MAC BAND ALUMNI UPDATE – FORREST PREECE

 

Class of 1964

 

Instrument:  Bassoon/Clarinet

 

E-Mail Address:     [email protected]

 

Home Address:       4914 Shoal Creek Blvd.

                             Austin, TX  78756

                             Our website: http://www.goodarm.com/

Phone number:        512-451-3295

 

After graduation:

Earned BA in Plan II/English at UT Austin.  Did some graduate school.

Lettered in Longhorn Band three years—64-65, 65-66, 66-67 (Played Clarinet, Alto Sax and Bassoon in LHB)

Worked way through UT at University Co-op in ad dept.

Worked for several ad agencies,

Was in-house pr /ad mgr for one of Austin’s first software firms, MRI Systems Corp.

Started my own agency, Good Right Arm, in 1977.  Am still running it.

Current job: Have run my own advertising agency since 1977. 

Highlight of career: taking a young man named Michael Dell from running a business out of his condo to having a $70,000,000 company.  Did all his advertising/pr work from March 1984 (when he was 19) to mid-1987.

 

Married to Linda Ball since 1976.   She retired from a stunningly successful career in the software business last year.

 

Kids:  none

 

Pets:  One furry dog named Chalow

 

Are you still playing?  No—I was in Longhorn Alumni Band a few years way back there.  A few times after graduating from UT, I sat in with my sax at the Vulcan Gas Company with pickup bands.

 

Comments about how participating in the Mac Band program influenced your life:

 

Definitely learned a lot about playing politics.

 

My experience in the Mac Band and Orchestra gave me an appreciation for music and its place in life.  My wife and I do support the arts quite a bit; for instance, we endowed a recital hall at the Austin Lyric Opera Center and I serve on the Board and Management Committee of Ballet Austin -- I chair the Marketing Committee as well. We have also hosted many benefit parties/dinners for arts groups at our home.

 

Most favorite Mac Band memory:  Lots.  But I guess the biggest deal was when we got to be part of the parade/halftime show at the 1962 Cotton Bowl in Dallas.  Quite a thrill.