By R.V. Baugus

I first met Neil Campbell back in 1990 or 1991. I take that back, we didn’t actually “meet” but it was through phone calls and likely even a fax or two. I told you it was 1990 or 1991.

Neil oversaw the Kingdome in Seattle, home to the NFL Seahawks and MLB Mariners. Neil was already a giant in the public assembly venue industry and for me just starting as editor of Facility Manager magazine, it was an honor to get to know someone of Neil’s stature. I always remember just how gracious, kind, distinguished, and gentlemanly Neil was. He could immediately put to ease anyone he was meeting or talking to for the first time.

The reason for our visit was that the Kingdome had come up with this very innovative “recycling” plan by utilizing worms as a composting measure for the leftover food at the venue. It was definitely an out-of-the-box story, and I had fun writing it and hearing Neil recount everything that went into this well-hatched plan.

Today, 30 years later, I like all of his friends and colleagues in the industry mourn the passing of Neil Malcolm Campbell, CVE, who passed away on April 5 at the age of 79.

Neil was a fixture in the Seattle area both at the Kingdome and later as vice president of ballpark operations for the Mariners.

“Neil injected a superb level of professionalism into facilities across Canada and the United States,” said long-time friend Warren Buckley. “He had the uncanny ability to read and work with people reacting to situations in a calm and deliberate manner. Neil ‘wrote the book’ on integrity and his soft and gentle demeanor fostered a team approach in the workplace. Those of us who had the pleasure to have worked with Neil will have benefited from the best in our industry. It is hard for me to contemplate life without Neil Campbell. He was a great colleague and dear friend who shall be remembered by many.”

Neil shared his love of the industry with his children, Susan and Colin, who have both gone on to success venue management careers.

“The first time I ever got exposed to (then) IAAM was in 1986 with the national meeting was in Edmonton, said Susan, now executive vice president, general manager, Rogers Place at Oilers Entertainment Group. “He was helping to host that. My little brother and I worked the hospitality suite for the local host committee in Edmonton. Colin was a rink rat and my step-sister and I were both usherettes, which is what they called us back then. My first job was in the Northlands Coliseum at 14. He always said, don’t tell ‘em nothing!”

Added IAVM member John Christison, CVE, another long-time Seattle venue leader at the Washington State Convention Center: “There are a lot of members who knew Neil pretty well. He wasn’t real outspoken and never really sort of stood out or looked for accolades, but he was always one of those guys that was there if you needed something or you could call and he would go out of his way to try to help you. That’s just the kind of guy Neil was. People will remember him as being a good friend and someone you could always count on if you needed something.”

Christison noted that when his son graduated from college “unbeknownst to me went and had an interview with Neil and Neil hired him as an event coordinator. About a year before that I ended up hiring Neil’s daughter, Susan, and she worked for us as an event coordinator. We never talked about it, but that was pretty interesting.”

Indeed, the family affair took on even more interesting dimensions throughout the Pacific Northwest and Canada.

He wanted to be remembered for the daredevil he was, Susan said. “In addition to being my father, he was my mentor, 100% my mentor. Because we had different last names, I’m Darrington and he’s Campbell, I ended up working at the Seahawks across the street and they didn’t know for six months that we were related when we were both running buildings across the street from each other. I ended up getting the job to open up Rogers Place. It was the day of the press conference and my dad was so excited and they said, so what did your dad do? I said, well, he opened up Northlands Coliseum.”

Susan thought about her dad’s impact and shared that it went far beyond just family ties, but how everyone in his venue became extended family.

“I think the hallmark for me of who he was and what I learned is everything in that building is important,” she said. “He knew people from the parking entrance gates to the housekeepers to the ushers. Those were his family and when he opened a building and had an event that was your home and you treated people like guests in your home. That’s how I always modeled my career. You just knew everybody.”

Much about Neil was interesting, and, yes, daredevilish. Christison also remember the experiment with the worms.

“They had a great big old contraption back behind the Kingdome where they were throwing old hot dogs and stuff and letting the worms have at it,” he said with a laugh. “I think I had just got to Seattle in 1990. I remember Neil calling me and saying, ‘we’ve got this really cool idea.’ But a lot of people came and looked at that and tried to replicate it.”

