PSU Magazine Fall 2003

The wedding singer planner S O MUCH OF POPULAR CULTURE is about youth , but heres something rarely seen on TV: a fiftysome– thing woman using plain common sense to drag an old-fashioned industry into the 21st century. Need a bagpiper for a funeral? An accordionist for a wedding7 Pepe and the Bottle Blondes for a wood prod– ucts convention? Nancy Tice '68 , proprietor of Northwest Artist Management, can even supply the balloon-twisting, red-nosed clown for your baby niece's birthday party– has , in fact , booked hundreds of them . Tice and her assis– tant , Bobbie Seward, arrange public appearances for an army of jazz bands, clowns, string quartets, and stand-up comedians. During the past 14 years , Tice has built an empire on her ability Lo put together the perfect birthday, wedding, or corporate bash, big or small, almost anywhere in the world-sometimes with only a few hours' notice. Her genius lies in a complex com– bination of old-style promotions– heavy on the press kit-and a sophisticated Web presence. Despite the economic recession she's deftly kept her company on track, auend– ing to tiny details of 100-odd events at any one time. The key, Tice has found , is "stay– ing hip. " "The buyers now are in their thir– ties, and they have let us know that we need to be hip ," she says. What's a Baby Boomer to do? "Musicians– we really rely on their taste ," she shrugs. Tice went along with her familys traditional expecta– tions, ultimately graduating from PSU with a sociology degree. She became a high school speech teacher, mar– ried, and gave birth to a son. But her life changed in 1974, when Tice traveled with other mothers from her Salem preschool cooperative to Portland for a lecture by feminist Gloria Steinem. "I liter– ally went in a frilly pink dress, " she laughs. "When I came home I was a different person, and I haven't worn a frilly dress since." In time, Tice left her husband, raised her son to adulthood, and went into business for herself. N orthwest Artist Management has prospered in a tough held through hard work , as well as intuition- Tice has a gift for picking the winning entertainers out of the hundreds who vie for her services. Take, for example, her newest artist, Caribbean orchestra frontman Rup– pert Blaize. "This singer and band leader called me and said, Tm mov– ing to Portland and wondered if you'd listen to my music. ' "I heard one cut and I knew," Tice says. She signed on as his agent immediately, before even meeting him. Now Blaize is her most popular client. "Other agencies gave Ruppert a limp welcome, then when he got here and they saw him perform live, every– body wanted a piece of him." Pumping up her Web presence has globalized Tice's clientele. She augments her wedding planning Nancy Tice '68 is thrilled to represent Caribbean singer Ruppert Blaize . S o far Tice's proudest professional achievement is the Oregon Public Broadcastingjazz Summit. It was her own stellar confab of musicians, immortalized in a 1990 series on pub– lic television for which Tice served as work with corporate booking contracts from as far afield as Asia , Africa, Europe, and almost every state in the U.S. "Theres no way you could do that without the Internet," Tice says. "We get emails that say, 'If we can't do this over the Internet we're not going to do it."' T ice's career has so far spanned the modern feminist movement as well as the digital revolution-and with– out both her life would have been different indeed. Born and raised in Portland, Tice first enrolled in college to study classical music and theater in 1964, but her late father insisted on a more conservative career path. "In those days women only studied to be a teacher or a nurse," she says wryly. "When I was coming along women weren't supposed to have opinions." 20 PSU MAGAZI E FALL 2003 executive producer. The project and the friends she made doing it kindled a permanent fire ; today Northwest Artist Management books the Portland Art Museums annual "Museum After Hours" live jazz series, and Tice writes a monthly column in the Jazz Society of Oregon newsletter. Perhaps more than any other single type of gig, North– west Artist Management books a lot of weddings. On these , Tice and Seward have some stock observations: Every bride wants a string quartet , and few know any– thing about them. Once a bride emailed from another state, looking for a string quartet for her wedding-that afternoon, at 3 o'clock. "We did it," Tice says. "With the Internet, there is less and less need for promoters, that's my worry-but having said that , there's always a need for it. " -Lisa Loving Linda Winrrey owns Pathways University's ceremony for slu- police chief for the past 16 years. Authorities and the Cascade Lo Purpose, a career coaching dents from the colleges or engi- Angela Wykoff MS '75, BS '80 Chapter of the National Associa- firm in Ridgefield, Washington. neering, architecture, has joined the PSU Alumni Lion of Housing and Redevelop- Patricia Wirth MBA '75 retired agriculture, home economics, Board of Directors. Wykoff is menl