IAVM is pleased to announce Eileen Kulish, Customer Satisfaction Manager with MTS Steating, as the recipient of the 2024 Joseph J. Anzivino Distinguished Allied Award.

Kulish’s professional career includes 19 years with MTS Seating, beginning as their Inside Sales Coordinator in 2004.  She was quickly promoted to National Accounts Executive in 2006, and in 2021, Kulish was named Customer Satisfaction Manager. 

A member of IAVM for 20 years, Kulish has been a volunteer on the IAVM Allied committee for the past 8 years, serving as Vice Chair 2019-2020 and Chair 2021-2022.  She has also previously served on the VenueConnect Programming Committee and Joseph A. Floreano Scholarship Selection Committee.

“Eileen has been a long-time supporter of our industry,” stated Kerry Painter, CVE, CEM, CMP, IAVM’s Chair of the Board of Directors. “She has selflessly given of time and passion to represent our Allied members and to be sure they have a strong voice. I am so pleased to see Eileen recognized by her peers and the membership.”

Upon being notified of receiving the award, Kulish said, “I am very honored to be this year’s recipient of the Anzivino award. Even more so, I am honored to have made lifelong friendships along the way. It is very humbling to know that my peers voted to bestow this great privilege to me.”

Kulish will be presented with the award at VenueConnect 2024, which is being held in Portland, Oregon, July 28-31.  For more information on VC24 or to register, please visit https://venueconnect.iavm.org/.

IAVM is pleased to announce Tammy Koolbeck, CVE, as the recipient of the 2024 Charles A. McElravy Award.

Currently, Koolbeck is the Executive Director of Stephens Auditorium at Iowa State University, a position she has held since 2015.  She is only the 5^th Director to lead the organization since the venues opened in 1969.  She works for the Ames- based company, VenuWorks and has worked in the venue management industry for over 25 years. 

Before coming to Ames, Koolbeck was a senior member of the VenuWorks corporate staff as Senior Vice President/Chief Marketing Officer.  Prior to her corporate work, Koolbeck was Assistant Executive Director of Marketing and Programming for the U.S. Cellular Center Arena/Paramount Theatre and General Manager of the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena. Koolbeck started in the public assembly management field as the Director of Marketing for the Five Seasons Center and Paramount Theater.  Her past work experience includes hotel, convention and visitor bureau, and professional sports.

Koolbeck has been a member of IAVM since 2001.  She served as the 2019-2020 Chair for the International Association of Venue Managers Board of Directors and is currently heavily involved in the Association’s federal and state advocacy efforts.  In 2014 and in 2021, she was honored with IAVM’s Chairman Citation. She currently serves as Chair on IAVM’s Board of Regents, on the Industry Affairs and Governance Committees, and serves as a mentor.

“I am excited to celebrate Tammy and her contributions to IAVM and our industry at VenueConnect,” stated Brad Mayne, IAVM CEO and President. “Tammy was instrumental in the advocacy work that IAVM did during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her volunteerism and service to IAVM have  been extraordinary, and we are honored to name her as the 2024 Charles A. McElravy Award winner.”

“Tammy has served on countless committees and ultimately as the chair of our association in 2020 during an unprecedented year,” said Kerry Painter, CVE, CEM, CMP, IAVM’s Chair of the Board of Directors. “We will forever remember the advocacy efforts she engaged in which resulted in millions of recovery dollars for our industry. I could not be happier to congratulate Tammy as a perfect representation of the McElravy award.”

Upon being notified of receiving the award, Koolbeck stated, “To join the list of McElravy honorees means a lot, as it’s nominated by IAVM members and awarded by the IAVM Board of Directors.  This association has so many great volunteer leaders and members that I’ve had the opportunity to connect with and develop long term relationships with over the years, and I am the fortunate one to be a part of this great community of peers.  I’m definitely the recipient of many hours of shared wisdom and knowledge from others as passionate about this industry as I am, and I sincerely appreciate this recognition.”

Koolbeck will be presented with the award at VenueConnect 2024, which is being held in Portland, Oregon, July 28-31.  For more information on VC24 or to register, please visit https://venueconnect.iavm.org/.

IAVM is pleased to announce the nomination of Stacey Church, CVE, for Second Vice Chair of the Board of Directors. Church will become a senior officer and serve a four-year term, taking on the Chair position in 2026-2027.

Church currently serves as the General Manager at Fair Park in Dallas, TX. Covering 277-acres just east of downtown Dallas, Fair Park’s cultural, historical, and entertainment venues play host to visitors from around the world every day of the year.

