ABOUT US
What can we say? We love our families, people, music, food, beer, wine, and Dr. Pepper.
And basically, we love what we do.
MEET THE TEAM
DUFF RICE
Duff Rice is the fearless leader
of Duff Entertainment. Get the connection? His real name is Harry, and he can tell you the story on that when you meet him. And once you meet him, you’ll want to hear the story. He’s good people – a pure Midwest hard working guy. No pretense, just solid, easy going and wicked smart. All those traits are exactly what he built Duff Entertainment on. Add a little dry humor, that love of music, and people, and you have the basis of this company that’s been around for over 25 years.
Filling stages with great music, producing exceptional events that bring people together for a good cause or a good time, is what Duff and his Entertainment is all about.
Hope you can meet Duff and work with him soon.
OMAR GAGAN
If you have a name like Omar – you’ve got to be pretty cool and confident just to back it. Well he’s got it. He’s got the cool and the confidence. A jump-right-in kind of guy, Omar is an Event Manager @ Duff Entertainment. This dude knows his stuff. The kind of guy you want and need in your corner or your fox hole, or running your event. C’mon – just check out his picture…it says more than 1000 words.
KATIE STEEL
Hailing from the Great White North and Yes with all of the kindness that comes guaranteed from Canada,
Katie Steel joins the team with a half a decade of hospitality experience. That’s a lot of kindness people!
She also brings some talent for the annual Duff Entertainment talent show…Katie Steel is a singer. She’s actually been singing longer than she can talk and has played some of Chicago’s cool music venues. So music and hospitality are in her blood. Combine all of that and Katie is the perfect person to have all her hands in the pot as Katie of All Trades. Now, as she enters her 32nd year (and proud of it!), Katie is ready to roll from this side of the stage with her kind hospitality front and center!
MELISSA ADAMS
Don’t let the picture fool you, Melissa Adams was once a classical musician on a path of science with her sight set on becoming a doctor (huh?). That all changed when she attended her first rock show shortly after college graduation (Fall Out Boy in Buenos Aires). That summer she moved to Chicago where her love of live music has grown to obsessive proportions. You name the job in the music biz and she’s done it well … sound intern, stagehand, venue hospitality, production management, sound engineer, tour management, and talent buying. Obsession perhaps or just the perfect path to talent buying here with Duff Entertainment. Stand by more to come as Melissa starts filling our stages with your next favorite band!
BRADEN RICE
Braden Dermot Rice – a key apple on the Duff Entertainment love of music tree. All sorts of music too. The entire gambit from Cheap Trick to Miles Davis. Now that’s a Spotify soundtrack like no other. And really Braden is like no other. He’s our part-timer working full-time on making our social media The place to be social. Being in the business his whole life, he can jump in at production, hospitality, load-in load out, feeding the fish (new hobby – so don’t trust him your fish just yet.) Basically, he’s a multi-faceted Iowa Hawkeye getting ready to take on the world. Watch out world!
MONA KHAKIAN
They say everyone has a story and that's no different for this Taco Bell obsessed chick! Born in Iran, she's quicker to tell you she's Persian than a vegan will tell you they're vegan. This proud cat mom of two worked her first festival six seasons ago and has been obsessed ever since. You won't just find her at Duff events, you can catch her at The Chicago Marathon, Okeechobee Fest in FL, Outside Lands in CA, Chicago's favorite Riot Fest and much more! This girl is obsessed with anything production related. When Mona isn't kicking butt on our team as a Production Manager she can be found running a bar as a Beverage Program and Bar Manager in Lincoln Park. That means she knows all the best places in the city, so when she isn't busy eating her entire body weight in oysters, she can show you the "HiDdEn gEmS" that TikTok or your Google search won't tell you about. When Mona's gets things done for you, she'll also make it fun for you!
Women. Life. Freedom.