Officials. He and his wife, in 1994 and lives in Vancouver, nursing, pharmacy sciences, and retired from the Bonneville Janet, live in Portland. Washington. Wirth began her veterinary medicine in June. Power Administration, where higher education at age 38, Sidney Smith is the Northwest she was a senior account execu- '74 whi le raising two children and regional sales manager al Capi- Live. She and her husband, John working. Her career has Lal Associates, Inc., in Medford. '65, live in Portland. Kimberley Benson is senior included factory worker, office Smith promotes alternative vice president and manager of worker, bookkeeper, teacher, financing operations related to '73 institutional trust service al U.S. college administrator, and finally the company's bank referral Trust Company, N.A. Benson president of Yuba Community program. He formerly was vice Doris McQueen is a retired ele- graduated from the Pacific Coast College in Marysville, California. president and manager at mentary school teacher living in Banking School at the Univer- Washington Mutual Business Sandy. sity of Washington in 1987 and '72 Banking in Salem. completed studies at Northwest- Ed Sullivan MA is a partner at Rick Utt is an architect with em's American Bankers' Associa- Cornerstone Architectural tion Graduate Trust School this Lanny Cawley MBA '75 is exec- the Garvey Schubert & Barer Group of Seattle. Utt was summer. She lives in Portland utive director at the Port of law firm in Portland. Kalama, the third largest port on appointed as a member of the and also is a member of the the West Coast in total amount Gary Weeks MS is director of Edmonds Architectural Design Portland Center Stage board of bulk cargo exported. Of the government operations and Board and is president of the of directors. 14 employees at the Port located director of the State of Oregon Sterling Crest homeowners' Libby Durbin is a poet and Department of Administrative association. He lives in in Kalama, Washington, three Services. Weeks formerly was Edmonds, Washington. playwright. Readings from others also are PSU graduates: director of human services Durbin's play entitled A Little Mark Wilson '89, manager of reform for the Casey Strategic William "Bill" Walker MPA '80 Detour were presented at the planning; Stuart Shelby '91 Consulting Group, an offshoot retired from the Housing Newport Performing Arts Center post-baccalaureate certificate, of the Annie E. Casey Founda- Authority of Portland after 27 during the Octopus Originals finance manager; and Alan tion in Maryland. years, most recently serving as '03 series workshop in March. Heiman '84, operations manager. director of administrative ser- While a resident of Portland, Jerry Lee is the chief executive Steve Winegar BS '76, PhD '03 vices. Walker is founder of she was active in the Portland officer at MulvannyG2 Architec- retired from his position as WSW Association Management Poetry Festival and was director Lure in Bellevue, Washington. police chief of Tualatin in June. Services and provides consulta- of the Oregon Writer's Work- Lee was the commencement Winegar has been in law enforce- tion and assistance to the shop. She now lives in Depoe speaker at Washington State ment for 32 years, serving as Association of Oregon Housing Bay. Former ambassador takes education job in Italy ROM THE TIME SHE WAS VERY YOU G, Marisa Lino '71 knew she wanted to see the world. Lino grew up in Portland but was one of the few to be born in a free territory under United Nations rule in Trieste, which is now part of Italy. Although she did not hail from a specific country, Lino managed to make many countries her home. Lino sought a career in international affairs and joined the State Department in 1975. Since then, she has worked in Peru, Iraq, llaly, Tunisia, Syria, and Pakistan. In addition, Lino is the former U.S. ambassador to the Republic of Albania. She speaks fluent llalian, French, Spanish, and Serbo-Croatian and has a broad knowledge of Arabic. Now, Lino is leaving the State Depart– ment to become the new director of Johns Hopkins' Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies in Bologna, Italy. She applied for the position because she was eager to live oversees again. "l knew I wanted to be in Europe and was looking for a change," says Lino. "I was drawn to this pro– gram because it's for graduate-level students who are serious about their work. I want to make a difference and hope the students can benefit from my experiences. " Lino will be responsible for the academic and administrative components of the pro– gram and will teach one course each semester. Despite her wanderlust, Lino says she will always feel ties to Portland. She was a found– ing member of OSPIRG (Oregon Student Public Interest Research Group) while at PSU, and became the first woman to be granted a Scottish Rite Fellowship from Oregon, which she used to obtain her masters at George Washington University. Lino also exhibits a bit of orthwest influence in her pastimes, which include sailing, hiking, and tennis. -Kelli Fields FALL 2003 PSU MAGAZINE 21