Speaker's bureau celebrates 30 years

Bruce Merrin draws on film background, parental support

Bruce Merrin's success in the fields of public relations and celebrity booking might have been foreshadowed in several ways.

Both of his parents owned their own public relations firms, and he went to film school.

His strong base in communications led him to create a speaker's bureau that put his knowledge of public relations and his exposure to many hard-to-know personalities to good use. The business idea that was spawned from one of the celebrities he had booked in the past is now celebrating its 30th year of providing organizations with speakers for various engagements.

"My family moved to Las Vegas is 1956," said Merrin. "My father was president of the Flamingo, and I went to Fremont Junior High, so you could say I really have roots here."

Merrin's family moved to Los Angeles for several years, where he studied film. That led him to acquire a job at a major studio.

"I worked for MGM Studios for a while until one day my mother said, 'Why don't you work with me?' " he said. "I've always had a great relationship with her so I went to work with her for three years.

"We became partners, and one of her accounts was Simon & Schuster, the book publishers. Irving Wallace was one of their writers. I had booked him on the Johnny Carson Show, and while I was taking him there he told me that I should create a lecture bureau because there was a lot of money to be made there."

Merrin said Wallace knew that he and his mother's firm handled several high-profile clients and that booking them for speaking engagements would be a piece of cake because he already had a large network of contacts.

"I decided to start my own company," Merrin said. "Luckily, because we were doing PR for 13 years, we had contacts and relationships with many celebrities already."

Merrin began researching what types of organizations would benefit from his services and found that there was a larger demand than he imagined.

"I started finding out that corporations, trade associations, even universities will pay people to come and speak at conventions and other events," he said.

Merrin has built such a solid reputation as a result of booking celebrities such as Bill Clinton that often the speakers come to him.

"I've been able to meet so many fascinating people," said Merrin. "Event planners can call me and tell me what they are looking for, or personalities contact me and let me know that they are available to speak."

The best part of Merrin's job is that he gets to meet and talk to some of his own favorite celebrities, particularly sports figures.

"Getting to meet people who I'm kind of in adulation of is really neat," he said.

Bruce Merrin's Celebrity Speakers & Entertainment, a three-person operation, has booked celebrities at venues all over the continental United States and England, but the company's offices are based locally at 3885 S. Decatur Blvd. Merrin has booked several events in the area, including a Patriots Day American Business Conference in Mesquite, which featured President Gerald Ford and Bruce Jenner as speakers.

"It's always a fun business," said Merrin. "Especially since we've been doing it for so long. Each event is different, and it's so great to be able to plan and implement an event that draws a standing ovation when it's over."


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