Visit Seattle announced the promotion of Kelly Saling to vice president, convention sales and services, a position that will include significant additional responsibilities. In this expanded role, Saling will now lead Visit Seattle’s Convention Services team, in addition to continued leadership of Convention Sales efforts.

“Kelly’s tremendous contributions over the last several years have been critical in helping form Visit Seattle’s selling strategies for two convention centers,” said Tom Norwalk, President and CEO of Visit Seattle. “Her high energy, creativity, and credibility are a vital asset to our team, and I look forward to her expanded role in leadership over both our sales and services efforts.”

Saling’s efforts have included the redeployment of Visit Seattle’s sales team to better address Seattle’s hotel supply growth and the need for additional hotel-direct business development. In this new role, Saling will continue to lead both citywide and short-term business development strategies for the Washington State Convention Center (WSCC). In August 2018, the WSCC also broke ground on an exciting additional facility, the Summit, which will be open for business in 2022.

Saling he Visit Seattle Convention Sales team in 2009 and has worked selling a variety of market segments. She was promoted to Director of Sales in 2014 and most recently to VP, Convention Sales in 2017. Previously, Kelly worked in Seattle for Columbia Hospitality, a management company, selling a variety of hotel and venue properties. Saling is a graduate of the University of Colorado with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication, Spanish Literature and Business Administration. She lives in Seattle with her husband and young son.

Photo by Jean Marcus Strole Photography.

North Island Credit Union has taken on naming rights to a leading amphitheater in Chula Vista, California, through a multi-year agreement with Live Nation.

The outdoor music venue, which has a capacity of 20,500, and previously had a naming rights deal with Mattress Firm, will now be known as North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre.

The venue hosts 30-plus concerts per year and welcomes more than 300,000 live music fans annually. Live Nation said the deal with North Island Credit Union further underlines a commitment to provide an extraordinary experience for both credit union members and music fans in the San Diego area.

The two parties will seek to enhance the fan experience at the venue, with the North Island Credit Union team to work on-site throughout the concert season to engage with eventgoers, provide giveaways and prizes, and offer information on credit union benefits and services.

As part of the agreement, North Island Credit Union members will be given a dedicated entrance, discounted ticket pricing, and promotions for tickets and exclusive fan experiences.

Steve O’Connell, president and chief executive of California Credit Union, said: “As we were exploring new avenues to support our community, bring more benefits to our members, and extend our brand awareness, the incredible opportunity to partner with Live Nation at this local venue proved to be a natural fit for both of our brands. North Island Credit Union’s vision for our member experience aligned seamlessly with Live Nation’s commitment to the fan experience.

“Together, we will combine our resources to bring a truly unique Southern California concert experience to North Island Credit Union members and all fans. We think fans will be excited about all that North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre will have to offer when the new season kicks off.”

Andy Peikon, senior vice-president of Live Nation venue sales, added: “North Island Credit Union is dedicated to enriching relationships within their community, so they were a natural fit as a like-minded, long-term partner for this classic amphitheater. Together, through the power of live music, we will integrate their brand in authentic ways throughout the venue so they can establish even more meaningful connections with members who have an affinity for live music.”

The amphitheater opened its doors in 1998 and is the first and largest venue of its kind in the San Diego area. It features top-tier concert tours from April through October and has hosted the likes of Depeche Mode, Jason Aldean, Kendrick Lamar, Weezer, Luis Miguel and Chris Stapleton.

–thestadiumbusiness.com

SMG Tulsa hosted a day of educational training at the Cox Business Center on October 30. Focused on risk mitigation and emergency preparedness for a variety of venues and crowd sizes, the training was attended by over 250 event professionals and first responders. The event featured representatives from the International Association of Venue Managers (IAVM), Department of Homeland Security, BOK Center, Tulsa Police Department, the National Fire Protection Association, and the Cox Business Center.

“Preventing terrorism, enhancing security, and ensuring resilience from disasters has been the goal of the International Association of Venue Manager’s security initiatives,” said Mark Herrera, IAVM Director of Education | Life Safety. ” It is imperative that we continue to find innovative ways protect all venues and raise our baseline security posture such as the most recent emergency preparedness training held at Cox Business Center in Tulsa Oklahoma.”

The event began with an overview of safety concerns and measures unique to the city and its Arena District. The “Safety of the City” presentation featured SMG Tulsa General Manager Nickler and Assistant General Manager Kerry Painter, CVE, CEM, CMP, in a sit-down interview Tulsa Police Chief Chuck Jordan.

“It’s tempting to think it won’t happen here or it can never happen in Tulsa, but that’s not the case,” stated SMG Tulsa General Manager Jeff Nickler. “We’re being proactive as a community and coming together to train and learn so Tulsa is prepared.”

