The IAVM Foundation has announced the 30|UNDER|30 Class of 2022.  The program, in its seventh year, is made possible thanks to the ongoing support of Ungerboeck, as well as many IAVM Foundation donors.

Designed to engage the best and brightest young professionals in the venue management industry, the 30|UNDER|30 program recognizes emerging leaders – and their talents – which help accelerate the industry and carry it into the future. The Class of 2022 will convene at VenueConnect 2022 in Phoenix, Arizona, July 18-21.

“The 2022 class of 30|UNDER|30 winners emerged out of one of the most competitive fields we’ve seen,” stated James Wynkoop, CVE, Chair of the IAVM Foundation Board of Trustees. “Over one hundered nominations were pared down to these thirty individuals. The program continues to generate a great deal of engagement with the future leaders of our industry. The IAVM Foundation thanks all the nominees, those who nominated them, and the support groups that helped them navigate the application process. Winning is impressive, and we have seen through all of those nominated that the future of IAVM will be in good hands.”

Award recipients will receive full complimentary registration to VenueConnect, as well as a $600 travel stipend.  Honorees will be recognized throughout the annual meeting and formally at the Venue Industry Awards luncheon.

 

Join your IAVM Foundation in congratulating the following to the 30|UNDER|30 Class of 2022:

Paul Ausman, Manager, Events Hosting & Sports Communication, University of Ottawa
Kelsey Garcia-Hayes, Manager, Programming, SoFi Stadium & Hollywood Park
Catherine Gruszka, Manager, Front of House and Volunteer Operations, The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts
Emily Hamm, Director, Premium Service, Nashville Predators – Bridgestone Arena
Maddie Heywood, Event Manager, Utah Valley Convention Center
Jaylen Hinton, Event Manager, Walter E. Washington Convention Center
Renee Jung, Supervisor, Exhibitor Services, Facility Services, San Diego Convention Center
Chanelle Kildea, Sales & Event Coordinator, Optus Stadium
Alyssa Knoop, Marketing Account Manager, Venues, Edmonton Convention Centre & Edmonton EXPO Centre
David Lewis, Director of Events, Donald L. Tucker Civic Center
Simone Loftman, Event Manager, FTX Arena – Miami Heat
Jane Luneau, Director of Events, Liberty First Credit Union Arena
Maggie Miner, Events Manager, ASM Tulsa – BOK Center
Anthony Monteforte, Event & Meeting Coordinator, Exhibition Place
Phillip Oliver, Event Services Manager, Broadmoor World Arena
Sheneka Perrymond, Director of Restaurants & Cafe, Levy Convention Centers – George R. Brown Convention Center
Catherine Rainford, Booking Manager, Jerome Schottenstein Center
Shelby Revalee, Senior Sales Manager, Greater Columbus Convention Center
Eray Saban, Manager, Event Operations, ASM Global – Kai Tak Sports Park
Emma Schenkenberger, Director of Consulting, VenueOps, Ungerboeck, Inc.
Polina Selinevich, Director of Events, Alerus Center
Dorian Shelton, Manager Building Operations, Spurs Sports & Entertainment – AT&T Center
Jalen Thomas, General Manager, Technology Services, Smart City – Safe Credit Union Convention Center
Lauren Todd, Guest Services Manager, Climate Pledge Arena
Maria Tofalo, Conference Center Manager, Cleveland Metropolitan Conference Center
Amanda Watson, Manager, Event Operations, Atlanta Hawks – State Farm Arena
D’Elle Wendel, Event Manager, Spurs Sports & Entertainment – AT&T Center
Josh Wittmier, Director of Technology, Climate Pledge Arena
Erin Wylie, Guest Services Manager, Indiana University
Elliot Zalaznik, Director of Event Production, Hattiesburg Convention Commission

Register today and join us at VC22 in Phoenix to celebrate your nominees, colleagues and friends.

 

Please welcome our newest members who joined IAVM in April 2022. Thank you for being a part of the association! Also, let us get to know you better by participating in the I Am Venue Management series. Please visit http://www.iavm.org/i-am-venue-management-share-your-story to share your story and photo.

