In play

South Florida CEO, Sept, 2002

SETH GORDON

THE PLAYER: Public relations and marketing maven Seth Gordon. LATEST PLAY: Recently appointed chairman of the City of Miami Arts & Entertainment Council, a new 11-member committee formed by Miami Mayor/Manny Diaz and Commissioner Tomas Regalado. The council will serve as a liaison between the city and major arts and cultural organizations. BACKGROUND: Gordon - managing partner of high-profile public relations firm GDB Partners - has been involved in a variety of public enterprises in Miami, including co-founding the Internet networking group Tuesday Network (now part of the Miami Internet Alliance), and years with the Greater Miami Chamber's executive committee. But Gordon has also been a major supporter of the arts. He was the founding chair of the New World School of the Arts and has served as chairman of the Florida Entertainment Commission, the Miami Film Festival and the Miami Entertainment Trade Association. "[The arts] is what I grew up around," Gordon says. "My father was a musician and my mother a ma gazine writer. It was very much a part of my environment." AMBITION: "We want to be the sales and marketing arm of the city's cultural assets," says Gordon. "We also need to promote the entertainment sector -- movie and television production, for example." The council will also advocate and seek public participation in the arts - something Gordon says needs to happen more.

PEGGY NORDEEN

THE PLAYER: Peggy Nordeen, president of Fort Lauderdale-based integrated marketing firm Starmark International. LATEST PLAYS: Snagged new clients Ferreti Group USA (world's No. 3 yacht builder), the US Marine Corps Materiel Command and Motorola, helping double the firm's billings for a third consecutive year. BACKGROUND: Originally from Iowa, founded Starmark in Chicago in 1978 with CEO Dan Estes. Sold the company, then a 140-employee firm, in 1994, and took early retirement. "My personal ambition was to move to Florida and be by the water," Nordeen says, Alas, "early retirement is over-rated." Both she and Estes, who shared her passion for water, had moved to Ford Lauderdale. There the two re-opened Starmark (they had retained ownership of the name) in 1998, buying a former restaurant downtown and converting it into their headquarters (the company has outposts in Georgia and Washington, DC as well). Nordeen serves on the boards of the Broward Boys & Girls Club and A Child is Missing. AMBITION: "I see myself in a few years probably in France or Italy talking to a company chairman about marketing in the United States," she says. "As our staff grows here I'll be able to do more traveling and branch out a bit I'd just like to continue this way while I'm able, and maybe write a book about it."