2011 proved to be a busy year for extraordinist Craig Karges with appearances in 31 states and seven countries on three continents.  The globetrotting will continue in 2012 with engagements already scheduled in eight countries!

Energizer, Time Warner and American Greetings Present Craig Karges

In June, Energizer, Time Warner and American Greetings joined forces to bring Craig Karges to a private, invitation-only dinner and show as a precursor to the GMDC Marketing Conference at the JW Marriott Grande Lakes in Orlando, Florida.  This was just one of Craig’s numerous corporate and association appearances in 2011 and it was a diverse schedule to say the least.

Craig's largest corporate audience in 2011 was 2200 at the Coronado Springs Resort in Orlando for his 23rd appearance for longtime client Ernst & Young.  Craig shared the stage for the evening closing with Rick Alden, founder and former CEO of extreme sport headphone company Skullcandy (and a former Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year) as well as MC Supernatural (former Guinness World Record holder for freestyle rapping) and a special guest appearance by Mickey Mouse!  His smallest corporate audience was on the other side of the country in Palm Springs at the LaQuinta Resort & Spa for ConAgra where he worked for 80 people.

Craig's corporate appearances were held in venues as varied as Caesars Palace in Las Vegas to the Eden Roc Renaissance Resort in Miami Beach and from the Suncadia Resort in the Cascade Mountains of Washington to the Grove Park Inn in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina.  He appeared at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort in Arizona's Sonoran Desert as well as the Ritz-Carlton Naples on Florida's Gulf Coast.  There were presentations at historic properties as well like the Davenport Hotel in Spokane, Washington and the Hotel du Pont in Wilmington, Delaware.

Events played by the extraordinist ranged from Safeway supermarket's Seattle District Store Managers' Conference at the SeaTac Hilton and Convention Center to the Bechtel Group's Global Leadership Summit at the Marriott Laguna Cliffs Resort at Dana Point in California with management leaders from more than 20 countries in attendance.

Clients included first time appearances for the likes of ADP, Ingersoll Rand and Rockwell Collins as well as return appearances for Siemens (with two presentations in 2011 and another already on tap for 2012) and his 9th appearance for AT&T.  That AT&T presentation netted the extraordinist 4 more engagements in 2012 for the telecommunications giant. 

Diversity of location and type of event carried on throughout the year with the extraordinist's final two corporate appearances starting in the Bahamas where Craig boarded the Royal Caribbean Majesty of the Seas and entertained the 1000+ attendees of the Power Home Remodeling Group's Holiday Cruise as the ship sailed to Miami. Upon disembarking in Miami, Craig was whisked to the airport to catch flights to Wisconsin for his final corporate appearance of the year for J.J. Keller's League of Extraordinary Sales Performers' invitation-only awards program in Neenah.

“Another flawless performance.  I just love him!!!  He’s worth every penny!!  Craig never disappoints, he never ceases to amaze me.  I’ve received endless compliments on his performance, attendees were still sending me emails after the conference stating how much they enjoyed the performance.  He made me look really good as the conference organizer.  I can’t say enough.”
Louise Casamento, VP of Marketing and Customer Relations, MICROS Systems

“Thank you again for another amazing performance!!  The interns were in awe as always, and you were the perfect end to a very special evening.  Until next year my friend...”
Dan Black, Director, Americas Campus Recruiting, Ernst & Young LLP

“Our guests were blown away by your amazing performance, as was I.  The buzz continued into the next day.  The ‘triple ring’ and ‘floating table’ segments were unbelievable!!!  Thanks for helping make our dinner event a great night for the customers of American Greetings, Time Warner and Energizer.  Rest assured, I’ll be recommending you to anyone that asks about great entertainment for customer relationship events.”
Jim Hegarty, Senior Director Sales, American Greetings

“Thank you for making our convention EXTRAORDINARY!  You did a fantastic job and our members and guests loved your presentation!”
Michelle Horn, Fraternal Manager, Gleaner Life Insurance Society

“Thank you for the superb performance at our 2011 Washington Trucking Associations Leadership Conference.  Your show was a tremendous success; our attendees could not stop talking about your performance.  Your show, without a doubt, was the most mind boggling performance our folks have ever had the opportunity to experience.  Your talents are simply extraordinary!”
James R. Tutton, Jr., Vice President, Washington Trucking Associations

“It’s clear that you are deemed the ‘extraordinist’ because you are simply extraordinary!  You successfully conveyed that ordinary people are capable of extraordinary results because we all possess extraordinary capabilities.  Our management team is still talking about your uncanny presentation, which really did more than amaze and entertain, but effectively left everyone in attendance believing that anything is possible.  We thank you for opening our minds to unlimited possibilities!”  And for those of you considering hiring Craig, "Looking for a keynote speaker to knock it out of the ballpark at your upcoming corporate event?  We were too until we got lucky and found Craig Karges who hit a grand slam with our management team.  Our meeting was held a month ago and our management team is still talking about his uncanny presentation.  On behalf of Safeway, Inc., we wholeheartedly recommend Craig Karges for your upcoming event knowing he will leave you with an unforgettable performance!”
Greg Sparks, President and Cherie Myers, Director, Public and Government Affairs, Safeway, Inc., Seattle Division

