Highly respected international entertainment and sports business executive Douglas Waller has been appointed to as Chief Operating Officer at the AEG Ogden-managed Dubai Arena, where his primary focus will be on the commercial and partnerships side of the business.

In announcing the appointment, Dubai Arena Chief Executive Guy Ngata said that Waller “brings significant experience at the highest levels of commercial partnerships negotiations and finance management to the venue.”

As a Vice President at International Management Group (IMG) for the past three years, Waller has worked closely with the organizers of the Expo 2020 Dubai to develop and execute a highly successful global sponsorship program. Prior to that appointment, Waller served as the head of Sponsorship and Licensing for the International Cricket Council (ICC) in Dubai for five years where he was responsible for the sale of commercial rights and management of ICC’s key commercial relationships.

“Doug’s commercial experience and leadership in the sports and entertainment space together with his thoughtful decision making and proven leadership makes him a tremendous acquisition for the Dubai Arena team,” Ngata said. “In addition, his 10 years’ experience working and living in Dubai has given him a sound understanding of the local culture, not to mention a strong business network.”

Waller is looking forward to his new role and to be joining the AEG international family, from the beginning of 2018. “The entertainment and sports worlds are changing rapidly and the Dubai Arena will be a clear choice for new and exciting properties looking to enter or expand their presence in the MEA region,” he said. “The arena offers residents and visitors to Dubai a world class environment to experience live entertainment and sport, befitting a progressive and global city like Dubai. Through its sponsorship, digital media and hospitality offerings, the arena provides the Middle East business sector with an attractive asset for developing brand recognition and customer engagement. I am very excited to be joining a highly experienced leadership team that will support MERAAS in delivering this world-class facility to the people of Dubai and the entertainment capital of the Middle East.”

AEG Ogden will operate the 17,000-seat Dubai Arena on behalf of Meraas, a Dubai-based holding company committed to creating and delivering unique experiences. It is part of AEG Ogden’s growing network in the Asia Pacific region which includes arenas in Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, and Newcastle and three in China, convention centers with entertainment theatre inclusions in Sydney, Brisbane, Cairns, Darwin, Kuala Lumpur, and Oman, plus the 52,000-seat Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, and will be a valued addition to AEG Facilities’ family of 150-plus iconic venues worldwide.

Angela Vanderwell was named as the new General Manager of the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Theater in downtown Salt Lake City and Associate Division Director for the Salt Lake County Center for the Arts.

“The Eccles Theater is the anchor of the Salt Lake Cultural Core and our region’s premier arts and entertainment venue,” Vanderwell said. “I am honored to lead our team as we develop and streamline our operations and provide continued excellent customer service to presenters and patrons alike.”

The venue opened in October 2016 and has already hosted more than 250 events and 500,000 patrons.

Eccles Theater houses the 2,500-seat Delta Performance Hall, the 150-seat Regent Street Black Box, the McCarthey Plaza, two patron lounges, and the in-house Encore Bistro.

Vanderwell has been at the Center for the Arts for 12 years as an event manager and has 20 years of event and venue experience. She recently earned her IAVM Certified Venue Professional designation, is working toward her Certified Facilities Executive certification, and is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Tennessee.

Allied Member Schuler Shook recently announced three company promotions of designers as well as the introduction of their newest team member. All demonstrate a stellar commitment to our clients and show leadership through example.

Harold “Chip” Ulich, ASTC, Senior Theatre Consultant

Chip Ulich, ASTC, moved from the Dallas office of Schuler Shook to California where he helped grow the San Francisco Bay office. He has planned and designed scores of theatres in the West and Southwest U.S. Dedicated to service in the field of theatre consulting, he is the Vice President of the American Society of Theatre Consultants. Current and recent projects include Crested Butte Center for the Arts in Colorado, Oklahoma State University McKnight Center for the Performing Arts and Austin ISD Performing Arts Center.

Kent Conrad, ASTC, Senior Theatre Consultant

Kent Conrad, ASTC, enhances his theatre consulting work in the San Francisco Bay office with a deep background in technical theatre. He served as production manager for multiple regional theatres and for UCLA’s department of Theatre, Film and TV, and he consulted on two venues in Tokyo for Walt Disney Entertainment. He sees each project from multiple perspectives and is a trusted collaborator and advocate. Kent’s projects include Stanford Memorial Auditorium and Pigott Theatre Rigging, Salt Lake Community College Center for Film and New Media, and Tokyo DisneySea – Broadway Music Theatre.

Jess Baker, Project Lighting Designer

Jess Baker, IES Associate Emerging Professional, is based in Schuler Shook’s Chicago office. A crossover talent with a technical theatre background as well as architectural lighting design experience, Jess combines active listening skills with painstaking thoroughness to bring client’s visions to life. Recent and current projects include American University Beirut Medical Center, JPMorgan Chase Polaris Hub, and The Hyatt Headquarters.

Jean Gonzalez, Theatre Specialist

Jean joins the Dallas office of Schuler Shook as a Theatre Specialist. A trained scenic and lighting designer for the theatre, Jean combines a keen eye for detail with a strong belief in the benefits of collaboration to create theatres that support the artists and the audiences. He used to bowl semi-professionally and would adopt any dog he meets, if he could.

