Past

The Washington Sq. Arch, Greenwich Village, NYC

It isn’t often that people end up doing what they plan when they are kids in college, and Dean Stallone, founder and Executive Director at PMD Promotion, was no exception. Coming from a Long Island home where both parents owned small businesses, Stallone often swore he wouldn’t follow in their footsteps. “I wanted to go to NYU for four years and get a job working for a big company with lots of room to move up.” This wasn’t to be.

Working between classes at a Times Square advertising firm as an NYU freshman, I found myself putting together newspaper ads for small record labels and rock bands. My boss came to me one day and asked “You have a lot of friends Dean, don’t you? Can you grab twenty of them to hand out flyers at the Grateful Dead shows at Madison Square Garden?” This seemed like a waste of time, but I did it, hiring a bunch friends and fellow students to help spread the word that MSG was no longer a smoking venue, tobacco or otherwise.
It was a huge success. So much so that my boss and her clients continued to give me work.
“What’s the name of your company sir?” a receptionist asked me as I tried to get through to an industry big shot on the phone. Hmmm, now that’s a good question. Who had time to think of a name?
“Print Media Distribution” I blurted out, not realizing at the time that the name would stick. I would live to regret it, but only until I figured out that acronyms work well, and it didn’t bother me anymore.
What started out as a few friends handing out flyers quickly became a profitable promotion firm operating from a dorm room. Eventually the company’s services would change and adapt, along with its office address.
The rest is history; more clients would follow in varying entertainment fields, and the services would change from handing out flyers to in-store displays. PMD Promotion would center on the entertainment industries, moving towards Broadway, and performing arts, then to movies and television. Of course the recording industry was there at the start.
Today PMD Promotion has more than 20,000 restaurants, boutiques & storefronts in its venue network, and its windowposters and CDs are seen & heard nationwide with expansion plans to reach 20 major markets in the next 2 years.

Funny how things don’t quite work out the way you plan.

It isn’t often that people end up doing what they planned when they were kids in college, and Dean Stallone, founder and Executive Director at PMD Promotion, was no exception. Coming from a Long Island home where both parents owned small businesses, Stallone often swore he wouldn’t follow in their footsteps. “I want to go to NYU for four years and get a job working for a big company with lots of room to move up.” Of course this didn’t happen.

Working between classes at a Times Square advertising firm as an NYU freshman, Stallone found himself putting together newspaper ads for small record labels and rock bands. His boss came to him one day and asked, “You have a lot of friends Dean, don’t you?  Can you grab twenty of them to hand out flyers at the Grateful Dead shows at Madison Square Garden?” This seemed like a waste of time, but he did it, hiring a bunch friends and fellow students to help spread the word that MSG was no longer a smoking venue, tobacco or otherwise.

It was a huge success. So much so, that Stallone’s boss and her clients continued to give him work.

What started out as a few friends handing out flyers quickly became a profitable promotion firm operating from a dorm room. Eventually the company’s services would change and adapt, along with its office location.

The rest is history; more clients would follow in varying entertainment fields and other industries, and the services would change from handing out flyers to storefront displays. In-store play services were added later. Today, PMD Promotion has more than 35,000 venue partners in its network of independently owned restaurants, boutiques & storefronts. Postcards, Brochures, Windowposters™ and Aerplay CDs are seen & heard nationwide, in 20 major U.S. markets.