EXITS

Bob Dickinson/Vice President Public Relations & Media Services has left the American Le Mans Series to take a position as Chief Operating Officer with well-known racer Kevin Buckler’s TRG/Adobe Road Winery group. Dickinson was a very effective, highly seasoned professional who could be counted on to open the right media doors and assist teams with their media relations strategies. As one of the most experienced members of the management team at ALMS, Bob will be seriously missed; he was great under pressure, had a very light touch, and was thoroughly professional. Dickinson has been at ALMS since I have been associated with Risi Competizione and he felt it was time for a new challenge. Certainly a position that combines racing and fine wines seems to be the best of both worlds. Bob was more than the go-to guy at ALMS for media questions and ops, he was a very good friend. We wish him well and will look forward to seeing him at the track from time to time.
Stepping into the portfolio of duties that Bob handled will be young Ryan Smith, Media Relations Manager and Web Editor at ALMS, a superstar-in-waiting who now gets the chance to display his abilities on a much larger stage. Ryan is energetic, creative, and known to take chances-a fact that endears him to teams such as Risi Comp. He will do a splendid job and he has our full and unwavering support as he moves into the Prime Time of media relations management.
John Evenson, who was Vice President of Communications & Broadcasting, left ALMS right after the Long Beach Grand Prix. John was an intense, precise broadcast executive who knew how to get the most out of a television remote truck. He was always open to new ideas and willing to debate other approaches to the telecasting of ALMS races and events. It was under Evenson’s watch that ALMS started streaming practice and qualifying for ALMS races and he also managed the transition of ALMS broadcasting activities from an over-the-air format to a web-streaming format via ESPN3.Com. Evenson was a creative risk taker and in 2010 he championed the concept of producing documentaries for those ALMS races that would be broadcast via a week (or more) tape delay, thus matching the content more appropriately to the context. Evenson’s duties are being taken over by Ben Brown, another experienced broadcast executive. Brown is no rookie and is well known inside racing circles as a guy who gets things done. He’s got a few challenges in front of him but we have no doubt that he will prevail.
One final exit must be noted: Simon Dawson, who worked on sponsorship, vendor relationships, and promotions for Risi Competizione left the team right before this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans race. Dawson came to Risi Competizione in 2005 and helped us develop key relationships in every area from clothing to shock absorbers.
His huge smile and endless energy will be missed-especially by those Ferrari owners who had the pleasure of attending one of the many Ferrari Corrals he organized at ALMS races. To coin a Dawson phrase, “it was all Mega”.
Racing is life and life is racing and so as we know life does not stand still and things change and evolve. The very best-and we would include those listed above as among the very best-will always seek out new challenges . We wish the best to those who are leaving (and those, like Ryan and Ben who are stepping into new duties) and feel richer for the experience of working with them .