Mark Arndt, Mayo Civic Center, Rochester, MN

Cristian Bell, Utah Valley University, Orem, UT

Gai Bennett, Longview Convention Complex, Longview, TX

Helen Bennett, The Public Theater/NY Shakespeare Festival, New York, NY

Yesenia Bermudez, Tennessee Performing Arts Center, Nashville, TN

Shawntae Berry, Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland, Cleveland, OH

Luke Bolle, Resch Center, Green Bay, WI

Arthur Boulton, T-Mobile Park, Seattle, WA

Hallie Bowen, Venue Management/UNC Charlotte, Charlotte, NC

Stacie Brice, Southern Aluminum, Magnolia, AR

Kerk Brown, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Costa Mesa, CA

Jim Buck, Moody Center, Austin, TX

Adam Campbell, Venue Management/UNC Charlotte, Charlotte, NC

Chris Capozzi, The Public Theater/NY Shakespeare Festival, New York, NY

Quineesha Carlton, Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland, Cleveland, OH

Joanne Carter, Halifax Convention Centre/Scotiabank Centre, Halifax, NS, Canada

Cierra Conrad, Old National Events Plaza, Evansville, IN

Dave Cordovano, Strategic Ventures Group, Colorado Springs, CO

Melissa Dalby, Utah Valley University, Orem, UT

Harold Davis, Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland, Cleveland, OH

Tiffiny Dayton, Utah Valley University, Orem, UT

Greg Deal, Venue Management/UNC Charlotte, Charlotte, NC

Jeff Delancy, Oklahoma City Convention Center/ASM Global, Oklahoma City, OK

Richard Denney, The Public Theater/NY Shakespeare Festival, New York, NY

Dondi Dix, Avant Acoustics, Lenexa, KS

Mary Donaghy, Tennessee Performing Arts Center, Nashville, TN

Chelsea Donovan, Moody Center, Austin, TX

Shannon Duncan, INTRUST Bank Arena, Wichita, KS

Hannah Dye, Mayo Civic Center, Rochester, MN

Kelly Ellerbrook, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Costa Mesa, CA

Lina Farrell, Compass Group Canada, Pickering, ON, Canada

Myles Ferguson, Venue Management/UNC Charlotte, Charlotte, NC

Wendell Findley, New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, New Orleans, LA

Andrew Freeman, Amarillo Civic Center Complex, Amarillo, TX

Scott Fuernstein, Mayo Civic Center, Rochester, MN

Jackie Gandy, Amarillo Civic Center Complex, Amarillo, TX

Jose Garcia Castro, Old National Events Plaza, Evansville, IN

Matthew Garvin, Moody Center, Austin, TX

Diane Gbone, Oklahoma City Convention Center/ASM Global, Oklahoma City, OK

David Geck, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Costa Mesa, CA

Anne Gierach, Resch Center, Green Bay, WI

Brian Gowen, Mayo Civic Center, Rochester, MN

Natalie Graham, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Costa Mesa, CA

Pamela Griffin, Murphy Arts District, El Dorado, AR

Jon Hampe, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Costa Mesa, CA

Steve Hargett, Venue Management/UNC Charlotte, Charlotte, NC

Dylan Harris, Ungerboeck, O’Fallon, MO

Holly Hartman, Scope Arena, Norfolk, VA

Jeremy Havery, Amarillo Civic Center Complex, Amarillo, TX

Jamie Horner, Miller High Life Theatre, Milwaukee, WI

Nathan Jochum, Old National Events Plaza, Evansville, IN

Ashley Jones, Amarillo Civic Center Complex, Amarillo, TX

Neema Kamala, Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY

Kylee Keele, Utah Valley University, Orem, UT

Emily Kemper, Old National Events Plaza, Evansville, IN

Cathy Kleiman, Utah Valley University, Orem, UT

Katie Kratzer, Utah Valley University, Orem, UT

Gabrielle La Rue, Locketgo, Montreal, QC, Canada

Nick Landry, Mayo Civic Center, Rochester, MN

Katie Lenerville, Scope Arena, Norfolk, VA

Eileen Letson, PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh, PA

Monique Lide, Venue Management/UNC Charlotte, Charlotte, NC

Tommy Limon, Utah Valley University, Orem, UT

Zach Lough, Iowa Events Center, Des Moines, IA

Alex Malone, Utah Valley University, Orem, UT

Kerry Martin, Gibraltar Perimeter Security, Cypress, TX

Brent Mattson, Vancouver Civic Theatres, Vancouver, BC, Canada

James McAninch, Moody Center, Austin, TX

Lindsey McIntosh, MGM Resorts, Las Vegas, NV

John Menghini, Southern Aluminum, Magnolia, AR

Benjamin Metz, ESa, Nashville, TN

Deanna Meyer, Mayo Civic Center, Rochester, MN

Kathleen Meza, Moody Center, Austin, TX

Lisa Middleton, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Costa Mesa, CA

