Lee Zeidman, President of STAPLES Center, Microsoft Theater and L.A. LIVE, announced the hiring of Hallie Yavitch as the Vice President of Booking for STAPLES Center and Microsoft Theater. In her new role, Yavitch will focus on the booking and organization of talent, touring artists, and shows for STAPLES Center and Microsoft Theater. She also will be responsible for sourcing talent, negotiating and securing deals with high priority clients and promoters, creating new original content, as well as leading the booking and marketing departments for both venues.

“We are incredibly excited to have Hallie join our team at STAPLES Center and Microsoft Theater,” Zeidman said. “She brings years of experience and knowledge of booking and event creation to our venues and to the market, along with strong industry relationships. We are looking forward to her hitting the ground running here in Los Angeles.”

“I am thrilled to take on this new position and join the amazing team that is in place at both STAPLES Center and Microsoft Theater,” Yavitch said. “I look forward to jumping right in with both the booking and marketing teams and working with all of the promoters, agents, and managers throughout the country and in Los Angeles, representing these two iconic venues.”

Prior to accepting to new position with STAPLES Center and Microsoft Theater, Yavitch worked for the Cleveland Cavaliers and Quicken Loans Arena organization since October 2008. In 2017, she was promoted to Vice President of Event Booking where she was responsible for maintaining the event booking for Quicken Loans Arena including budgeting, event production, promotion, and negotiation. Prior to working at Quicken Loans Arena, Yavitch spent 14 years with Playhouse Square in Cleveland, leading in various booking capacities including Assistant Director of Programming, Concerts Manager and Contemporary Programming Coordinator. She has also spent time working with Magic Arts & Entertainment as the Associate General Manager of Touring for shows including Mannheim Steamroller, David Copperfield, and Lord of the Dance.

In addition to the hiring of Yavitch, STAPLES Center and Microsoft Theater have announced several internal promotions for both venues. Ignacio Guerra has been named Vice President of Operations and Parking and will be responsible for overseeing back-of-house operations as it relates to facility operations, conversions, housekeeping, and loading dock operations during event and nonevent times. In addition, he will continue to oversee parking operations for the entire L.A. LIVE district and its surrounding tenants such as the Los Angeles Convention Center, The Ritz-Carlton, JW Marriott Los Angeles and Microsoft Theater. In his previous role Guerra served as the Vice President of Parking working his way up from Parking Manager and has been with STAPLES Center and AEG for 19 years.

Bill Garner has been promoted to Senior Director of Parking for STAPLES Center, Microsoft Theater, and L.A. LIVE. Within his new role Garner will oversee the parking department and manage all parking operations staff including contractors Classic Parking, Classic Protection, Classic Transportation and Sweeping Concepts for all events held at STAPLES Center, Microsoft Theater and L.A. LIVE. Additionally, Garner will also manage all the parking operations of The Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott Los Angeles. He began his career at STAPLES Center with Five Star Parking and was part of the original STAPLES Center opening team in 1999. In 2007, he joined AEG as STAPLES Center’s Parking Manager and most recently he was promoted to Director of Parking in 2012.

Armen Dembekjian has been promoted to the newly created position of Vice President of Event Production for STAPLES Center. In his new role Dembekjian will oversee the event management of an event once it has been booked and will provide leadership and support to the team of event managers. Additionally, he will be responsible for the supervision and coordination of the union stagehands as well as the production elements for all STAPLES Center events. Dembekjian will also collaborate and work closely with Yavitch to nurture relationships with tenants and clients. Dembekjian began his career at STAPLES Center in 2005 as a Parking Coordinator rising through the ranks to Assistant Event Manager, Senior Event Manager, Director of Operations, and most recently as the Senior Director of Operations since September 2017.

Wendy Funes has been promoted to Senior Director of Booking for STAPLES Center and Microsoft Theater. She will be responsible for the day-to-day oversight of booked events for both venues from an overall business and client perspective and she will manage the venues’ relationships with promoters. In addition, she will assist in the leadership of the Booking Department and work closely with the Event Production teams at both venues. Funes began her career at STAPLES Center in 2002 within the Box Office department before moving to the booking department where she most recently served as the Director of Booking for Microsoft Theater.

Christina Mikhail has been promoted to Senior Manager of Booking & VIP Services in a newly created role and will work closely with the Senior Director of Booking and the Vice President of Booking to maximize space usage at STAPLES Center and Microsoft Theater by vetting and booking events around the entire facility to ensure maximum operational efficiency. Mikhail will serve as the primary liaison for events and is also responsible for preparing all necessary event documents including event license agreements, estimates and insurance certificates and will be responsible for submitting all dates to the NBA, NHL and WNBA for the arena’s tenant teams. Additionally, she will continue to be responsible for the oversight of VIP ticket distribution for both venues. Mikhail began her career at STAPLES Center in 2010 as an Executive Assistant.

Heymann Performing Arts Center, a Lafayette, Louisiana-based 2,100-seat venue, has selected Ungerboeck For Performing Arts to help digitally transform its businesses customer relationship management, performance operations, financial accounting, and reporting needs.

“We may not be located in New York City, but we have all the complexity of venues in larger markets,” said Brian McGrath, Heymann’s general manager. “For example, we’ve created unique pricing and rate structures that help us better cater to our customers, making it easy to do business with us. As a result, our event pricing, contracts, and billing needed to be done in Excel sheets. That was not a sustainable solution. After reviewing several packages, we found that Ungerboeck addressed our businesses needs without customization or workarounds.”

