With a vision of EEI Global as one of the world’s most sophisticated, strategic and creative experiential marketing firms, Derek Gentile has led the company through the unprecedented challenges of the past decade to the acclaim of the event marketing industry. Under Gentile’s leadership, EEI Global has grown immensely in the scope of its work, the expertise of its professionals and the global reach of its capabilities. Gentile has assembled one of the industry’s most valuable management teams; and with their support of his vision, he has achieved repeated success in expanding the company and opening new directions for its clients.

Gentile’s impact on the organization and the industry was reflected initially in his management of the Chrysler business from 1990 to 2000, during which he increased revenue to $30 million from an initial $4 million. He has played a major role as well in development of his company’s technology capabilities, leading the development and implementation of proprietary exhibit and event management software that has become the standard for Chrysler and other clients.

In 2001 he created the graphics unit of EEI and the following year established its mobile marketing component, a capability that has attracted an ever increasing pace of business and acclaim. In 2005 he managed the purchase and logistics of the organization’s move to a new headquarters in Rochester Hills, Michigan. The rebranding of the company as EEI Global, Inc., was carried out in 2008 under his program and guidance.

The design and event professionals of EEI Global frequently team with Gentile to capitalize on his extraordinary ability to pull together the resources required for a solution. His deep understanding of the industries that EEI Global serves, as well as his knowledge of the particular talents of each EEI Global expert, enables him to match individuals from such areas as design, engineering, construction and sales to shape exactly the right team to tackle any challenge. Gentile also offers the history, experience and wisdom to balance the design needs of a project with the logistics they entail, considering a complex design and developing a way to execute it that is logistically and economically feasible.

Gentile’s deep experience derives, in part, from his work all across the globe, including eight different markets in Asia, as well as locales in Europe, Latin America and North America. As a result, his ability to assemble resources is not confined to the company’s facilities but extends to other global regions as well.

For major business opportunities, Gentile is often creating the vision that becomes the solution to the client challenge. Recently, Federal-Mogul Corporation asked EEI Global to transform an inherited exhibit based in Italy and deploy it in ten markets across Europe, then recreate it for North America. Gentile headed the team that built a display that was deployed in a dozen markets across the United States and then rebuilt the exhibit and installed it in Southeast Asia. Gentile’s role included developing a solution that balanced the budgetary constraints and quality requirements of the client, factors that were vastly different in Europe, North America and Asia.