C. Willi Myles

C. Willi Myles has applied his athletic coaching and teamwork experience to the hospitality industry where he has received many customer service honors. Myles has received Disney’s highest customer service and leadership honor – “Train the Trainer” the Disney Way! His training and leadership skills have been used by many of the national hotel chains including the Sheraton and Radisson companies. He has recently completed similar programs in various healthcare organizations including Methodist and Fairview Health Systems.

Myles is a certified Radisson, “Train the Trainer, 100% Guest Satisfaction, Making It Right, and Yes I Can” trainer. He is a former assistant basketball & football coach at St. Cloud State University. During his six years as an asst. coach, they won four Conference Championships (3 in Basketball & 1 in Football).

Currently Myles is a national touring comedian with over 1,000 shows in 49 states & 3 countries and the CEO of his own Entertainment Company – C. Willi Myles Entertainment, Inc. which includes a talent agency, consulting and publishing company. He is also the founder and chairman of The Stand Up Foundation, that helps to raise money for the Children’s Home Society & Family Service Adoption Program, as well as organizations that fosters life skills, educational development & opportunities for the under privileged.

Topics:

• Teamwork: the myth about “I” and Team, how to work with others;  knowing your role; building a Winning Team
• Humor in the Work Place:  how to have fun at work without getting HR involved
• Conversations – Do’s and Don’ts

Download a PDF copy of C. Willi Myles “How to Build a Winning Team!” Promotional Sheet

Douglas Wood, musician

–Arts & Educational Programming– Minnesota Monthly magazine describes Douglas Woods as “Musician, teacher, best selling author, artist…a Minnesota Renaissance man.” And Douglas Wood indeed embodies the Renaissance ideal of a person that has embraced knowledge and developed his own capacities as fully as possible.

Having authored twenty nine books with over two million copies in print – including books that are international classics and New York Times best-sellers – Doug is best known as a writer of books.  His creativity and accomplishments don’t stop there, however. Douglas is also a musician, an inspiring keynote speaker, and a composer who brings forth his respect for the outdoors and the special relationship between the natural world and the human spirit.

Douglas Wood – Musician

Doug is a “picker’s picker”, and every concert is alive with different styles, moods, and hot licks.  He often performs with his Wild Spirit Band, featuring Doug, his son Bryan, and side-man guitarist extraordinaire Steve Borgstrom.  Douglas Wood’s music has a timeless and authentic American-outdoors flavor, enhanced by the instruments he plays, each importing a different spice and its own voice to the music:  a classic 1969 Guild extra-large body 12 string guitar, a Taylor 6-string, a well-seasoned banjo, dobro, and a sweet-singing mandolin.

Doug’s solo concerts feature his original American Roots acoustic music and focus on the special relationship between the natural world and the human spirit.  The concerts blend his unique musical and storytelling skills with light-hearted humor, and are a perfect fit for communities and nature centers, environmental, literary, and educational conferences, state and national conferences, health, wellness, and therapeutic organizations, national parks, wildlife celebrations, colleges, and many others.  Song titles like The Secret Forest, Wild Again, Headin’ for Cover, The Isles of Saganaga, The Lost Grove, and Church of the Pines provide a clue to the soul of his music and his respect for the natural world around us.

Technical Rider:

In order to give you the best performance possible, Doug provides the following information as a technical rider to his contract:

Artist requests the following items for the performance:

• Flatbed cart or extra hands for load-in and load-out.
• Two bottles of water for a solo performance, or six bottles of water for the Wild Spirit Band performance.
• Four chairs on stage
• A table for merchandise sales.

The artist typically supplies his own sound system.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Judy Foust

Born in northern Wisconsin, Judy Foust has been an educator for thirty-eight years—thirty-six of them in seventh grade!  The educational seeds were planted early when she would spend beautiful summer days upstairs in her bedroom playing school with her dolls.

