By John Rhamstine, CVE
I have been asked to write some comments about my career as I prepare to retire from my nearly 30 years here in Norfolk. Honestly, I have never been really good talking about myself as I have always been more comfortable functioning in the background, supporting someone else such as a director or a City Manager or Mayor. It was never by choice but by happenstance that all of my experiences as a venue manager were in municipal settings. Those experiences taught me much about bureaucracy, politics, and patience.
After graduating from UMASS’ Sport Management program in 1980, I did my internship at RFK Stadium in
Washington, D.C., working for the Director, Bob Sigholtz, who generously paid me $4.00/hour for my time there, which was rare for internships at the time. I worked as a groundskeeper, electrician, engineer, parking attendant, and finally helped coordinate the Hall of Stars ceremonies there.
Summertime football came to the country and the USFL was formed. I was able to get a box office job with the Washington Federals, who played their home games at RFK. I was promoted to Box Office Manager for the Federals in year two but as luck would have it, the team and the league went belly up. Nonetheless I learned a lot from my boss with the Federals, Tom Korpiel.
This was the early 1980’s and the stadium concert business was burgeoning. RFK stadium had the Washington Redskins as a prime tenant, but they had no box office of their own to handle the non-football business. I was offered the job and worked for Jim Dalrymple, the GM, and Bob Downey, the Stadium Manager. We hosted every major touring show that was out in the eighties: Rolling Stones, Madonna, Paul McCartney, Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, U2, the Grateful Dead, among others. The primary promoter in the market was Cellar Door Concerts, run by Jack Boyle and Dave Williams.
I learned so much during those years from my bosses and promoters alike, but I was looking for more responsibility so in 1989 I applied to be the Assistant Director of Civic Facilities for the City of Norfolk, VA. I was lucky enough to be hired and went to work for Bill Luther, the Director, in October of that year.
Bill was a sage veteran of IAAM at the time and had worked in multiple facilities during his career as well as serving as President of IAAM. Again, I learned a lot from Bill during my eight years with him in Norfolk, but I again found myself looking for a new challenge.
This manifested itself in a job 3,000 miles away in Seattle, WA, in 1997. I went to work at Seattle Center as the Director of Event Production. Seattle Center is the campus that included at the time Key Arena, Mercer Arena, the Opera House, and a variety of other gathering facilities at the base of the Space Needle. My boss in Seattle was a woman named Virginia Anderson who wasn’t really caught up in IAAM or venue management, per se, but was one of the most visionary and inspirational leaders that I ever had the pleasure to work for. I was able to work closely with the Seattle Supersonics, the Seattle Storm, the Seattle Thunderbirds, and the Seattle Sea Dogs. It was also my first exposure to union negotiations.
Heading towards my fifth year in Seattle, I received a phone call from a City Council member in Norfolk,
VA, who told me that Bill Luther was retiring, and that the city would be interested in me applying for the Director’s job. I did and was hired in 2001. I have been in that role until today.
I have been fortunate that from my time at RFK Stadium until 2023, I have been affiliated with IAAM/IAVM. So much of my experience has been shaped by the relationships that I developed in IAVM and the programs that IAVM has offered. From District Meetings to Regional Meetings to Chapter Meetings to Oglebay to VenueConnect, participation in these gatherings helped to shape my career and my views about facility management.
I have looked up to many of my colleagues who, whether they knew it or not, taught me a lot. Bob Hunter, Brad Mayne, Michael Marion, Amy Brown, Kevin Twohig, Jimmy Earl, and Bill Holland are some of the leaders that I have admired from afar but also learned from.
As most of us in this business will attest to, they must have the loving support of their family as there are many days and nights where I was not at home but trying to hone my craft at the office or some faraway meeting. My wife Erin and son JD and daughter Callan put up with a lot throughout my career and
I am most grateful for their love and support.
As important as my family has been, the various people on my staffs who have worked with me and supported me deserve most of the credit for any success I have achieved. Left to my own devices, I doubt that I could have amounted to much, but I have always had great people working for me (too many to mention) who made me look much better than I could have on my own.
I don’t know where the next steps of my life and career will go but I know I will have to find something to keep myself busy. I have enjoyed every step I have taken to this point and look forward to the next
one.
John Rhamstine, CVE, most recently served as Director of Cultural Facilities, Arts and Entertainment, at the Scope Arena in Norfolk, Virginia.