Heidi Mielke, Mayo Civic Center, Rochester, MN

David Minnigan, ESa, Nashville, TN

Sharon Myers, Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex & Expo Center, Harrisburg, PA

Randy Nale, ESa, Nashville, TN

Laura Oliver, Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY

Mariana Ortiz, The Public Theater/NY Shakespeare Festival, New York, NY

James Pakidko, Utah Valley University, Orem, UT

Laura Peck, Old National Events Plaza, Evansville, IN

Bill Pinegar, Des Moines Performing Arts, Des Moines, IA

Travis Poppell, Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland, Cleveland, OH

Glenn Powell, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Costa Mesa, CA

Phillip Powers, ESa, Nashville, TN

Colby Pridham, Halifax Convention Centre/Scotiabank Centre, Halifax, NS, Canada

Jason Reed, 911 Security, Dallas, TX

Zach Riberdy, Connor Sports, Bensenville, IL

Shaun Rice, Oklahoma City Convention Center/ASM Global, Oklahoma City, OK

Emily Rich, Tennessee Performing Arts Center, Nashville, TN

Kelci Rigsby, Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland, Cleveland, OH

Chase Riley, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC

Lyndi Robertson, Utah Valley University, Orem, UT

Barbra Rogers, Riverside Convention Center, Riverside, CA

Shaheen Roostai, Riverside Convention & Visitors Bureau, Riverside, CA

Kacy Simon, Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland, Cleveland, OH

Tim Smith, Moody Center, Austin, TX

Joseph Solomon, Utah Valley University, Orem, UT

Surayyah Spears, Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland, Cleveland, OH

Mark Stanton, Southern Aluminum, Magnolia, AR

Liz Sword, T-Mobile Park, Seattle, WA

Melissa Taylor, Winston-Salem Fairgrounds, Winston Salem, NC

Craig Thompson, Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland, Cleveland, OH

Kiersten Thourp, Utah Valley University, Orem, UT

Taylor Tischhauser, Tennessee Performing Arts Center, Nashville, TN

Rolainny Topper, Utah Valley University, Orem, UT

Ryan Turley, Fox Performing Arts Center & Riverside Municipal Auditorium, Riverside, CA

Jeremiah Van De Steeg, Mayo Civic Center, Rochester, MN

Bill Von Bank, Mayo Civic Center, Rochester, MN

Joe Ward, Mayo Civic Center, Rochester, MN

Kevin Warnick, Utah Valley University, Orem, UT

TR Wheeler, Mayo Civic Center, Rochester, MN

Chris White, Southern Aluminum, Magnolia, AR

Shannon White, Tennessee Performing Arts Center, Nashville, TN

Casey Whitehead, Southern Aluminum, Magnolia, AR

Ben Williams, George R. Brown Convention Center, Houston, TX

John Williams, Moody Center, Austin, TX

Matt Wood, Resch Center, Green Bay, WI

Jody Wright, Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center Dallas, Dallas, TX

Carrie Yauch, David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Pittsburgh, PA

Craig Zwiener, Mayo Civic Center, Rochester, MN

By R.V. Baugus

If someone was not out of a job due to COVID-19 and the inevitable job layoffs that followed, then one was still employed and working way beyond intended human hours. For the sake of discussion at VenueConnect this July in Phoenix, Dr. Matt Huml will share in a University Sector keynote session, but one truly geared toward every attendee, the angle of the intentional workaholic and tips on how to get out of the work rut.

Dr. Huml, Assistant Professor in the School of Human Services at the University of Cincinnati, was gracious to give us some time in advance to share more about his background as well as the topic matter he will present. Again, this is suitable subject matter fitting for every attendee at VC22.

The presentation will discuss the relationship between work engagement and workaholism drawn from recent research on the experiences of college and recreational sports employees.

Topics will include:
(1) balancing work and family responsibilities,
(2) tipping points between work engagement and workaholism,
(3) the benefits for employees living a calling,
(4) employee coping abilities,
(5) remote work strengths and weaknesses,
(6) and detriment effects of an overwork climate, among other topics.