Judy feels fortunate that her chosen career was also her passion—making a true difference in the lives of vulnerable, inquisitive, sometimes exasperating young people.  Since her retirement in 2009 from public school teaching, she has continued to teach Professional Development courses for Wisconsin/Minnesota educators through Augustana College as well as facilitating a multitude of online educational courses.  Her most recent retirement venture, public speaking, provides her with opportunities to interact in positive ways with a wide variety of people in education, industry, and professional organizations.

Judy—also known as the Queen of the Menomonie (WI) School District (She actually aspires to being crowned Queen of the Educational Universe!)—is an award-winning teacher:  Senator Herb Kohl Foundation Teaching Fellow, Wal-Mart’s Wisconsin Teacher of the Year, and Teacher of the Year in two Wisconsin school districts.  She has been selected as a Wisconsin Holocaust Project Educator, a member of Leadership Wisconsin, and has held offices in a number of professional organizations.  Judy is also a published author with a bi-weekly newspaper column, articles in educational periodicals, and has written a chapter for an NCTE textbook on writing.  Her educational background includes a B.A. in Comprehensive English, a Reading Specialist Certification, and a M.A.P.D Master of Arts in Professional Development (emphasis on education).

Judy’s daughter Jess is also a teacher.  Her five-year-old grandson Matthew is a genius.  As Judy says, “At this point in his life, evidence of his brilliance daily astounds me!”

Presentation Titles:

“The Art of Meaningful Change—Becoming Energized Within and Without”

No one can argue with the notion that all our time-saving technological advances haven’t accomplished what we might have hoped for—saving time for meaningful, satisfying lives.  Rather, we continue to pack more and more work and activity into our 24-hour days by honing our skills in multi-tasking and “working vacations.” The cost for this efficiency is that we are often left with very little time or energy to enjoy meaningful relationships and opportunities to improve the world around us.

Judy Foust, an experienced and award-winning educator, has been there-done that.  It took her 37 years of teaching to learn that, while our jobs are necessary and, in many cases, admirable, they are most often not what feeds our soul.

It is, however, possible, to combine our outer working environment with our inner psychological environment to create a more tranquil, focused, less stressed personal and professional life.

Judy is a recognized expert in de-cluttering and using principles of reorganization and rearrangement to create a work environment that promotes clear thinking, positive energy, and increased productivity.  She will share concepts derived from the Chinese philosophy of feng shui with basic common sense to show how a work environment can be manipulated—at very little cost—to allow employees to be more productive with less stress.

Her work as a Resiliency/Health Realization Trainer has given her the tools to help each presentation participant begin to see that they have everything within them that they need to be happy and fulfilled.  Unlocking the “promise” within through concepts of resilience will provide the second piece of the human puzzle.

“Maturity Is Highly Over-rated”

Judy Foust, a middle school educator for thirty-seven years, claims she rose to her level of maturity and stayed there!  Anyone who makes a career out of teaching hormonely-crazed, emotionally-dazed, and educationally-amazed young people is crazy, right?  By sharing her experiences through humorous, touching, and inspirational stories, Judy will inspire her audiences with a greater appreciation of the insights to be gained by listening to the innocence of youth.  You will leave this presentation thinking of all the children that have touched and inspired you throughout your life.

“Creating a Focused, Tranquil Environment for Learning”

It took over 25 years of teaching seventh graders before middle school educator Judy Foust realized that her classroom wasn’t all about her.  An epiphany occurred—could it be possible that the most important people in the classroom are the students?  Walking into her classroom with “new eyes,” Judy realized the environment needed to change in order to make it all about kids.  Down came all the cute “Martha Stewart” embellishments, the faded notes from grateful parents and penmanship-challenged former students, and the posters that cluttered every available area of wall space.  Using principles of feng shui and the concepts of de-cluttering, Judy transformed her workplace into a warm, tranquil, focused environment where the needs of all students were able to be met.  Judy will share her journey (including before and after photos) and actual testimonies about how these physical changes enabled students to learn more easily and more joyfully and how it can help other organizations as well.

