Al Dana

Al Dana, III (b., Tampa, Florida; April 6, 1953) is an inventor, investor, and impressariofrom Fort Lauderdale, Florida. His family is renowned in the state for their real estate development, custom home building, and entrepreneurship. The Dana family is of distinguished Greek-English heritage.
Beginning as a youth of 13, Dana worked as a booking agent for up and coming rock bands, working non-alcoholic clubs such as The Electric Zoo, The Inn Crowd, and The Surfer's Club. At that period in American culture, Tampa - along with Clearwater and Saint Petersburgh - was one of the meccas for showcasing the new musicians of the rock venue. Booking agents and promoters were avidly seeking fresh new talent to promote, and Dana forayed quickly into the scene. By the time he was in his late teens and early 20s, he was an independent promoter, showcasing and socializing with such illustrious names as Jimi Hendrix, The Electric Light Orchestra, Black Sabbath, Thin Lizzy, Savoy Brown, Uriah Heep, Steppenwolf, Journey and REO Speedwagon, and Nazareth. These are only some of the numerous Irish/English bands promoted by Dana. Through his independent production company, Dana Productions, Inc., Dana was the first promoter to bring the band Journey to the Florida, Texas, Louisiana, and Alabama greater metropolitan areas.
Dana has an extensive history of US Federal patents . He invented the Lighted Shoe, a safety shoe for joggers, with an embedded intermittently flashing light. During the disco era, this also became a Disco Shoe, and was sold nationally by chains and department stores, through the company, Disco Enterprises, Inc. . The US Patented Ladies footwear was picked up by the company, LA Gear, and sold globally to over 60 retail chains such as Macy's, K-Mart, Wal-Mart, and Target. In 1992, Dana began major patent litigation against LA Gear and in the process invented a new litigation clause which was to have major impact on the patent litigation process; this has become a supreme clause in Patent Infringement Law, with federal and state applications potentially for many other areas of law. This clause is known as, Offensive Collateral Estoppel. He also invented Security Footwear, under US Patent no. 7,363,731, issued in April 2008. This is a tracking shoe which can be used for airport security in tandem with the Office of Homeland Security. He is also the inventor of the Kegel Male Trainer, a male enhancement weight resistance trainer device, which hold two US Federal Patents and 15 irrefutable Federal Patent claims.
Other Business Enterprises and Projects
Dana also has been involved in Florida partnership corporations, involving major real estate transactions and land acquisition involving the purchase of parcels for development, under various Florida holding corporations in Tampa and Jacksonville. Some of these ventures include, Mitchell Pointe, Caroline Bluffs, and the famous 280 acre, Buck's Island purchased from Mr. Buck of Jacksonville, FLA.
Hobbies, Interests, Personal Biographical information
Mr. Dana is a lover and promoter of the arts, and a collector of fine antiques. In addition, he is a collector of custom-made Ferrari automobiles. He is also an avid boater and deep sea fisherman: His classic custom-made yacht , Rybovich, was purchased in 1974 directly from August Busch of the Anheuser-Busch (Budweiser) Beer Company. The game yacht was renamed The Falcon by Dana; and he and his Captain and first mate have sailed the high seas of the Atlantic fishing for sailfish, blue and white marlin, and tuna. Dana holds many records and trophies from tournaments for his ocean sportsmanship.
In 1981 Dana met his wife, Elizabeth Glazowski Dana, Liz Glazowski who was 1980's Miss April centerfold for Playboy Magazine. They have been married for 29 years. The couple have no children.

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu