Longtime IAVM member, venue manager, and family show executive Dale Adams, CVE, assumes a new role as Executive Director of the Arizona Exposition & State Fair in Phoenix on Tuesday, Jan. 20. He takes over for the retiring Wanell Costello, who has served the Arizona Exposition & State Fair for 35 years.
Adams, who joined IAVM in 1985 when he was Assistant Director at the Lakeland (Fla.) Civic Center, had been at Desert Diamond Arena, Glendale, Ariz., as GM, where he also acted as VP of Event Development for ASM Global. He has lived in the Phoenix area for a decade now.
Serving the nation’s fourth largest fair (based on attendance of 1.4 million annually) and managing Veterans Memorial Coliseum (nicknamed “The Madhouse on McDowell” when the Phoenix Suns played there) are a welcome new challenge for Adams. “I’m looking forward to the opportunity to drive ancillary revenues. There are so many opportunities,” Adams said.
The Fairgrounds feature numerous exhibit buildings, extensive parking lots and an outdoor stage. The Coliseum hosts concerts during the fair and is relatively busy with trade and consumer shows during the “off-season.”
“Dale brings a clear vision for the Arizona State Fair enterprise that aligns closely with the Board,” said Joanne Keene, Chair of the Arizona Exposition and State Fair Board, in a press release. “We look forward to working with Dale to unlock the full potential of the Arizona State Fairgrounds as a year-round, revenue-generating asset for the State of Arizona.”
The Arizona Exposition & State Fair is a self-enterprising state agency that hosts more than 50 events annually, ranging from the Arizona National Livestock Show to community service events, such as the Volunteer Nonprofit Service Association (VNSA) Book Sale and Arizona Veterans StandDown. Its signature event, the annual Arizona State Fair, welcomes over one million visitors each fall.
This will be the first fairgrounds Adams has managed, but he has extensive experience and contacts in the business from his years with Feld Entertainment’s Disney on Ice and Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, along with managing various venues for the old Leisure Management International (LMI), Ogden Entertainment, and AEG Facilities, which became ASM Global and is now Legends Global.
Venues he has managed include Prudential Center, Newark, N.J., and Coliseo de Puerto Rico, San Juan.
His ties to IAVM include teaching a variety of topics, like General Revenue, Box Office, and Dealing with Unions at Venue Management School when it was held at Oglebay in West Virginia. He attained his CVE while working at Mullins Center at UMass, Boston, in 1996.
He’s looking forward to making a difference with such an iconic brand as the Arizona State Fair.