“Stacey has been an active leader in IAVM for years and is exceptionally capable of working in a collaborative manner, creating the vision and goals for our more than 7,700 venue professionals,” stated Brad Mayne, CVE, IAVM President and CEO.

Church has previously served on IAVM’s Board of Directors from 2021-2023 as the Director of the Convention Centers. She is currently serving as the Assistant Director for IAVM Region 6 and is on the Board of Governors and Strategic Leadership & Resources Committee.

“Stacey is going to do a wonderful job representing IAVM,” said Kerry Painter, CVE, CEM, CMP, Chair of IAVM’s Board of Directors. “Her passion for furthering and lifting all those around her will be a great asset as we develop our next generation of venue managers. She has been an unwavering volunteer throughout the years, and we are lucky to have her moving into the 2nd Vice Chair officer position.”

Prior to taking the GM position at Dallas Fair Park, Church served as the Assistant General Manager at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas.

“I am honored to assume the role of 2nd Vice Chair on behalf of our members,” noted Church. “As a longstanding member, I am eager to contribute and collaborate with the leadership team to strengthen and expand pivotal projects within the Association. Focusing on enhancing certification and educational offerings, fostering member and volunteer involvement, and ensuring financial resilience are fundamental for the future prosperity of IAVM.”

IAVM members will vote electronically in June on Church’s nomination, and if elected, she will take office in July during IAVM’s VenueConnect Annual Conference and Trade Show, July 28 – July 31, in Portland, OR.

Kim Bedier, CVE, former chairman of IAVM and current dean of the Leadership Institute at VMS, is leaving Honda Center and OCVIBE, Anaheim, Calif., where she has been SVP and General Manager, effective May 3.

The announcement was made public while Bedier was assisting her husband, Richard Andersen, CVE, as keynotes at IAVM’s Region 7 meeting, appropriately themed “Breaking New Ground,” in Phoenix April 14-16. They taught there on team building. Two weeks earlier, they had taught life/work balance at Region 6 in Oklahoma City April 1-4. Bedier will be teaching again at VMS in June.

As questions boiled up throughout the industry about the why and what now of Bedier’s exit, she steadfastly insisted she had finally decided to “take my own advice for a change. I’ve never taken any time off and jumped from job to job. This industry isn’t easy. Now I have a new mantra – Self-care is not selfish. You don’t even do that for yourself. You do it for the people around you.”

Researching and putting together their life-work integration presentation “really solidified my decision and choice,” Bedier told Venue Professional. She is not, however, advising everyone to quit their jobs. “I’ve learned, especially from the younger generation, they have a better perspective. They want to make sure they have life-life as well as work-life. I wish I’d learned it sooner.”

Now, she is in a unique position. “I can do this and not everybody can. I’ve been given a bit of a gift, and I’m going to take it and make the most of it and figure out what I want to be when I grow up,” she said with a chuckle.

Besides continuing to do some work with her husband, though she’s not committing to that as a full-time job as of now, she intends to remain open. “I’ve always identified myself through my job. It’s not a crisis of identity, but it will be a mental shift, which is a good thing. I get to be whoever I am authentically… I don’t necessarily want to have a building again, but who knows? It’s all I’ve ever done. I want to stay open to opportunity, and it’s nice to have that luxury.”

She is proud of what has been accomplished at the 30-year-old Honda Center over the past three years. “It needed a little bit of reinvention. It’s going to get some incredible renovation [a $4B mixed-use development project, to be complete in 2032] coming up. But, also, just reestablishing it in people’s hearts and minds as a great venue to play and really making sure people understood it’s not in LA. Orange County is a strong, standalone market. We’re seeing things now like four Usher shows at the new Intuit Dome [Los Angeles] and Honda Center has two.”

On the other hand, she will also remember forever arriving in Anaheim during the pandemic when Honda Center was literally a testing site. One of her worst experiences was the last event before total shutdown – Disney on Ice. “It was horrible testing all those poor little toddlers [for Covid], and everyone was crying and mad at us.” One should not forget the pandemic and the toll it took on industry talent.

When teaching at Region 7, she noted, “It’s amazing how excited people are for me…Everybody is a bit tired I think.”

Kim Bedier, CVE, with Gwen Stefani at Honda Centers 30th anniversary concert this past September. From left, the arena’s Erika Muir and Tom Alexander, Stefani and Bedier.

