Adam Straight Hired

After a nationwide search, the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center has named Adam Straight as vice president of operations. In this capacity, Straight will be tasked with the oversight of plans and strategies for convention center event operations. Departments reporting to Adam will include Production Services, Food and Beverage, Public Safety, Environmental Services, and more.

Straight brings more than 19 years of facility operations and management experience to his new role. Before joining with the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, Straight served as the senior director of campus operations for the Georgia World Congress Center Authority (GWCCA) in Atlanta, Georgia, which includes the Georgia World Congress Center, Mercedes Benz Stadium, and Centennial Olympic Park. Under his leadership there, he and his team on the GWCC Authority oversaw the planning and management of multiple NCAA Final Fours, Super Bowls, and the National College Football Playoff Championship Game.

Straight’s career in the events industry includes four years as director of facility operations at the Georgia Dome, which played host to hundreds of sporting events and concerts, bringing approximately 1.9 million guests to the building per year. Straight also served 12 years with the University of Maryland, where he oversaw the daily operations of 14 athletic facilities that saw about 750,000 visitors annually. During this time, Straight also oversaw the planning, construction, and opening of a $13.5 million football stadium renovation.

“Adam is a great fit in both experience and personality and I am confident he is a perfect addition to our staff,” said Michael Sawaya, President of the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.

“My family and I are very excited to join the New Orleans family and plant roots in such a historic and vibrant city,” Straight said. “Through my unique experiences in venue management, my commitment to hospitality excellence and use of Quality Operating Standards, I look forward to help solidifying the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center as the #1 destination center in the #1 destination city.”

A nine-year veteran of the United States Coast Guard, Straight received numerous accolades and commendations for his service. Straight is also an IAVM Certified Venue Manager and received his Safety Certification from the National Safety Council.

LA Convention Center Expansion

Los Angeles city officials have made critical initial-step approvals for a proposed $500 million transformation of the Los Angeles Convention Center. Part of an overall $1.25 billion project, LACC’s total useable space would grow to more than 1.2 million square feet — including 250,000 square feet of meeting space and a 51,000-square-foot ballroom — with total contiguous exhibition space between the existing South and West Halls expanding to 750,000 square feet.

The public-private proposal also calls for a $700 million addition to the JW Marriott Los Angeles L.A. Live hotel on Olympic Boulevard. A 40-story tower with 850 rooms would be built just south of L.A. Live’s Regal Cinemas complex, to be connected by pedestrian bridges to the existing JW Marriott and the West Hall of the convention facility.

Melding the expanded convention center with the new hotel tower, Staples Center and L.A. Live would create a 100-acre campus with multiple meeting spaces, lodging, theaters and restaurants, said Ted Fikre, vice chairman of Los Angeles entertainment giant Anschutz Entertainment Group, which operates the LACC and owns L.A. Live. “This is not just about competing with Anaheim, San Diego, and San Francisco,” he noted. “The bigger opportunity here is to create this unrivaled destination.”

This past December, the city had thus far approved nearly $98 million for AEG’s convention center/hotel project. AEG hopes to begin negotiations immediately to secure construction approvals so the expansion and hotel can be completed as early as 2021.

The Green Sports Alliance announced Roger McClendon as the new executive director for the organization. McClendon will lead the premier alliance of international sports and stadium executives, as well as sustainability experts, to use sports as a vehicle to
promote healthy, sustainable communities throughout the world.

“I am honored for the opportunity to lead the Green Sports Alliance. I look forward to taking the Alliance to the next level and ensuring sports plays a key role in the global sustainability movement, focused on measurable impact,” McClendon said. “Along with our Board, members and staff, we are poised to develop the Alliance’s vision, while leveraging global innovation and
strategic partnerships, to improve the social and environmental well-being of future generations.”

McClendon joins Green Sports Alliance with extensive experience in sustainability, business, and sports. McClendon was the first-ever Chief Sustainability Officer for Yum! Brands, whose holdings include Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and KFC restaurants. He also led the development of Blueline, a sustainable design guide for restaurants built on the LEED certification program. Blueline was a
global standard implemented in approximately 5,000 Yum! Brand restaurants globally.

