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Owner of Upbeat Parade Productions, Ray is an event producer and consultant, specializing in parades, with over 35 years of experience. He currently works with nearly two-dozen parades in California and Nevada, and has coordinated numerous others on both coasts. Ray produces many types of parades, from small town and ethnic parades, to regionally and nationally televised parades. Some of the parades he has produced were broadcast on PBS, the Travel Channel and the American Forces Network along with local ABC, NBC and Fox television affiliates.
Ray has been a speaker on the topic of parades and related events at California/Nevada Festivals and Events Association (CalFest), International Festivals and Events Association (IFEA), colleges and universities, and other organizations’ seminars, conventions and classes throughout the United States. He has also been featured in Wiley Events – Event Entertainment and Production book by Mark Sonder as well as other publications distributed through International Festivals and Events Association and various parade related websites.
Currently serving as President of the Board of Directors for California/Nevada Festivals and Events Association, Ray is also a member of the International Festivals and Events Association. In addition to parades, Ray worked for several years as an event coordinator for the City of San Jose. His drum corps life started by participating in a small drum corps in his hometown of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and from there he moved on to coordinating DCI sanctioned shows on both the east and west coast.
