To properly reflect the legacy that Don left in this industry, ED Publications introduced the Don Waitt Industry Ambassador Award at this year’s ED’s Awards Show. This annual ED Award will be presented to an individual who has helped move the industry forward in a positive way, enhancing the perception of clubs and the standards by which they operate.
“We not only want to remember Don this year, but every year,” says ED Publisher, Dave Manack. “This award will allow us to evoke his name and ensure that it is synonymous with his mission: To elevate the industry and make those who work within it feel proud.”
The following text was read at this year’s ED’s Awards Show, as the inaugural Don Waitt Industry Ambassador Award was presented:
Last year, on a stage just like this in Las Vegas, we inducted ED Publications & EXPO Founder Don Waitt into the Exotic Dancer Hall of Fame. It was an honor well deserved and long overdue, as we wouldn’t all be sitting here today if it wasn’t for Don. That was a night worthy of celebration.
But just seven short months later, as we all now know, Don passed away unexpectedly at age 67. He left impossible shoes to fill, yet it is a legacy that will surely live on for decades to come.
It is that legacy that we’re honoring tonight with the inaugural Don Waitt Industry Ambassador Award. Don’s Gentlemen’s Club Expo and the magazine he created helped serve as ambassadors for this industry. The Don Waitt Industry Ambassador Award will be presented to an individual who, like Don, has helped move the industry forward in a positive way, who by their words and actions elevated the industry and enhanced the perception of clubs, owners, staff, and the standards by which they operate.
As this is the first-ever Don Waitt Industry Ambassador Award, we wanted to be certain that the person receiving it is someone Don himself would want to win it. And I’m quite certain that the person we’ve selected is just such a man.
Over the past five decades — yes, five decades — Jim St. John has become a father figure in this industry. Even when those around him told him he shouldn’t, Jim was always generous with his time and his counsel, whether that person was a friend or a competitor.
Not only is Jim considered one of this industry’s founders, he’s also a founding member of ACE, the Association of Club Executives. And he’s been a central figure at the Expo since he spoke on his very first seminar in 1994. He’s given Keynote Addresses, and shared his advice and expertise whenever he could, with whomever asked.
These are Jim’s own words in the Founders Interview with Don:
“I can talk on a one-to-one basis with anybody. I think that anyone could come to me with a problem, and I’ve either had it or something similar to it. It’s always been important for me to translate what I know and what I do to help everybody else. Pure and simple, I just want the industry to thrive. I want to be proud of it.”
And that’s the very definition of an Industry Ambassador. Someone who elevates the industry through their words and actions. Someone who actually cares about more than just their own personal successes. Someone who gives as much as they receive.