“We are very excited to have Roger take on this leadership role,” said Scott Jenkins, who serves as Chair of the Board. “His results-driven track record in sustainability and sports presents a unique opportunity for the Alliance to further innovate, influence and inspire the communities we serve.”

Due to McClendon’s efforts, Yum! was named to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index in 2017 and 2018, as well as one of the 100 Best Corporate Citizens by Corporate Responsibility Magazine. Yum! Brands was also part of the inaugural class of the U.S. Food Loss and Waste 2030 Champions, U.S. businesses and organizations pledging concrete steps to reduce food loss and waste in their
operations 50 percent by 2030.

Prior to Yum! McClendon worked with Champion Paper, now International Paper, to automate and improve operational and manufacturing efficiencies that included water treatment, power generation, and production systems. McClendon studied computer and electrical engineering at the University of Cincinnati while also becoming the school’s number two scorer all-time, second
only to National Basketball Association Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson.

McClendon was chosen after a thorough and highly competitive national search led by Weinreb Group Sustainability Recruiting, a boutique executive search firm that specializes in placing sustainability leaders.

Topping Off Milestone

A major construction milestone in The Q Transformation to update and modernize the 25-year old publicly-owned Quicken Loans Arena was celebrated with a special topping off ceremony to hoist the project’s final steel beam into place atop of the arena.

Joining Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson, Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish, Cleveland City Council President Kevin Kelley, Cuyahoga County Council Vice President Pernel Jones, and Cavaliers & Quicken Loans Arena CEO Len Komoroski, were invited guests and project workers who gathered to sign the 21-foot, 650 pound beam before watching it being raised to its permanent position above The Q.

In keeping with the topping off tradition, in addition to an evergreen tree and an American flag, flags representing the City of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County, along with flags representing the Iron Workers Union Local #17, Forest City Erectors, Whiting-Turner, the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the Cleveland Monsters were placed on the beam.

“As the final beam is raised on the Q Transformation project, I want to recognize the Cleveland Cavaliers for their commitment to the citizens of Cleveland. Through the financial, economic and community benefits the people of Cleveland gained through this project, the project continues to be a valuable investment in our city’s neighborhoods and our future,” said Mayor Frank Jackson.

“This topping off is a great milestone for this important project. Our investment in The Q is an investment in the future of this community,” said Cuyahoga County Executive Budish. “The Q is one of the key economic drivers of our county, bringing millions of fans to hundreds of events. These are people who then spend money in our restaurants and bars and in our shops. Add to that the almost 1,500 construction jobs that have been created by this transformation and this is a project we can all be proud of.”

As of December 2018, 1,457 union tradesmen and women that represent 24 local unions have clocked 173,868 hours on The Q Transformation job site. The Cavaliers are also proud to report that The Q Transformation minority, female, and small business and workforce inclusion efforts continue to exceed the project goals pursuant to the City of Cleveland’s Community Benefits Agreement (CBA), endorsed by the County, and adopted in resolution by Gateway Economic Development Corp.

Highlights as of December 2018:

54% of the workforce resided in Cuyahoga County, exceeding the project’s County workforce participation Community Benefits Agreement (C.B.A.) goal of 25%.
24% of the workforce resided in Cleveland, exceeding the project’s City C.B.A.’s goal of 20%.
The Minority Business Enterprise workforce participation level of 25% exceeds the C.B.A.’s goal of 16%.
The Female Business Enterprise workforce participation level of 6% also exceeds the C.B.A.’s goal of 5%.
The percentage of total construction contract dollars awarded thus far with minority, female and small business enterprise diversity is 59%.

“From the onset, our goal was to ensure that we provided opportunities for a local and diverse group of subcontractors, vendors, tradesmen and women to be a part of this major community project. Being able to exceed the project’s goals thus far is part of this milestone celebration today and something all of us can be very proud of,” said Cavs and Quicken Loans Arena CEO Komoroski. “We also want to commend and thank our general contractor, Whiting-Turner, for their partnership and commitment towards our diversity and inclusion efforts. We will continue to make that commitment a top priority as the project heads towards the finish line later this year.”

