By LAUREL BUSBY, Staff Writer
Eric Weiss is a radio guy, and he enjoys tossing around ideas for slogans.
When he read about the parade theme contest in the Palisades News, Weiss asked his sons, Benjamin, 10, and Zachary, 7, to help him think up some ideas. Unfortunately, they weren’t too interested, so he played around with some slogans for a few minutes on his own and came up with “Independence Day—the Palisades Way.”
“I love slogans, and so when I saw the article, I took five minutes to brainstorm,” said Weiss, who currently operates a talent agency for radio personalities. His slogan won, and his prize is the chance to ride with his family in the Fourth of July parade fire truck. “This is the first time I’ve ever entered a slogan in a contest,” but at work, “a lot of time is spent brainstorming things like this. That’s fun for me.”
Riding in the parade will also be a treat. The event is a favorite for Weiss, his wife, Jacqui Bell, a realtor with Gibson Realty, and their sons, who attend Village School. Weiss grew up in the small town of Berlin, N.J., which also had a similar parade. Since moving to Pacific Palisades in 1989, he has regularly watched the local festivities, but this year will be his first time being in the parade.
“I love the parade,” Weiss said. “When I ended up moving to the Palisades, it brought back all of those memories of a small-town Fourth of July parade, and I enjoy going to it.”
Weiss spent the first half of his life on the East Coast, first in his hometown, which is just outside Philadelphia, and later at Rutgers University in New Jersey. He attended law school at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and his first job was at Mutual Broadcasting, also in D.C.
However, about a year later in 1985, the company was acquired by Westwood One, the nation’s largest radio network, and Weiss moved to Los Angeles to become the company’s head of business and legal affairs. He spent 10 years at Westwood One before transferring to his own endeavors, which continued to connect to radio. He became the CEO of AME, Inc., a producer and distributor of nationally syndicated programming, and then he was vice chairman of Premiere Networks, also a producer and distributor of nationally syndicated programming, which was purchased by Clear Channel Communications in 1997.
Afterwards, he ventured away from radio to take control of an infomercial company, National Media, and then was the CEO of buyitnow.com<http://buyitnow.com>. In 2001, he returned to radio to represent talent with his business, The Weiss Agency, which is located in the Palisades.
His first client was radio personality Casey Kasem, and Kasem’s daughter, Kerri, also a radio and television personality, is currently his client. The Weiss Agency represents a number of local radio personalities, including former Palisades parade Grand Marshal John Kobylt from KFI’s John and Ken show, which is the nation’s most popular talk radio show; Tim Conway, Jr. also on KFI; Jillian Barberie Terri-Rae Elmer and Doug Mcintyre of KABC; Lisa Stanley of KRTH; Valentine from MYFm; and both Heidi Hamilton and Frank Kramer of KLOS.
“In addition to negotiating their deals, I assist some clients with building their brands and finding new opportunities,” Weiss said. “Marketing and programming is something I’m very involved in.”
Locally, Weiss volunteers on the Marketing Committee at Village School, and his wife is on the board of the Palisades Country Estates Homeowners Association in the Highlands. Weiss also has coached for both rookie and bantam league basketball at the Palisades Recreation Center. The parade slogan contest has given them a new way to be involved with the community.
“I was pleasantly surprised to hear that my slogan was chosen,” Weiss said. “I’m looking forward to coming to the parade this year.”
Eric Weiss. Photo: Bart Bartholomew
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