After four busy days of meetings and informational sessions, IAAM’s Arena Management Conference has come to an end. About 200 attendees visited the Gibson Guitar Lounge near Beale Street to take in the end of the week festivities.
For those who didn’t participate in the golf tournament Tuesday, the half-day was supposed to be a chance to check out Memphis and enjoy the city’s rich display of cultural offerings. Here’s what a few of the attendees did:
• Charlie Williams of TicketPop.com made his way out to Tunica, Miss., to hit the Indian casinos. He said it was pretty unique seeing a house of gambling rising out of a barren cotton field. It was kind of neat for him seeing cotton in bloom for the first time, but he wasn’t that impressed by the casinos. Maybe he’s just a little bummed because he lost 20 bucks at the black jack table.
• Barb Borer and Lyn Creaser of the Lipizzaner Stallions were said to be perusing Graceland with a large contingent of IAAM attendees. Apparently the pair had about six hours to kill before heading back to the airport — that’s a lot of time to spend with Elvis, but hey — they didn’t call him The King for nothing.
• Monty Jones of the Colonial Center in Columbia, S.C., had planned to visit the Civil Rights Museum — but he laid down on his hotel bed for a quick break, and didn’t wake up until two hours later. Maybe next time Monty!
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Rendezvous at the Rendezvous
Last night’s party at the Rendezvous was so much fun — everyone definitely got plenty to eat at this barbeque staple. Thanks to Feld Entertainment for throwing such a fun bash. Here are a few pictures from last night:
Jochi Davila of Coliseo de Puerto Rico in San Juan, talks tickets with Charlie Williams of TicketPop.com. Williams’ company is responsible for doing the ticketing at the facility.
Staff writer Dave Brooks is starting to worry about all the barbeque he’s eaten on this trip.
From left, Joe DeGeorge of Alltel Arena in North Little Rock, Ark.; Eric Granger of Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio; Wesley Holmes of Alltel Arena and Bill Dutcher of MetraPark in Billings, Mont., take a break from eating to smile for this shot.
Jochi Davila of Coliseo de Puerto Rico in San Juan, talks tickets with Charlie Williams of TicketPop.com. Williams’ company is responsible for doing the ticketing at the facility.
Staff writer Dave Brooks is starting to worry about all the barbeque he’s eaten on this trip.
From left, Joe DeGeorge of Alltel Arena in North Little Rock, Ark.; Eric Granger of Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio; Wesley Holmes of Alltel Arena and Bill Dutcher of MetraPark in Billings, Mont., take a break from eating to smile for this shot.
Monday, September 18, 2006
Fun at FedEx
Here a few shots from last night’s party at the FedEx Forum:
They don’t call it the Good Ole Boys network for nothing. If you ever had any doubt, check out this picture of Steve Zito, from left, from the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Bill Waldo from the Irwin Telescopic Seating Company, Lee Zeidman from the Staples Center in Los Angeles and Chuck Rogers from Staging Concepts.
Wasn’t the blues and rock and roll theme at the FedEx Forum really cool? From the gold record placards in the club suites to the Blue Beat Bar and Grill’s Elvis Chocolate Martinis, everything at the arena just screamed rock and roll. As you can see, even the bathroom placards capture the spirit of Memphis.
When Holly Weckwerth of IAAM is not running around trying to organize the attendees, she takes a break for this sketchy moment.
Thanks to the FedEx Forum for their true Southern Hospitality. Pictured above are FedEx family members Maegan Holland, Megan George and Paul Richmond.
They don’t call it the Good Ole Boys network for nothing. If you ever had any doubt, check out this picture of Steve Zito, from left, from the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Bill Waldo from the Irwin Telescopic Seating Company, Lee Zeidman from the Staples Center in Los Angeles and Chuck Rogers from Staging Concepts.
Wasn’t the blues and rock and roll theme at the FedEx Forum really cool? From the gold record placards in the club suites to the Blue Beat Bar and Grill’s Elvis Chocolate Martinis, everything at the arena just screamed rock and roll. As you can see, even the bathroom placards capture the spirit of Memphis.
When Holly Weckwerth of IAAM is not running around trying to organize the attendees, she takes a break for this sketchy moment.
Thanks to the FedEx Forum for their true Southern Hospitality. Pictured above are FedEx family members Maegan Holland, Megan George and Paul Richmond.
Advice from William Morris and Live Nation
There’s been a lot of good informational sessions over the last two days, but the two most highly anticipated meetings were those with the representatives from William Morris and Live Nation. William Morris brought out all the top agents from its Nashville office, while Live Nation introduced six regional Vice Presidents, excluding representation for the West Coast.
So what did we learn? Well one thing we didn’t hear much about were upcoming tours for 2007 — the agents were still pretty tight about releasing too many names. But arena managers didn’t walk away empty-handed. Folks from William Morris and Live Nation had some good advice to offer about how to get more shows at their buildings. Here are three good tips we liked. If you want to hear more, check out our e-newsletter on Sept. 20 for a full report.
• Make the phone calls and keep the availability sheet open. Mark Roeder of William Morris said venues shouldn’t wait around for the phone to ring. Managers must now be proactive in developing relationships with booking agents and promoters, often selling their own shows.
“We got a lot of people to remember, and it’s not always easy to remember who people are,” said William Morris’ Roeder.
• Know your customers and sell your fan base like you sell your building. Develop marketing tools that allow you to automatically tap into your customer base through targeted email, web marketing and mailing lists.
