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.

By Chrissy Deal

Last month, while planning its annual Heart Ball, the American Heart Association paid for 75 more meals than they needed. But they never received any food.

Instead, they became the first organization to participate in the “Share Your Meal” program by purchasing “extra meals” to donate. Through the program, the monetary value of any extra meals is then matched 100% by the Raleigh Convention & Performing Arts Complex and their caterer, Sodexo Live!, with the total amount going to the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina.

That donation resulted in 6,000 pounds of produce being delivered to the Food Bank to share with 500 families in the region. That’s 30 cases of local sweet potatoes (approximately 2,250 potatoes), 30 cases of large local cabbage (480-500 heads), 20 cases of tomatillos (about 1,800), 30 cases of Roma tomatoes (2,250 tomatoes), five cases of jalapeños (1,800 peppers), and 60 cases of strawberries (480 clam shells)!

“The American Heart Association is truly honored to be the first organization to participate in the ‘Share Your Meal’ program, in conjunction with the Raleigh Convention Center. Sadly, it is estimated that about one in seven households in the Triangle experience food insecurity. The American Heart Association believes in the right to healthy food for all people to live their best lives. By taking part in this important program, it’s another way that we’re working to improve nutrition and food security for our neighbors right here in the Triangle,” said Anne Miller, regional executive director in the Triangle and Eastern N.C. for the American Heart Association.

Once the food was delivered to the Food Bank, it was distributed to the NC Fields program, a Food Bank recipient that serves farmworkers and their families. According to the program, some 75% of those served in 2021 were people of color in historically marginalized communities.

“It’s a privilege to be able to support such a wonderful organization as the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina, and we are honored to join the American Heart Association in making this donation,” said Kerry Painter, CVE, director/general manager of the Raleigh Convention + Performing Arts Complex. “When we give to the Food Bank, we know our dollars are going to help families right here in our local communities. There’s no question that our donations make a difference, and we hope others will join the American Heart Association in choosing to share their meals.”

“Share Your Meal” is the latest in the Raleigh Convention Center’s efforts to bring more sustainable and socially conscious practices to its operations. The venue boasts a 40% average landfill diversion rate by composting with Raleigh-based CompostNow. That compost is then donated to Camden Street Learning Garden, operated by the Inter-faith Food Shuttle, a local nonprofit dedicated to ending hunger.

Chrissy Deal is Communications Director for Clean: Advertising & Design.

Karen Swan, the founder of the Event & Arena Marketing Conference (EAMC), an industry legend, a Gigi Award recipient, and an EAMC Hall of Famer, has died. The news about the death of Karen Swan was confirmed in a tweet made on the 25th of April 2022 by Event & Arena Marketing Conference. The Event & Arena Marketing Conference (EAMC) is dedicated to the talented professionals that cross the scope of the live entertainment industry: marketing, publicity, promotions, group sales, live touring shows, and arenas.

It deals with networking, educating, and sharing trends and ideas across these disciplines through various industry leaders. Karen was at the original conference in 1980 in Minneapolis and has been instrumental in its growth and development ever since. The cause of death is unknown at the moment.

Event & Arena Marketing Conference said in a tweet, “It is with deep sadness we mourn the loss of an EAMC founder, industry legend, Gigi Award recipient, EAMC Hall of Famer, and all-around beautiful soul, Karen Swan. It’s hard to think of EAMC and its history without thinking of Karen, who was at the original conference in 1980 in Minneapolis and has been instrumental in its growth and development ever since. Karen was a huge champion for the group sales side of the industry, often moderating sessions each year. As we look ahead to this year’s conference and a return to her city where it started, we will miss Karen’s warm hugs and big smile, but look forward to celebrating her life and sharing stories about such a wonderful person. We send our condolences to Karen’s family, friends, and many colleagues she worked with throughout her impressive career.”

By Sarah Burt

Peter King, Chief Executive of Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC), announced that he will leave his role after eleven years.

Peter has had an incredibly successful tenure bringing the Good Friday Appeal to MCEC, overseeing the venue’s expansion, delivering record revenue for MCEC and economic impact for the state of Victoria, driving sustainability in business events, and transforming the organisation during the pandemic.

“Peter has been instrumental in building Victoria’s global profile through conferences and businesses events over many years,” said Martin Pakula, Minister for Tourism, Sport, and Major Events. “I thank Peter for his work as Chief Executive – his dedication has been crucial to the state’s success in this sector.”

Hon. John Brumby, Chair of MCET, added, “Peter has achieved incredible things with the MCEC team, including the delivery of the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre expansion that has seen the venue cement its flagship status as the region’s premier home of business events.

“Over my time as Chair since 2017, I have valued Peter’s strategic counsel, emotional intelligence, confident leadership, and industry insight. These have been especially important attributes over the last two years during which Peter has steered the organisation through great uncertainty in the face of the pandemic as well as overseeing a major transformation to the organisation’s operating model.”

He will remain with MCEC as it manages this business transition and is committed to ensuring its success as we emerge from the acute stage of the pandemic. This time will allow for the MCEC to recruit his replacement.

In 2014 MCEC officially became the home of the Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday Appeal, one of Australia’s most iconic and life-changing fundraising events.

In 2018 he led the $205 million expansion of MCEC which increased event space by 25 percent and grew MCEC’s total size to 70,000 square metres, the largest centre of its kind in the southern hemisphere.

In recent years Peter pushed MCEC to become a global leader in sustainability in business events. In 2018 MCEC became a partner in the Melbourne Renewable Energy Project which means the 20,000 square metre expansion space at MCEC is powered with renewable energy. In 2019 the business recovered more than 68 tonnes of food waste and donated over 74,000 meals to food rescue organisation, OzHarvest.

During his time at MCEC Peter was focused on maximising MCEC’s impact for Melbourne and Victoria, and in 2019 MCEC had a record economic impact to the state, exceeding $1.1 billion.

When the pandemic hit in 2020, Peter embraced the challenges this presented to the business by managing the transformation and diversification of the business. This included supporting the Victorian State Government’s vaccination rollout and adapting the space to attract partners such as The LUME Melbourne, Australia’s first permanent digital art gallery. While competitors paused during lockdowns, Peter oversaw a comprehensive business transformation to an agile operating model to better position MCEC to serve customers in the wake of the pandemic. The organisation will see the benefits of this legacy for years to come.

“My feelings are mixed, because whilst I have loved every minute of working with all of you in an extraordinary industry, I also feel the time is right for a changing of the guard,” King said. “I have had a fantastic innings with the MCEC and feel optimistic about its future.

“I do want to call out the incredible achievements we have made as a team, most recently amongst them the opening of our major expansion in 2018, a record economic contribution of $1.1 billion to the state in 2019 and incredible displays of resilience over a difficult last two years. Beyond that, over many years, we have brought together people from all over the world to be educated, exchange knowledge, be entertained and importantly – to enjoy our wonderful town of Melbourne. What a privilege it has been.

“My most prevailing memory will be the long line of great people I’ve had the honour of working with at MCEC.”

Sarah Burt is Corporate Connunications Specialist for the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.