As we celebrate this time of wonder and renewal, a warm feeling of gratitude fills our spirit and reflection upon the past year seems instinctive.

2017 was a particularly successful one for the Mentoring Committee and the Mentor Connector Program. Committee members wrote blogs, laughed a lot together at our booth at VenueConnect, and shared insights on The Venue Live Podcast. Past-participants and committee members are spreading the word, and it’s affirming to see the number of partnerships growing.

We are ever grateful to the small yet mighty IAVM committee who facilitate the Mentor Connector Program year-round with the dedicated support of IAVM Member Care Manager Summer Beday. As the program now has two year-long classes or “cycles” per year – one beginning in the spring and one in the fall – the work behind the scenes is excitingly self-perpetuating. The Mentoring Committee loves seeing new and returning Mentees, Mentors and Coaches each cycle.

I would like to recognize those IAVM members who took time out of an already demanding work schedule to focus on their own personal and professional growth as a “Mentee.” These brave members embrace opportunities for evolution and development. Of course, without the time, encouragement, and professionalism from our “Mentors,” there would be no one to help shape and cultivate the passion of fellow venue managers. I’d also like to tip my hat to the “Coaches,” who play a quieter supporting role in the process for multiple partnerships at a time.

Here are the IAVM Members who completed the Mentor Connector Program in 2017:

Are you looking for a 2018 New Year’s Resolution you will actually follow-through with? Participate in the MC Program! IAVM’s Mentor Connector Program is an excellent vehicle to enhance your venue management career. Both mentors and mentees benefit from participating in the program—mentors become better teachers and mentees benefit from the knowledge and direction they gain. The partnership introduces both individuals to a new network of colleagues.

Mentor Connector has no age limitations. You may want to learn about new safety & security technology, the latest techniques in ensuring the fan experience, advocacy laws that are applicable in your state or region, management & leadership trends, or navigating your way in to the industry—everyone can learn something from someone. If you’d like to learn more about the value of this free member benefit and fill out the application online, check out our webpage.

Congratulations to all who successfully completed the Mentor Connector Program in 2017.

We can’t wait to see who we meet in 2018!

Kathryn Carlson
Chair, IAVM Mentoring Committee

By Barbara Moreno

The staff of the San Diego Convention Center will be starting the new year with new safety and security tactics, following recent training from two top experts in the conventions, meetings, and venue industry.

Mark Herrera, Director of Education for the International Association of Venue Managers (IAVM), and Paul Villotti, Director of Life Safety for Henderson Engineers, provided two days of training to nearly 300 staff members and outside partners, including labor leaders, event security companies, and representatives of the San Diego International Airport and San Diego Theaters.

The trainings, held on December 14 and 15, 2017, is part of the San Diego Convention Center’s commitment to providing a safe environment to the nearly 900,000 attendees who visit the venue each year.

“Hosting events like this is important because it raises awareness levels among all staff including members of the team who may or may not have anything with ‘security’ in their job title,” said Josh Layne, Director of Public Security and Technology. “Training our housekeepers, grounds workers, engineers and concierge personnel works as a force multiplier. When all staff are actively thinking about security and know how to recognize when something just doesn’t seem right, it means that there are 100 additional sets of eyes looking for potential threats.”

The two days of training are part of the San Diego Convention Center’s commitment to working as partners with IAVM in a coordinated approach to protecting customers, guests, staff, and stakeholders within the convention and meetings industry.

The convention center’s leadership team, led by President & CEO Clifford “Rip” Rippetoe, CFE, and Executive Vice President and General Manager Karen Totaro, CFE, as well as its Board of Directors are working with the IAVM Industry Security Council.

“As a past Chairman of the Board for IAVM, I am completely immersed in ensuring our team is exposed to all the educational opportunities the IAVM offers,” said Totaro. “I have had the pleasure of participating in this expanded security training several times and worked with Mark Herrera and Josh Layne to make it a reality here in San Diego for our team and other community teams alike.”

Layne sits on IAVM’s Safety and Security Committee to help develop risk mitigation guidelines and share best practices within the industry to improve safety nationwide.

“A great venue such as the San Diego Convention Center ensures that venue and security staff have regular training and also regularly test knowledge, skills and reactions in a variety of different situations,” he said. “Training, in particularly reality-based training, inoculates everyone to conditions that provide the tools and resources to better plan, prepare and recover to any condition.”

Herrera added that the San Diego Convention Center is part of an overall $283 billion industry, servicing millions of people who attend meetings, conventions and exhibitions across the country.

Rippetoe said that this training is just the beginning of a more holistic approach to security training, reiterating that every member of the team is critical to security.

“It is my goal that we take a lead role and a collective responsibility when it comes to mitigating risks and assessing threats,” he said. “We already have a strong collaborative relationship with our partners at the San Diego Police Department, Port of San Diego Harbor Police Department and the FBI. Our actions can help make critical infrastructures in and around the San Diego Convention Center that much safer.”

Barbara Moreno is executive director of communications for the San Diego Convention Center Corporation.