“It helps if you’ve got a built-in population that you can automatically hit back,” Lane Wilson of William Morris said. “That’s who you have to keep developing, the one percent of the population you know is coming.”
• Develop your promotions and sales strategies for the pre-sale and on-sale dates. Customers are savvy enough to realize that promoters are running desperate when they start marking down prices or trying to give tickets away.
“The consumer is pretty savvy and can see a fire sale,” said Mark Campana of Live Nation “If you don’t put it out on the front-end, you’re dead.”
So what did we learn? Well one thing we didn’t hear much about were upcoming tours for 2007 — the agents were still pretty tight about releasing too many names. But arena managers didn’t walk away empty-handed. Folks from William Morris and Live Nation had some good advice to offer about how to get more shows at their buildings. Here are three good tips we liked. If you want to hear more, check out our e-newsletter on Sept. 20 for a full report.
• Make the phone calls and keep the availability sheet open. Mark Roeder of William Morris said venues shouldn’t wait around for the phone to ring. Managers must now be proactive in developing relationships with booking agents and promoters, often selling their own shows.
“We got a lot of people to remember, and it’s not always easy to remember who people are,” said William Morris’ Roeder.
• Know your customers and sell your fan base like you sell your building. Develop marketing tools that allow you to automatically tap into your customer base through targeted email, web marketing and mailing lists.
“It helps if you’ve got a built-in population that you can automatically hit back,” Lane Wilson of William Morris said. “That’s who you have to keep developing, the one percent of the population you know is coming.”
• Develop your promotions and sales strategies for the pre-sale and on-sale dates. Customers are savvy enough to realize that promoters are running desperate when they start marking down prices or trying to give tickets away.
“The consumer is pretty savvy and can see a fire sale,” said Mark Campana of Live Nation “If you don’t put it out on the front-end, you’re dead.”
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Jerry Speaks
Jerry West chats with Ken Kuhl of the American Airlines Center, Dallas.
For those of you who missed Memphis Grizzlies GM Jerry West’s motivational opening address on leadership, here are a few memorable quotes from the NBA Hall of Famer and eight-time champion:
“Good recruiting is a huge part of making your organization better.”
“One of the biggest wastes in life are people with good skills that don’t have the resources or know-how to put those skills to good use.”
“[When Jerry West first arrived at the Memphis Grizzlies] this was a place where losing was acceptable. No one was taking responsibility, and everyone was afraid of losing their jobs. I was horrified. It’s not okay to accept losing. It’s okay to compete and lose, but it’s not okay to open every game looking for a way to lose.”
“Mentors are the greatest people to have in your life. Do not be afraid to find someone out of your realm to seek for help.”
“Opinion makers are not very valuable. Results are what count.”
“Never underestimate how important these jobs are that belong to people you don’t pay much attention to.”
AMC Begins
The 17th annual IAAM Arena Management Conference has officially begun, with informational sessions, speeches and plenty of networking. IAAM President Larry Perkins, RBC Center, Raleigh, N.C., estimated that over 300 members were attending this year’s conference. Most were looking awake and eager to interact — unfazed by the 2 a.m. evacuation of parts of the nearby Marriott hotel.
On Sunday morning (Sept. 17), the bulk of the excitement took place around the registration table, as attendees filed into the Memphis Cook Convention Center to grab their badges. Oddly, the National Hair and Nail Show is in town, but it’s pretty easy to tell the difference between the two groups. Venues Today caught up with a few of the early birds this morning — here’s who we recognized.
David Skinner of the Bancorp Center, Tupelo, Miss., enjoys a cup of java with Kentucky concessionaire Larry Lemke of FAME. The pair said they were excited to hear a speech from keynote speaker Jerry West of the Memphis Grizzlies.
After a rousing IAAM conference in San Antonio, past president David Ross, center, Show Me Center, Cape Girardeau, Mo., said he’s looking forward to keeping a lower profile at AMC. He’s pictured here with his marketing director Shannon Buford, right, and IAAM Executive Director Dexter King.
When it’s time to register, don’t expect a free moment with IAAM’s Brenda Pennington, center. Here she is, busily handing out badges to those in attendance.
Current IAAM President Larry Perkins, RBC Center, Raleigh, N.C., scribbles a few notes before giving the opening address at AMC.
On Sunday morning (Sept. 17), the bulk of the excitement took place around the registration table, as attendees filed into the Memphis Cook Convention Center to grab their badges. Oddly, the National Hair and Nail Show is in town, but it’s pretty easy to tell the difference between the two groups. Venues Today caught up with a few of the early birds this morning — here’s who we recognized.
David Skinner of the Bancorp Center, Tupelo, Miss., enjoys a cup of java with Kentucky concessionaire Larry Lemke of FAME. The pair said they were excited to hear a speech from keynote speaker Jerry West of the Memphis Grizzlies.
After a rousing IAAM conference in San Antonio, past president David Ross, center, Show Me Center, Cape Girardeau, Mo., said he’s looking forward to keeping a lower profile at AMC. He’s pictured here with his marketing director Shannon Buford, right, and IAAM Executive Director Dexter King.
When it’s time to register, don’t expect a free moment with IAAM’s Brenda Pennington, center. Here she is, busily handing out badges to those in attendance.
Current IAAM President Larry Perkins, RBC Center, Raleigh, N.C., scribbles a few notes before giving the opening address at AMC.
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