CO-FOUNDERS
MARK A. SHIRK, CO-Founder & General Manager
In addition to a combined 25 years working on government science research and development projects for Space X and NASA (where he received several honorable awards for his contributions), Mark made an extreme career shift to the venue and resort hospitality industry. He took an engineering position at Pebble Beach Resorts in Carmel, California, where he worked on their Lodge Net computer automation system. During this time, Mark gained exposure to all facets of the venue, resort, and event hospitality business. Mark was particularly impressed with how Pebble Beach Resorts managed to sell out rooms priced between $800 and $5,000 per night. Pebble Beach Resort's primary target market was group, event, and conference travelers. Frequently, this resort would sell out all their many meeting and conference rooms, so they would install large event tents outside on the property to accommodate the high demand and benefit financially at the same time. These events created a monopoly for the resort. Event attendees preferred to stay in one of the resort's expensive rooms that were only a few steps away from the event instead of a long drive to offsite accommodations. This was the greatest asset that Mark took away from working at Pebble Beach Resorts. JAS Fest Properties uses this proven strategy to drive its business model. Mark also was introduced to a large valuable network of big names within the event management, entertainment, and production industries while at Pebble Beach Resorts.
Mark then relocated himself and his family to Southern California, where he worked as a manager for Studio Air, founded by the late Gordon Webb, a renowned production expert known for his work on films like Ghostbusters, Six Days Seven Nights, and Mission Impossible. At Studio Air, Mark expanded his knowledge of the event business...while experiencing all facets of television and feature film production sets, which included planning for and calculating temporary power, lighting, and climate loads for the cast and crews, etc. Combined with casting roles and production classes that Mark took at UCLA, Mark had the opportunity to experience and absorb all aspects of TV and feature film production. Mark realized that the event, conference, meeting, and group/business travel industries are very similar to, and significantly overlap with the television, film and entertainment production industries. However, the greatest asset Mark gained while working at Studio Air and while performing as a cast member in commercial advertisements and television productions was the opportunity to increase his network of existing and prospective clients/venders/referrals among the many production set location managers, producers, directors, cast and crew members that Mark had the opportunity to meet.
While Mark was still serving on the Space X Team, he was asked by a previous friend and business client (who is suffering from dementia) to help save his organic farm from being foreclosed upon. Mark saw an opportunity to significantly increase the farm's revenue stream by renting and leasing out vacant space on the farm for events, multi-day training classes, meetings, overnight accommodations (including Airbnb and camping), etc. Mark could not turn his friend down and reject his call for help. So, Mark moved his family back up to the Monterey Bay area and they launched JAS Fest Properties that successfully generated significant extra revenue for the farm. Due to JAS Fest Properties extreme success, Mark and his family have realized that it was time to expand its successful services to be available to greater venues, resorts, and even cruise lines. LEARN MORE
Lisa Shirk, Co-Founder & Director of Marketing and Sales for Venue, Resort, and Group Travel
Lisa was born and raised in the Monterey Bay Area and has a deep understanding of the best places to go and when to visit them. Lisa has traveled around the world multiple times throughout her lifetime to destinations all over Europe via most of England, France (Lisa loves Paris), Netherlands (Yes, Amsterdam and Holland could not be passed by), and Germany (Lisa's Mother is an immigrant from England and her Father was an immigrant from Germany, so Lisa would frequently VFR the cities of Cologne, Rothenburg, and Heidelberg) She has been up and down the Pacific Coast from Vancouver and Victoria Canada, through Washington, Oregon, California into deep Mexico. Lisa and her husband, Mark, have lived in California their entire lives. So, they have traveled up and down from the Northern and Southern Borders many times, along the beautiful California Coast and adjacent to the Eastern Borders that parallel and penetrate the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Mountains. Mark considers Yosemite, Mammoth and Lake Tahoe "God's Triangle of Paradise".. Lisa and/or Mark have also traveled through Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and back though Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest while visiting Yellowstone National Park bordering Montanna, Wyoming, and Idaho. They also had several tours of the Hawaiian Islands.
Lisa's first professional travel experience was planning corporate events for Oliver Design in Scotts Valley, CA. She then pursued an education in nutrition and became a certified dietitian. After relocating to Southern California, Lisa managed her children's casting for several television and film productions. She even co-starred with her husband Mark and daughter Mariah in a production that aired on TLC. Over the years, Lisa combined her education and experience to manage various aspects of venue and resort operations at JAS Fest Properties, particularly focusing on food catering services when needed. Lisa has a natural talent for social media and online/in-person sales. She continues to grow the company’s network of clients, entertainment professionals, and travel experts. Above all, Lisa considers her work her purpose, second only to being the mother of six flourishing children, who occasionally lend a hand with the family business. She is also proud grandmother of two.
JOSHUA A. SHIRK (J.A.S.), Co-Founder & Administrator
Joshua was born in the Monterey Bay Area and has recently returned from Southern California, now residing in the San Francisco and Monterey Bay areas. He spent 13 years in Southern California, where he gained extensive experience in the entertainment and production industry, including participation in several commercials. Joshua also produced training videos for Green Train University. To further his skills, Joshua is pursuing an education in production and business administration, specializing in marketing and accounting. He also worked at Amazon, where he became one of the youngest employees to be promoted to a leadership position within a year. During his time at Amazon, Joshua was honored for his leadership skills in project management, team optimization, strategic resource allocation, logistics, quality control, and budgeting. At JAS Fest Properties, Joshua brings valuable administrative and media production expertise. He plans to expand the company's services to include local group tour operations and charter coach services in the Monterey Bay and San Francisco Bay areas.