Hilary Hartung, Friend to Many in Venue Marketing, Has Left Us

Hilary Rita Hartung was born Aug. 10, 1944, to William and Ruth Like in Hollis, Queens (N.Y.), before moving to Massapequa in 1956. She was the ultimate connector, touching innumerable lives and helping launch the careers of so many young professionals on Long Island.

Hartung built a great career at Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, N.Y., before transferring her numerous marketing talents to the nonprofit world. She gave back in a big way as a teacher, friend, and cohort in the Event & Venue Marketing Assn. world, where she received the Association’s most prestigious award, the Gigi Award of Excellence, in 2006.

Hilary Hartung, center, EAC, Hempstead, N.Y., is congratulated on winning the Gigi Award of Excellence by Karen Swan, left, Target Center, Minneapolis, and Tammy Koolbeck of Compass Facility Management at the time, later VenuWorks. (Photo courtesy of Amusement Business)

Serving as Director of Marketing for Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum for 15 years, from 1983 to 1998, Hartung then joined EAC, Education and Assistance Corp., where she worked for 14 years and nine months before retiring in April 2013.

Hartung passed away peacefully Oct. 5 after a heroic battle with ovarian cancer in her hometown of Massapequa, N.Y. It was at Massapequa High School that she met her soulmate and future husband, Don. They were married in 1965 and enjoyed 56 years together until Don passed in 2021.

Anne-Marie Dixon, who worked with Hartung at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, said their team was “family” and continue to be. “After all these years (30+), many of us still frequently communicate with each other and get together. And it wasn’t limited just to separate departments. The full-time staff and the event staff were all friendly. We spent so much time at the arena that we would say we are the Coliseum family. And we always had fun.”

“It was about the relationships. Show promoters, publicists, media partners, etc., were treated as friends,” Dixon recalled. “We enjoyed working with them and they would be warmly welcomed when they would come to the Coliseum. Every day, we had a variety of people from different fields come to our office/arena. And even though we were working on promoting the events and the arena, it was also a social event with our friends.”

When multi-date show staffs would come in and set up their headquarters at the Coliseum, the marketing staff would provide them with lists of local restaurants and see what they needed from the area. Hilary led that charge for years.

Hartung once famously tried to befriend a harsh media critic, who delighted in calling the venue the “Nassau Mausoleum,” by greeting him with a big stuffed white elephant and friendly words. He took the gift but did not cease and desist.

Hartung really looked forward to the arena marketing conferences so she could reunite with her lifelong friends.

Hilary Hartung, formerly marketing director of Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, N.Y., accepts the Gigi Award of Excellence from the Event & Venue Marketing Association in 2006 as Tammy Koolbeck, CVE, Stephens Aud, Ames, Iowa, looks on.

“When I first joined the AMC family, Hilary was such a welcoming person to the girl from the Midwest and so very kind and funny,” said Tammy Koolbeck, CVE, Stephens Auditorium, Ames, Iowa. Koolbeck, who later became a driving force in EVMC (formerly the Arena Marketing Conference, then Arena Sales and Marketing Conference and Event & Arena Marketing Conference) learned a lot from the friendly and giving Hartung.

“I remember the first Arena Sales & Marketing Conference she attended,” recalled Sydney Greenblatt, Houston marketer. “We were in St. Louis. Hilary was always the most upbeat, bright-eyed person in the room. Her joyousness and huge smile enriched our gatherings. Not to mention her shared ideas. She was a valued member of our group and certainly helped build our profession.”

Cliff Clinger, Director of Marketing at the Boise (Idaho) Centre and another longtime associate of Hartung’s in EVMC, concurred: “Hilary was a wonderful woman and I’m so proud to have known her and been able to work with her over the years planning for our annual Arena, Sales & Marketing Conferences, EAMCs and EVMCs!

“So glad that we will always be able to scroll back and see her name on our list of Hall of Fame and Gigi Award winners (2006) and remember all of the fun memories we made together.

“I’m certain she is already on several planning committees in Heaven! And you know she’ll be recruiting us when we get there one day!”

“Hilary epitomized big things come in small packages,” adds Ike Richman, Ike Richman Communications, longtime marketer of Philadelphia venues, and early adopter at EVMC. “She had a heart of gold and a caring, loving, passionate kindness about her. At the marketing conference she was always looking to engage and connect with the younger people and inspire them. She treated everyone like they were one of her kids. She will be remembered.”

Hartung was Assistant Vice President of Marketing and Public Relations at the Education & Assistance Corporation, which she joined in 1998. As a member of the agency’s development team, she is responsible for not only educating the community about EAC’s 70 community-based programs, but also promoting fundraising and special events.

She increased public awareness of EAC’s story via newspaper, radio, and television. Hartung has also been credited with bringing the agency into the 21st century by utilizing its website, Facebook, and Karma411 to further public outreach.

In 1999, she was inducted into the Massapequa High School’s Hall of Fame and received the Town of Hempstead’s Pathfinder Award for Excellence in Business. She was named the Top Marketing Not-For-Profit Executive by the Long Island Advertising Club and Long Island Business News in 2002. In 2003, she was awarded the Town of Oyster Bay Woman of Distinction Award, and in 2004 she received the Tiara Recognition from M3P. In 2007 Hartung was also named one of The Fortune 52 by Long Island Press as a part of the publication’s annual initiative honoring 52 Long Island women who have made significant, unique, and lasting contributions to their communities and workplace. In the same year, she received the Women of Distinction Award from Newsday’s Distinction Magazine, as well as the prestigious Jack Rettaliata Lifetime Achievement Award from the Public Relations Professionals of Long Island in 2008.

She served on the Board of Directors of the Massapequa High School’s Hall of Fame and was a founding member of the Long Island Chapter of the Executive Women’s Golf Association, serving as its president in 2006 and 2007. Additionally, she was a member of the Public Relations Professionals of Long Island, Fair Media Council, Network Long Island, and served on both the Marcie Mazzola Foundation Butterfly Auction and Networking Magazine’s David Awards committees.

Hartung managed all her commitments while being a dedicated wife to Don and mother to Eric (Heather) of Indianapolis, Ind., David (Adrienne) of Amityville, N.Y., and Brian (Jessica) of Fairfield, Conn., spending every spare minute outside of a hectic work schedule on the soccer and lacrosse fields all over Long Island and her personal oasis of TOBAY Beach. Later, Hilary became an ever-doting grandmother to Greta, Aidan, Ava, Cole, Will, Eli, Louisa, and Luke. She is also survived by her loving brother, Harvey Like, and Linda Panetta.

A memorial service in celebration of Hartung’s wonderful life will be held on December 20, 2024, from noon to 4 p.m., at Massapequa Funeral Home South Chapel. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition.