By Gail Sawyer
ASM Global announced that Rod Pilbeam, one of the founders of the business now operating as ASM Global (APAC) will step back as COO to a part-time role as from July this year.
Pilbeam and Harvey Lister first went into business together in the mid-1970s presenting concert tours around Queensland and New South Wales and took on their first formal venue operation at Her Majesty’s Theatre in Brisbane in 1982. Forty years later, the company today employs some 20,000 people in 40 venues across the Middle East, East Asia, Australia, and New Zealand as part of the 350+ venue network of the world’s largest venue management and event programming company, ASM Global.
During that period, Pilbeam has been in the thick of the company’s development both in its 
existing contracts and undertaking consulting projects that often led to new management opportunities.
With a strong background in marketing and promotion, Pilbeam has extensive experience in dealing with the challenges faced by promoters and producers as well as venue operators, and the interface between them. He has been a strong fighter for maintaining the integrity and the public’s perceptions of the live event marketplace, particularly in relation to the fair availability of tickets and the suppression of scalping. He also worked on the development of Live Performance Australia’s Ticketing Code of Conduct.
“I am gratified to have had the opportunity to be part of the development of a strong entertainment business that provides a lot of pleasure for many people in the communities we serve, as well as the business outcomes that are so important for venue owners, artists, performers, players, presentation professionals, and the myriad of others who make this business work,” Pilbeam said. “At ASM Global, we have teams of the best professionals in our industry focused on delivering successful outcomes for all stakeholders.
“I have also had the opportunity to make great contacts around the world who have provided extraordinary assistance and often enduring friendships throughout my career. My wife Judy and I are keen to rekindle some of these relationships now that COVID has eased.”
A former President of the Venue Management Association (Asia & Pacific), Pilbeam also served on the World Council of Venue Management, the International Association of Venue Managers, the International Ticketing Association, and the Public Venue Management School in Australia. He has served as a member of the Executive Council of Live Performance Australia, the entertainment industry employers’ association.
In 2013, the Venue Industry recognised him as its Professional of the Year.
ASM Global (APAC) Chairman & CEO Harvey Lister AM said, “Rod and I met in 1973 when working for hit music station 4IP and from there we launched into the live music industry.”
Together they progressed into the professional management of venues at the very start of that trend when there were few precedents either in Australia or internationally – so they effectively had to make it up as they went along and established the policies and procedures that, to this day, are the hallmark of ASM Global’s commercial management reputation.
“Rod’s contribution to the growth of our business, and to the maturing of the venue industry, is immeasurable,” Lister added. “Rod is simply a giant of our industry with achievements too many to mention but, above all, he is a great friend and mentor to all who have worked with him.
“We have enjoyed a great business partnership where we shared the same business morals, stuck to what we believed were the right things to do and our thoughts were so aligned that Rod and I can still finish each other’s sentences – even after nearly half a century in one of the most challenging sectors of the events industry.
“Rod will continue to be my great friend and we are so fortunate that, in stepping back from those 80+ hour working weeks, Rod has agreed to transition to be our Group Director of Venue and Event Innovation – two of his enduring passions, maintaining his presence in the APAC Regional Headquarters in Brisbane.”
One of the group’s most senior venue professionals, Bob O’Keeffe AM, GM at Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre for nearly thirty years, will take up the role of COO – Venue Operations for ASM Global (APAC) as well as continuing in the newly-created role of CEO at BCEC.
Separately, and on a continuing basis, Pilbeam is the Acting Chair of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra.
Gail Sawyer is Group Communications Manager – ASM Global (Asia Pacific).
