User:Leonlazarus/Ric Militi

Ric Militi
(b October 12, 1958)

Vice President of Marketing at Valley View Casino & Hotel and a member of the The Board of Trustees of the San Diego Sports Commission. His career began as a child television actor and today is recognized as a leader in the field of branding.

Early years
Born in the town of Longi in Sicily, Militi immigrated with his family to the United States, entering through Ellis Island in 1961. As a child actor he was cast in the pilot of Happy Days as Frankie Coletti, one of the Gems. Due to budget overruns in the first season, many peripheral roles were eliminated including his. Militi went on to be a semi-regular in The Waltons as the character Ira and appeared in the first and second seasons of James at 15. Militi was also cast in many national commercials.

He attended Taft High School between 1973 and 1976 in Woodland Hills, California. After graduating Militi studied Television and Film at California State University, Northridge and Advertising at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Career
Militi entered the field of Marketing when he joined Galpin Ford car rental division. He founded Galpin Studio Rentals to cater to the entertainment and film production industries. After establishing Galpin Ford as one of the leaders in the category he moved to Budget Rent-a-Car as a franchise owner. After selling his successful franchise he established an advertising and marketing agency known as The Ad Group in 1989. The Ad Group represented notable companies including the Wherehouse, Universal CityWalk, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, the Peninsula Hotel of Beverly Hills and Budget Rent-A-Car of Beverly Hills.

In 1993 Eisaman, Johns & Laws (EJL) Advertising acquired The Ad Group. Militi joined as Executive Vice President and headed up the EJL Entertainment division. Clients included Pennzoil, Neutrogena, Rembrandt Toothpaste, Giorgio Beverly Hills, Disney Collectibles, Corona, Kahlúa, Jiffy Lube and Valvoline. In 1998 Lois USA acquired EJL and during this time Militi worked closely with Chairman and CEO, George Lois.

In 1997 Militi was named President of Y2K Communications , a specialized division of Lois/EJL Advertising. Y2K specialized in non-traditional advertising services, non-traditional media strategies and creative development for multi-million dollar ad campaigns. Their clients included Nissan, the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino, Kendall-Jackson Winery and Merv Griffin Resorts, amongst others.

After leaving EJL in 2000 Militi formed RMO which specialized in leveraged radio promotions, events, branding campaigns and destination marketing. Clients included the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino, the Aladdin Resort Casino, Harrah’s, DreamWorks/SKG, Premiere Radio Network and the United Paramount Network.

Militi joined Valley View Casino & Hotel as Director of Marketing in 2006 and was promoted to Vice President of Marketing in 2007. He holds the post of Vice President of Corporate Oversight for Marketing with Casino Development Management Services, Inc and holds a seat on the Board of Trustees of the San Diego Sports Commission. He was a recipient of the 2009 EAR Award from the San Diego Radio Broadcasters Association.