Garden State Gala: Bling it on…Honoring those who shine”

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(Deadline for Award Application is May 28, 2010)

Honoree Michael Cerbelli

For over 30 years Michael Cerbelli has been entertaining and producing events all over the world. He built his career from a block party DJ in Brooklyn to one of the most polished and professional event and entertainment producers in the world.

Currently, President of Special Events for the global company, Total Entertainment, Michael has earned numerous industry awards and is considered a pioneer in events for his one-of-a-kind creativity and producing skills. Total Entertainment’s impressive portfolio includes producing such events as Sir Paul McCartney & Heather Mills’ Wedding, The World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, The King of Morocco’s Birthdays & New Years Eve Party, and an event at President Putin’s Summer Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia. Michael also continues to give back to the community with his 9th year of “Michael Cerbelli’s: Hot Event and Entertainment IdeasTM 2010,” while continuing to support ISES, MPI, IACEP and SEARCH organizations.

Michael is currently serving another term as the SEARCH Foundation Chairman. SEARCH (Special Events Assistance with a Caring Heart), an event industry-based charity that assists event professionals in crisis. During his role as Chairman, Michael helped raise awareness about the foundation through his many speaking appearances, including ISES and Meeting Planners International (MPI) communities. With the help of his Board of Directors and contributions from the event industry, he raised record numbers of donations to help the event community. Michael also represents and supports ISES by traveling the world and teaching his knowledge to the new-generation of event professionals at countless ISES events. ISES has been so impressed with these efforts that they decided to combine their own foundation, International Special Events Education Foundation (ISEF), with the SEARCH Foundation. Michael and his SEARCH board took control and merged ISEF and SEARCH into one foundation. Today SEARCH is internationally recognized as the source for event professionals confronted with a catastrophic occurrence while also fostering, developing, and promoting educational initiatives for the advancement of the industry.