Bed bugs and Hollywood

Being lost at sea wasn't a concern for the six entrepreneurs who appeared in the Bravo show “Below Deck.”

They were aboard the 164-foot yacht, Honor, but it didn't leave the dock in St. Martin's. High winds stopped the trip before it started.

But inclement weather didn't stop the filming of another episode of the TV series that has earned mostly unkind reviews.

Nor did it stop the entrepreneurs from having a good time while gaining national exposure for their companies.

The $40,000 they paid for three days and two nights on the ship pales in comparison to the cost of national TV ads.

“It was great fun, great food and camaraderie,” says Michael Batenburg, founder of Bed Bugs and Beyond and a consultant at Extensys Inc., an Oldsmar technology company.

Batenburg and five other members of the Entrepreneurs' Organization became celebrities of the moment when the show aired Aug. 5 — 16 months after it was shot.

Other local entrepreneurs aboard the Honor were Nick Friedman, president of College Hunks Hauling Junk; Michael Palso, then with Edeals.com; and Vonda White, founder of Collegiate Risk Management.

One show highlight was the wedding of Nick “Papa” Kho, called one of Hollywood's “original pick-up gurus,” to entrepreneur Amber Holmes.

Kho is co-founder of Real Social Dynamics. The website, rsdnation.com, teaches men how to pick up women and offers relationship advice.

Batenburg, 47, says he participated in the show to build name and brand recognition for his company and the Entrepreneurs' Organization.

He estimates it would have cost him more than $1 million to buy national television ads for Bed Bugs and Beyond, a website that refers clients to pest control companies.

The only negative part of the show, in Batenburg's opinion, is that the crew complained on air about their 10% tip.