PRIZES to win! PROMOTIONS
Ted Harbin is one of only eight who have been recognized for his media excellence by both the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) and the Women's Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA), the top two sanctioning bodies in rodeo. He won the PRCA's Media Award for Excellence in Print Journalism in 2010 and the WPRA's Media Award in 2014. Harbin began his journalism career while attending Pratt (Kansas) Community College and Fort Hays (Kansas) State University, then worked twenty-two years in the newspaper business.He worked at small weeklies and large dailies before 2005, when he developed TwisTed Rodeo, a media relations company that works primarily in rodeo. In addition to his work being published in hundreds of newspapers, Harbin has written pieces for Western Horseman, Texas Monthly, the WPRA Magazine, and the National Cutting Horse Association's publication, Chatter Magazine. He has served as media director for many rodeos, stock contractors, and other rodeo entities, and has been a publicist for dozens of cowboys and cowgirls. Harbin is one of the most recognized journalists in rodeo today. Steve Gander is the Oz of rodeo, the man behind the mirror who orchestrated his brand of rodeo in ways that nobody had ever seen before. He developed World's Toughest Rodeo, then marketed and promoted his product outside the norms of Western sports. He had video replay before anyone else had considered it. He took rodeo into the big cities like Minneapolis, Chicago, and Cleveland, and introduced the Old West to city folks in a way that entranced them and brought them back for more. His innovations are still being used by producers of thousands of events across North America. The man who produced the Command Performance Rodeo for President Reagan in 1983 will be an influence on the sport for years to come.He remained active in rodeo years after he ""retired,"" having consulted with multiple organizations to help them better produce and market a profitable experience. He remained on the board of directors for the PRCA and has served as a key facilitator as the sport has flourished over recent years. He has seen World's Toughest Rodeo-the brand he created decades ago-continue to succeed more than twenty years after he sold it.
