About Alan
How it started – a bit about the founder
Alan grew up in Brooklyn. He was in the music class in middle school and for some unknown reason played the french horn. His high school, Lincoln, produced more Nobel Prize Laurites than any other school in North America. Famous classmates from the high school music program are Neil Diamond and Neil Sedaka. In addition to music and arts, Alan was terrible in math; however he was a member of the NYC Championship Fencing team.
After graduating from New York University with a degree in Communications, he attended the New School for Social Research, Graduate School in Communications at NYU and hte Master’s Program in Cinema at UCLA. Following his service in the U.S. Army as a radio operator – successfully protecting South Carolina from Invasion – he was employed by Doyle, Dane and Burnbach Advertising Agency in TV commercial production. He worked in the U.S. and Europe in the feature motion picture production business as an assistant director, cinematographer, and documentary film maker.
He has owned and run Quick Tally for over three decades and has pioneered both in the manufacturing of ARS equipment and providing interactive event services. In addition to U.S. State and Federal Government Agencies, America’s leading companies, associations and all television networks, he has worked for events clients in the EU, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Thailand, and Dubai.
Earl Gray, Alan’s 17 pound Maine Coon cat graciously lets Alan and his wife JoAnne live with him in Marina del Rey, California (Los Angeles).
How it evolved – How Alan made a name for himself in the industry
Working directly with clients like Intel, Cisco Systems, Amgen, the Girl Scouts of the USA, Raytheon, and BusinessWeek Magazine, he created the interactive portions of their events. Since none of this had ever been done before, inventing solutions became a hallmark of the service. U.S. clients relied on Quick Tally for worldwide events.
The company made use of its visibility at very high profile landmark nationally televised events. Quick Tally empowered forum participants – for the first time ever – to voice their true opinions on race relations and health care at community forums. The advent of interactive TV contest shows, beginning with Funniest Home Videos nearly three decades ago, became a showcase bringing Quick Tally to the consciousness of millions of viewers. The original voting device was displayed at the Smithsonian as a part of a display honoring AFV as the landmark show that ushered in today’s interactive TV shows.
Where Alan is now – the companies he helps, how the market has changed, and what makes him special
As a pioneer in the ARS business, the company has witnessed the changes that 30 years of changes in technology brings. Quick Tally was there when wireless radio frequency voting devices replaced its original wired device, and at the advent of voting by phone, text, or logging on to a web site.
The longevitiy of the company is based upon the relaization that all of the changes in technology are just different ways of doing the same thing. Having the goal of providing outstanding customer service
has served the company well and remains its strength. The only important thing is the application of the technology to meet the client’s goals. That never changes. While different technology may be employed, in the final analysis it’s not about the technology; it’s all about the application to reach goals.
Alan and his team continue to bring highly personalized client service, technical support, and consulting on development of content to every event. In addition, Quick Tally continues to be the only ARS company confident enough to guarantee to meet or exceed its clients’ expectations.
