The University of Texas at Arlington announced that Jeff M. Davis, CVE, CVP CMP, has been named the new executive director of Special Events Facilities. He succeeds Executive Director Sharon Carey, who is retiring August 31, 2018. In his new position, which begins September 1, Davis will oversee and lead business development, internal and external events for two public assembly venues, College Park Center and Texas Hall, as well as UTATickets Box Office.

“Jeff has prepared himself remarkably well to assume this new role, and has demonstrated that he is quite capable of effectively managing our special event venues on our campus,” said John Hall, vice president for Administration and Campus Operations at UTA. “I know we are all excited and very happy for Jeff and we look forward to supporting him as he steps into the executive director’s position at the end of the summer.”

Davis brings to the position more than 16 years of high-level event and venue management in the hospitality, sports, and entertainment industry. He has extensive experience opening and operating multi-million dollar public assembly venues, building dynamic teams and identifying new revenue streams. He is passionate about the venue industry and has a strong emphasis on balancing the guest experience with patron safety, security, and exceeding expectations.

Davis said he is looking forward to his new role as executive director for several reasons. “Our Special Events Centers have changed substantially over the course of the past seven years, and it is reflected by our growth,” he said. “The motivation and the work ethic of our group makes me enthusiastic to step into this new position.”

Davis joined the University of Texas at Arlington in 2011 as general manager and oversaw the opening of College Park Center, a $78-million, 7,000-seat multipurpose arena. In January 2016 he was promoted to director of the CPC where he managed contract negotiations, tenant relations, renovation planning, and valuation for the venue. During this time, the College Park Center home venue expanded and added the Dallas Wings WNBA team as a tenant.
His background includes serving as the senior event coordinator for the Dallas Convention Center, and as event services manager at the GISD Special Events Center where he established and grew the event services team by 200 percent. He also served at Texas A&M University-Commerce where he planned events, festivals, and leadership training programs.

Davis is not the only one on the move at the University. Caleb Miller recently joined College Park Center as technical services manager. In his role, Miller oversees the planning and execution of production information for events, including sound, lighting, video broadcast, digital signage, and rigging. He also oversees equipment maintenance, including developing and maintaining maintenance and replacement cycles.

Miller comes to College Park Center with more than a decade of experience at the Hot Springs Convention Center in Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas, and MP Productions in Little Rock, Arkansas. “We are pleased that Caleb’s joining our team with a background in managing technical and audio visual productions. He will be a great asset to the CPC and Special Event Facilities team,” Davis said.

“I’m looking forward to working at College Park Center. I enjoy live events that I believe drive people and help provide the ‘wow’ factor,” Miller said.

Russ Simons, Venue Solutions Group, will handle the moderating role on Wednesday, July 25 at 9:15 am for an education session called Bridging the Gap, and which includes a who’s who of panelists from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Public Safety & Emergency Preparedness Canada (PSEPC).

Simons will interact with panelists Bill Flynn, president, GARDA Risk Management, LLC (former DHS); Shannon Brown, chief, Commercial Facilities Section, Sector Outreach and Program Division, Office of Infrastructure Protection (DHS); and Sandy Harvey, officer-in-charge, National Critical Infrastructure Team at the RCMP in Canada.

The latest security concerns for both the U.S. and Canada and information and resources available for public assembly venues will be addressed by the panel. The group will also share their current partnership strategies, along with their involvement with IAVM’s current safety and security programs to better understand the current challenges that face our industry.

The Burnsville City Council approved a contract extension for the management of the Ames Center with VenuWorks.

“We sincerely appreciate the vote of confidence from the city of Burnsville and the Ames Center Commission. We are proud to have been a part of the Ames Center since its inception and look forward to building on the successes we have enjoyed with our partners in Burnsville,” said Steve Peters, President of VenuWorks.

VenuWorks, who has worked with the City of Burnsville since the venue’s pre-opening in 2008, will continue to provide full service management and mark the 10th anniversary of the Ames Center in 2019.

“We look forward to the next step in our journey at the Ames Center with VenuWorks,” said Burnsville Mayor Elizabeth Kautz. “We have the utmost confidence in this team and their ability to continue to grow the reach and the scope of our beautiful facility.”

