For Richmond execs Jack Berry and Jack Berry, similarities and differences

John F. "Jack" Berry is all over the place.

One minute he's speaking to a Rotary Club. The next, he's promoting Richmond. Or playing tennis. Or sitting in a board room.

Sometimes it seems as if he's in two places at once.

If you think that, welcome to Richmond's small world -- there are two Jacks.

John F. "Jack" Berry Jr. is the president and chief executive of the Richmond Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau.

And John F. "Jack" Berry is executive director of Venture Richmond, which promotes economic development and events mostly in the downtown area.

The two Jacks have been confounding people for about two decades.

Both promote the area -- one has a regional agenda, the other more city-based.

To confuse matters more, one Jack serves on the other Jack's board.

At one point, both Jacks had assistants named Valerie. And both Jacks have sons named John, too.

"There's so many names out there, you'd think we'd come up with some other ones," said Gregory H. Wingfield, president and CEO of the Greater Richmond Partnership.

The unique problem began in the late 1980s when both began taking on more prominent positions. Neither man wanted to go by John, so they stuck to their "Jack" nicknames. One is a junior, but since he goes by a nickname, that won't work as a way to tell them apart.

"Fortunately, he's a really nice guy so when we get confused it's not usually a problem," Venture Richmond's Berry said. "He says nice things so I don't mind being confused."

The men have and do serve on some of the same boards. They also have played tennis together a handful of times.

And almost a decade ago, they appeared on stage together as the Blues Brothers, or the Berry Brothers, at a Greater Richmond Chamber event when they were tasked with doing a reflection on the Richmond region in the 1990s.

"He's tall, I'm not tall," the convention and visitor's bureau head said. "He's got the beard."

But, "there's more common denominators than differences, I think," he said.

Most often, one is called CVB Jack for the convention and visitors bureau and the other is Venture Richmond Jack.

But other nicknames are out there, too.

"You've got bearded Jack and you've got young Jack," Wingfield said.

Young Jack of CVB fame, by the way, is 18 months older than bearded Jack of Venture Richmond.

Lisa Sims, director of events at Venture Richmond, has names for the duo, too.

"I now refer to them as my former Jack and my current Jack," Sims said.

Before moving to Venture Richmond, Sims spent nearly eight years at the convention and visitors bureau.

"You often hear them say 'I'm sorry, you've got the wrong Jack Berry,'" Sims said.

Not a week goes by that one doesn't get a call or an e-mail for the other. Sometimes one appears at a venue when the other is expected. Publications have misidentified the two.

They take it in stride. It's easy when you like each other, the two say.

"They're two of the good guys," Sims said.

Contact Emily C. Dooley at (804) 649-6016 or .