The topping off culminates almost a year of structural steel work on the project, which began in February 2018. More than 4,750 pieces of steel, equivalent to 1,229 tons, have been installed to form the frame of the arena’s new north atrium and south entrance.

The dramatic new street-facing exterior glass façade and north atrium that will add 42,530 square feet of new public space to The Q is taking shape. When complete, 77,110 square feet of exterior glass curtain wall made up of 1,475 pieces of glass will have been installed.​

Work on the south side of the arena is near completion, adding 6,350 square feet to provide a more expansive and modernized Discount Drug Mart South Entrance along with the new “South Neighborhood,” a social gathering spot featuring a great lineup of new food and beverage offerings. Scheduled to be the first to open in mid-February is the new Saucy Brew Works Pub, and soon thereafter, two exciting food concepts from local chefs Jonathan Sawyer of the Greenhouse Tavern and Karen Small of the Flying Fig.

The Q Transformation is a private/public partnership between the City of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County and the Cavaliers that will modernize the venue to maintain its world-class status and remain a cornerstone for the continued growth and momentum of a city and region on the rise. Since the arena opened in 1994 in the Gateway District, it has been a core catalytic part of the over $1 billion in development in the downtown neighborhood that has become a vibrant live, work and play destination.

The transformation project’s total investment scope has grown to $185 million from its original $140 million 50-50 private/public funding agreement. When Cavaliers Chairman Dan Gilbert and the Cavs organization committed an additional $45 million of private funding towards additional updates and improvements to The Q, it raised the team’s current private funding commitment from $70 million to $115 million. The Cavaliers’ portion of the funding covers all non-public, club, suite, team, premium space, AV/LED, lighting and multi-media upgrades, as well as a significant portion of the public space updates, which includes concourse improvements and square footage increases.

The Q closed for the summer of 2018 to begin renovation work on the interior of the building that included the suite level, five membership spaces and the Cavaliers and Monsters locker rooms, which were completed when the arena re-opened in October.

As work continues on the exterior and interior of The Q throughout the Cavaliers 2018-19 season, the arena will close again for the summer of 2019 to complete the transformation. The newly renovated arena will re-open for the start of the Cavaliers, Monsters, and entertainment season in October 2019.

The Academy for Venue Safety and Security welcomes Special Agent in Charge Aaron Rouse, Federal Bureau of Investigation, as the 2019 Opening Keynote.  Rouse will speak on one of the deadliest mass shooting incidents in the United States, the Route 91 Harvest Festival.

“Having Special Agent in Charge Rouse as the opening keynote for AVSS is an honor,” stated Mark Herrera, IAVM Director of Education. “His discussion on the Route 91 Harvest Festival incident and the coordinated law enforcement response that ensued in the weeks to follow is something that all who work in our industry should hear.”

Rouse began his career with the FBI in September 1996 and was first assigned to the Washington Field Office (WFO) where he worked violent crime and was on both the Joint Fugitive Task Force and the Violent Crime/Reactive squads.  During his tenure with the FBI, he has served as Supervisory Special Agent (SSA) in the Counterintelligence Division at FBIHQ, the senior liaison to the newly established Community HUMINT Coordination Center at CIA Headquarters, and Section Chief for the Clandestine Operations Section in the Counterintelligence Division at FBI Headquarters.  Currently, Rouse serves as Special Agent in Charge of the Las Vegas Division.

“The lessons learned from Rouse regarding the Route 91 Harvest Festival investigation will help set the tone for the week of AVSS classes, exercises, and activities,” noted Herrera. “It is important that venues of all types, across all sectors, hosting events small or large, hear the message that Rouse will deliver at AVSS, so as to better plan, prepare, respond, and recover from tragic events such as Harvest 91.”

AVSS will be held March 10-14, 2019 in San Diego, CA.  To learn more about AVSS or to register to attend, CLICK HERE.