45 Years of PRA: People, Places, and Possibility

Author

Heather Matusiak, DMCP

Regional Vice President, Southern California and Las Vegas

Heather.Matusiak@PRA.com

When Patti Roscoe founded Patti Roscoe & Associates (PRA) in San Diego in 1981, she wasn’t just launching a business. She was reimagining the power behind destination management as experiences that inspire and connect.

Forty-five years later, we’re leading destination experiences over 100 cities and 32+ states—we know a little bit about the power of place.

The PRA story Patti started still stands firm: rooted in place, driven by relationships, and grounded in doing the right thing.

The reputation that drew me to PRA over five years ago had already been earned over four decades. The name carried weight in every hotel lobby and client boardroom before I ever walked through the door, reflecting the people who built it, many of whom are still here.

As we celebrate 45 years, I wanted to spotlight a few of those individuals whose careers have been woven into PRA’s story and whose contributions continue to shape who we are today.

A Victorian House and a Family in the Making

Ask anyone who worked in the original San Diego office, and they light up. It was an historic three-story Victorian house on Broadway with a personality all its own: creaky floors, a rumored office ghost, and a tight-knit group of colleague-friends.

Meet the Team

Alex Fleming, Senior Director of Information Technology, joined PRA nearly 30 years ago, leaping into a new industry. He described the office energy as “fun, quirky.” He caught the DMC bug early, and he has never looked back.

Ally Topp, Senior Director of Global Sales Operations, arrived in January 2010 fresh out of San Diego State University. Ally started as a sales and marketing coordinator learning the ins-and-outs of PRA’s Core Four: San Diego, Los Angeles, Orange County, and Palm Springs, the four corporately owned markets at the time.

Amy Knauf, Regional Director of Experience Design for Southern California joined 20 years ago in 2006 as an account manager, her first job out of college. She saw many changes at PRA from acquisitions, mergers, and the pandemic. But the one thing that never changed? “The integrity. The way we do business and conduct and represent ourselves in the market.”

Martin Davis, Managing Director of San Diego, first joined PRA in the spring of 1999 as an intern at the company’s Victorian house office. An SDSU recreation major looking to earn internship credits; he quickly found himself drawn to the hospitality industry. What began as a temporary opportunity evolved into a lifelong career, taking him from intern to Managing Director and giving him a unique perspective on PRA’s growth through the years.

Katie McCasey, Director of Business Development was working in the hospitality industry when she went to an interview for sales with PRA. “I remember the house was buzzing, and I thought whatever they’re on, I want.” She laughed. Nearly 20 years later, she’s proud to represent PRA’s legacy.

Jessica Roland, Director of Events in San Diego, began her PRA journey in 2004 as field staff, an experience that introduced her to the hospitality industry and the company’s culture firsthand. After joining full time, she learned the operational side of the business from the ground up. More than 18 years later, she now leads a team of her own, bringing that same hands-on perspective to the next generation of event professionals.

Martin described his first visit to the office during peak season: “There were 20 people in the building, and the first floor was all operations. People were going left, right, up and down. I didn’t quite understand what they did.” He said, “The office was electric; the San Diego team led the way, and everyone looked to them for the standard.”

The office operated like a family because it was one. Late nights with pizza parties when a big proposal had to go out. Barbecues on the front lawn. Practical jokes that have lasted decades. Alex shared, “Those aren’t just short-term connections. Those are lifetime.”

Living Into the Reputation

You can’t tell PRA’s origin story without understanding who Patti Roscoe was and what it meant to carry her name into a room.

She was deeply embedded in the San Diego community, connected to the Zoo, local universities, and the hospitality industry at large. When you said you worked for PRA, Amy remembers. There was always an “Oh, wow” on the other end. “You felt really proud.”

That sense of living up to the name never goes away. Martin explains: “When you put the PRA name badge on and a hotel, supplier, or client sees it, there’s an immediate sense of credibility,” he said. “People know what it stands for. It carries a reputation built over time, and that comes with a responsibility to uphold the standards that define who we are.”

Patti Roscoe’s standards and integrity are built into the DNA of PRA, from decades of account managers and experience designers and operations directors doing the right thing—even when nobody was watching.

Meaningful Recognition

As the leader to the Southern California team, with team members who have been with us for 10+ years, I want to make sure they know their time with us matters. I keep asking myself: what can I do to honor them and encourage them to stay with PRA?

I now bring those team members together for an “Aged to Perfection” dinner. It’s just one way of recognizing the incredible gift I’ve inherited in this team and region. Their level of commitment to PRA, our clients, and each other is rare in this industry.

A Full Circle Moment

It was an honor to celebrate this group. These are people who have poured themselves into this company through multiple acquisitions, a global pandemic, office closures, and rebuilds. As Amy put it, they gave PRA their “blood, sweat, and tears and showed up again the next day.”

For Ally, the dinner was a return to something she recognized: that close-knit community that first drew her in. “It really took me back to that feeling,” she said. “There are people in this region who have been here for so long and have seen everything from the ground up. That’s what pulls us together. It’s the people.”

“The people in the room have been together for so long,” Martin said. “There’s just this camaraderie, this sense that we’ve all been through so much together,” he paused, “We all grew up here. We all started in our mid-twenties. Now here we are with families, teams of our own, watching the next generation of people do what others did for us.”

45+ Years of Pure PRA

The San Diego office, where it all began, is a living connection to PRA’s roots. Amy, Jess, Martin, Katie, Alex, and Ally are part of the institutional memories of this company.

They uphold Patti’s standards not because they have to, but because they’re embedded into how they work.

The same standard continues today, ensuring that no matter where a program takes place; the experience reflects what was built in that Victorian house on Broadway in San Diego.

With a powerful legacy and the best people in the business, PRA remains a special place. It holds an even deeper meaning for the Southern California team, where it all started. As Jessica put it, “Nothing can top being from where it all began.”

Thank you to everyone who carries PRA’s story forward. You are the reason the PRA name means something.