COLLEEN SCHREIBER
Born to rock as you can see. Born to roll obviously. And we are throwing born to be social! That’s cause Colleen is our social media guru, specialists, smarty pants… Whatever the title, Colleen has got the connecting tools to like, tag and boost all things. That could come from her exceptional training in guest services while in her early career working the counter at McDonalds. Those very skills work. Cause that’s the exact job where Colleen’s now hubby was working the grill. Talk about “Lovin It.” You don’t hear about love connections at McDonalds very often – so it has to be a part of Colleen’s story. She’ll probably post about it later. Follow us @duffentertainment, #colleensocialguru, #lovinitatmcdonalds
MISSY PRESTON
The word that's most commonly been used to describe Missy? “Moxie”. (Which is technically a noun, but they tend to let it slide.) Growing up in Oklahoma, Missy got an extra helping of moxie early in life.
As a child, Missy could be found singing barefoot at any small talent show that would have them, writing and directing inaccurate historical fiction plays, and assisting their grandparents in wildlife events across the state (we’re talking holding snakes, tarantulas, owls…).
The events that Missy likes assisting with nowadays can be just as wild, but usually with just a few less animals. Missy spent the last decade supporting and directing a variety of teams- including a comedy nightclub, volunteer construction workers, a non-profit youth board, a whole bucket full of local theaters, and of course- their rock n’ roll band. They are thrilled to be joining our crew and can’t wait to dive in and support our Duff Entertainment events with a little bit of ‘moxie’.
GINA GOLDSMITH
Sweet as apple pie from head to toe – check; half pint style with a perfect touch of lace – check. Well look again – cause this little cutie pie doll was raised in a brothel! You read it – brothel. Well at least in a house that used to be a brothel. But this is not that kind of entertainment company…so back to the bio.
A lot has happened since our Gina posed for this photo. She grew up in Chicago, moved to Naperville, went to Columbia, played hostess with the mostess at a Chicago favorite restaurant, where a cute guy walked in, she asked him to stay for a drink, married him, got in the hotel sales biz, lived the city life, had some twins, named a boy and a girl cool names like Addison and Nathan, moved back to the burbs, got the sales itch again, just in time to meet her now boss, our very own, Duff Rice. Naturally Gina jumps in, grabs the reins, and now heads up our sponsorship division. Pretty good story right! Stay tuned cause as usual, Gina is kickin’ it and is ready to roll with your next activation adventure.
Did we mention Gina’s mom was a playboy bunny? We’ll save that for when you meet Gina.
HARLEE BEAM
You need some great energy? Harlee Beam has it – plenty of to go around. Add those all-American dimples and you have one hell of a positive attitude on a daily basis. That’s why we have Harlee out-front working with sponsors. Those dimples work! And so does Harlee – seems like 24 hours a day actually. She and her hubby Brian (who missed Harlee at their High School but caught his mistake later and fixed it!) have 3 cool kids, having fun in the northwest burbs. So get ready if you get a call from Harlee – she will happily, gladly, willingly and creatively get you the very best opportunity Duff Entertainment has to offer.
EMILY NIEVES
ALLISON NEHRING
When Allison looks at a project she is ready to dive in and add her all like paint on canvas! Between growing up in small farm town, IL and gaining her Hospitality Management Degree in big ol' Las Vegas, she has seen all the ways to throw a grand party. Allison will boost the Duff Entertainment team this season with experience in Food Service, Retail, and Radio Promotions and a drive to be around all things creative. Between events you can find her painting and hanging out with her pooch, Pearl - maybe even painting Pearl!
KELLI PACKER
Stalwart Consulting, led by the sweetheart PR Arm for Duff Entertainment known as Kelli Packer, specializes in communications strategies, media relations and ghost writing across multiple industries, including food and beverage, travel and hospitality, lifestyle, and health and wellness.
Everything you need to know about Stalwart is in the definition of the name: Strong,
Uncompromising and Valiant. Stalwart works closely with Duff Entertainment clients to strategically tell their authentic stories to media and target audiences.