2001
Skinner began his event industry career nearly 30 years ago at Arizona's Fiesta Bowl. During his 17-year tenure there, the event grew into a 60-event festival, a nationally televised parade and football classic. It also became the first bowl game to sign a title sponsor.
"I had a really strong interest in providing entertainment to as wide a spectrum of the audience as possible." Skinner said.
When Skinner retired from the Fiesta Bowl in 1990, he became President of the IFEA, an association that had only around 400 members and a budget of little more than $400,000 a year. Over the next ten years, Skinner increased that annual budget to an all-time high of $1.6 million. He grew membership to nearly 3,000, and he started the IFEA Foundation among other accomplishments. Skinner retired from the IFEA in 2001, but not from the event industry. He continues to teach and consult for events nationwide and has written a book titled, The Complete Guide to Event Sponsorship, published by Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York. He makes his home in Port Angeles, WA with his wife Kathy.