Author Archives: Dan.shasserre

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About Dan.shasserre

Dan has spent the past five years as Vice President Development for The Nine Network of Public Media. During his tenor Nine Network achieved record breaking fundraising results. The Nine Network just completed a $25 million dollar capacity building campaign. FY2014 achieved the best fundraising year in their 60 year history. Dan has spent the past eight years as the Vice President of Development & Communications for Catholic Charities of Saint Louis. Under Mr. Shasserre’s direction, Catholic Charities exceeded annual fundraising goals each year. Dan’s reputation for creating innovative strategies led to record-breaking revenues in major gifts and planned gifts. Dan is an experienced marketing professional. He designed and implemented brand awareness benchmark studies and directed tactics, leading to a 40% increase in brand awareness of Catholic Charities in the five year period measured. The Catholic Charities of Saint Louis Federation of agencies fundraising revenue exceeds $25 million annually. They are considered to be the most successful fundraising organization of all Catholic Charities social service agencies nationally. In addition to local fundraising, Catholic Charities of Saint Louis raised more than $5 million to aid victims of 9/11, survivors of the tsunami in Southeast Asia, and people who faced the devastating destruction of hurricane Katrina. Prior to joining Catholic Charities, Dan spent ten years in the professional sports marketing field. He served as the Director of Marketing for the National Hockey League St. Louis Blues franchise. In that capacity, he had the opportunity to put together hundreds of corporately sponsored special events. Later, he spent seven years as Vice President for a St. Louis-based advertising agency working on branding strategies and media plans for clients like Anheuser-Busch, John Deere, Ralston Purina and Lennox Industries. Mr. Shasserre has previously served as a consultant for international organizations. He has been a strategic planning and marketing training facilitator and a frequent guest speaker at regional and national conferences. He has spoken recently at Catholic Charities USA national meetings on topics like "How to Build Your Brand" ; "How to Create a Planned Giving Program on a Small Budget" ; "Branding , Marketing, and Fundraising-Why it All Matters." Dan and his wife Sandy have been happily married for forty-seven years. They have six children and ten grandchildren.

ALASKA or BUST – DAY FOUR

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Denali

Yesterday I told you about the miles and miles of rivers that parallel the train tracks from Anchorage to Denali National Park. One of the interesting facts that I failed to share is that at one point the river flows south toward the Pacific Ocean. At another point that same river flows northward and deposits into the Bering Sea.

Speaking of rivers, we saw many different kinds of rivers today as we navigated paved roads and gravel roads on a 5 hour bus tour of Denali National Park. Most of these rivers don’t have any fish because the rock silt flowing from glaciers are unhealthy for fish. Many braided rivers that run through the park have less water and more rock.

The Tundra Wilderness tour bus utilizes the only road to explore some of the six million reserved acres of this amazing place. In those acres our tour guide, Jenny, claims there are 1500 Moose. We saw one Bull Moose from miles away. There are 1000 Caribou in the park. We saw eight from about 30 yards away. There are 98 gray wolfs. We saw none. We did see a Grizzly bear, two moose, a Golden Eagle, four Dall Sheep, all from a mile away. If you had a good professional camera lens you had some great pictures to share. We did not. We did see the Alaska State bird, a Willow Ptarmigan, but I decided not to trip over others to photograph that little dude.

We had beautiful sunny weather today so we were able to see the snow covered Denali Mountain from fifty miles away. Some roads in the park were washed out by a landslide earlier this year so we got as close as roads will take you. We are a month too early to take a dog sled any closer than we got today. Sandy and I agree, Denali National Park was one of the most spectacularly beautiful places we have ever viewed. The sunny weather and gorgeous fall colors make this trip one for the memories and one to recommend. We are on the train from Denali to Fairbanks as I write these words. The scenery by train is as fabulous as the scenic bus tour. Is there another expression for FANTASTIC DAY?

ALASKA or BUST – DAY THREE

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We were up again at 5:30am to shuttle to the train station. The Alaska Star departed at 8:15am for Denali. We checked-in at the Denali Bluffs Hotel at 4:15pm.

The eight hourAlaska Rail Road train ride from Anchorage passed through Wasilla, Talkeetna, Hurricane, and Honolulu (yep, Alaska not Hawaii) on the way to Denali Park. The spectacular fall color views of trees changing to bright yellow contrasting with red tundra and green Evergreens mixed in with three different mountain ranges, train bridges 200 feet above a multitude of rivers, streams and lakes was beyond words can describe. Just as The Grand Canyon or Bryce Canyon beauty cannot be captured by photographs adequately, this Alaskan wilderness viewed from train dome was beyond amazing.

Alaska Summit Lake, Indiana River, and Panoramic Mountain were three of the most memorable sights from the full day travelled. Sandy and I have been to many beautiful places in our travels but we both said this trip is among the most beautiful. And, it has just started. We haven’t been to Denali Mountain or Fairbanks yet.

ALASKA or BUST DAY ONE & TWO

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Todd drove us to the airport at 9:45am to catch the 11:50 flight. Sandy likes to be early. Early we were. Southwest flight departure was 12:15pm. This is not too bad considering flight horror stories floating around from other family member adventures.

Fortunately, I found a book to read for three hours. Metaverse by Matthew Ball. The book was a thought provoking look at the evolution of the internet , how society uses technology today, what’s going on the gaming industry and how everything is likely to change over the next ten years. I learned new terminology like interoperability,, payment rails, and blockchains. My grandchildren know a lot more about these topics than I do. But, I am convinced mega-millions of dollars will be made in the Metaverse.

We arrived in San Jose, California for a 1 ½ hour layover. We had plenty of time for a late lunch. By the time we got to our airport hotel we had been traveling for 12 hours. We still had enough energy for a light dinner. Salmon chowder and a beer hit the spot.

Day Two:

I woke up at 1am and 4am to make sure we wouldn’t miss the alarm at 5am. Sandy was up three times just to make sure I set the alarm correctly. At 5am with no coffee we both moved about like cave people gathering firewood. We showered, took our medicine, brushed teeth, packed our bags and headed for the shuttle. When we were standing in line for boarding security Sandy said “good morning” and gave me a kiss on the cheek. Life is good.

Anchorage downtown from our Hotel window

Alaska Airlines departed on time and arrived Anchorage earlier than scheduled. We dropped off our bags at the Inlet Tower Hotel and began to explore downtown Anchorage, I must say,, from 12th street to 4th street, then down I, H, or L, there is not much to see. We’ve walked 3 miles today with nothing worthy of a photograph. We walked past hotels, restaurants, convention centers and Federal buildings. Lunch at Humpy’s Great American Ale House was a worthwhile lunch stop if you ever get up here. Dinner at the Gastro Pub was tasty too.

I just watched the Cardinals come back with five runs in the ninth inning to win 6-5 over the Nationals. I can now go to bed with a smile. We start early tomorrow with a 5:30am wake up call. We will be on our way to Denali on the 8am train. .