Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum General Manager Joe Furin announced the hiring of Josh Rooney as Chief Revenue Officer and Teresa Guy as Director of Sales, Bookings and Partnerships, an acquisition that supports the reopening of the landmark venue in August 2019 after an ambitious multi-million-dollar renovation.

Guy joins the team with over a decade of live event experience with major promoter, agency, and venue companies. She was a booking agent at APA and The Agency Group and worked on the booking team at Nederland Concerts. Most recently, she was tasked with booking arenas across North America for The Venue Coalition. In her new role, Guy is responsible for booking events of all sizes within the Coliseum and surrounding grounds and to attract new business to one of Los Angeles’ most iconic venues. She will report to the Chief Revenue Officer.

Rooney, a 29+ sports and entertainment industry professional, will report to the general manager. Throughout his career, Rooney has held positions with many notable organizations including Pace Entertainment, CBS, Anheuser-Busch Companies, and the Washington Nationals. These affiliations and relationships positioned him to serve most recently as Vice President of the Rooney
Sports & Entertainment Group LLC. In this role, Rooney will be responsible for all revenue generation processes and initiatives, including ticket sales, sponsorship, and new event opportunities. In conjunction with Furin, Rooney will assist in developing the strategy and vision for the sales organization.

The stadium renovation project, whose scope includes modernization, preservation and restoration of the 96-year-old venue, began in January 2018. The Coliseum was able to host football, soccer and many other events during construction in 2018, but has now entered a new phase in anticipation of the August 2019 completion.

“We are excited to have two, highly respected and accomplished individuals in this industry join our team,” Furin said. “Since January 2018 the Coliseum has had limited operation due to the renovation. The timing to bring Josh and Teresa on as we get set for our August re-opening is no accident. The Coliseum will once again be able to host the biggest events and performers. Josh and Teresa are just the people to make sure that happens.”

SMG announced the addition of several new members and promotion of a current member to Chesapeake Energy Arena and Cox Convention Center’s marketing team in Oklahoma City.

Lucy Albers has been named Director of Marketing and Public Relations. Albers was most recently Director of Marketing at the SMG-managed facilities in Sioux Falls, SD, and was a part of opening the 12,000-seat Denny Sanford PREMIER Center in 2014. In 2017, she was a recipient of the Generation Next Awards from Venues Today (currently VenuesNow). With more than 10 years of experience in industry marketing and strategy, Albers will oversee the marketing department in building creative promotions, increasing ticket sales, and enhancing the venues’ profiles with local and national media.

Landon Bahl has been named Booking and Marketing Manager. On top of assisting with multiple industry events, the North Dakota native recently spent time with Creative Artists Agency in Nashville. Bahl will provide support to both the booking and marketing teams in Oklahoma City and assist in enhancing the venue’s back-of-house experience for artists and tours.

Emily Coursey has been named Graphic Design and Analytics Coordinator. An Oklahoma native, Coursey holds several years of experience in customer relations and operations with marketing and event companies. Coursey will primarily focus on graphic design for all venue needs and analyzing customer data to increase revenue trends.

In addition to the new hires, SMG has also promoted long-time team member Valory Dalton to Director of Ticketing and Business Development. Dalton has been an integral part of SMG’s team with years of both Marketing and Box Office experience in Oklahoma City. In her new position, she will continue to excel in leading revenue-generation as well as marketing and premium opportunities for the buildings and their events.

The new team members join current Marketing Manager, Stacey Aldridge, and round out a full team built to develop marketing strategies, build revenue streams, and enhance both customer and tour experiences at Chesapeake Energy Arena and Cox Convention Center.

By Michelle Riehle-Ludtke

The Los Angeles Convention Center (LACC), owned by the City of Los Angeles and managed by AEG Facilities, recently revealed a massive, hand-painted mural created by Portraits of Hope, titled Shaping LA. The mural, spanning the length of four football fields, will be displayed for approximately six months on the LACC’s South Hall facing the 110 freeway and on the ground level of the facility in and around the West Hall parking garage facing STAPLES Center.

The vibrant project was conceived 13 years ago by Portraits of Hope founders and brothers Ed Massey and Bernie Massey. In 2018, the City of Los Angeles Department of Convention and Tourism Development (CTD) began working closely with Portraits of Hope to showcase an upbeat, identifiable mural to the LACC exterior. Geometric shapes are core design elements of the project, as the young participants are responsible for “shaping” the future.

