Who am I?
Personal Details
- Name: Gabriel Fantauzzi
- Nationality: Citizen of the United States of America
- Based: Greater New York Area
- Email: gfantauzzi22@gmail.com
Professional Profile
I am a creative and energetic professional offering 25 years of experience working in fast paced environments where solid organizational skills are required to manage staff, customers, contractors, budgeting, schedules and all financial aspects of projects.
I have achieved professional success as a self-starter with extensive client service experience and strong communication skills. Articulate, confident and personable, with a creative resourcefulness and the ability to problem solve under pressure makes me a professional that customers and partners can depend on.
Having managed projects globally has given me a wide range of experience, knowledge and the versatility to function with confidence that the level of excellence expected can be met. I consider myself a “jack of all trades” and an expert motivated by a consistent drive for excellence.
Personal Snapshot
I am a native New Yorker with a passion for art and design. After graduating High School, I started a custom painting business. What started out as an invite to help a friend to paint a mural in a customer's home, grew into a small business with 16+ employees, providing custom painting and faux finishes throughout the Tristate area.
In 2000 I was involved in a near fatal accident. I was left wheelchair bound as a result of my injuries. Not knowing to what extent I would recover from my injuries and having a family to support, I decided to attend college for the first time. I earned an education that would allow me to transition to a new professional career.
My growth has come from carrying the same attitude in my career as I do in my life. I recovered from an accident that I was given a 90% chance of not recovering from. My approach, whether in life or in my career, when I've come across an obstacle is to welcome the challenge and so I say, "bring it on!"
Core Competency Examples
Multiple-project time management and organization:
• Set milestone schedule and multiple discipline flying formations for two design teams for the 2013 Le Meridian and W Hotels Worldwide General Manager's Summit Events that went live 30 days apart in Istanbul, Turkey and Texas, USA.
• In 2012 negotiated, managed and coordinated the spatial builds and load ins of 4 events simultaneously during a 4-month period: W’s VIP Lounge @ Fashion Week NY, Specialty Select Brands Summit at the Sheraton Miami Airport Hotel, SPG Wrigley Suite at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center & the International Hotel Investment Forum Starwood space at the Kaminzimmer Hotel in Berlin
A self-motivated, solution-oriented mindset:
• On the spot problem solving for installation time management crises’ at the 2011 Spring Fashion Week event install.
• Negotiated an equitable solution between the Union’s scheduling and our needs for time by editing the install scope on site.
• Found an installer in NY on a Saturday morning that could take over the install and refinish with 2 hours until show time.
Ability to adapt to tight deadlines and last-minute revisions:
• Produced the W Sound Suite Pop Up space at the St. Regis New York in 14 days. Set up included manned full recording studio set up, free standing space defining flats with environmental large format graphics, full event timing coordinated f & b service, lounge style sitting and service.
Communication and customer management skills:
• Submitted and discussed an accepted edit for the 2015 Westin Summit scope & schedule to the Westin Global Brand leader.
• Created a production strategy to accommodate a company leadership change and a reorganization of available resources.
• Avoided creating multiple visual identities.
• Reprioritized the execution cadence and executable scope to accommodate the deliverables list and delivery date.
Contract negotiation:
• Negotiated the 2012 IHIF project to an exact on-budget execution closing a 45k budget gap.
• Negotiate a 15k savings from the SPG tunnel and DOF wall for the Starwood Experience Space Headquarters project.
• Using the strength and influence of a long working relationship with contractor, contracted them to execute the Holiday installation tree at 44 W Hotels properties that 9 other equally qualified vendors could not execute on budget.
Proficiency in InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, Microsoft Office Suite:
• Modified and repurposed all the graphic electronic files from the IHIF sister event for the 2013 Starwood’s International Travel and Business event space.
Multiple language fluency
My Professional Background
work Experience
2010 - Present
Starwood
Hotels & resorts
global Brand Design - all brands
Event Production Manager
Senior project manager
Special projects manager
Manage and oversee all design and production phases from conceptualization through execution for a wide range of high-profile events.
• Prioritize and manage deliverables across multiple large-scale projects and teams.
• Meet with project lead Senior Creative Directors to develop and deliver solutions for seamless event management, from creating schedules to troubleshooting scope and budget changes to ensuring impeccable execution.
• Manage all phases of project development and implementation, ensuring all event deliverables are on brand, on time and within budget.
• Work with and mentor brand project managers to develop and oversee project plans, timetable and milestones for all event deliverables.
• Collaborate with senior brand stakeholders, venue managers and outside agencies, to negotiate production contracts.
• Negotiate and manage the design and installation of spatial interactive digital elements at Starwood’s Global Headquarters in Stamford and at its Starlab New York Offices.
2007 - 2010
STARWOOD HOTELS & RESORTS
design manager
Graphic design
interior design
Select Design Works Include:
• 15 in-property themed installations seasonally over three years at more than 60 W Hotel properties globally. (2007- 2010)
• W Hotels Worldwide VIP Lounge at Bryant Park NY for three seasons. (2007-2010)
• W Hotels Worldwide Fall Fashion Week Travel Glam-themed VIP Lounge at Bryant Park, NY. (2007)
• Environmental experience for the International Contemporary Furniture Fair / Aloft Hotels and LG Haussy event at
Milk Studios NY. (2010)
• W Vieques private guest arrivals area paint scheme. (2010)
• Award-winning W Hotels artwork and parade float for the NYC Pride Parade. (2008, 2009)
• Content and formats for a wide range of style guides for interiors, botanicals and styling. (2007-2010)
1988 - 2001
Fantauzzi Professional Taping and Painting
For Walls
owner & operator
Owner & Operator
• Founded and managed a company dedicated to artistic furniture & wall finishes, faux finishes, decorative murals, interior paint design and layout.
• Directed all day-to-day business functions, transactions and personnel management, including payroll administration.
• Specialized in artistic furniture and wall faux finishes, decorative murals, interior paint design, layout and
color consultation.
My Education
Education
SUNY Purchase University
PURCHASE, NY
BACHELORS IN FINE ARTS
School Profile
Purchase College has been recognized by The Princeton Review in its Best 380 Colleges, 2016 Edition. The U.S. News
& World Report’s Best Colleges ranked Purchase as one of the "Top Ten Public Liberal Arts Colleges,” and a Tier 1 National Liberal Arts College, while Kiplinger's Personal Finance names Purchase College as a Best Value College
for 2016. Graduates of Purchase College rank among the most famous, the most successful, and the most satisfied.
Purchase University graduates are also among the most sought after—by businesses, social organizations, and cultural institutions throughout the country.
Westchester
Community College
Valhalla, NY
Visual Arts Associates Degree
School Profile
Westchester Community College was founded in 1946 as the New York State Institute of Applied Arts and Sciences in White Plains. In 1957, the County of Westchester bought the 360-acre John Hartford estate in Valhalla and designated 218 acres for the community college. Westchester Community College is accredited by the Middle States Commission
on Higher Education, an institutional accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.
What I’m best at
Skills & Knowledge
Software
Language Skills
competencies
- • Multiple-project time management and organization
- • A self-motivated, solution-oriented mindset
- • Ability to adapt to tight deadlines and last-minute revisions
- • Communication and customer management skills
- • Production management structure and goal setting
- • Contract negotiation
