Nancy Ames, Owner and Creative Director
President of Nancy Ames Productions, Inc., this multi-lingual, international entertainer parlayed her “on stage” career and writing prowess into the entrepreneurship of one of the country’s most professional and comprehensive special events companies. The daughter of old Washington and Diplomatic Society in the Nation’s Capitol, she graduated from The Holton-Arms School before going to Bennett College and finishing her last 2 years as one of Mrs. Harwood Kammerer’s chosen 12 American girls to live and study in Europe. Her performing career included the Broadway stage, television, recordings, supper clubs and concerts. Her “on camera” television years included starring on NBC TV’s “That Was the Week That Was” as the show’s singing and acting signature “TW3 Girl”,12 years as a guest headliner on Ed Sullivan, Hollywood Palace and the gamut of star-hosted Variety Shows until the late 70’s. She hosted “The Nancy Ames Show”, a daily variety/talk show on the NBC affiliate, for 5 years when she moved to Houston.
It was then that she saw the need in America’s 4th largest city for a firm that could plan, manage, produce and direct turn-key events like those companies interfacing with her on her IBM and Kodak concert dates. Along with her husband and partner Danny Ward, Nancy is the creative force responsible for the direction in which Ward & Ames Special Events has evolved. Nancy’s forte is in the “big picture”—the overall architecture and design of the event at hand. Her college background in those two fields has served her well in being able to envision the “looks” that can transform empty spaces into decorative environs.
Her remodeling firm, Estate Restorations, was considered one of the most successful in Houston before she closed it to focus on the increasing demands in the event world. She is also a renowned gastronome winning Food & Wine Magazine’s top culinary award, Co-Founder of The Plumeria Society of America and a gardener specializing in orchids and tropical plants. In 2002, she started her wine-related jewelry company Alfaro, A Nancy Ames Collection, for wine enthusiasts and connoisseurs (www.alfarodesigns.net). She is also a She is also a Chevalier in La Confrerie des Chevaliers du Tastevin.
Her multifaceted life has been blessed with seized opportunities, acute sensitivity, uncanny insight, and the countless special honors and awards of merit bestowed on her.
Danny Ward, President and Executive Producer
From the impassioned fingertips of a composer and pianist to the meticulous precision required of a master production specialist, Danny Ward is the epitome of excellence in both fields. As the helmsman of Ward & Ames Special Events, Inc., Danny directs the day to day operational aspects of the firm and is the quintessential go-to-guy and managing director for the company’s most complex projects. His dedication, attention to detail, and inexhaustible drive are the catalysts for attaining the level of perfection he achieves for his clients.
Danny Ward’s accomplished and extensive personal knowledge of the performance and concert industry needs and vagaries gives him a unique advantage in the requisites of managing and producing Special Events. He is able to integrate both worlds and translates the most complex jargon into clear terminology for loyal clients who have entrusted their events with him for 25 years. He has produced and directed events for 5 American Presidents and innumerable Foreign Leaders, Dignitaries, Governors and Mayors as well as such immeasurable talents such as Bob Hope, Andy Williams, Tony Bennett, Peggy Lee, Bernadette Peters, Shirley McClain, The Beach Boys, Santana, Momix, and too many other performing artists to name.
Ward & Ames Special Events, Inc. was born when Danny Ward teamed up with Nancy Ames’ incredible flair for creating masterpieces of dramatic design and excellence. Along with the Ward & Ames events staff and planning team, the firm has attained an enviable position in their production of some of the most high-profile events throughout the country and abroad since 1982. Ward & Ames, as a virtual pioneer in the special events field, has become one of the industry’s most respected event planning, management and production firms. The proof is evident, not only on the company’s website, www.wardandames.com, but also in the retained basis they enjoy with a majority of their clients.
Outside of work, Danny is a master vegetable gardener and has won first place in every tomato contest he’s ever entered plus a lauded wine collector inducted into La Confrerie des Chevaliers du Tastevin at the Clos de Vougeot in 1989. Both he and Nancy are involved with a multitude of charitable organizations, associations and boards and regularly donate their time to worthwhile causes and philanthropic endeavors throughout the country.