The City of Garland (TX) approved a variance that will allow the Curtis Culwell Center the rights to sell alcohol. The
Curtis Culwell Center is a Garland Independent School District (GISD) owned facility.

“This is great news that will allow us to attract more events,” said John Wilborn, venue director. “We fully expect to have more of a national presence in terms of what we book into the center.”

As a GISD owned venue, the Culwell Center will not sell alcohol at school-related events. The facility hosts numerous high school graduations, high school regional basketball tournaments, volleyball tournaments, and more.

The opportunity to give guests the opportunity to enjoy alcohol at all non-school related events, however, was too great to pass up. It was analyzed that there were 60 events that would have been appropriate for alcohol to be sold at those events.

“The projections are that by having alcohol to be sold at the CCC, we will be even more attractive to mainstream shows for national promoters,” Wilborn said.

Microsoft Theater announced Amir Mertaban as the new general manager of the 7,100-seat downtown Los Angeles venue. Mertaban previously served as the general manager of the Fox Performing Arts Center and the Riverside Municipal Auditorium and prior to that he was the assistant general manager at the Warner Theatre in Washington, D.C.

“We are incredibly excited to welcome Amir to our team at Microsoft Theater,” said Lee Zeidman, President, STAPLES Center, Microsoft Theater, L.A. LIVE. “Looking forward to all that he will bring to Microsoft Theater with his leadership and guidance, to continue to make the theater and L.A. LIVE a top entertainment destination for artists and fans alike.”

“Becoming the general manager for Microsoft Theater is an honor and a privilege I am excited to take on,” said Mertaban. “I am ready to dive into this building, which hosts some of the top music and live entertainment events in the world and collaborate with the team that makes it all happen.”

Amir is a native of Southern California and started his career at the LA County Fair. He worked as an event manager and in business development where he created and produced a number of events and festivals on grounds. The Fair was a great place to sink his teeth into all types of events including horse racing, NHRA drag racing, music festivals, consumer shows, trade shows, conventions, haunted attractions, and the list goes on.

Amir joined Live Nation in 2014 where he ran the Warner Theatre in Washington, D.C. He was fortunate to work the White House events team on numerous events and was also on the committee to welcome the Pope to D.C.

In his most recent role as general manager with Live Nation running the Fox Performing Arts Center and the Riverside Municipal Auditorium, Amir and his team built a reputation for being the “Kings of Content.” The team produced more than 45 events annually, rallying the city and local businesses to support. He’s built his career on the tenants of collaboration and mutual benefit and he hopes that this spirit and dedication will continue in his new role at Microsoft Theater.

Larry N. Rogers, who for 14 years managed the Augusta-Richmond County Civic Center (now James Brown Arena) and turned it into a profitable business operating in the black, passed away December 14 of medical problems. He was 76.

Fittingly, the obituary note includes the following appropriate for this season: “Larry’s favorite holiday was Christmas and he would want everyone to have a merry and joyous one. Therefore, his memorial event will be held after the holidays, time and place to be announced. Memorial gifts may be made to the Augusta Canal National Heritage Area, the Golden Harvest Food Bank or the Imperial Theatre renovation fund.”

Rogers wife, Rebecca, is marketing and public relations director of the Augusta Canal National Heritage Area.

Rogers served as operations manager of the Huntington (WV) civic center when the Augusta-Richmond County Coliseum Authority hired him in 1979 as assistant general manager of the $18 million entertainment facility, which opened the following December mostly under Rogers’ expertise.

Rogers was known for booking diverse acts that constantly drew sold-out crowds to the venue. From rock to R&B to country, Rogers brought all to town, even though he admitted that initially he was not aware who some of them were when they first appeared in Augusta in the early 1980s.

Rogers later worked at other entertainment venues beginning in 1993 although Augusta was always home to him and his love with the community and its venues.

IAVM will announce more on the memorial event as soon as information is known.

IAVM member real estate consulting firms are located throughout the US. Such firms specialize in convention centers, arenas, stadiums, hotels and fairgrounds, among other real estate land uses. Often, real estate consultants are seen as “feasibility consultants” looking at a new facility or an expanded or replaced facility.

If customers/clients are smart, they can use economic consultants in so many other ways. A good consultant has literally seen thousands of projects that can inform the support they can provide. For example, the Erie County Convention Center Authority has commissioned studies for:

• Upgrade plan for the City’s arena, ball park and performing arts center, with full demand, financial projections, and economic impact analysis for each use
• Strategy development for a vitalized district around these venues, making a policy decision to remove a parking deck and create an event lawn between the three facilities, replacing parking elsewhere
• Policy decision between self-developing or attracting a developer for a 203-room Sheraton hotel
• Expert testimony defending the authority in justifying the hotel, while addressing concerns of other hotels
• Projecting tax revenue for various projects funded by the authority
• Recruiting management for the 203-room Sheraton hotel
• Assisting in analyzing a 16-acre parcel owned by the authority, for hotel, office, residential, retail and cultural uses, and helping issue a developer RFP for this parcel
• Holding countless workshops with the Board, helping them develop the business case for implementing the above improvements, to the City, County and State
• Helping the CVB adjust their marketing approach to reflect the new convention center
• Preparing updates to projections prepared 12 years earlier, to carry the organization through the next 10 years of operation.

Your consultant can also identify operation improvements, help analyze economic and fiscal impacts, help argue the case, base on return on investments, help hire architects, contracts and other service providers, and many other services. Such consultants are seasoned industry professionals, with the sole intent of making client organizations better. Their services are actually very inexpensive compared to the size of investments being made and are often earned many fold over by the savings brought forth by the consultant.

Charles Johnson is the President of Johnson Consulting and a Managing Director of World Trade Center Chicago

The Cox Business Center in Tulsa, managed by SMG and owned by the City of Tulsa, announced the appointment of Angie Teel, CMP, as the assistant general manager. Teel joins the venue from the St. Charles Convention Center where she has acted as a director since 2011. She has more than 10 years of venue management experience and is a Certified Meeting Professional (CMP). In her new role, Teel will coordinate daily activities in the downtown venue with various departments and work to continuously improve the reputation and award-winning standards of the convention center and interject best industry practices into the day-to-day operations.

“The enthusiasm and passion for great events and guest experiences at the Cox Business Center is something I share,” Teel said. “I’m looking forward to getting to know the entire team and Tulsa better, and to contribute to the outstanding impact the venue has on the city and everyone who steps inside.”

Teel studied International Business at Missouri State University before beginning her career in events. She is active in IAVM and has chaired numerous committees and served as Region 3 Director (2015-2017) and on the Board of Directors Executive Committee (2016-2017). She specializes in venue safety and security, trade-shows, special events, and corporate meetings.

“We look forward to having Angie and her convention industry experience join Tulsa,” said Ray Hoyt, president, Tulsa Convention and Visitors Bureau & Tulsa Sports Commission. “As we get ready to open the new expansion and greet new guests she will be a strong asset to our industry partners.”