By Communications Department

The New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center (NOENMCC) hosted an anniversary event with their hospitality solutions partner, Centerplate. The event commemorated the ten-year anniversary of a groundbreaking relationship between a venue and a food and beverage provider, which was constructed to be about the food and experience before any financial terms were negotiated. Commemorating the anniversary, Convention Center leaders also celebrated Centerplate’s commitment to the local hospitality industry in New Orleans, having engaged with local small businesses and the New Orleans community at large.

“Our partnership with our exclusive catering and concessions provider, Centerplate, aligns with our delivering unrivaled results for our customers, and has reached far beyond our mission by supporting our community and local small businesses. Additionally, together we have made significant progress with our numerous sustainability initiatives, which are vital to New Orleans,” said Michael J. Sawaya, Convention Center President. “We look forward to continuing this fundamental relationship and furthering the positive affect we are having on our local community.”

Beginning in 2011, NOENMCC selected Centerplate as its hospitality solutions partner based on the company’s ability to create and feature New Orleans cuisine. The contract also offered a unique evergreen component that annually added a year to the agreement based upon Centerplate reaching certain measurable thresholds. Throughout the partnership, Centerplate reimagined the dining experience for visitors to the Center with menus and atmosphere that reflected the culture of local New Orleans culinary experience. The partnership and the collaboration goes far beyond food and beverage; together they built relationships with small businesses to showcase local brands and made significant food donations to local non-profits.

In 2020, Centerplate and the Convention Center were awarded a Food Recovery Certification from the Food Recovery Network, a national nonprofit that works with large event centers across the country to fight hunger by donating excessive food items to those in need. The partnership was recognized for their food donation commitments to local organizations including Bethel Colony and Second Harvest Food Bank. As well, in 2019, with combined efforts between the two organizations, the Convention Center launched a new composting initiative to save thousands of pounds of compostable items with an interactive employee education event.

“The success of our partnership with the Convention Center stems from a mutual goal of providing world class customer service and a drive to deliver locally-inspired menus to give our visitors the full New Orleans experience,” said Steve Pangburn, Chief Executive Officer, Centerplate/ Sodexo Sports & Leisure. “We look forward to many more years of providing true New Orleans style hospitality and creating exceptional moments for the visitors of the Convention Center.”

Pictured:

Convention Center President Michael J. Sawaya and Steve Pangburn, Chief Executive Officer, Centerplate/ Sodexo Sports & Leisure, share a toast to 10 years of partnership between Centerplate and the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.

By Lucy Albers

The Oklahoma City Thunder and Paycom jointly announced an exclusive, 15-year naming rights partnership that will transform the downtown home of the Thunder into Paycom Center.

The name change takes effect immediately, with exterior signage to be completed in time for the start of the 2021-22 Thunder season. For the new season, the Thunder plans to reopen the building and bring fans back to enjoy the complete Thunder game experience.

“We are honored and excited to expand our partnership with Paycom to include a centerpiece, 15-year naming rights commitment for our arena,” said Clayton I. Bennett, chairman of the Oklahoma City Thunder. “We are especially proud to enhance our alignment with this innovative and visionary Oklahoma company that is not only a top job creator, but a nationally recognized technology leader. The Thunder shares Paycom’s always-onward vision, grit and relentless pursuit of excellence, combined with a passion for impacting our community. Together, we are committed to working hand in hand to create the best for our fans and city.

“On behalf of our ownership group and the entire Thunder organization, we look forward to presenting our new arena partner, Paycom, to the NBA global audience. We are especially proud to be able to welcome back our fans to again enjoy the Thunder game experience inside the fresh and exciting Paycom Center.”

Chad Richison, Paycom’s founder and CEO, said, “Oklahoma City is home to thousands of our employees, and I am happy that Paycom Center will be the home of the Thunder. We are committed to our community and remain focused on the future as we support the home team.”

Paycom, a member of the S&P 500, is one of Oklahoma’s largest companies, with a market cap of approximately $23 billion, and one of the country’s fastest-growing publicly traded companies.

The naming rights agreement consists of several marquee Paycom Center signage locations, including the building’s exterior and roof, game floor, scoreboard and more. Paycom will retain its branded on-court signage in front of the player benches and will continue actively engaging the community that is so important to Paycom and the Thunder. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

The building is scheduled to be fully transformed into Paycom Center for the expected return of fans to Thunder games for the upcoming season. The Thunder is working with the City of Oklahoma City to develop and complete the full exterior signage and lighting plan.

