Founder and CEO, aiprdesk
Digital Pioneer • Global Brand Architect • Institutional Advisor
Last updated
Press release (not independent coverage) for the 9/11 tribute broadcast from the Elbo Room; picked up 117 times, including AP News and MarketWatch (PR Newswire distribution report).
Interviews “Mike Penrod, who owns the Elbo Room” as bars reopen after six months closed.
Covers the Elbo Room's COVID-era brick sale to support its staff and quotes Mike Penrod: “We were the first commercial establishment to broadcast live on the internet back in 1996.”
Quotes “Mike Penrod, whose family bought the Elbo Room in 1981”: “Strip bars are open… Casinos are open.” Masthead and date are not on the clipping; the jump page’s photo caption places it between the bar’s June 9 rally and the larger rally planned for Tuesday, June 16 (2020).
View clipping scanPrint headline as clipped; the online version ran as “Land under famed Elbo Room for sale, but bar’s owners say it’s staying.” Photo caption: “The bar has an ‘iron-clad’ lease through 2036, according to co-owner Michael Penrod.”
Clipping scan on the Press tab“Recognition for Spring Break bar sought.” Photo caption names Mike Penrod among the Elbo Room’s owners. The masthead and date are not on the clipping; the Sun Sentinel’s own archive credits this family photo as a 2006 Sun Sentinel file photo (Michael Laughlin) and dates the family’s landmark bid to 2006.
View clipping scanElbo Room coverage; does not name Mike Penrod. Reports that the bar “now bills itself as ‘Fort Lauderdale's Cyber-bar.’”
Names “Elbo Room owner Michael Penrod,” quotes him, and shows the bar's live beach cameras and its theelboroom.com “Hi Mom, look I'm on the internet” sign.
Clipping scan on the Press tabProfiles Mike Penrod and the Elbo Room (“The Elbo Room survived all the Spring Breaks”): “Mike Penrod may be the only person in Fort Lauderdale who isn’t afraid to use the three little words: Spring Break.” Photo caption: “Mike Penrod stands outside the Elbo Room at Las Olas and A1A.” Byline reads “Special to the Sun-Sentinel”; date and page from the clipping’s page edge. The jump to page 10 is not in the clipping.
View clipping scanCoverage of Mike Penrod and the Elbo Room. Links go to the publication or to a public copy of the clipping.
Coverage (print clipping)
Sun-Sentinel, , Community Life section, p. 9, by Carolyn Patton, “Ever a Monument”
Profiles Mike Penrod and the Elbo Room (“The Elbo Room survived all the Spring Breaks”): “Mike Penrod may be the only person in Fort Lauderdale who isn’t afraid to use the three little words: Spring Break.” Photo caption: “Mike Penrod stands outside the Elbo Room at Las Olas and A1A.” Byline reads “Special to the Sun-Sentinel”; date and page from the clipping’s page edge. The jump to page 10 is not in the clipping.
Coverage
USA Today, , p. 8A (The Nation), by Deborah Sharp, “New Fort Lauderdale says the party's over”
Names “Elbo Room owner Michael Penrod,” quotes him, and shows the bar's live beach cameras and its theelboroom.com “Hi Mom, look I'm on the internet” sign.
Coverage · does not name Mike
The Boston Globe, , City Edition, p. A1, by Peter S. Canellos, “Where the students aren't: Fort Lauderdale forces spring revelers out”
Elbo Room coverage; does not name Mike Penrod. Reports that the bar “now bills itself as ‘Fort Lauderdale's Cyber-bar.’”
Coverage (print clipping)
Sun-Sentinel (masthead not shown), , by Brittany Wallman, “Turning a corner on historic status”
“Recognition for Spring Break bar sought.” Photo caption names Mike Penrod among the Elbo Room’s owners. The masthead and date are not on the clipping; the Sun Sentinel’s own archive credits this family photo as a 2006 Sun Sentinel file photo (Michael Laughlin) and dates the family’s landmark bid to 2006.
Coverage
South Florida Sun Sentinel, , by Ron Hurtibise and Larry Barszewski, “Land under Elbo Room lists for $7.78 million”
Print headline as clipped; the online version ran as “Land under famed Elbo Room for sale, but bar’s owners say it’s staying.” Photo caption: “The bar has an ‘iron-clad’ lease through 2036, according to co-owner Michael Penrod.”