Whether it is replicating or imitated, there is the old saying of “often imitated, never duplicated.” Indeed, there is only one Neil Campbell, and he will be missed by so many.

Neil is survived by wife, Loree; daughter, Susan; son, Colin; and his adoring family.

“That is the hardest part of this pandemic right now is my mom so wants to be able to honor him,” Susan said. “He will go back to Canada but we just aren’t able to do anything right now. Hopefully in the summer we might be able to do something.”

Pictured: With daughter, Susan Darrington, on the ice of the Edmonton Oilers.

By R.V. Baugus

If you know Robyn Williams, CVE, first, you should consider yourself fortunate. If you do not know the past IAVM President (Chair) and her great work leading the Portland’5 Centers for the Arts, trust us when we say there is no more compassionate person not just in the industry but walking the face of the earth.

With leadership comes difficult decisions as well, none greater than what many venue executives around the world have been facing in the loss of event income as it relates to staffing. Some creatively manage to keep staffs intact, but numerous must deal with the aspect of either fully terminating employees or furloughing them with the expectancy to return them to their position once the pandemic has run its course.

The trick, of course, is no one can point to a day or date on the calendar and say that all is 100% well. There is the “ramp up” process that has to come into play as well for venues. With all that in mind, and herself having to make decisions that have brought Robyn to tears, we were fortunate to get a minute of her time to talk about such decisions along with other aspects of working through COVID-19.

As a leader over so many people, what is the most difficult aspect of the job when you have to share “bad news” about a furlough or full-time job loss for employees?

It can be crushingly emotional and personal. One of the things I’ve realized over the years is how close venue managers are to their staff. They are family as well as friends to us. I haven’t found this to be as true in other lines of work I’ve been involved with. Maybe it’s because we often spend more time with them than we do with our family and friends.

People think it must be great to be the leader, but what types of stress can these decisions put leaders under?

I really believe the buck stops with me. I’ve been going over and over in my head about what I could have done differently that would have made us less vulnerable to such catastrophic business loss. I should have built a bigger reserve that would have allowed us to weather this storm. I feel personally responsible for these layoffs.

How far out do you project with this virus when it comes to if further difficult decisions have to be made?

The problem is not knowing when we can expect to reopen. I’m a numbers person and I have a really excellent budget analyst. The operations team is doing everything possible to shed costs at the venues. We’ll keep watching the numbers and make decisions as time progresses.

Is there anything you are doing to help in any way with those you have had to release?

We’ve sent them a lot of information on resources they can tap into. I also stay in touch with them to let them know they haven’t been forgotten.

How difficult is it working from home, or do you occasionally get to the office?

We have a policy that only the most essential folk-custodians, security, and engineers are in the venue at the smallest number possible. If everyone was coming and going at will there is no way we could keep up with sanitizing everything. Plus I’m a huge believer in what the CDC is saying in terms of what you need to do to slow the virus. I have only been out in public once in the past three weeks. I’m a social person by nature so I feel very isolated working at home. Thank heavens for video conferencing, though. It allows us to at least see each other. And I’ve participated in IAVM’s virtual happy hour for performing arts centers recently and it felt really good to see my venue friends.

There has to be some good that one day will come out of all this. You are an optimistic person, so what is the good that you foresee?

I have been very guilty of saying things like “Hey, let’s get together soon” or “Let’s go do (whatever) soon, I’ll call you” and then six months or a year goes by and I never did anything. I’m trying to call friends, family, and colleagues out of the blue now. I think I’ll do more to stay connected to everyone after this is all over. I’ve started to realize how short life really is and how precious people are. So, if you don’t get a call from me, call me!!

By Maren Dougherty

“The Convention Center is a centerpiece of San Diego’s economy. During this pandemic, it will be a centerpiece of our fight against the coronavirus.” – San Diego Mayor Kevin L. Faulconer, 3/23/2020

This Spring our San Diego Convention Center went from serving as a bustling economic engine for our region to becoming a temporary homeless shelter for more than 800 individuals through a collaborative San Diego regional effort referred to as Operation Shelter to Home.

