jones and was the Executive Producer of the Dallas Children's Health Holiday Parade, including the worldwide syndicated television special.
Mendelson Entertainment Group LLC currently serves as manager and producer of Lightwire Theater, an international performing arts sensation that finished as runner-up on America's Got Talent and has performed on mainland of China for nine years. Lightwire regularly performs over 350 live shows worldwide and currently has up to six touring companies on the road.
A native of Rochester, New York, Mendelson graduated from Ithaca College in 1965 with a Bachelor of Science in Communications. He went on to enter the United States Army in 1966, where he served as a Communications Specialist in the 3rd Armored Division, stationed in Frankfurt, Germany. He received an honorable discharge in 1968.
Notable Achievements
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In 1977 during the NBA Draft in the 7th round, the New Orleans Jazz selected Ms. Lusia Harris, an All-American from Delta State University. The only woman to ever be selected in the NBA Draft. Ms. Harris played on the first U.S. Olympic Women's team in 1976 and scored the first basket. She did not attend the Jazz try-out camp.
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As Executive Vice President and General Manager of the New Orleans Jazz was the first person in the NBA to sign a free agent, with compensation. It is notable that this pick from the Jazz was used by the Lakers to sign Earvin Magic Johnson in 1979.
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As Executive Vice President and General Manager of the New Orleans Jazz, set the first attendance record of over 25,000 people to attend an NBA game. (November 5, 1975, 26,511 people Jazz vs Lakers).
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Traded and acquired for the New Orleans Jazz, college basketball's greatest player, "Pistol" Pete Maravich.
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Created the first courtside VIP seats in the NBA.
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Promoter of Boston Celtics vs Atlanta Hawks on March 12, 1985, in the game where Larry Bird scored the most points of his career in a single game, sixty.
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Promoted the largest indoor crowd worldwide to attend a concert. (The Rolling Stones, December 3, 1981, Louisiana Superdome, 87,599 people).
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As Executive Vice President and General Manager of the New Orleans Jazz, hired the second African-American NBA Head Coach, Elgin Baylor.
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Member of the Ithaca College Athletic Hall of Fame.
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Established the Ann E. Mendelson Scholarship at the Ithaca College School of Communications.
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Member of the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Foundation Board of Directors.
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Received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Ithaca College Alumni Association.
Our Team
Frank Easterly - Partner
A committed serial entrepreneur ranging from a global industrial service company to local commerce mobile apps, Frank Easterly is interested in all things “social” that have an exposed “hole” in the market where creativity and agility can result in “the one thing” commercial. Easterly founded Integrated Global Services, Inc. (IGS) in 1980 and introduced patented industrial product to the paper, power and upstream oil & gas industries around the world, saving his customers billions in replacement costs. Since the sale of IGS in 2010, Easterly has created and developed patented technology for mobile apps in mobile payments and local retail advertising. Easterly is a founding investor and director of MEG. He received a BA from Virginia Military Institute (1969) and a MBA from the University of Virginia (1973). Easterly has three daughters, a son and three grand children. Easterly is married to Sarka Jordankova and lives in Los Angeles.
When he is not working Easterly enjoys the great outdoors, particularly mountain biking and an occasional round of golf.
Minnie Madden - Vice President, Creative Director
Everyone who knows or meets Minnie is immediately taken with her vibrant charisma, offbeat attitude, and unique sense of style. Her experience spans the globe and nearly every genre in the entertainment business. Minnie is a trained dancer, choreographer, director and publisher. She has worked and performed on stage, the small screen and the silver screen. Her 30 years in the entertainment industry includes: development, production, staging and choreography for ice shows, theme parks, cruise lines, dance and circus extravaganzas. She served as President of Productions for Ice Capades and through MEG as Creative Director for the Dallas Children’s Health Holiday parade, featuring over 4,000 entertainers.
