When Richard Nichols rings the closing bell on Wall Street this afternoon, it will complete a full year of his planning for the St. Patrick's Day celebration.

The SVP of marketing at Diageo, Nichols will have finished his second year of involvement with the company's Guinness account. Guinness is the brand beer most closely associated with the holiday, the New York parade, and subsequent celebrations surrounding the holiday - a fertile landscape for Nichols and his team to ...