“The Los Angeles Convention Center is the perfect canvas for this one-of-a-kind project.” said Doane Liu, Executive Director, CTD. “Shaping LA has uniquely transformed the landscape of Downtown Los Angeles, proudly exemplifying the creativity of our great city.”

Shaping LA is the largest public art and civic project in the country thanks to the efforts of thousands of Los Angeles residents through civic education and public policy sessions in over 1,000 schools, creative therapy sessions for hospitalized children and persons with disabilities, social service programs and community operations for the public. Additionally, the project was made possible by partners, including AEG who donated $10,000 toward the project, as well as GES and Freeman who donated labor to install the mural.

“We are proud to support the Shaping LA project because it embodies the AEG values of community service and support of the arts and education,” said Ellen Schwartz, General Manager, LACC. “This project has impacted so many lives and we are excited to be an integral part of this story.”

Portraits of Hope is a national non-profit organization committed to developing dynamic, public art projects that enrich the lives of children and adults. This initiative is a continuation of the program’s large-scale, national projects which have brightened and visually transformed public settings and symbols ranging from the NYC taxi fleet, blimps, planes, lakes, and buildings to LA’s coastal lifeguard towers, urban laundromats, animal shelters, and frontline fire and rescue vehicles by working with organizations from NASA to NASCAR. Shaping LA is Portraits of Hope’s first major project within the city of LA since The Spheres at MacArthur Park in 2015.

After approximately six months, the artwork will be donated primarily to social service institutions to beautify their environments.

Photo by Felix Massey

Detroit’s Cobo Center won an annual Detroit Green Task Forces Earth Day Business Award on April 20.

The City of Detroit Green Task Force is made up of numerous environmental advocacy groups, non-profit organizations, environmental businesses, government employees and residents. The Green Task Force works to create green jobs, improve environmental policy, and build a more sustainable city.

The April 20 event is held each year to celebrate Earth Day and to recognize those individuals and businesses whose work is committed to securing Detroit as a more sustainable and resilient city.

“I am proud to recognize the hard work and efforts of our sustainable community who are working creatively and collectively to make Detroit the greenest city in the country,” said Councilman Scott Benson, chair of the City Council’s Green Task Force District 3.

The Detroit Green Task Force awards local organization with their “Earth Day Business Award” for outstanding efforts in sustainability and contributing to the Detroit Green Task Force’s sustainability action agenda.

This year, at their annual awards breakfast, Cobo Center received the Earth Day Business Award for being significantly invested and adjusting operations to prioritize sustainability for each event and on an ongoing basis for facility operations.

Cobo Center currently holds multiple industry and local recognitions for waste reduction, energy and water efficiency, and is becoming an industry recognized destination for green events.

“We are humbled by this honor from the great city of Detroit,” said Claude Molinari, venue GM. “This recognition of our ongoing sustainability efforts is truly appreciated.”

Darren Burden has been appointed as Project Executive Director for SMG at Kai Tak Sports Park in Hong Kong.

The project, scheduled to open in 2023, comprises a 50,000 seat stadium, 10,000 capacity arena, 5,000 seat public sports ground, 60,000 m2 of retail space, and public open spaces.

Burden most recently served as a consultant for the NSW Government, leading the business case for the redevelopment of ANZ

Stadium, the former Olympic Stadium, in Sydney and prior to that as an operations adviser on the newly completed Bankwest Stadium in Western Sydney.

Until July 2018, Burden spent nearly five years as Chief Executive of Vbase, manager of Christchurch’s leading venues including Horncastle Arena, AMI Stadium, Hagley Oval, Air Force Museum Wigram, and the Christchurch Town Hall. With such a diversity of venues the company delivered over 700 events annually – always through its mantra of “make life more eventful.”

Before moving to Vbase, Burden spent seven years in Dunedin, working as the chief executive of the trust established to masterplan and build Forsyth Barr Stadium in time for Rugby World Cup 2011. He later became the chief executive of Dunedin Venues, operator of the stadium as well as the Dunedin Centre and Town Hall.

Burden has been involved in a number of other venue developments including the redevelopment of Christchurch Town Hall, the major refurbishment of the Dunedin Centre and the opening of Hagley Oval in time for Cricket World Cup 2015.

In 2016 Burden was named Venue Executive of the Year and Supreme Venue Person of the Year by the Entertainment Venues Association of New Zealand at their annual awards. In 2018 he was named as Asia Pacific Venue Professional of the Year by the Venue Management Association.