Cris Criswell retiring after 41 years in transit advertising
To our Gateway family, friends and colleagues:
Cris Criswell had advised me that after 41 years in transit advertising he has decided to retire and enjoy time with Ida, his children and grandchildren.
Cris’ professional career in the outdoor/transit industry has touched many transit agencies and advertisers throughout these past 41 years. He has introduced many innovations in our industry from vinyl wrap buses from the days of hand painted buses to the newest innovation of backlighted kings he just had installed on the Memphis transit bus and trolleys. He has left a mark on every transit agency and his clients as a man of character, honesty and integrity. When Cris tells them something it gets done.
Most recently Cris was successful in receiving a new 10 year contract for transit advertising with Memphis Transit, a contract that we held for over ten years prior to this renewal. Cris met with Will Hudson, GM of Memphis Transit this past week to tell him of his retirement. You see, when Cris started in this business he was a bus poster for the advertising contractor that held the Memphis bus contract. Will Hudson was a bus driver. They had an emotional meeting to share 41 years of their times working together over the past decades.
When we submitted our bid for the new Memphis Transit RFP, We received letters of recommendation from many of the largest ad agencies in the Memphis area. Some had worked with Cris for 40 years. The accolades he received were unprecedented in our industry.
I first met Cris in 1980 when I joined Winston Network, which at that time was the largest transit advertising company in the US. When Gateway was awarded the transit contract in Memphis back in 1996, the first call I made was to Cris Criswell to join me again at Gateway. It was an honor for me to hear his quick response, “when do we start”? And our time together now goes back for over 27 years.
Cris’ insights, initiative, experience and knowledge will be sorely missed at Gateway, but the impact he had on the industry and partnership he developed with the transit agencies he worked with is a testament to the respect he earned over the decades.
Cris will always be an Alumni of the Gateway family and a guest at all our events over the coming years. But most of all, Cris and Ida will be missed form our daily challenges and list of professionals at Gateway that help create the reputation we have today in the industry.
Thank you Cris for the consultation and advice you provided me over the years and most importantly for standing tall with us during the good times and difficult times. You always provided encouragement and steadfast in your commitment to serving me, Gateway, transit agencies and our clients.
Our very best to you and Ida in your retirement…..and by the way, I may call you to train some of those rookies.
Warmest regards, Craig and the entire Gateway family.
