Contact the Orange County Children's Book Festival

Co founders:

Barry Ackerman: e-mail email Barry
Barry Ackerman is the Executive Producer and cofounder of the Orange County Children's Book Festival. He has been involved in the Conference and Festival Industry for over 30 years. As Founder and CEO of InfoMedix / InfoMedia, Barry created the largest conference recording company in the industry, servicing over 3,000 conferences in 54 countries. More than 2 million people have benefited from the tapes and CDs produced by his company.

He has been an active leader in the community, having served as President of a community association of over 900 homes. He is a member of the Kiwanis Club of Tustin and works with the youth of the community. Barry and his artistically talented wife, Gayle, have lived in Orange County for over 35 years. They have two grown sons and a Cambodian foster son.
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Pat Burns: e-mail email Pat
Pat Burns is the Executive Director and cofounder of The Orange County Children's Book Festival. She is the author of a widely popular book Grandparents Rock: The Grandparenting Guide for the Rock-n-Roll Generation.
www.grandparentsrock.com

Entrepreneurship, business development and event planning have been apart of Pat's 30-year career. www.thepatburns.com Pat has presented keynote addresses and countless workshops to business groups, associations and corporations throughout Asia and North America on sales, marketing, management and leadership. Pat brings a wealth of knowledge, experience and devotion to her work. Pat brings her own special brand of uniqueness, natural good humor and positive attitude to every to every one of her projects.

Pat is a Tustin High graduate, Chapman University alumni and a life long Orange County resident. Her two daughters are now grown and living in Scottsdale, Arizona and Vail, Colorado. Pat is also the VERY proud grandmother of Dylan and Skye... two of the cutest kids on the entire planet.
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Festival Committee Chair People:

Barbara Front: e-mail email Barbara
Author and Illustrator Ambassador
(949) 798-9150
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Steve Chandler: e-mail email Steve
Co-Coordinator of Volunteers

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Philip J.(Phil) Battaglia: e-mail email Phil
Director of Entertainment
Phil is the Director of Entertainment for the Orange County Children's Book Festival. In that capacity he provides, and is responsible for the performances on the main entertainment stage of the annual event. He is also Chairman of the non-profit S'kool Music Foundation - an organization dedicated to preserving the music programs in our schools.

Phil also works with the Orange County Department of Education's Young Author's Faire and the Orange Street Fair, providing entertainment for these events. He is now in the preliminary stages of founding a major event to be known as the Orange County Children's Music Festival.
(949) 510- 9239
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Sharon McCubbin: e-mail email Sharon
Co-Coordinator of Volunteers
(808) 658-1004
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Sandy O'Connor: e-mail email Sandy
Exhibitor and Vendor Coordinator
Sandy's former career in the Travel Industry included organizing and managing Conventions and Conferences and working with Vendors for these events. Her new career with her partner is designing and making handcrafted jewelry and selling at Art Fairs throughout Southern California. Working for the Kids Book Festival was inviting because it combines experience and creative opportunities. Sandy lives in Irvine, CA.
(949) 552-3306
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Maryanne Newton: e-mail email Maryanne
Storytellers Stage Manager
(714) 557-4363
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Richard Greninger: e-mail email Richard
Event Production Producer
Richard Greninger prefers to work with fast paced, dynamic companies that utilize his 20 years of production experience. Pre-production, budgeting, crewing, staging, and executing the project have been part of his daily routine. Richard's ability to work in all areas of production; Staging personal development based seminars has been a 15 corner stone of Richard's career.
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Ryan Ackerman : e-mail email Ryan
Website Design and Management
Ryan is a freelance computer specialist and partner in The OC Guys, an Orange County based company that specialises in editing and production of digital media.
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Brandon Norton : e-mail email Brandon
Website Updates
Brandon is a graphic designer and freelancer currently working for Fuscoe Engineering, inc.
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Greg Ackerman : e-mail email Greg
Social Network Marketing
Greg has put us on Twitter. Please follow us @kidsbookfest on Twitter. Greg manages computer databases and email marketing servies for Build Texas Media. Greg also writes about music and sports online. You can find his writings at The Examinar.
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Orange Coast College: www.orangecoastcollege.edu/
Festival Event Sponsor
Orange Coast College, located in Costa Mesa just minutes from Southern California's beautiful beaches, was founded in 1948 with an opening day enrollment of 500 students. In the years since, it has grown into one of the nation's largest -- and finest -- community colleges, enrolling more than 28,000 students each semester. Featuring exceptional facilities and the latest in computer and high-tech equipment, OCC offers more than 130 academic and career programs, including one of the nation's largest and most acclaimed public nautical programs. Nearly half the students on campus are enrolled in one of OCC's career and technical programs.

Furthermore, Orange Coast College ranks first out of Orange County's nine community colleges in the number of students it transfers to the University of California and California State University systems. Over the past decade, nearly 16,000 OCC students have transferred to UC and CSU campuses. Additionally, many Orange Coast students go on to transfer to private colleges and universities within California and across the nation. The college is fully accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.
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