“The Myth of Super Employee”

Judy Foust, a middle school educator for thirty-seven years, is on a mission to explode the myth that in order to be a superior employee, you must give up your life.  Through humorous examples and real-life personal experiences, Judy will encourage her audiences to be the best they can be and still have a guilt-free “real” life. You will come out of her presentation having the basic foundation of human resilience and how it can improve all aspects of your life, an understanding of strengths-based concepts in the workplace, and the motivation to move into the realm of excellence without sacrificing your own physical and emotional well-being. It is possible.  After all, Judy believes in miracles!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Gary Berg

–Arts & Educational Programming– Twenty one years ago Gary Berg left his position as a college administrator to form a new company.  Today that Minnesota-based company – G.L. Berg Entertainment, Performing Artists and Speakers – has grown to be one of the largest providers of creative artists in the country presenting performing artists, speakers and entertainers for over 2,000 events annually throughout the United States and foreign countries.

Gary works with comedians, musicians, jugglers, ventriloquists, acrobats, magicians, writers and other uniquely talented individuals to help them develop their performances and plans so they can be successful full-time professional artists and entertainers.  Over his career he has helped literally hundreds of performers.

Turning Creativity into a Career

In this presentation, Gary will discuss what it takes to turn a person’s creative talents from a dream or hobby into a full-time career.  Points of the talk include:  determining opportunities for your talent in the marketplace; understanding the risks verses rewards when one chooses to make a career as an artist/entertainer; the importance of thick skin; promotional materials; and a discussion about agents, contracts, funding, marketing and other pertinent topics.

This is a realistic, common sense presentation designed to help people make better and more informed choices as to how to become more successful as a performing artist and entertainer.

InPulse

–Arts & Educational Programming– InPulse endeavors to advance the art of a cappella music through the education of young singers.  InPulse strives to make students aware of the joy of singing by using proven classical techniques while making it fun and comfortable to sing in any style.  The band visits schools throughout the country, featuring innovative educational outreach clinics and lyceums for students of all ages and levels to learn about a cappella music through hands-on experience.    The group strives to tap into the creative energy of young people in an informative, imaginative, and inspirational way to encourage them to always be involved in music.

So far, InPulse has visited over 500 communities in 39 states and worked with over 100,000 students during the group’s life as an ensemble.  The group believes every student has the right to a well-rounded music education that includes a variety of learning opportunities.   The InPulse Educational Outreach Program is endorsed by the Minnesota State Arts Board, members of the Minnesota Music Educators Association, the Heartland Vocal Camp, the International Music Camp, The Target Corporation, the Ohio – American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), the Colorado Vocal Jazz Society, the St. Olaf College Department of Music, and numerous schools and communities across the country.

• The Art & Tradition of A Cappella / Vocal Music:
  InPulse will captivate your audience through vocal performances and incorporate a discussion of the history of a cappella music, which includes the original barbershop style, doo-wop, and classical up to today’s contemporary ‘vocal bands’.  Audience: All Ages

• “AMP” A cappella Mentorship Program:
  The program will create a lasting piece of art that will remain in your community – a cappella groups within your high school.   InPulse will work with your high school in training formal school choirs or interested student groups.   As a follow-up, InPulse will mentor these student group(s) throughout the year.  To culminate the students’ experience, InPulse will assist by giving groups performance opportunities through local shows and regional festivals.   Audience: All ages.  Specifically intended for high school students, community groups, and church choirs.

C. Willi Myles

–Arts & Educational Programming– Storyteller & Comedian, C. Willi Myles has the gift of connecting people with each other through humor and stories.   After graduating high school in Alabama, Willi moved to Minnesota to attend college on a football scholarship at St. Cloud State University. After college, Willi started coaching at St. Cloud State and traveling throughout the country scouting talent.    Now referred to as “America’s Everyday Comedian,” C. Willi Myles makes his home in Minnesota and his style of comedy is best described as observational humor and storytelling.

