Christal Jordan, Randy Roper, Shadeed Elazer and Ron "Tricky Montgomery
Christal Jordan-Mims
Award-Winning Author, Journalist and Media Trainer
President of Enchanted PR
Christal Jordan-Mims is an award-winning author, journalist and media trainer as well as the President of Enchanted PR. Enchanted PR is one of the leading entertainment PR boutiques in the southeast specializing in music, entertainment, and art. Since establishing Enchanted PR in Atlanta over 4 years ago, Christal has had the opportunity to work with some of the biggest artists in the business. Currently she manages her own clientele roster and is contracted as a media trainer to work with artists as they begin their journey towards stardom. Christal's debut novel Under the Cherry Moon hit bookstores in January of 2006 and garnered a nomination for Cush City's best new author and was chosen as a Black Expression book club pick by over 10,000 bookclubs across the country.
In the summer of 2007, Christal was named one of Atlanta's "On the Cusp" entrepreneurs and was nominated for an SEA award for Best Music Industry Executive. Christal also received an award for her outstanding achievements in PR in regards to sponsorships and media placements from Taylord Entertainment. In the fall of 2007 the former talk show host returned to her roots and added radio host to her list of titles and she will join SlamJamz VP Mecca "Janol" Holmes for the newly added "Real Talk with Mecca and CC" in January of 2008 on AM 1380.
Christal has over 13 years experience in Public/Media Relations and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Communication with a minor in Public Relations and Literature from the University of Oklahoma. Christal is also the founder of a t-shirt line entitled Caramelized that celebrates the legacy of strength, beauty and grace in women of color.
Randy Roper
Writer/Editor Ozone Magazine
Randy Roper, has played an important role in Carolina music. In 2002, Roper began his career as a hip-hop journalist as a staff writer for Urban Pages Magazine, an independent entertainment magazine, which featured local and independent artists in Charleston, South Carolina. In 2004, upon his graduation from the University of South Carolina, Roper became Editor-In-Chief of Urban Pages, helping the magazine expand it's coverage to independent artists throughout the Carolinas, as well as major acts across the nation. Roper has written for numerous publications and websites, including AllHipHop.com, Down Magazine, IndieStreet Magazine, the Free Times and HHNLive.com, among others.
In 2007, Roper was named music editor of Ozone Magazine, a national hip-hop publication that spotlights Southern music. Currently, Roper resides in Atlanta, Georgia, and continues his position with Ozone Magazine. In addition to Ozone, he writes a column for social network, StreetCred.com, and maintains his own website, WritersBlockMedia.net, a site that averages over 60,000 visitors per month and serves as a premiere outlet for featuring independent and Carolina artists. His contribution as a writer and editor has given national media attention to numerous artists in the Carolinas and beyond.
Shadeed Elazer
Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist
Mr.Shadeed Eleazer, MCTS (aka Mr.Go Digital) possess the rare combination of proven corporate consulting, digital technology background and music industry experience to lead the entertainment industry into the New Digital Information Age.
As the music business adapts to a new digital music model, recording artists, labels, publicists and media formats are all struggling to develop new ways to do business effectively.
He is currently the co-founder and Organizer of the Baltimore Tech Corridor’s fastest growing Microsoft technology group which hosts monthly gatherings featuring lectures from technology’s brightest minds and rising stars.
Prior to this role, he served as the Vice President of Marketing for the most prominent Microsoft-centric Technology Group in the entire Mid-Atlantic region.
In his role as New Media Architect, he evaluates and tests the latest advances in technology and designs marketing strategies for companies in the corporate and entertainment industries that are seeking to leverage technology to build and strengthen their brand names.
His projects in the music industry include:
Program Director for the World's First Digital A&R Indie Planet Television.
www.theindieplanet.com
VP of Information Technology for Rock and Roll Television RNRTV, which has produced over 198 episodes to date.
Digital Technology Columnist
www.wordofsouth.com
www.illmuzik.com
Radio Personality
Revolt Radio
Prop Joe Radio Show
Illmuzik Radio
Real Talk Radio with Spitts Mcman
Ron “Tricky” Montgomery
CEO, TrickyBizness LLC
“Every move you make is important, for most the future is TRICKY”
The role of entertainment manager is multi-faceted. Successful managers don several hats serving in numerous capacities simultaneously, all in the name of positioning their clients at the top. Ron “Tricky” Montgomery, CEO of TrickyBizness LLC is one of the most sought after talent managers in music, with an elite roster of the hottest songwriters, producers and artists on the charts. His twenty year tenure as a manager, promoter and consultant has allowed him to witness the many changes in the music industry especially over the last decade, yet he has managed to stay afloat. Today his reputation, by way of his client’s accomplishments, speaks for itself. “You have to keep moving and trying to make things happen. The powers that be are always watching and if you are always moving toward your goals, the opportunities will come. Taking one day off in this business can be the equivalent of six months in another business,” he explains.
Growing up in Boston, Montgomery was always fascinated with the behind-the-scenes aspect of entertainment. He lists Russell Simmons as an early inspiration along with the time he spent watching Boston’s own New Edition become R&B superstars. “I liked watching how things worked backstage. Every piece of the puzzle, no matter how small contributed to an overall movement. I wanted to be the one orchestrating that,” he recalls. With dreams of being an entertainment lawyer/sports agent, Montgomery enrolled at Morgan State University after high school. As an undergrad, he seized the opportunity to implement what he’d learned back in Boston and began his own promotions company with a group of friends. Due to Montgomery’s creative business sense the company quickly became the go-to promotions company throughout the region.
Once his reputation as a successful concert and party promoter was secure, Montgomery started a record label under the same parent company and began managing hip hop and R&B acts. It didn’t take long for the aggressive young manager to snag a deal with Interscope for his R&B act, and begin fielding offers from new clients. “People want to be in business with someone who’s going to make sense in the long run and not just the short run. As a manager you have to know what you have and what you can make happen,” Montgomery explains. After graduation, Montgomery re-located to Atlanta, GA to enroll in law school and re-structured his management company under the moniker TrickyBizness Entertainment.
Currently Montgomery’s roster reads like a who’s who on the billboard charts. On behalf of his clientele he has collaborated with industry superstars such as Jermaine Dupri, Dr. Dre, Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson, J Holiday, Beyonce and Dallas Austin, just to name a few. He has also secured deals for his clients with every major record label in existence to date. As a behind the scenes consultant, Montgomery has been instrumental in breaking countless #1 records along with brokering deals for various artists, songwriters and producers outside of his talented roster. In 2008, his forward thinking resulted in his client, Cri$tyle “the ink” being the most heralded songwriter on the charts after securing her first #1 hit, Mariah Carey’s “Touch My Body” in less than a year after signing her first publishing deal. It was Montgomery’s thorough understanding of strategic relationships, which put the neophyte songwriter in a primed position to become the most talked about songwriter of 2008.
Still Montgomery acknowledges it’s often hard for his clients to envision the long-term results that motivate him. “I tell all my clients they have to be willing to walk away from something that seems like the greatest thing in the world at the time. They have to trust my judgment,” he comments. Gaining his clients trust is something he doesn’t take for granted. “I am constantly educating them on the game. I show them by my actions that I’ll knock over a wall for them,” he says.