In addition to Thunder games, Paycom Center will host numerous concerts, sporting events and other world-class attractions, welcoming more than 1 million guests per year. Opened in 2002, the building is managed by ASM Global and owned by the City of Oklahoma City. It was the premier project of the Metropolitan Area Projects Plan (MAPS), Oklahoma City’s first capital improvement program; approved by voters in 1993, MAPS has modernized the state’s capital city with continued citizen support via additional MAPS funding. Located in the center of downtown Oklahoma City, Paycom Center stands as a centerpiece of the renaissance and future of downtown, amid other MAPS projects like Scissortail Park, which opened in 2019, and the new Oklahoma City Convention Center.

“At ASM Global, we are thrilled with the potential this partnership between the Thunder and Paycom offers for future success of the arena,” said Chris Semrau, general manager of Paycom Center. “We work diligently to offer first-class amenities and services for fans, entertainers, guests and crew as we schedule events and shows throughout the year, all within a very competitive environment. Adding a technology and community leader like Paycom to the name of the arena only enhances our ability to help position the facility as modern, vital and built for the future.”

Lucy Albers is Director of Marketing and Public Relations for ASM Global OKC.

By R.V. Baugus

Decisions, decisions. Whether to write a gazillion blogs to recap VenueConnect 2021 in Atlanta or to go with one overarching read to try as best as possible to capture the essence of the Association’s first face-to-face VenueConnect in two years. Let’s go with the latter, and away we go with some selected highlights.

Unique ‘Nique

Oh, ye reader of assumed thoughts, your trusty editor here did not go to the first full session on Tuesday of the VC21 week to hear from Dominique Wilkins solely based on a sports angle, of which your trusty editor here is as you likely know by now a huge fan of sports.

Wilkins, a legendary talent with the Atlanta Hawks who among his accomplishments include nine all-star appearances, a 2006 Hall of Fame inductee, and two-time NBA dunking champion (“It should have been four,” ‘Nique noted), appeared via Zoom to talk some hoops and some life.

Wilkins broadcasts for the Atlanta Hawks and is Chairman of the Board for Kulture City. Drafted No. 3 overall by the Utah Jazz and traded to Atlanta (oops, Utah!), Wilkins has called Atlanta home for 42 years. “It was a match made in heaven,” he said. “It is the most diverse city in America. From entertainment to sports, Atlanta is a great place to raise a family.”

Wilkins learned after finishing his career that he had diabetes. He lost his father and grandfather to the disease, but saw it as a challenge and created a change to his lifestyle. Kulture City works with special needs, something Wilkins identifies with.

Hidden Biases of Good People

VenueConnect attendees know the difficulty of selecting to attend one education session over another taking place at the same time. Your trusty editor here appreciates the same challenge. While speaking to others who attended other sessions at the same time as the Hidden Biases of Good People session presented by Rev. Bryant Marks, Sr., founder and chief equity officer at NTIRE and a professor of psychology at Morehouse College in Atlanta, I came to understand that IAVM hit a grand slam with education sessions and presenters.

I can share that Rev. Marks, from my personal attendance at his session to not only blog to learn more about myself, not only knocked it out of the park but the ball is still probably orbiting outer space.

A major takeaway I left with was when Marks identified two key ingredients for having implicit bias: 1) we live in society; and, 2) we have a bias. Period.

Marks started the session listing some tidbits about himself, not to pat himself on the back, but to use in a following exercise when he asked the audience if they made suppositions about him based on some of his past and personality.

“It is all a matter of perspective,” he said. “Unconscious bias is not new. It goes back 50 years.”

Quoting Marks almost does not do him justice. His speech delivery while rapid-fire was riveting and engaging. The session included asking the audience to log in using their phones to provide answers to different scenarios that validate biases that people – yes, good people – have.

Marks trains on unconscious bias and said that as long as there are humans there will be hidden bias. He used his time to help accomplish identifying, managing, and reducing bias. He added that bias often occurs through the lens of disproportionate exposure.

For those who argue that bias cannot happen with children in the four- to five-year-old age, Marks offered a chilling video of young African American children being asked which of a Black doll and white doll before them was the “good doll” or the “bad doll.” Most of the children selected the white doll as the good one, a somber and numbing reminder of bias.

Show Time!

