Muchas Gracias!

SIMPLY BITS & NEXTRIO - The official party sponsors.  Each year a few lucky individuals from Nextrio and Simply Bits get suckered into (whoops, I mean "volunteer") to help out with the Super Bowl party. What makes these guys really amazing is that they don’t throw Brad out the window every time he says "just one more small change..." Big thanks to Cristie Street for her years of dedication and help. Bill Street provides game day audio, visual, and technical assistance so that Super Bowl viewing is at its best and also helps run the squares game with Brad’s Dad, although it will always be “Brad’s Dad’s Squares Game.” Stephanie Bernstein & Brooke Walbaum keeps meticulous track of the hundreds of RSVPs. Also, thank you to anyone that helps Brad truck down all the food and drinks for the party (and you don’t know who you are yet, but thanks to Troy, Matt, Bill, Sean, Craig and others who did it in the past years!) Check out www.nextrio.com for business IT services including networks, managed services, and virtualization, and www.simplybits.com for business Internet, phone, fax communications and web development. Speaking of web development, thank you Jason Green & Jeremy Bush for the new "look and feel" for the Super Bowl Party web site. These guys are part of our new development team who work their magic to create portals that any company would be proud of.

AlphaGraphics Commercial Printing Services - Brad has done business with these guys for more than 20 years. They have graciously printed our fabulous invitations every year we needed them. Now that we are only sending invitations via email, we will sadly miss the fine print quality, but will always thank them for the many years of support they have provided. Thank you Rosemary, Gary and Judy for your excellent services, products and friendship. (By the way, this is not just an AlphaGraphics that can Xerox stuff, this is “The” Commercial Printing Division, able to do all sorts of cool stuff like full color printing, embossing, and any other thing you can think of in the printing world).

Craig Candito - Brad's trusted friend has taken on the dubious tasks of shopping for the party with Brad, and lending his muscles and truck to the cause of pick-up and delivery. (Kristen, his wife, had no idea she had married into lifelong help of getting this party together). Brennen, Brad's son, now has joined the "shopping" ranks too. He enjoys everyone's comments as we wheel out 3 pallets of food and drink from Costco.

Joe Cracchiolo - the brother Brad never had growing up. Joe and Brad have been best friends since 1983. Joe has also been Brad's business partner since 1987. Joe took on the role of “the voice of the super bowl party hotline” and now is the main voice for many of Simply Bits phone customers. Joe and his wife Tracy have always been there to help, and Brad is grateful to call them his friends, (really family at this point). We know many of you miss the hotline since we moved to online RSVPs, so we are trying to figure out how to use the hotline in the future. Perhaps a 1-900-call-Joe service is needed.

Mike Bernstein - Brad and Joe’s partner in all the ventures since 2001. In past years, Mike got pulled in and made a journey to Sam’s club with Brad for Sterno. $500 later they emerged unscathed. (That’s an expensive box of Sterno!) Mike enjoys the party as he sits in awe of the number of people and tries to play 3 degrees of Brad Feder with the people he just met. Maybe it is time for a facebook page?

Anita -The half that brings class to the Super Bowl party. Without her, Brad would be a blithering blob of protoplasm. In 2001, when Anita could not attend the party because she had just delivered Alexis, it quickly became apparent that Brad could not play the host to the full extent that he thought he could without his life-long hostess. (Sounds like a Twinkie thing).  Anita's ideas have added many great facets to the party, including the face painters, balloon sculptors, and the band. (Now if we could just get Brad out of the face painting line.)

Alexis and Brennen - Two of the reasons Brad says we have face painters. With little to no input from these two, they throw one heck of a party. It has been said that the success comes from the invitations, though they have no idea that they are involved with that! When viewing the 2007 invitation for the first time, Brennen said, “WOW, look at my guns!”

Brad’s Parents - Jerry and Elayne (aka Dad and Mom). Dad started the now infamous “Squares Game” more than 13 years ago. The game took a hiatus, and then came back by popular demand. So besides Brad, we think Dad and Mom are the only other people that have attended all of the Super Bowl parties since the first one in 1988. They are always the first to offer their help, the first to show up, the first to RSVP (and in my mom’s case, the first to offer her opinion as well). We are truly thankful that they are who they are: helpful, thoughtful, caring, loving, and most of all, special.

Cathryn Murrow - What can we say about someone who puts up with Brad that isn’t his wife (we are referring to Anita, not Joe). Cathryn was Brad’s admin assistant at RightFAX and kept his business life in order, and also has been a great help for many years coordinating vendors for the Super Bowl party. Cathryn has played many roles with regard to the party. Shane, Cathryn’s husband also deserves to have thanks bestowed upon him. Although he is supposed to being enjoying the party, he is always caught carrying bags of ice and other heavy objects before, during and after the party. Shane, thanks for lending us your muscles (and truck where applicable)!

Sandra Shelton - Brad, Mike, and Joe’s assistant has tirelessly kept the Super Bowl database (i.e. Brad’s Outlook contacts) updated while deciphering Brad’s chicken scratch. In the past, her daughter Toni has been enlisted to help staff the party. Toni and some of her girlfriends are the ones that keep the kitchen humming. If you have a change of address, or any other new contact information, PLEASE let Sandra know: SandraS@simplybits.com.