The group honored as the Advance Professionals wrote the book on live event promotion and management. Since the early days of P.T. Barnum it has been the work of those who executed the tour planning, marketing, advertising, sponsorship and public relations that made the circus a financial success. The circus is equal parts art and commerce. Nothing happens unless a ticket is sold. In the world of show business, without business there is no show.
Many alumni of this group have gone on to become successful entrepreneurs, agents, show producers, marketing and PR agency owners, sports and entertainment executives and venue managers. You will find them in leadership roles of media companies, major league sports (NHL, NBA, MLB, MLS), ticketing companies, concert and talent management, theme parks, fairs and expositions, cultural arts and nonprofit philanthropic organizations. The universal ties that bind the group is the collective shared learning experiences gained while working for the circus.
This is the biography of David Rosenwasser, a member of the Advance Professionals.
David Rosenwasser’s professional career was forged in the crucible of live touring entertainment, where precision, accountability, and creativity determine success night after night. His formative years as Regional Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus provided the foundation upon which a distinguished career in sports, entertainment, tourism, and education would be built.
At Ringling Bros., Rosenwasser was entrusted with directing the sales, advertising, promotion, sponsorship, and local market execution for the company’s two domestic touring circuses, three ice shows, and special entertainment projects throughout North America. Managing roughly one-quarter of the circus’s continental tour operations, he oversaw campaigns spanning markets from New York to Vancouver and Miami Beach to Seattle. He recruited, trained, and led advance teams that coordinated group sales, venue operations, local supplier sourcing, media placement, and financial controls—learning firsthand that no show succeeds without disciplined advance planning and relentless local execution. The circus taught him to balance creative storytelling with hard revenue targets, to adapt instantly to market conditions, and to understand that selling a ticket is both an art and a science.
That education carried seamlessly into Rosenwasser’s subsequent work on some of the largest stages in global entertainment. As Director of Marketing for the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee, he applied circus-honed advance and ticketing principles to the 1984 Olympic Games, designing and executing one of the most complex ticket marketing campaigns in history. Coordinating across multiple venues, sports disciplines, and remote host cities, he translated the advance model—tested city by city on the circus route—into an Olympic scale operation that maximized attendance, merchandise sales, and sponsor value.
Rosenwasser next brought his Ringling experience into the theme park industry as Vice President and General Manager for Six Flags Corporation, where he inherited a troubled urban attraction. Drawing on his circus background in crisis markets, he re-invented the product, rebuilt community and government relations, introduced new entertainment concepts, and restored financial stability—again proving the transferable power of advance promotion discipline.
As President of Boothe and Case Ltd., Rosenwasser institutionalized the advance professional skill set through a consulting practice serving marquee touring brands including Ice Capades, Sesame Street Live, the Harlem Globetrotters, Wizard of Oz Arena Tour, and major consumer sponsors. His work emphasized third-party media leverage, multi-market promotional alignment, and rigorous box-office controls—hallmarks of his years on the circus route.
Those same principles guided his leadership of major public venues. As Executive Director of the Saint Paul Civic Center, Rosenwasser oversaw a major arena, convention hall, and theater complex, creating new events, revenue streams, and sponsorship platforms while helping plan a new convention facility. His understanding of touring needs and promoter expectations—learned in advance trailers and production offices—enabled him to reposition the venue as a competitive regional destination.
Rosenwasser’s leadership in tourism and destination marketing further extended the circus legacy. As President and CEO of Promotion Management Inc., President of the Green Bay Area Visitor and Convention Bureau, and President of the Packer Country Regional Tourism Organization, he integrated sports, entertainment, and cultural tourism using data-driven promotion strategies rooted in advance market analysis. He forged multi-community partnerships, collaborated with Native American nations, expanded venue management operations nationwide, and helped finance major convention and arena developments—always guided by the touring logic of market readiness and audience demand.
That approach continued as President of the Niagara Tourism and Convention Corporation, where Rosenwasser led the turnaround of one of America’s most iconic destinations, and as Director of the Greater Saint Charles Convention and Visitors Bureau, where he redefined regional destination branding and community alignment.
In education, Rosenwasser passed on the lessons of the circus to the next generation. As Associate Professor of Marketing and Sport Management at Lindenwood University—and later Director of the Duree Center for Entrepreneurship—he mentored hundreds of students, advising future leaders with real-world insights drawn from decades of advance promotion, venue management, and live event economics. His academic career, including appointments at Niagara University, Buffalo State, and St. Cloud State, reinforced the circus ethic that experiential learning is the most valuable classroom.
In later years, Rosenwasser returned to consulting as CEO of Booth & Case LLC, advising clients across sport, entertainment, and tourism with strategies grounded in the same principles he learned early in his career: plan the route, know the market, respect the audience, and never forget that nothing happens until a ticket is sold.
A Fulbright Specialist and lifelong educator, he holds advanced degrees as Juris Doctor from the Thurgood Marshall School of Law and his MBA from the University of Wisconsin. David Rosenwasser exemplifies the enduring legacy of the Advance Professionals—leaders whose shared circus training shaped industries far beyond the big top, yet never strayed from the lessons learned while helping sell the Greatest Show on Earth.