Also, for the first time in two years, we have an honest-to-goodness trade show floor that we can actually walk and visit with people we have not seen in these 730ish days. There is nothing better than watching the ribbon-cutting taking place before the march into the exhibit hall to renew friendships between Professional and Allied members and watching the industry marketplace unfold before our very eyes.

I tend to get my FitBit steps easily merely walking through a convention center (much respect and props to you in our convention center world), and those steps also add up on the trade show floor. As senior editor of Venue Professional magazine, we are grateful to those Allied members who not only support the magazine through advertising but also get their intended message out to the venue professionals who read the magazine.

We are grateful for you, and as the Association and industry emerge from the shadows of the pandemic, we look forward to serving you and helping you achieve and reach your goals when you are present at VenueConnect.

What An Honor!

After conducting an interview on the trade show floor for the cover of the November/December Venue Professional magazine (you’ll just have to wait to know who!), it was time to go see industry icon Barry Strafacci presented the Lifetime Achievement Award as presented by the Convention Centers Committee. I have always known Barry as a friendly straight-shooter, which he was during his acceptance comments, but he also got choked up (I know he won’t mind my saying that) when talking about the industry, the association, and his many, many friends. I got more than one lump in my throat as Barry’s words reminded this 20-plus year veteran of IAAM/IAVM just how special the connections are in this association family.

Major honors followed the next morning at the Awards Program as Michael Taormina (Foundation Legacy Award), Russ Simons (Joseph J. Anzivino Distinguished Allied Award), and Denny Magruder (Charles A. McElravy Award) all offered heartfelt words before a largely attended audience in the Thomas Murphy Ballroom.

Have Gavel, Will Travel

Resplendent in coat and tie that can best be described as … uh, er, um, there is still no description, Rip Rippetoe concluded the awards program by passing the gavel for the incoming IAVM Chair to Eric Hart. Rip is a long-time friend and a long-time IAVM member, so it was wonderful that he served in leading the membership, while sad at the same time that the pandemic prevented him from having many of the same travel opportunities as his predecessors.

The honor for me through all of these moments was personally knowing the recipients, many of several years as Rip and I have often noted as he gets credit for writing the first sector column in the magazine (then Facility Manager) in 1989 about performing arts.

Rip took a seat in the audience as Eric began speaking about some of his initiatives for 2021-22. I have to admit to a light chuckle when Eric said that nothing upcoming would be flashy, definitely a stark contrast to the outfit Rip was wearing!

If you were not in Atlanta, we missed you and really want to see you next year in Phoenix. If you were here, thank you for attending and we likewise want to again have you at VenueConnect in Phoenix in 2022.

By Veronica Cantu

Moody Center, the world-class venue designed specifically for Austin, is marking a major milestone of construction with their final beam placement on the 530,000-square-foot venue. There is a total of 5,308,272 pounds of structural steel – 2,654 tons. The beam indicates the steel-framing structural phase of a project is complete. To celebrate this milestone, Moody Center hosted a Topping Out Ceremony on the morning of Tuesday, July 27.

Oak View Group (OVG), the global venue development and investment company behind Moody Center, honored the

tradition behind “topping out” ceremonies. “Topping out” ceremonies on construction sites have a centuries-old history with a tree affixed to the final beam as a symbol to show no structure is taller [in spirit] than a tree. A tree stands as a talisman for good luck and prosperity for the future occupants of the building. The tree’s strong and expansive branches, which often offer shelter, symbolizes hospitality, and endurance symbolizes the important role Moody Center will play as the premier music venue in the Live Music Capital of the World and a gathering place for Austinites and visitors to enjoy.

It’s an exciting time for Moody Center,” said Jeff Nickler, General Manager of Moody Center and Senior Vice President, OVG Arena and Stadium Alliance. “The placement of the final interior steel beam marks one of our biggest moments of construction to date. This past year has been full of unprecedented events, not to mention weather challenges, and yet the women and men working on this project continue to deliver. We hold a sincere appreciation for everyone who has worked on Moody Center and can’t wait to open its doors to Austin next spring.”

The landmark occasion was commemorated when steelworkers placed the last beam on the 15,000+-seat venue in the attendance of the construction and design team and Moody Center key stakeholders. This event and the signing of the last steel beam symbolized a celebration of all the hard-working women and men who took part in constructing Moody Center over the past two years.