This transformation began in March, when our team coordinated with customers on the cancellation or postponement of more than 30 events, with total attendance exceeding 100,000 and a regional economic impact in the hundreds of millions. Like many of our IAVM colleagues, we soon realized we would probably not host a single event in late March or April, and possibly longer.

All the while, our President and CEO Rip Rippetoe, CVE, had been in discussion with San Diego leaders regarding the potential repurposing of our Center as a temporary shelter for individuals experiencing homelessness. We had space, staffing, expertise in planning large-scale operations and outdoor areas that could accommodate equipment such as trailers with showers and laundry facilities. Opening our building for this purpose would allow for greater physical distancing within existing shelters and ensure that more homeless individuals in our region would have access to health services, mental health support and reliable food sources during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We are taking everything we know and everything we’ve learned to pivot into a shelter operation—an urgent, large-scale effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19 among our unsheltered neighbors.” – San Diego Convention Center President & CEO Clifford “Rip” Rippetoe, 4/1/2020

Our operations staff worked closely with leaders and staff from the City, County, San Diego Housing Commission, Regional Task Force on the Homeless and homeless service providers to create diagrams, staffing plans, policies and procedures for this initiative. Clients and staff would be screened daily by temperature check and verbal questionnaires by homeless service providers or San Diego Public Health Nurses. Everyone would also be instructed to wash and sanitize their hands upon each re-entry into the facility.

The teams decided to move in clients using a phased approach, beginning with groups that were previously living in close quarters at City shelters and then, after assessing capacity, expanding operations to include unsheltered San Diegans. Over one week, April 1 to 7, groups of 150-350 moved in at a time, eventually bringing the total number of clients to more than 800 people across five exhibit halls. Clients are living in exhibit halls C, D, F, G, and H, with Hall E serving as a centralized medical facility.

As you can imagine, uprooting yourself and your belongings from the place you have come to know as your home can be difficult. With the great nonprofit teams, who have created a community and family-like atmosphere within their shelters, the move went smoothly and clients have been adjusting nicely to the new space given these unusual circumstances. Now three homeless service providers—Alpha Project, Veterans Village of San Diego, and Father Joe’s Villages—are operating shelters side-by-side in our facility, working closely with the City, County and SDCC on logistics, including meals, most of which are prepared by our food and beverage partner, Centerplate. All clients have access to Wi-Fi, outdoor spaces and projection TVs.

“The Convention Center intervention demonstrates the true impact we can have when innovation, leadership and compassion come together.” – Father Joe’s Villages President & CEO Deacon Jim Vargas, 4/7/2020

One of the most important pieces to this entire project is the emphasis the operations team will be putting on finding and connecting individuals to permanent housing. The team has identified a number of exit strategies to quickly transition people into permanent housing solutions—ultimately reducing the number of people experiencing homelessness in San Diego.

Maren Dougherty is Director of Marketing & Communications for the San Diego Convention Center.

By Jana DeGeorge

Simmons Bank Arena is proud to announce And The Beat Goes On Arkansas – A Live Streaming Event presented by Simmons Bank and benefitting The Feeding America Food Banks in Arkansas and Hunger Relief Alliance as they work to provide aid to those affected by the COVID -19 pandemic. This unique concert will take place in various locations and emit from Simmons Bank Arena. Join country music artist and Arkansas’ own Justin Moore (pictured) as he streams live from Simmons Bank Arena. Connecting from remote locations are fellow country music artists and Arkansans: Tracy Lawrence, Joe Nichols, Adam Hambrick, and Heath Sanders.

And The Beat Goes on Arkansas is proudly presented by Simmons Bank. “During these uncertain days, we at Simmons Bank are sure of one thing: that this is a time to come together in support of our state’s most vulnerable populations,” said Freddie Black, Chief Business Development Officer at Simmons Bank. “We are proud to help make this event possible and encourage everyone to give what they can to assist the Arkansas Foodbank. As our state’s largest hunger relief organization, the Foodbank feeds more than 280,000 Arkansans across 33 counties – the importance of their mission cannot be overstated, especially today. We applaud all they do, and also thank the artists who have generously shared their talents in support of this cause.”