Prior to his current profession, C. Willi was also a corporate trainer for several of the top companies in the hospitality industry.   He was even given the title of the “Trainer’s Trainer.”   Will is also the founder of the Stand-Up Foundation, a non-profit organization that raises money for the MN Children Home Society & Family Service and the MN Korean Adoption Agency.

• Reflections on Minnesota from a Transplant, Performance
  C. Willi Myles shares his stories of life in Minnesota from an outsider’s perspective.  Originally from the South, C. Willi Myles came to Minnesota to attend college and ultimately making it his home.  Through humor and storytelling, this performance will connect people with their heritage and leave everyone with a sense of belonging and a connection with one another, while also sharing many laughs!

• The Art of Storytelling: Workshop
  Much more than a stand-up comedian, C. Willi Myles is a professional storyteller.  His passion is to share ideas and stories with people in a way that people can relate to and understand.   The Art of Storytelling is a workshop where students can receive multiple tips on presentation, topics, engagement, and more.   C. Willi will provide information on how to keep an audience engaged, when to be humorous and relevant in your delivery, how to build up your message or story, as well as answer questions on his experiences.   Audience: Intended for Students and Community Groups involved in Theater, Acting, Public Speaking, and Writing.

• Inside the Performing Artist’s Studio: Workshop
  This discussion is a take-off of the popular television series “Inside the Actor’s Studio.”  In this setting, C. Willi Myles discusses his comedy routines, motivational speaking seminars, and other storytelling experiences and the background behind the messages and delivery.   The session includes clips from past performances, evaluating the messages and presentation, and explanations on the overall performance and writing.   This is a discussion-based session and guests are encouraged to interact and get involved.  Audience: Intended for Students and Classroom Settings with High Schools, Colleges, and Community Groups.

Scott Novotny

–Arts & Educational Programming– Scott Novotny, a professional stand-up comedian, teacher, and writer is one of the Midwest’s most requested performing artists.  A graduate of Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, MN, Scott has gone on to write comedy for HBO, Brave New Workshop, television commercials, plays, and also NBC’s “Saturday Night Live.”

• Sit Down with Stand-Up: Comedy Writing Workshop
  Sit Down with a Stand-Up is a program that incorporates the history and culture of stand-up comedy in Minnesota and its development since the 1970’s.   Scott Novotny guides the participants through stand-up comedy, improvisation, and comedy writing as well live demonstrations of a comedy routine.   Participants will stay engaged by using Scott’s comedy writing formula for beginning writers.  Audience:  Teens & Adults.

Hebegebees Family Comedy Music Show

–Arts & Educational Programming– A former educator, Glen Everhart is an accomplished Minnesota-based musician, singer, and songwriter and has been a professional entertainer since 1987.   Glen has performed at community events, libraries, and schools throughout his career.   His “Young People of the World” is published and distributed worldwide in many elementary school textbooks.  Glen has developed the following Legacy programs that will engage Minnesotans of all ages and allow them opportunities to get involved in creativity, innovation, and artistic expression.

• The Art & Tradition of Songwriting:  In this workshop, Glen shares the development process of producing a song with children and families.  Beginning with the inspiration for the lyrics, composing the music, and ultimately recording a song – this program will give audiences an inside perspective on the musical recording process.   To best describe the songwriting and recording process – Glen compares the steps in the production of recording a song with the art form of painting a picture, in which an artist begins with an initial sketch; then adds colors and various tools to enhance the picture and create the final work. Audience:  Children and Families

• The Legacy of a Song: This program will truly leave your guests with a lifelong legacy and an opportunity to contribute one’s voice!  During the Legacy of a Song, Glen will share music from his “Young People of the World” album and teach one song to the families in attendance.  As a bonus, the song will be recorded LIVE at the event!   The recording will be available for participants to receive their own copy.   This use of technology will extend the reach, effectiveness, and impact of the program within your community.   Audience: Children and Families

• Acoustic Guitar Lessons: Glen Everhart is also an accomplished guitarist and musician.   This program allows you to offer basic acoustic guitar lessons and tips for mastering this amazing instrument.  This program is best implemented as an Artist-in-Residence series, allowing your guests and community members opportunity for multiple sessions throughout a particular time period.   The program can also be combined with other programs to enhance outreach. Audience:  Teens and Adults, maximum of 20 people per session.