Manish Chandak, President and CEO of Ungerboeck added, “We are very excited to welcome Brian and the team to the Ungerboeck community. Only 30 days into their onboarding, Heymann is up and running and already benefiting from their digital transformation.

The National Parking Association (NPA) and Women in Parking (WIP), long-time collaborators and peer organizations, announced their plans to unite.

With NPA’s reputation as the premier association for parking professionals and WIP’s increased momentum, the combined organization will have the leadership, reach, and voice necessary to amplify the advancement and achievement of women in the parking industry.

“The strategic union with WIP will solidify the parking industry’s commitment to diversity and workforce development,” said NPA Board Chair Nicolle Judge. “By combining Women in Parking with NPA’s expanding member base, we can align our efforts to develop even more parking professionals.”

NPA and WIP have collaborated over the history of both organizations, including hosting WIP conferences and events alongside NPA conventions. Nicolle Judge also served as a Women in Parking Board Director.

“Women in Parking and NPA have been long time partners. The reputation of NPA, coupled with the momentum of women in parking movement, makes this the perfect time to officially unite,” said WIP Board Chair Marcy Sparrow.

Ruth Beaman, Executive Director of WIP said, “We’re confident that joining forces and focusing our efforts will mean that we can provide our parking leaders with the best practice tools, research and peer network the parking industry has to offer.”

Over the course of the year, NPA and WIP will work to transition to a single operational structure. The entire membership of WIP will become a part of NPA’s membership and will begin receiving NPA welcome materials and access to NPA benefits.

NPA will host a welcome call in March for all WIP members to learn more about the organization and transition. NPA President Christine Banning, IOM, CAE said, “We are very proud to join forces with Women in Parking and take the transition process very seriously. NPA leadership will do everything in its power to ensure the transition is seamless, and all WIP members continue to play an active role in the organization.”

There is a staggering statistic that over the course of a year, 16 of the largest container ships, or super-vessels, can emit as much sulfur into the atmosphere as all of the cars in the world running during that same year time frame. If you stop for a minute to think about that fact, it becomes difficult to even wrap your mind around it. The same amount of sulfur as ALL of the cars in the world over the course of an entire year! And the sulfur pollution is only the beginning of this story.

Almost everything we purchase as American consumers is produced in Asia. This requires a constant flow of cargo ships back and forth between continents. There are an estimated 100,000 container ships on the seas and this number continues to grow. Some of the larger vessels can carry 14,000 full sized containers! The larger cargo ships have engines that are the size of a house! So just imagine the pollution created by an engine that large.

Couple this with the fact that, because of zero international regulations, these ships are allowed to burn the cheapest, filthiest, high-sulfur fuel only compounds the problem. This “bunker fuel” as it is called is the lowest grade of liquid fuel in use and contains 2,000 times the amount of sulfur as automobile diesel fuel. Its basically what’s left over after all of the cleaner fuels have been extracted from crude oil.

Environmental organizations across the globe have tried to ban this type of fuel but for now it is still in use. The United States itself has tried to impart regulations on these ships once they are within a certain distance to our shores, but the ships are no longer liable once they are in international waters.

A recent study by the NOAA – National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found that the particulates expelled from container ships contribute to over 60,000 premature human deaths each year. These health risks are most prevalent in areas in the Mediterranean, India and China because they are heavily trafficked by containers. However, winds can push cargo ship exhaust anywhere, including our own Florida coast, where the ecosystem and air are being polluted because of these ships.

Bottom line, the impact that overseas shipping has on our environment is a serious issue. Many seating manufacturers contribute to this air pollution everyday because of their their non-US based sourcing and manufacturing.

Made in the USA makes a difference. Please consider where products are being manufactured before you make your next buying decision. 

Eileen Kulish is an Allied Member and the National Accounts Manager for MTS Seating

The ticket for the game might not be too fan-friendly, but oh how guests at Super Bowl LIII at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta are going to love chowing down on some $2 hot dogs and washing them down for some $5 beer.

Yes, the prices for such staple concession items at America’s biggest sporting event gives patrons an opportunity to save a few bucks when it comes to filling up the stomach.

As team CEO/President Rich McKay said once again in advance of next Sunday’s game between the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams, the venue would have Fan First Menu Pricing for spectators, and the menu even goes beyond the tried-and-true hot dogs and beer.

In all, some 12 popular food and beverage items will be available at very affordable prices, including $5 cheeseburgers, $3 nachos, and $2 refillable soft drinks. There is no tax included on the items, so go ahead and hand over that $10 bill and walk away with some nachos, a dog, and a cold one.

The low pricing is actually counter to what takes place at such a major event as a Super Bowl. But, again, McKay, pushed aside the significance of the game when it came to menu pricing.

In fact, the team introduced the concept when the sparkling $1.5 billion stadium debuted in 2017. Most telling, spending per customer rose 16 percent despite a 55 percent dip in prices from the last year of the Georgia Dome through the inaugural year of Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Levy Restaurants is the venue’s F&B provider. With this being, of course, a Super Bowl, fans will make it an all-day affair, something the provider has taken into account as there are 29 walk-in coolers for keg storage and another 12 for food coolers. There will be no issue in running out of items as 75,000 bottled waters and 55,000 hot dogs will be stocked for the big game.

The concept of lowering some prices seems to be catching on as 13 pro and college sports teams have followed the lead in Atlanta, including the Baltimore Ravens and Detroit Lions.

Where does all of this go from here? Who knows, but for now there is a great starting point set by the model in Atlanta.