The Feeding America Food Banks in Arkansas and Hunger Relief Alliance consists of multiple outlets throughout the state. Donations from this event will be distributed and allocated to these various locations. “The food banks in Arkansas appreciate the support this concert provides us. We are working in every county and community in the state to provide emergency food to those affected by COVID-19. Your support will help your friends, neighbors and family members who are struggling during this difficult time,” said Rhonda Sanders, CEO at Arkansas Foodbank.

This live streaming event will take place Saturday, April 11th at 7pm. Viewers will have the option through the following link to donate. or by texting FEED to 501501 for a $10 donation. All donation proceeds will benefit The Feeding America Food Banks in Arkansas and Hunger Relief Alliance. Watch on YouTube Live here.

Jana DeGeorge is Director of Marketing at Simmons Bank Arena. Contact her at 501-975-9038 or janderson@simmonsbankarena.com for more information.

By R.V. Baugus

Much great work is going on around the country as our member venues continue responding in major ways to do their part during the COVID-19 pandemic. Following the call to share stories that we in turn can pass along to IAVM members, many have taken us up on the offer. With the pandemic ongoing and very fluid, we extend the invitation to send your venue stories along with high res (at least 2MB) photos so we can spotlight your worthy work. Below are two stories shared from the great state of California.

I wanted to take a moment to report that the blood drive we hosted in Zellerbach A yesterday was a grand success! Senator Scott Wiener, who reached out to us, was hugely appreciative, as was the Red Cross. Our Mayor, London Breed, as well as several supervisors, spoke and gave blood, and also relayed their gratitude for the event. The Red Cross signed up 50 donors, 36 of which passed screening to donate, which they reported was a typical ratio. Most donors donated the standard pint, however, those who were willing, and who met the health requirements, were able to do a red-box donation, which amazingly can take two pints or more, by simultaneously replacing lost blood volume with sterile saline. Very high tech!

In all cases, a single pint donation is usually split into three parts – part left as whole blood, part as plasma only, and part as platelets only. Each part can save a different person, so our collection will be dispatched to at least 108 different individuals in need. Amazing. I would like to extend my thanks to everyone on our staff who helped in both big and small ways. We are an amazing team, and yesterday proved that. Thank you all. I also want to give a shout-out to the San Francisco Symphony, who graciously loaned us their tables, chairs, pipe & drape, and other equipment which helped make this happen. We have another blood drive scheduled for April 30, and I am hoping to possibly schedule more between now and then.

— Rob Levin, Booking Manager, San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center

Over the April 4-5 weekend, the Pasadena (CA) Center Operating Company (PCOC) along with Centerplate, the exclusive food and beverage provider for the Pasadena Convention Center and Pasadena Civic Auditorium, prepared, delivered, and distributed 3,100 healthy meals for students of Pasadena Unified School District. The call to action to support local schools and the community during the coronavirus (COVID-19) will continue over the next two weekends – April 11-12 and 18-19 – throughout the Pasadena area at seven distribution sites. The PCOC has 20 staff members who have volunteered to transport, set up and distribute the meals each Saturday and Sunday. The healthy meals include a sandwich, fruit, bag of cookies and the option of milk or juice.

“The PCOC is happy to help in this time of crisis,” said Michael Ross, CEO of the PCOC. “It has been a pleasure to work with the City of Pasadena and our partners at Centerplate to coordinate and set the program in motion quickly. I am most proud of the number of PCOC staff that have stepped up to volunteer as this time of need.”

Pictured from left: Michael Ross, CEO of Pasadena Center Operating Company; Jennifer Dominguez; Margie Christ, HR Director of PCOC; Layla Tulloch; Naz Sabripour, Executive Director of the Pasadena Convention Center; Heather Peron; Tyron Hampton, City of Pasadena Vice Mayor and PCOC Board Chair; Jeanne Goldschmidt, Executive Director of the Pasadena Convention & Visitors Bureau.

— Crystal Williams, Senior Manager, Marketing & Communications, Pasadena Convention & Visitors Bureau | Convention Center | Civic Auditorium | Ice Skating Center