Latest Posts

Have you ever been hosted somewhere that you will never forget?  Think of your favorite sporting event, a concert, or that bed and breakfast where the experience was second-to-none.  You simply cannot stop telling your friends about it, right? Do me a favor and take a second to recall that memory.  Now, think about the… View Article

While in the process of building this business, I consistently study other successful organizations and look for areas where I can enhance my knowledge and then apply the key learnings into my daily practice. The best example of a company that I look up to and one day aspire to mirror is Ritz-Carlton. The luxury… View Article

The people at Darlington Raceway aren’t the only ones that can celebrate motorsports from the 80’s. In 1984, I was a six-year-old kid who had full permission to spend my entire day running around random racetracks like a crazy man while my dad was working. For those of you who don’t know me, here is… View Article

I am sure that you remember the epic stories that emerged from Hill Valley, California, during the 1980’s. This was the hometown of renowned inventor and scientist, Dr. Emmett L. Brown, who had a vision to create a machine that possessed the ability to transport the entirety of its contents into the future.  As long… View Article

In-between meetings, over lunch, and even while relaxing at a company outing, Chris Epperly and I obsessively discuss one singular topic. It’s a question that most event producers think about regularly and a query that the team at Awesome is committed to answering. Ultimately, it’s an uncomplicated question, but if it is answered incorrectly poses… View Article

Charlotte, NC – Charlotte-Based Traction Event Labs is proud to announce a new joint venture with award-winning event design firm IM Creative called AWESOME. “AWESOME is poised to take the world of experiential marketing by storm,” says Michael Verlatti, CEO of Traction and Chief Strategist behind the new entity.  “We have the greatest talent in the… View Article

The U.S. Military debriefs each operation with an After Action Report (AAR). Even though producing an event isn’t as stressful as a raid on a terrorist compound, we also implement a recap report for every event we produce at Traction. In an earlier blog (4 Questions), I talked about the four magical questions that I… View Article

I have been fortunate to work with and for quality people that enjoy the hard work required to achieve success and know how to slow down long enough to celebrate it.   This February, I watched as our five-person team accomplished the monumental task of producing one of the largest NASCAR hospitality experiences of the… View Article

NASCAR Fuel for Business unites an exclusive group of 50+ Council Members who interact to foster business partnerships delivering unmatched ROI. The NASCAR Fuel for Business E Connector was designed in 2011 and has consistently evolved to ensure that participating partners receive the most robust tools available. This custom-built software solution integrates an online portal… View Article

Have you ever met someone that spoke a different language … maybe one that you didn’t think was human? Was it a form of code that was faster to type than speak? If they said things like CMS, SMS and PMS that caused you to send out an SOS, I might have just the solution… View Article