Patrick Armstrong, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Development for the Kentucky Derby Festival, Inc., Louisville, KY

Patrick has worked for Kentucky Derby Festival for a collective total of 16 years. He currently oversees a staff of four marketing/sponsorship sales professionals at the Derby Festival and his primary role is to direct the corporate sponsorship efforts to provide funding for the Festival’s 65 + events. His team is responsible for raising approximately 3.5 million dollars in cash and in-kind for the Derby Festival each year -- working daily with a group of over 400 corporate sponsors. Since 2005, the Kentucky Derby Festival Marketing Team has won a total of 35 sponsorship program category awards at the International Festivals and Events Association annual Pinnacle Awards competitions with 18 of them receiving Gold awards respectively. Major client relationships managed by the KDF Marketing Team include the following outstanding brands: McDonald’s, MillerCoors, Anheuser-Busch, Coca-Cola, Verizon Wireless, Meijer, Papa John’s, U.S. Bank, UPS, Walmart, Kroger, Ford Motor Company and Beam Global Spirits.