“The topping out ceremony is a much-earned celebration of thousands of hours of planning and hard work on the part of our outstanding tradesmen,” said Sid Perkins, Vice President of Field Operations, AECOM HUNT. “Cap Form, the concrete contractor, and Irwin Steel and Bosworth, the steel erectors, have worked numerous hours to reach this goal. This provides the starting point for other dedicated tradesmen to enclose and finish the interior of Moody Center. The tradesmen of Central Texas are dedicated and proud to complete a state-of-the-art arena to be enjoyed by all.”

Austin’s newest entertainment arena will make its debut in April 2022 and has started to announce some of the biggest acts in the world for its inaugural year including The Weeknd, Justin Bieber, John Mayer for two nights, and The Killers. Moody Center will have a massive amount of live entertainment and many more major announcements rolling out later this year.

Veronica Cantu is Vice President of Marketing at Moody Center.

Thaxter R. Trafton, of Rockland, ME passed away in Camden with his wife, Linda, by his side on July 25, 2021, from complications of Lewy body disease. He was 84. Thaxter was born in Danforth, ME on January 5, 1937, to Leone Fitzpatrick and Elton Trafton.

A graduate of Morse High School and Maine Central Institute, he earned his business degree from Husson College.

Thaxter was a competitive athlete, and his career as a teacher and coach at John Bapst High School kindled a lifelong passion for motivation and development of all he mentored. Throughout his personal and professional life, he nurtured the potential of those with whom he came in contact. This is underscored by the devotion of family and friends, and the legion of students, employees and acquaintances which attest to his leadership. He was an exceptional individual.

Thaxter became the Parks and Recreation Director for the City of Bangor from 1965 until 1980, including five years as the Executive Director of Bass Park, which included the Bangor State Fair and Raceway operation and the overseeing the building of the Bangor Civic Center. In 1980, he was named the Director of the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum and the Arizona State Fair. During his tenure, he also served as the president of the Western Fairs Association.

His lifelong affinity for sports was realized from 1985 to 1988 as president of the NBA Cleveland Cavaliers, during which time he accomplished several notable NBA firsts in professional sports administration. After serving as president of the RACAM amusement company in Phoenix, Arizona, he became the owner and president of Trafton & Associates, which operated the Santa Monica pier amusements and Shamrock Shows in southern California.

Thaxter ventured back into professional sports, becoming the president of the International Basketball League, in Baltimore, MD. He then took the position of Chief Administrative Officer of the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority in Oakland, CA. At the request of Governor John Baldacci, Thaxter returned to Maine in 2003, where he served first as the Director of Business Development in the Department of Economic and Community Development, then became Deputy Developmen Commissioner of the Department of Economic and Community Development and lastly, served as the Commissioner of the Department of Economic and Community Development in 2011. He served as the first Executive Director of the Maine Sports Hall of Fame starting in 2006. He was inducted into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame, Maine Sports Hall of Fame, Maine Basketball Hall of Fame, Husson University Sports Hall of Fame, Maine Central Institute Sports Hall of Fame and the John Bapst Sports Hall of Fame. For the past several years he has been affiliated with the Samoset Resort while residing in Rockland, ME.

Thaxter is predeceased by his parents; and his brothers, Blaine and John. He is survived by his loving wife of 28 years, Linda Pinney Trafton. They were married in Alta Loma, CA in 1993. He also leaves behind Mona Herbert Trafton, mother of his four children. Thaxter is survived by his four children: Tony Trafton of Murrieta, CA and his 4 children and 3 grandchildren; Teresa Armstrong and her husband, Mark Armstrong, of Woodbridge, CA, and their 4 children and 2 grandchildren; Mark Trafton and his life companion, Shauna Yergensen, of Las Vegas, NV and his 2 children; and Alan Trafton and his wife, Jennifer, of Lake Forest, CA and their child. He is also survived by his three stepchildren: Cynthia Hays of Livonia, MI, and her 2 children; Matthew Pinney and wife, Denyse, of Solon, OH and their 2 children; and Andrew Pinney and wife, Amy, of Broadview Heights, OH and their 4 children. He also leaves behind 5 great grandchildren. He will be fondly remembered by many nieces, nephews, and close friends.

A Celebration of Life will be held in the Knox County Ballroom at the Samoset Resort in Rockport, ME on Sunday, October 3, 2021, from 1-4 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made in Thaxter’s honor to the Maine Sports Hall of Fame at P.O. Box 2, Cumberland, ME 04021 or online at mshof.com/donations.