Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Dennis Gelbaum. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Dennis, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Too often the media represents innovation as something magical that only high-flying tech billionaires and upstarts engage in – but the truth is almost every business owner has to regularly innovate in small and big ways in order for their businesses to survive and thrive. Can you share a story that highlights something innovative you’ve done over the course of your career?
I have always been an out of the box thinker – finding and creating innovative ways to solve problems, to create unique opportunities and experiences. I’ve always expressed a can do attitude and looked at challenges as temporary roadblocks. I’m patient, creative, resourceful and I can juggle three tennis balls and take bites out of an apple all at the same time. And I make the best French toast on the planet!

I’ve done a lot of “firsts” throughout my career but the most innovative thing I’ve done/accomplished is creating, co-writing, co-producing and co-directing “Get Fit With Alyson “…this was a multimedia project I sold to Nintendo to launch the WiiFit.

The broadcast series was hosted by Alyson Stoner (Cheaper By The Dozen) and focused on helping young kids learn how to deal with self esteem issues, to make healthy choices, to exercise and to get and stay mentally and physically fit. The advertising, marketing and promotions we created were a huge success – far exceeding expectations.

The Wii and WiiFit were innovative products created by Nintendo. I saw an opportunity to launch the Wii by creating content to organically support its originality and uniqueness. And being pushed to the outer limits by Nintendo’s Creative Marketing Team didn’t hurt. It inspired me to push every button.

Dennis Gelbaum is an award winning Creative Director, Producer, Director, Author and Inventor. Dennis has produced live, virtual and hybrid events for hundreds of clients in more than 35 countries engaging millions of participants and raising billions of dollars.

Dennis produces and manages corporate, consumer, PR and motivational events helping clients create brand funded/sponsored multimedia content and interactive events and experiences that strengthens and unleashes the power of their brands.

“I integrate entertainment and interactive multimedia experiences with marketing strategies – generating engagement and conversation that lasts well beyond the event. And I provide clients with new and unique opportunities to connect with consumers and fans. I promote social and environmental projects and support non-profits and volunteer associations worldwide.”

Dennis is the CEO/ECD of ramp it up entertainment and the Co- Founder and Co-Managing Partner of WENDEE, a music artist development company.

Previously, Dennis held the position (s) of Chief Operating Officer / Chief Marketing Officer at Septien Entertainment Group; Creative Director, Producer, Director and Managing Director of Tribe Pictures; Managing Parter at Beaucoup Chapeaux and Talent Solutions and COO/ECD of Tourdesign (a division of Live Nation). Dennis was also the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of the NAVARAC Film Group and Film Realite. Dennis’ ad agency experience includes Love Advertising, BBDO, Compton and JWT.

Dennis has directed over two hundred national commercials (launching many new products) winning awards including the Cannes Lion, Clios, Art Directors Club/NY, Advertising Club of Detroit, Mobious, Effies…

Talking about innovation and surprises – Dennis invented the Buddy Light Illuminated Safety Leash, featured at The Sharper Image and Happy Herb and the Spice Gals – an outdoor, vertical hanging planter – great for herbs, vegetables and flowers.

“My favorite projects include co-writing/producing a visually stunning commercial for Alize Bleu, creating a mobile campaign for a jeans company – looking for the “best ass”, introducing a cosmetics company by creating a credit card that looked like a mirror – looking for the “most beautiful face”, inventing “FaceLift” – a cleansing pad for men, producing a multimedia campaign introducing Jesse Jeans – “they fit so good they oughta be outlawed”, writing, producing fundraising films for Worldfund, directing a multimedia campaign for Special Olympics to help erase the ‘R’ word and directing a multimedia campaign for Bazooka Bubble Gum, (co-directing the music video that has more than 3.7 million views).

