A Glowing Recommendation
A new MPI member connects with a former Tennessee Chapter president to enhance one business and grow another.
By Jim Sheridan
As the saying goes, “Drive for show and putt for dough.” That’s what new MPI member Bill Faeth had been doing for several years as president of Silver Oak Transportation and founder of indoor, glow-in-the-dark, mini-golf Opry GlowGolf LLC. But when it came to an eye-catching entryway for his Opry Mills location, Faeth was at a loss—that is, until a fortuitous MPI Tennessee Chapter meeting paired him with Nashville event pro Gary Musick.
A former chapter president, Musick was presenting an assortment of his company’s life-sized jungle animal props at a meeting in April. A conversation after the event led to an invitation for Faeth to tour the Gary Musick Productions (GMP) facility and its offices, shops, prop warehouses and rehearsal halls. The two soon hatched a plan for GMP to design and build a colorful, tropically themed GlowGolf entrance, and during the developmental stages, company artists created a dolphin character as part of the facade that will likely end up as the GlowGolf icon and mascot. Entryways are now under consideration for the 79 other U.S. GlowGolf locations.
But what makes this connection truly remarkable is how Faeth’s transportation company drove into a partnership with GMP’s meeting industry services.
“While talking with Bill, we realized that not only were we able to provide what he needed for his GlowGolf business, but that Silver Oak could provide our clients with a service that we were not in a position to offer with any consistency,” Musick said. “We are often asked about transportation services while planning events for our clients around the country, but our recommendations are generally driven by singular contacts we have established in various cities through the years. By connecting with Bill and Silver Oak, we suddenly had access to a top-rated national transportation and limousine company with affiliates operating in dozens of cities.”
The collaboration by these two seemingly dissimilar entities was a bit of a surprise for the parties involved, however.
“It’s a unique departure for us,” said Don England, business development director for GMP and MPI Tennessee Chapter immediate past president. “We don’t typically partner with other companies and rarely create a product for a retail space and we are suddenly doing both. It’s funny because the economic climate had recently made us rethink our mindset and we realized that we may be able to put our skill sets and competencies into other directions. Suddenly the opportunity appeared and it was a perfect fit.”
Bill Faeth says the connection is a perfect example of how MPI works to create opportunities for its members.
“A new member attends a meeting, and there are immediate relationships created as a result,” he said. “In this case, I had an instant rapport right off the tee with Don and what initially developed as a one-way client and vendor relationship unexpectedly turned into a two way street. It’s a win/win for all of us.”