Aquarian, Shepard’s entertainment and production arm, announce the hire of Chris Cherek (pictured right) as director of sales and as an executive producer. “Chris will jump in and lead our current business development efforts while developing new strategies to grow our account base and drive revenue,” says Gene Lundgren, president of Aquarian, a Shepard company, “He brings a wealth of knowledge in marketing and sales and an impressive track record in producing high-end, dynamic events, so this is a tremendous addition to the team.”
For over 25 years Cherek has managed and produced large-scale experiential event programs for a wide-range of corporate customers. His experiences range from producing a public seminar series throughout North America for speaker and best-selling author Anthony Robbins, managing an experiential take-over of Times Square for Kimberly-Clark’s Cottonelle brand, the fan experience and VIP galleries for a PGA tournament, and a national tour for Kellogg’s Special K. He was a partner in Business Events International, where he helped grow the Peter Lowe “Success” series from audience sizes of 1,500 to more than 19,000 people per program.
“We are thrilled to recruit a person with Chris’ rare combination of talent and experience to help grow this arm of the business and achieve long-term success,” said Carl Mitchell, executive chairman of Shepard, who oversees all Shepard companies; which, in addition to production and entertainment, also offers marketing strategy, creative and design, logistics, digital tools, and event technology. He continued, “With the addition of an industry veteran like Chris, we can anticipate accelerated growth while still being able to maintain our high standard of customer service.”
Cherek earned a bachelor degree in Communications and Industrial Psychology from the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point. As a middle child in a family of 11, Chris has an unofficial education in working with and managing large groups of people.
For more info on Aquarian, visit www.aquarianllc.com.