In addition to her role at Mendelson Entertainment Group, Minnie owns and is co-creator of MadMeat, an arts and commercial photography business. She also founded the Las Vegas audition site, Dirt Alert (renamed Callback) and has been honored by former Las Vegas Mayor, Oscar Goodman, with a proclamation, designating March 13th as “Minnie Madden Day.” When Minnie is not in the office, you can usually find her exploring off-the-wall places and shoe shopping.
Chuck Rounds - Productions Director
As a practitioner, commentator and critic, Chuck Rounds’ name is synonymous with quality productions. He has directed everything from farce to Shakespeare, musicals to the classics. Chuck has directed and produced shows in Las Vegas, including Steve Wyrick’s Real Magic, Ultra-Magician and Ignite at the Clarion and has also created a huge variety of shows across the country. Through MEG, he continues to oversee the Dallas Children’s Health Holiday Parade and has worked on Rick Springfield’s Stripped Down and Marilyn: Forever Blonde performances in Dallas, TX.
Chuck holds a B.A. in Directing and Theater for Young Audiences and a M.F.A. in Directing; was a professor of Theater Arts for nine years and is a well renowned and award-winning art photographer. He has won the “Columbia Award” for outstanding playwriting for Folk Tales from Around the World and his play Social Diseases, was featured on PBS. Chuck continues to produce and direct for Minnie Madden Productions and is entertainment writer and host for Charleston Communications in Las Vegas, Nevada.
When Chuck is not in the office, you can usually catch him with a camera in hand or playing a round of golf.
Tina Nichols - Operations Manager
Tina is the glue that holds all of the process together. She is proficient in all things technical, and she’s the queen of travel arrangements and budget tracking. Tina was an executive assistant for many years to high-level administrators prior to coming to Mendelson Entertainment.
Thomas Lunde - Creative Consultant
An expert in the fields of visual and communication arts, Thomas Lunde received his B.A. from the University of Wisconsin and also studied in the Visual Language Group of Computer Architecture Department at MIT. His passion is applying his training and technology skills to communicate ideas globally in publishing, marketing and communication. He began his serious involvement in technology distributing information around the world in print as design director of Newsweek and at Saatchi and Saatchi Advertising working with global clients like British Air and Toyota. Thomas then continued in that spirit with responsive design across platforms using the world wide web.
As President of Thomas Lunde Creative: A Design and Consulting Firm, Thomas now works mainly on the Internet with Drupal as his main content management system with some experience with WordPress. He is comfortable with all aspects of original visual content, from branding and marketing, to execution of major websites. Thomas is an experienced design director working with clients and creative teams, and he has art directed numerous projects as well as photo edited thousands of images.
When Thomas is not working behind a computer screen, you can find him behind a camera or with a paintbrush in hand. He also enjoys sailing.
Lee Speno - Sales Manager
With more than 20 years of experience in the public relations, sales, and marketing industries, Lee has joined Mendelson Entertainment Group as the sales manager. Lee is masterful at her ability to promote Mendelson Entertainment Group’s reputation by truly representing the vision of the company.
Having spent much of her youth in the performing arts, Lee developed a passion for musical theatre, ballet and, of course, parades. Prior to joining MEG, Lee volunteered for three years for the Dallas Children’s Health Holiday Parade finding performers and performance groups that represent the very best of the DFW community.
Lee graduated from Jacksonville University with a B.F.A. in Dance and also attended The Boston Conservatory. In addition, she trained under many of the principal dancers of the Boston Ballet. Her focus, integrity, and passion has carried over from her dance training to allow her to work effectively and to multi-task with creative intent and quick response.
Lee is the very proud mother of two national champions. Her son is a former Drum Major with Marcus High School Marching Band and currently attends Texas Tech University pursuing a degree in Music Education. Her daughter is a Regional, State and National Champion in the sport of baton twirling and will be also be attending Texas Tech. When she’s not in the office, you can find Lee cheering on her kids, the Green Bay Packers and the Georgia Bulldogs!