Top of the Dean's list

Campus Activities Magazine is recognized as the #1 publication in the campus entertainment industry with the largest circulation of any magazine serving the marketplace.  The periodical regularly publishes Artist Report Cards, evaluations on acts touring the college circuit.  Performers are rated on a scale of 1 to 5 in multiple categories including originality, artist’s ability, relationship to the audience, cooperation/attitude, road crew/management, agency cooperation and promotional materials provided.  2011 marked the first time the magazine actually tabulated a season's worth of these Artist Report Cards and published the results.  Craig Karges was designated an ARC (Artist Report Card) All-Star in the Novelty/Live category which translates into the extraordinist having the highest ratings of any variety act on the college circuit.  But wait!  There’s more!  When the magazine did its final tabulation, Craig appeared at the top of the Dean’s List with the highest overall rating of any act, of any kind touring the college circuit during the 2010-11 season.  This designation cut across all genres from music to comedy and from speakers to interactive novelty games.  He had an extraordinary 4.97 out of 5 average on his reports.  Campus Activities Magazine summed up the extraordinist this way:

“If you are looking for a knock-your-socks-off, amazing show, Craig is the answer.  His calendar stays packed.  If you are able to get a date, you will not be disappointed.  Raves all the way around.”

Craig was honored to appear at the top of the Dean's List and commented, "This designation was truly gratifying.  The various ‘awards’ given in recent years have begun to recognize who can best manipulate social media to their advantage in the voting process.  Not that there is anything wrong with that as it certainly takes skill, talent and business acumen as well.  However, these ‘report cards’ represent real world, quantifiable feedback from actual performances and not how many social media friends you can get to click on a link and vote for you.  That’s why I’m so honored by the recognition.  I only play about one third of the college dates that I used to do when the campus circuit was my primary market but I still love doing colleges and there are some schools I’ve been playing for 10, 12, 15 or more years.  I hope to continue to work the market as much as my schedule allows."

The extraordinist’s most frequent college client in 2011 was Bentley University (one of the nation's top business schools) where he played two orientation dates in June and was back again in October for Family Weekend.  Craig is a favorite for Family Weekend and orientation/back-to-school events.  His 2011 back-to-school tour in late August and early September was the most intensive in recent memory with 19 shows in 20 days and over 22,000 miles of travel. Craig tuned up for the tour with his 6th appearance at Central Michigan University's Leadership Safari on August 13th before an audience of over 2,000 in the CMU Sport Forum.  Four days later, he hit the road to play an eclectic mix of dates ranging geographically from Durango, Colorado to New York City and demographically from his fifth show at Dixie State College in Utah to his 19th show at the University of Florida. The tour included a first time visit to Oklahoma State University as well as return visits to quite a number of his regular stops for example; Duquesne University (13th year); Xavier University (18th year); College of William and Mary (4th year); University of Akron (17th year); Michigan Tech (14th year); Bowling Green State University (4th year) with many of these schools already contracted for 2012.

“Your show is always a hit!  Thank you for helping make Leadership Safari 2K11 the best year yet!”
Leadership Safari Staff, Central Michigan University

“Thrilled to have you back on campus.  As always, the show was incredible!  We’ll definitely want you back in 2012!”
Andy Ault, Assistant Dean of Students, Bowling Green State University

“Thanks for another successful program.  It may have been our best show to date.  A lot of great feedback from all.  Let’s put it in the books for next year.  Please confirm as soon as possible.”
Mark Constantine, VP for Student Affairs, College of William and Mary

“We received amazing feedback on Craig’s performance on Saturday!!  The students loved him!!  I want to book Craig for a performance in August 2012.  We want to lock the date in now.”
Matthew Kitchie, Director of Student Activities, Lehigh University

“Thanks again for last night!  The show was awesome!  We’ve heard great responses from the students.  We love you at Dixie!”
Stefanie Higginson, VP of Student Life, Dixie State College

“Craig was so great before, during and after the show.  Great guy and utterly amazed our entire Freshmen class.  Can’t wait to have him next year.”
Caroline Green, Director of Orientation, Christopher Newport University

“Craig was amazing!  Our students love him and he and his wife are two of the absolute nicest people I have met.  The personal attention they give is incredible.”
Clare McGrath, New Student Programs Coordinator, Xavier University

“Amazing!  Mind-blowing.  Very entertaining.  Craig kept the audience guessing and cheering for more!”
Patience Kanda, Programming Activities Council Chair, Colorado Mesa University