Coverage (print clipping)
Sun Sentinel (masthead not shown), , by Rod Stafford Hagwood, “Allow us to open! Bars to rally at Elbo Room”
Quotes “Mike Penrod, whose family bought the Elbo Room in 1981”: “Strip bars are open… Casinos are open.” Masthead and date are not on the clipping; the jump page’s photo caption places it between the bar’s June 9 rally and the larger rally planned for Tuesday, June 16 (2020).
Coverage
South Florida Sun Sentinel, , by Rod Stafford Hagwood, Elbo Room “Sponsor a Brick” story
Covers the Elbo Room's COVID-era brick sale to support its staff and quotes Mike Penrod: “We were the first commercial establishment to broadcast live on the internet back in 1996.”
TV interview
WSVN 7News (TV), , TV interview, “Broward, Miami-Dade bars reopen after DeSantis moves Florida into Phase 3”
Interviews “Mike Penrod, who owns the Elbo Room” as bars reopen after six months closed.
Press release (distributed)
PR Newswire, , news release, “Veterans Trust announces Tribute to America's Heroes on 20th anniversary of September 11”
Press release (not independent coverage) for the 9/11 tribute broadcast from the Elbo Room; picked up 117 times, including AP News and MarketWatch (PR Newswire distribution report).
Oldest first. Each entry links its sources where public ones exist; “per Mike Penrod” marks entries whose only source is Mike himself.
His father, Jack Penrod, takes over the Elbo Room, a Fort Lauderdale beach landmark since 1938.
Sources: Sun Sentinel, June 2020: “whose family bought the Elbo Room in 1981” (clipping)
Takes over the Elbo Room out of bankruptcy and has run it since (per Mike Penrod).
Sources: Sun-Sentinel, Apr. 30, 1995: “Ever a Monument” (clipping) · USA Today, Mar. 7, 1997: “Elbo Room owner Michael Penrod” · msnbc, Mar. 14, 2008: “co-owner Mike Penrod” · Sun Sentinel, Apr. 29, 2016: “co-owner”
The Elbo Room goes live on the internet with beach and bar cameras; the Elbo Room was the first commercial establishment to broadcast live on the internet (1996). Independent coverage dates from early 1997.
Sources: USA Today, Mar. 7, 1997: photo of the bar’s computer monitors and theelboroom.com live cams · The Boston Globe, Mar. 13, 1997: “Fort Lauderdale’s Cyber-bar”
Works with Roy Speer, a founder of the Home Shopping Network, at Marlin Productions (per Mike Penrod).
Recruited by Jim Clark, founder of Netscape and Silicon Graphics, to lead Seascape for about six months in Palo Alto (per Mike Penrod).
Nikki Beach 2005 to 2020, worked alongside my father as a director of operations worldwide to expand Nikki Beach in over 65 plus outlets in multiple locations around the world.
Creates and hosts NikkiNews.com, Nikki Beach’s internet TV news channel on Brightcove, covering its locations and the Cannes and Venice film festivals.
Sources: NikkiNews.com, May 2007 (Wayback Machine) · Nikki News channel on Brightcove, Aug. 2007 (Wayback Machine) · Launch announcement, Apr. 29, 2007 (his own release, NewswireToday)
Launches Gossip Press (gossippress.com, registered May 27, 2007), an entertainment news site that is still running.
Appointed Co-Chair of Congressman Pete Sessions' (TX-17) Crypto Technical Working Group (CTWG), a private-sector advisory group formed after the House Financial Services Committee's December 2021 digital-asset hearing. The group's Jan. 6, 2022 governance document lists him first of seven private-sector members; its remit covered crypto, NFTs, the metaverse, DeFi and Web3, working across Congress with agencies such as the SEC and CFTC.
Source: the group’s Jan. 6, 2022 governance document (no public link).
ElboTV marks 30 years since the Elbo Room went live: soft launch Oct. 28, launch Nov. 19, 2026. aiprdesk launches in October 2026 (per Mike Penrod).
Mike Penrod is a visionary entrepreneur and power user with a 35-year track record of bridging cutting-edge technology with world-class hospitality, lifestyle brands, and institutional policy. From launching the Elbo Room's live internet broadcast, the first live internet broadcast by a commercial establishment (1996), to scaling global lifestyle empires and advising the U.S. Congress on digital assets, Penrod specializes in building the custom structural architecture and “operating systems” that eliminate systemic friction, maximize human experience, and drive high-margin scalability.
Bio as provided by Mike Penrod.