Dr. Huml will provide recommendations on how venue managers can minimize employee challenges and cultivate strengths to improve employee satisfaction.

Share with our readers some about your background and then bring us up to speed about your current role at the University of Cincinnati.

I’m originally from the far West suburbs of Chicago (if any of you are from that area, say hi after the presentation and I’ll share the name of the really small town where I grew up!) and grew up a big fan of University of Illinois athletics and all of the professional Chicago sport teams. I started my college experience at Kishwaukee College (community college) that is near Northern Illinois University. After that, I transferred to Grand Valley State University in West Michigan (go Lakers!) where I completed my undergraduate and graduate degrees. I was fortunate to play baseball in college at both Kishwaukee and GVSU. I met my future wife at GVSU, as she played soccer there (was a much more successful athlete than I was). After completing my masters, I worked at the University of Tennessee for a year as an academic advisor before leaving to take an advising job (and start my PhD) at the University of Louisville. After four years at UL, I completed my PhD and accepted my first faculty position at Texas Tech University. My wife and I lived there for three years, had our first child in 2019, and then moved on to the University of Cincinnati in Fall 2019. I am now about to start my fourth year at UC in the fall and we also added to our family a second child in 2020. Currently, I am an Assistant Professor at the University of Cincinnati in our sport administration program.

Your presentation will be on Insights into Workaholism & How Venue Managers Can Avoid It. Without giving away the kitchen, what will be some of the things you will share with your audience?

Workaholism is an issue across all labor forces, but it’s especially pervasive within sport and facility sectors. I am going to be talking about what is workaholism and identifying it within yourself and others. I will also talk about how workaholism is activated through environmental factors, family factors, colleagues, etc. Finally, I will address limiting or overcoming workaholic tendencies for employees. But we’ll also go beyond workaholism, as we’ll also talk about work engagement (think of it as a good version of workaholism), how employees apply coping strategies within the workplace, the involvement of occupational calling for venue managers, insights into remote work, and the push-and-pull between work and family.

Has work/balance become just a cliche? We hear so much about it, but have you found in your studies that most people actually try to find that balance?

It is definitely not a cliché, but you can make a great argument that there is no perfect balance and its individual dependent. My focus will be on a couple different, more accurate concepts for the push-and-pull between work and family, called work-family conflict (when those two areas clash) and work-family spillover (when one of the areas has a positive or negative effect on the other). More importantly, my research is going to talk about how the presence of work-family conflict/spillover can actually create a POSITIVE effect on work, even though most folks think of these as negative workplace issues.

Workaholism sounds like an addiction or disease. Is it that or can it become that?

Absolutely, workaholism functions as a behavior addiction. Some folks can become so passionate about their work that they consume our other identities. I’m also sure many of you have heard of people “throwing” themselves into their work when dealing with grief in another area of their lives. Work can become a crutch for us as we seek out validation, desire for micro-managing others, or a distraction from other responsibilities. We need to seek out ways to help employees break from this addiction and create an environment that doesn’t cultivate it from our workforce.

How about a main takeaway you would like people to leave with and take back to the venue where they work?

My hope is that attendees will think about all of these concepts are related to workplace culture and the characteristics exhibited by organizational leadership. If supervisors are working 70+ hours a week, have expectations for prioritizing work over other components of their employee’s lives, take advantage of people’s passions, it’s going to create an environment that can breed these workplace traits. I’ll recommend easy fixes but there will be others that require more effort from leadership to cultivate good workplace practices. It will create huge dividends down the road to implement these changes, as you’ll have less people leave their organization or even profession, increase work engagement, and reduce negative behaviors like workaholism, among others.

New Orleans CityBusiness, a weekly business newspaper, has named Tim Hemphill, CVP, the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center’s Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Events, to their annual “Power 20.” The “Power 20” represents the most influential people in the New Orleans Hospitality and Tourism industry. Hemphill was chosen for this honor through an anonymous nomination process and was ultimately selected for his long list of contributions to the New Orleans hotel & tourism industry as well as his contributions to the local New Orleans community.

A veteran of the conventions and events industry of more than three decades, Hemphill is a Certified Venue Professional who has been at the cutting edge of innovation at the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, including the acquisition of an in-house UPS store franchise which provides critical support for visitors to the facility as well as the local community. Hemphill has received numerous awards for excellence in sales, marketing, and public relations and serves the industry on a variety of boards and committees.

