Gary Van Haas
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Article from The New York Times - May 20, 2006
GARY VAN HAAS - 'A Versatile and Creative Adept' by Martin Loeb
Gary Van Haas was born in Los Angeles, California in 1948, and is a graduate of Business Administration at UCLA, Los Angeles, who spent twenty years in the Record and Video Industry, from 1970 to 1990, developing several unique marketing techniques used to promote record album and music cassette sales through use of music videos.
In 1974, Mr. Van Haas formed Televak Music-Video Corporation based in Corte Madera, California in order to develop and market the use of music-videos (Sony-Beta video players) for the promotion of record label musical acts and their albums or cassettes for the Record Industry. Televak began doing market research surveys for Warner Records, Capitol, Columbia, Electra, Atlantic and Asylum and many more for a fee. Their marketing concept was the use of Sony TV projection screen monitors placed in record stores with relevant albums racked below the TV screen (called “point of purchase” sales). Televak was paid for this research and funded by the major Record Labels for placing their video machines nationwide in various major record store-chains such as; Tower Records, Sam Goody’s , Korvettes, Record Bar (Mid West), Licorice Pizza, etc.
Taking this concept a step further, in 1978 Mr. Van Haas was invited to the International Music Industry Conference in London as a “guest speaker” to talk on a worldwide level to the international record industry about the coming “Marriage of Sight & Sound” (music-videos) within the international music business forum. While there, Mr. Van Haas was met by Harvey Schein. Pres. of Sony Corp. USA/Japan, Amet Ertagan & Jerry Wexler, Pres.& Co-Pres. of Warner/Alantic Records, Producer/Pres. Lou Adler of Ode Records, Russ Solomon, Pres. Tower Records and Jan Wenner, CEO of Rolling Stone Magazine.
In 1979 Warner Bros bought Televak Corporation and it’s marketing arm from Mr. Van Haas and in the next year Warner Communications Company was formed by it’s new CEO, Harvey Schein who had previously worked for Sony. Warner Comm launched a satellite that same year and Music-Television-Video was born (MTV)…and the rest is music history!
After Mr. Van Haas’ success in the record industry, he moved to Europe with his Greek wife and began writing travel articles after touring the world's most intriguing destinations such as India, Thailand, Caribbean, Africa, Egypt, and more- at the same time researching their indigenous cultures, customs, mythology and archaeological sites. He worked as a freelance feature writer for the International Herald Tribune, Newsweek, Time, The European, Hellenic Star, Athens News, Odyssey and Travel Magazine.
Mr. Van Haas has developed a keen feeling for Greece and is also the author of the popular European best seller, THE IKON, a lively Greek island thriller set on jet-set Myconos island selling in bookstores and listed on Amazon.com with 4 star rating.
Van Haas has also completed a new historical book, soon to be released called, IN SEARCH OF ANCIENT GREECE: Gods, Myths & Places, said to be one of the most comprehensive and compelling historical-travel works to date.
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