Front Row Seat
True stories told by journalist, broadcaster, author, motivational speaker Ed Eisen
215.885.7253
Presentations
Ed Eisen is a professional story teller. His tales are based on the famous, the infamous people he has met in his 52 years on the road working for some of the nation's top newspapers. Other tales come from his years as the first Jewish spokesman for two popes, his involvement with the Philadelphia Mafia, a mass murderer, world boxing champ Joe Frazier, comic Jackie Gleason, the world's first transgender woman, the man on whose life the award-winning movie, "A Beautiful Mind" was based and more. His tales leave audiences laughing, crying, remembering, often transformed. He speaks or hosts programs on a variety of topics , many with wide audience participation, one based on a mix of what you see and hear on CNN and FOX minus the klieg lights.
Fees are reasonable and designed to accommodate even the tightest budget!
The Mafia and Me
Meet two kingpins of the old Philadelphia Mafia. Learn about the strangest phone call veteran journalist Ed Eisen ever received in his 52-year career in communications. It was a phone call that could have forever changed Eisen’s career, bank account and life. It was an offer to represent a young writer serving a 32-year jail term. Does Eisen go for the bait?
A Reporter’s Front Row Seat to History
Meet some famous, some infamous people Ed Eisen interviews or represents in his 52 years on the road. Among them: a U.S. president, two popes, Saint Teresa, world boxing champ Joe Frazier, the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, comic Jackie Gleason, a mass murderer, members of the Philly Mafia, the world’s first transgender woman and more.
Fake News
A New Jersey town touts itself as the Blueberry Capitol of the U.S. It’s not. In the age of the Internet how does a reasonable person discern between real news and fake news? The scourge of fake news has experts fearful for the future of our democracy. Ed Eisen defines how to parse the real from the rotten.
Terrorist at the Post Office
Thirty years before 9/11, journalist Ed Eisen poses as a Russian terrorist carrying a fake bomb in a briefcase. He deposits a ticking clock in six mens’ rooms at a post office and courthouse in Center City Philadelphia. Mission: to test security at the facility. Hear the inside story on what prompted The Philadelphia Inquirer to test the federal government.
Jackie Gleason Unhinged
Rookie reporter Ed Eisen is assigned to interview comic Jackie Gleason during a rehearsal for his broadcast from the Biltmore Hotel in Palm Beach. The paper orders a photo. Equipped with an old-style flash bulb camera, Eisen interrupts a rehearsal to greet Gleason. Find out what happens to make that moment the most humiliating in Eisen’s career.
I’m An Octogenarian: What Do I Do Now?
Now that you’re fully retired do you ever wonder: What do I do now? Are you enjoying all your health and stamina will allow? Join our panel discussion on what you can do to bring back life’s luster, to make those fleeting moments really count. Your host will provide scores of creative ideas on how to turn the winter of your life into the spring.
Dating Christine Jorgensen
Rookie reporter Ed Eisen buys bait and rents a boat in Fort Lauderdale to determine what happens when a heterosexual guy invites a transgender woman on a date. The woman is Christine Jorgensen, an ex-GI, who is performing in Miami Beach. Find out what happens in the middle of the Atlantic.
Chicken Soup with Mother Teresa
The Vatican hires Ed Eisen as the first person of the Jewish tradition to become a spokesman for two popes. Never did this son of an Orthodox Jew imagine that a private meeting with the Saint of the Gutters would change him from the inside out, transform him in an unexpected way. Find out how.
Happiness GPS
In his 52 years on the road, journalist, author, motivational speaker Ed Eisen has learned a few important lessons: most people look in all the wrong places for happiness: Many try to fill a void by acquiring things. Some lose themselves in drugs and alcohol. Others associate with negative people. Eisen says he’s the happiest guy in the world. Come find out why.
The Millionaire Who Kidnapped His Kids
Bipin Shah has everything: two beautiful young daughters, a lovely wife, a mansion on the Main Line. But the charmed life ends in divorce and one night the girls disappear. Shah offers $1 million for their return. Nothing happens until Ed Eisen convinces Time Magazine the story belongs on the front cover.
Inside the House of Horrors
Pennhurst State School and Hospital is a warehouse for developmentally disabled men, women and children. Linda Taub, blind since birth, becomes a poster child for the state’s neglect. Then an investigative reporter from The Philadelphia Inquirer sheds a spotlight on Pennsylvania’s darkest secret. Find out how Linda escapes to freedom.