“The dynamic threat environment involving potential vehicle ramming, knife attacks, small arms attacks and Improvised explosive attacks has prompted venues to look beyond the physical security measures and focus on increasing observational capabilities,” noted Herrera. “Venues today, like COX Business Center, understand the importance of coordinated training with key stakeholders and other organizations within their respective community. It is the goal of IAVM, through it’s Academy for Venue Safety and Security (AVSS), Venue Safety & Security Committees, and the live training programs to provide every venue and organization with exceptional focus, performance, and control in extreme situations.”

The event’s sessions included  “Situational Awareness (Risk Mitigation through Guest Service Interjection),” “Active Threat / Active Shooter Overview,” and “Trained Crowd Manager” and featured Herrera, Paul Villotti, PE, Director of Life Safety, Henderson Engineering, and Glenn Moore, U.S. Department of Homeland Security. IAVM provided a live-stream of the three training session on its Facebook page.  

For more information on how you can offer live safety and security training at your venue, click here.

Spectra, the providers of venue management and food services and hospitality to the Owensboro (KY) Convention Center and the Owensboro Sportscenter, announced some promotions and welcomes a new member to their Owensboro team.

Jessica Wilson Beckmann is now the director of the Owensboro Sportscenter. She was born and raised in Owensboro, a graduate of Daviess County High School (2005), and a KWC Lady Panther Basketball Alumni (2005-2007). Jessica graduated from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville with a Bachelors in Business Administration, specializing in Sports Management and Marketing. She has attained the designation of Certified Event Management Expert (CEME), is a graduate of Venue Management School (VMS), and recently received the Certified Venue Professional (CVP) designation from IAVM.

She has spent the last 10 years in the St. Louis area managing events at a variety of venues including a casino, convention center, ballpark, and arena.

She joined Spectra Venue Management at Chaifetz Arena in 2015. In her three years with Spectra, she has worked with clients such as the St. Louis Sports Commission, the Olympic Committees, NCAA, AEG, and Live Nation.

“The Owensboro Sportscenter is nostalgic for me,” Wilson Beckmann said. “I look out the window of my new office and I can see where my grandfather Bullet Wilson, KWC Hall of Famer, coached. Like many others, I grew up on the sidelines of this arena in the heyday of the Ray Harper and Bruce Pearl rivalry. My family history is tied to this building, the tenants, and this city. I’m grateful for the opportunity to be back home to help grow the Sportscenter and continue to bring a number of new events to the facility.”

Heather Terry has been promoted to director of sales for the Owensboro Convention Center and the Owensboro Sportscenter. Heather started her career with Spectra as a Sales Manager in 2015. When Spectra was awarded the contract for the Owensboro Sportscenter in September 2016, she became a sales manager for that property as well. Her primary responsibility in her new role will be to book conventions and special events while overseeing the sales team.

Prior to her work with Spectra, she worked as an inside sales manager for Dell, Inc. as well as a supervisor at Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center, both in Nashville.

Heather graduated from Kentucky Wesleyan College with a Bachelors in Communications with an emphasis on Public Relations and Advertising. She has an Associate’s Degree from Owensboro Community and Technical College in Organizational Communications.

Cody Ball has been promoted to operations manager at the Owensboro Convention Center. Cody joined the Spectra team in 2017 as a housekeeping lead and quickly transitioned over to setups and AV, including the new videoboards at the Owensboro Sportscenter. “We look forward to great things from Cody in his future with Spectra,” said Allen Herzog, director of operations.

University of Texas at Arlington (TX) Special Event Facilities announced the appointment of Paula McElheney to the new position of director of booking and contracts. McElheney’s role is to build promoter relationships in the entertainment industry, and to create and increase the number of entertainment, corporate, and special events to both College Park Center and Texas Hall.

McElheney comes to UT Arlington Special Event Facilities with more than 30 years of experience as a leader in the entertainment industry. She began in 1985 as co-founder of Production Specialties. Since that time she implemented exceptional achievement as a production assistant and talent buyer, working with a number of the major promoters as well as managing day-of-show details for concerts in the Dallas/Fort Worth market. Recently she was at Chesapeake Arena/Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City, where she worked with entertainment, convention, and business events.

“Paula McElheney’s depth of knowledge in this industry will be a great asset to UTA’s Special Event Facilities team,” said Jeff Davis, CVE, CMP, executive director, Special Events Facilities. “As we focus on bringing more entertainment and events to College Park Center and Texas Hall, we are pleased to find the right candidate that understands concerts, family and corporate events, as well as the challenges of programming in a competitive market. With her extensive experience in the D/FW market, we are excited to have Paula joining our team in this capacity, and we look forward to having a more diversified event calendar for both venues.”