George Maurer

–Arts & Educational Programming– Minnesota-based musician George Maurer is the Midwest’s most accomplished jazz pianist, composer, arranger, and performing artist.   George’s education and appreciation for the arts, culture, and innovation have given him the background to provide amazing Legacy programs that will strengthen your community in its effort to be culturally literate, technologically savvy, and overall – creative.

George’s innovation and impact in the music and arts industry has allowed him the opportunity to be a self-sustaining artist and full-time performer.   Through music he is able to reach people from all backgrounds to transform culture and develop understanding and appreciation for the arts, regardless of background.

• Workshop with George Maurer: The Art & Tradition of Minnesota Jazz
  This workshop discusses the impact of American jazz music in Minnesota culture & arts. The format of this program includes performances along with the historical look at jazz music, its various cultural beginnings, as well as jazz’s connection to the Minnesota arts.  Audience: All Ages.

• George Maurer: The Legacy of American Jazz, Performance, featuring the GM Trio
  This performance will guide the audience through the legacy that the great American jazz musicians have left and how their works have impacted American culture and music.   This performance includes works from a variety of amazing American jazz artists from a variety of cultures and backgrounds.  Audience: All Ages

• Creating Music with Computers
  Having toured the country presenting this program to schools and children of all ages, George Maurer presents “Creating Music with Computers.” This program reaches beyond barriers to illustrate the impact on music in today’s culture while utilizing today’s technology to enhance appreciation for the arts.  George creates an exciting and entertaining performance, while showing students the important relationship between computers and composing in today’s recorded music.   Using his keyboard, microphone, and visual display, George will teach students how music is composed using computers and digital technology for albums, movie soundtracks, television shows, video games, and more.   Audience: K-12 Students and Adults.

Artist’s website: www.georgemaurer.com

Paul Imholte, Musical Stringman

–Arts & Educational Programming– Paul Imholte – The Musical Stringman – presents a variety of programs about cultural heritage and the arts.   A native of Minnesota, Paul is an accomplished musician, singer, songwriter, and composer.   Paul received his designation as “The Musical Stringman” through his mastering of string instruments and incorporating nearly a dozen string instruments into his performances and recordings.   Paul’s featured instrument is the hammered dulcimer, an ancient string instrument from the Middle East.   In addition, Paul performs with the fiddle, guitar, banjo, mandolin, viola, cello, harmonica, jaw harp, auto harp, and spoons.

• Paul Imholte Traditional Strings Workshop and Concert
  Folk musician Paul Imholte presents a workshop and concert to acquaint young audiences with traditional string instruments of America. Audience members will be given an opportunity for hands-on experience producing sound and playing on the hammered dulcimer and mountain dulcimer, fiddle, banjo, mandolin, guitar, and autoharp. Paul will also feature each instrument in a performance piece throughout the program.   This program is a great addition to an Artist in Residency series within educational settings, libraries, and community centers and can include separate workshops for classes or groups with a public performance as a capstone to the residency.  Audience: Children & Families.

• Farm Songs of the Midwest, Performance
  Paul Imholte and Karie Oberg perform as THE TARVEYS with original songs of farming and small town life in the Midwest. The music is a testament to Minnesota’s cultural heritage, describing the people who work and live on the land. Karie’s amazing vocal ability combined with Paul’s mastery performing on many string instruments create a performance that will captivate audiences and connect Minnesotans to their history, heritage, and community.  Audience: All Ages.