Top Flubs of U.S. Presidents
Who was America’s Accidental President? Who was the President who keeps checking his watch during a debate? The President who declares he is no crook? The chad wannabe President? The President who declares that historians would record him as America’s best since Abraham Lincoln? A Quiz Treasure Chest for President’s Month.
From Caterpillar to Butterfly
A motivational workshop about reinvention. What to do when your dream job, your marriage, your life go up in smoke? A journalist’s story of courage in the face of a changing marketplace and a changing world. How to churn lemons into lemonade. A chance to tell your story. A rare opportunity for transformation.
Roads Well Traveled
Where have you spent the last 80 years or more? Have you tanned on the beaches of Nice, sipped rum in the Caribbean? Visited the hippos in East Africa? We all have vacation tales and photos. Place your name and phone number on the back of each, package in an envelope, and send to your Director of Life Engagement. Ed Eisen hosts your travelogue!
Finding the Fountain of Youth
Gather up the photos of that younger you. A few minor changes have taken place, right? Place your photos in an envelope marking the backs with your name and phone number. Ship them to your Director of Life Engagement. Host Ed Eisen packages your life into a Quiz Show Like No Other. Kisses (the Hershey kind) for the winners!
Behind A Beautiful Mind
Award-winning actor Russell Crowe plays Nobel Prize-winning mathematician John Forbes Nash, Jr. in the movie A Beautiful Mind. Now join journalist Ed Eisen as he dines with the real genius and the wife who took him back. The recovered schizophrenic tells his story before his untimely death in 2016.
Joe Frazier Took a Hit for Me
Boxing champ Joe Frazier and Ed Eisen didn’t rumble in a ring but in one of the city’s largest advertising agencies. “To Ed Eisen … Bookie Bookie,” Frazier writes on the glove that cost him his bout with George Foreman. Find out how Eisen acquires the glove worth tens of thousands of dollars.
Creative Writing
Join Ed Eisen for a series of 12 workshops on getting started in writing your own short story or memoir. Subjects covered include: a step-by-step approach on how to develop and write your own life story, how to write fiction that rings true. Don't let someone else define you. Pen the book that will become your legacy.
Lessons Learned by an Octogenarian
In a 52-year career as a journalist, broadcaster, author and motivational speaker Ed Eisen meets some famous and some infamous characters. Among them two popes, President Ford, members of the Mafia, Mother Teresa, Grace Kelly of Monaco, Sen. Ted Kennedy and more. Lessons Learned may change your life.
Tracking Ted Kennedy
The key turning point in the life of Ted Kennedy is the tragic death of Mary Jo Kopechne, the young passenger who dies in the senator’s car when it careens off a bridge on Martha’s Vineyard in 1969. Ed Eisen, a reporter with The Philadelphia Inquirer is assigned to cover the funeral. Eisen asks a question that stuns the senator. What was it?
Martin Luther King’s Rage
The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. comes to Philadelphia two years before his assassination. He lashes out at a government indifferent to his mission seeking equal rights for minorities. His tear-filled petition is heard by but a few members of the news media. Ed Eisen is among them.
Can You Top This?
A 60-minute game show based on the notion that we all have a story to tell. What was your best moment? The oddest phone call you ever received? The most memorable person you ever met? Sound off on any topic. Stretch your memory without exercise. Validate your career, your life work. Who’s got the best tale to tell?
Crisis Management
Organizations -- big and small -- often face a crisis. Does your organization have a crisis plan? Learn what to do before a crisis of credibility winds up on Page 1 over what someone did or failed to do at your enterprise. A minor embarrassment can balloon into a full-blown tsunami unless those at the top are prepared to handle the fallout.
Journalism 101: If it bleeds ...It leads
A veteran reporter unveils how content decisions are made at print and broadcast newsrooms around the country. A workshop on how to make a winning pitch to the news media ... even if your tale doesn't bleed! Seven secrets to ensure that your story is told on the air or in print.
Get Work
In up or down job markets, finding a job can be a daunting task. Learn the secrets to finding work in good or bad times. Learn how to differentiate yourself, fill your resume gaps, survive a firing, ace an interview, move up the career ladder, re-engineer your career. With 23 years as a volunteer career consultant, Ed Eisen guides the discussion in new directions.
Growing Your Business Without Spending a
Dime in Advertising
If you’re in business to find new clients, more customers, to raise your visibility in the market place, this presentation is a must for growth. Ed Eisen spent 28 years as a marketing consultant working in a wide variety of industries. Come learn about his 66 low cost or no cost ways to grow your enterprise.