Other career highlights include writing and publishing a novel, ‘Beyond Reasonable Doubt’ and ‘Something About Going Home’, a collection of original poetry with illustrations by Christina Qualiana – being featured in ’50 Great Writers You Should Be Reading”, by Danielle Hampson & Don McCauley and receiving a Distinguished Alumnus Award from American University and established the NAVARAC Scholarship providing students funds, services and resources to help them complete their multimedia projects. “If you don’t pay it forward, what’s the point?”.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
When solving a problem, when being faced with a challenge, I like to mix things up. That often means going down roads without the headlights on. You just never know what’s in front of you or just around the corner. But it’s that sense of wonder, of uncertainty that pushes me to innovate. It’s that sense of urgency that pushes me to motivate, inspire and engage.

Some clients are intimidated by the challenges they face. Many of my clients didn’t understand the power, the importance of putting themselves out there in an effort to make the competition irrelevant. I try to always listen and to understand where the fear comes from, where the real challenges and opportunities are so together we can make a difference.

Things are different now-very different. We’ve yet to define the “new normal”. We’ve yet to define and refine the new playbook – the new rules. What worked before – what worked for brands in the way they used to look at themselves, their products and services…and their customers and their employees and their competitors has all changed. The way we communicate, listen and engage is quite different today than just a few years ago – prior to the pandemic.

Technology- innovations that have defined us today have dramatically changed us – the way we think, eat, dress, communicate, engage, learn, work, play…it’s hard to imagine life without a smartphone and social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and…without “influencers “ who are experts at everything!

It’s all about tweets, views, likes, dislikes, viral videos…what amount of substance can you get in just a few words where your only concern is how many impressions you make?

And that’s just some of the challenges my clients face – how to use these new tools to strengthen their brand and engage others to care about their brand and the products they sell and the services they provide.

They’re scared to make a mistake because of the immediate consequences of that mistake.

The best thing that’s come out of all this “stuff” is that its helped to level the playing field. Companies, no matter their size and/or advertising budget can now compete. I’m consulting with my clients on a daily basis…evaluating their ROI and helping them rethink their expectations and reimagine the possibilities. It’s all about ROE – return on engagement. But sometimes they can’t get out of their own way and that just makes everything more difficult

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?
I’ve always been in the music business or in the business of making music, creating music, licensing music, playing music, and promoting music and music artists.

As Chief Operating Officer and Executive Creative Director of Tourdesign Creative Services, a Live Nation company. I worked with the biggest music artists in the world and thousands of venues promoting the artist and their music. I worked with the top radio stations promoting concerts and the artists. NOBODY HAS SOLD MORE TICKETS TO MORE EVENTS – NOBODY!

I’ve always believed in the power of music – especially live music. I always believed that I could help develop and manage new music artists and help them refine their skills and make money from their music.

I started researching the top music artist booking companies and discovered Utopia Artists / Mars Talent Agency. Wendy Klein Kay was the president of the company her father had founded decades ago.

We connected and started a conversation about the music business that led us to creating WENDEEMAD – Wen for Wendy, Dee for Dennis and MAD for Music Artist Development https://wendeemad.com/

I also appreciated Wendy’s commitment to developing young music artists through her Dream Night Talent Search events – two days of mentoring, collaboration, performances and competition. There’s no cost to the artist and they have the opportunity to win money and lots of other amazing stuff. I’m thrilled to be a judge/mentor during those events.

We’re always looking for brands and venues to sponsor our DNTS events. It’s presently a challenging environment but this is such a great opportunity.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
I never accepted “can’t do”. I always found a way to get it done and done right. I don’t cut corners. I don’t look for the easy way out. I accept no boundaries. When others offered a project that no one else wanted to tackle, I almost always volunteered. Whenever there was a difficult project that others could not figure out how to do “it” I got the call. More often than not. I succeeded where others might have not been so lucky

And yes. It’s often about being lucky. But I believe you make your own luck by listening, learning, being intuitive, trusting your instincts and surrounding yourself with people who are smarter and have more relatable experience. I think that’s my greatest talent.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.dennisgelbaum.com/
• Instagram: @dennisjgelbaum
• Facebook: dgelbaum
• Linkedin: http://linkedin.com/in/dennisgelbaum3153
• Twitter: @beyonddennis
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/user/dennisjg3153
• Other: https://wendeemad.com/