A graduate of Texas A&M University, Hemphill has spearheaded many initiatives designed to utilize the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in new and innovative ways, including the founding of a department to produce tradeshows and conferences that are owned by the facility itself. This includes ResCon, a global summit on resilience, and NOLA ChristmasFest, a year-end family-focused holiday themed festival.

“Tim Hemphill has been at the top of his game ever since he assumed his current role in 2008,” said Convention Center President Michael J. Sawaya. “Tim is a trailblazer of this industry and is always forward-thinking about how we can better serve our internal and external customers. His inclusion in this year’s Power 20 is a testament to his ability and impact on New Orleans tourism, and we are grateful for his hard work as a part of our facility’s executive team.”

By Blair Cardinal

Parking industry veteran Joe Leung has joined OVG360 as vice president of its new Parking & Mobility division, which will help client-partners develop operational strategies to optimize the guest experience, generate revenue for the venue, reduce environmental impact, and support the surrounding community.

Beginning his role immediately, Leung is based in Denver and reports to Chris Granger, president of OVG360, which is the third-party, venue management, venue services, and hospitality division of Oak View Group (OVG), the leading global venue development, advisory, and investment company for both the sports and live entertainment industries.

Under Leung’s leadership, OVG360’s Parking & Mobility division will engage clients in one of three ways: one, exclusively run parking operations for a venue that does not already have a dedicated manager or third-party operator in place; two, manage a venue’s contracted parking operator; or three, act as a third-party consultant who evaluates/audits existing operations and makes recommendations on parking strategy. Regardless of the client-partner relationship, OVG360 will use methodologies and industry best practices to evaluate each venue’s unique parking process to help identify opportunities for operational efficiencies and revenue generation. Because parking interacts with every department within a venue, the new division will work with clients to identify business goals and enable a parking system to support those goals – whether sponsorship wants to explore activation opportunities and elevate the premium ticket-holder experience, or the general manager wants to implement programs to get their guests to and from an event more efficiently.

“OVG360 is well ahead of the game in recognizing the significant strategy that goes into an effective and efficient parking and mobility program,” Leung said. “Many venues gravely underestimate the importance of parking and mobility, often saddling the head of security or some other manager with parking as a secondary responsibility. In reality, each guest’s experience starts and ends with transportation, a journey that begins when they’re still on the couch planning how they are going to get to the venue for an event. If venue managers focus on parking – just like they would on hospitality or any other element of the guest experience – they can decrease a guest’s frustration and confusion, and eventually increase their Net Promoter Score (NPS).”

Leung joins OVG360 after spending two decades with some of the most well-known parking companies, experience which spans ballparks, arenas, theaters and a variety of other live events facilities. He was senior director of customer success at FLASH, vice president of parking at Olympia Development of Michigan, and regional manager at SP+, where he oversaw parking and mobility.

With sustainability as one of OVG360’s guiding principles, Leung will focus on reducing the environmental impact of the more than 330 venues the company owns and/or manages. Through efficient parking operations and traffic management, guests will spend less time idling and circling, which will cut carbon emissions. “If a guest knows ahead of time where they are going to park, you reduce their time with the car running on the way in and out of the parking garage – say for 100 cars times 150 events, it starts to add up.” Leung said.

Throughout his career, Leung has also focused on how parking impacts a community, especially when a new venue is being built in or around an existing neighborhood. While a venue typically results in an economic boost for communities, he has worked with community leaders and neighbors to understand and minimize the impact, such as with increased traffic. To optimize parking and mobility, OVG360 will leverage technology, review staffing, generate purposeful marketing campaigns, enable selling through all venue channels, and address a wide range of mobility solutions, for example: electric car charging stations, scooters, ride share drop-off/pick-up stations, public transit access, shuttles, and more.

“I worked closely with Joe during my time overseeing operations for the Detroit Red Wings and the Detroit Tigers, and it was clear that he seamlessly balanced sustainable operations, community relationships and innovative revenue generation,” Granger said. “Parking is part of the holistic guest experience. It can either be a non-factor or put negative bookends on what would have otherwise been a great event. We’re excited to have Joe guide OVG360 in making parking part of the complete guest experience for the 330-plus venues we own and/or manage.”

Blair Cardinal is VP, Communications for OVG360.