“I’m extremely pleased to continue our relationship with VenuWorks, particularly Ames Center Executive Director Brian Luther,” said Dan Gustafson, Burnsville City Councilmember and liaison to the Ames Center Commission. “The work Brian and his staff have done over the past several years has really positioned the Ames Center to grow and evolve into a premiere destination for the arts, theater, and
music south of the river.”

The Ames Center hosts local and national arts, concerts, family shows, dance recitals and competitions, business meetings, community events, and social gatherings. The Ames Center is committed to fulfill its mission to: foster the growth, development, and appreciation of the performing arts through the presentation of the broadest possible range of cultural, entertainment, and artistic events; provide a home to the community’s major performing arts groups; serve as a community center for the visual arts, business and educational meetings and presentations and provide economic stimulus for the benefit of the residents of Burnsville and the surrounding region.

Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, California, announced that Adam Millar has been named as general manager of the venue.

“We are pleased to welcome Adam to Ontario and look forward to his expertise in managing and booking an entertainment venue,” said Michael Krouse, regional vice president of SMG Worldwide. “His experience in the industry and core strength of working in Southern California will ensure we will continue to meet our goals since taking over management of the venue on July 1, 2016.”

Millar began his career in the entertainment industry as an intern for SMG at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum & Sports Arena, working his way up to event manager. Following that, he served as the director of event management for the SMG-managed Network Associates Coliseum & Oakland Arena until taking on the position of managing director for The Forum.

Millar’s career then included positions as the director of booking and event Services at Staples Center, theatre operations manager of The Greek Theatre, and director of national events for USA Water Polo, all in the Los Angeles area. Most recently, Millar has served as general manager of City National Grove of Anaheim since 2005.

Knowledge and work experience in several positions within a venue will provide Millar the tools to educate and lead the team at Citizens Business Bank Arena. He has a B.S. in Business Administration from San Diego State University and is a graduate of the IAVM Venue Management School.

SMG highlighted the success of its Event Innovation Team at the company’s annual management meeting held recently in Philadelphia. Since its inception one year ago, 126 internally produced special events have taken place at SMG-managed facilities in the United States, exceeding expectations. These self-created and locally produced events occur under the SMG Promotions banner and include team members from SMG venues across the SMG footprint of Stadiums, Convention Centers, Arenas and Theaters.

“Not only does SMG book top concerts, but they have always focused on creating community events that enrich our city,” said Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum. “Over the years, these community events have become annual traditions for many of our local residents and I’m proud to have SMG as a partner who embraces the city’s goal of downtown revitalization and economic growth.”

Event Innovation concepts across the SMG facility map include events such as the Grand Rapids “Wine, Beer and Food Festival,” Tulsa’s “DodgeBrawl,” and “Winterfest,” Soldier Field’s (Chicago) “10 mile” run, El Paso’s “Ice Cream Festival,” Ontario’s (California)” Route 66 Cruisin’ Reunion” car show and concert, and many more.

“Congratulations to all our venues and their remarkable achievement of producing 126 special events in one year,” John Bolton, SMG Vice President said. “And thanks to our Event Innovation Team leaders, Matt Blasey, Bryan Crowe, Tom Lorenz, Jeff Nickler, Zane Collings, Luca Sera, and Brian Smith for their contributions to this successful program.”

“The SMG team in Greater Ontario, California has made a true and measurable economic impact to our region and community by creating signature special events,” said Scott Ochoa, City Manager, City of Ontario. “The Route 66 Cruisin’ Reunion Classic Car Show drew more than 250,000 attendees last year, with over a $16 Million gain to our local economy. In addition, Def Fest (held prior to the Def Leppard concert) and Party on the Pavement (prior to Tim McGraw and Faith Hill concert) at Citizens Business Bank Arena were successes, with 10,000 guests enjoying the added entertainment experience.”

The Event Innovation Team was created during the 2017 SMG management meeting when the company officials held a competition among all SMG facilities to identify the best self-produced special event concepts. A total of 37 entries were judged and the top 15)were then packaged for development and ‘curated’ to the field operators by the Event Innovation Team during monthly webinars.

“These curated yet customizable events are now available to all our facilities as part of our unique SMG resource library,” said Doug Thornton, SMG Executive Vice President. “The Event Innovation Team was born from our desire to generate more home-grown activity in our facilities and the group has done an outstanding job in just a short time. Congratulations to John Bolton and the entire Event Innovation team for their leadership in spearheading this effort.”

The SMG Event Innovation Team has plans to roll out 10 additional event concepts between now and year end.