She has been on the ground floor of planning a couple of new venues that will come on board at OCVIBE, including a 5,700-seat concert hall concept, to open in 2026, and a 2,000-cap club. “We’ve literally been able to influence from the ground up as operators. How often do you get that golden opportunity?”

“It will be exciting to watch those come to fruition and not have to do the work,” she said.

As to who will do that work, she noted there are some great people on the team left behind, including Tom Alexander, who she brought in from her former venue in Tacoma, and Bill Dwight from Live Nation who Alexander recruited to help book shows.

When Bedier arrived in Anaheim, she initially answered to Tim Ryan. When he left, she reported to Morell Marean, Chief Operating Officer of OC Sports and Entertainment. The current plan is to re-assign report-to’s on the organizational chart when she leaves.

“We appreciate the many contributions which Kim has made to our organization,” Marean said in a press release. “Her work has enhanced our guest service experience, reshaped our programming and concert business, and assisted in the strengthening of our team through the acquisition of key talent. Kim will certainly be missed, and we wish her all the best in her next chapter.”

Bedier came to Anaheim from Tacoma, Wash., where she worked for the city managing all sports and entertainment venues, including the Tacoma Dome, convention centers, theaters, and ball parks. “I wanted to know about all the venue types,” she said of that gig, which spanned the years 2012-2021.

Before that, she managed the under-construction arena in Everett, Wash., now known as Angel of the Winds Arena, for Global Spectrum. “It was fun to be part of an opening and create a strong team.” As is her modus operandi, she took some of that team with her to Tacoma.

It’s a special thrill to be part of a new building or major renovation project. She got a taste of that on a grand scale in Toronto, where she was on the team that transitioned from Maple Leaf Garden to the new Scotiabank Centre (then known as Air Canada Centre).

That was Bedier’s second grand opening, having started in the early 90’s when Grande Prairie in Northern Alberta recruited her, while working in recreation for the city and officed in the community ice rink, to open and manage the Crystal Centre (now Bonnetts Energy Centre) to host junior hockey and the upcoming Canada Winter Games. That building opened in 1995, the same year Bedier joined IAVM.

How has IAVM impacted her life and career?

“My career and my life are intertwined with IAVM: the incredible support I have received along the way, the phone calls and questions answered, the opportunities presented. More than anything, I value the deep relationships formed. Ultimately, it is the IAVM universe that connected me with the love of my life, Richard Andersen. I clearly owe a lot to this organization.”

We are thrilled to announce the recipients of the 100+ Women of IAVM VenueConnect 2024 Scholarships!

Not only have we selected the recipients for the 100+ Women of IAVM Scholarship, but we’re also excited to kick off our annual fundraiser to support the remarkable initiatives of 100+ Women of IAVM.

Please join us in congratulating the following scholarship winners:

Sara Litster – HR Manager, ExtraMile Arena – Boise State University
“I have worked really hard my whole life to make a difference for women. So honored to receive this scholarship!”

Sarah Rhoades – Senior Event Manager, OVG Tulsa
“100+ Women of IAVM provides space and opportunity in the industry that was lacking, and I am thrilled to receive the VenueConnect 2024 scholarship.”

Donlisa Scott – Office Manager, Tacoma Venues & Events
“I am delighted to be a recipient of the 100+ Women of IAVM scholarship and for the opportunity to be highlighted as a woman in this industry. It signifies not just individual achievement but collective empowerment and support for women in venue management.”

Tiana Smith – Staffing and Student Engagement Coordinator, Kennesaw State University
“Thank you to all who donated to make this opportunity possible. I am excited to attend VenueConnect as a recipient of this scholarship. I love being a woman!”

Jouline Trotic, CMP – Senior Event Manager, Oregon Convention Center
“I am beyond excited to have been chosen for this scholarship and look forward to help in being a voice for women in our industry. As a mom in this industry, I understand how difficult it can be. Working odd days and hours and sometimes missing family moments. It is important that we support each other.”

As an organization dedicated to empowering women in venue management, we rely on the generosity and support of individuals like you to fuel our initiatives throughout the year. Every contribution makes a meaningful difference.

Join us in our mission by making a donation to support 100+ Women of IAVM. Your generosity will directly impact the lives and careers of women in our industry, helping to create a more diverse, inclusive, and vibrant community for all.

Together, we can continue to impact change, as well as empower and elevate women in venue management!

CLICK HERE to donate to the 100+ Women of IAVM Campaign.