George R. Brown Convention Center (GRB) in Houston, TX, has promoted John Gonzalez, CMP, to Senior Vice President of Operations & General Manager; Kelly Wolf, CMP, CEM, to Director of Convention Services; and Todd Holloman to Director of Live Events and Experiences. All bring leadership expertise and industry experience to their new roles.

In his new expanded role, Gonzalez will manage the day-to-day operations of the convention center, as well as Houston First Theater District venues Wortham Theater, Jones Hall, and Miller Outdoor Theater.

Kelly Wolf has been at the GRB since 2009, previously having worked with Aramark as the banquets & catering manager before moving to the GRB Event Services team as a convention services manager in 2015. Since then, Wolf has worked diligently to deliver the highest quality of service to clients while demonstrating strong organizational, planning, and management skills. She is currently completing her Master of Science in Hospitality and Tourism Management from Purdue University. In her new role, Wolf will oversee the Convention Services team.

Holloman has been with the GRB for a year and a half, having previously served as the director of convention services. He comes to the role of director of live events and experiences with a background in event operations, specializing in large-scale outdoor events. Previously, Holloman served in event management and director roles in the Mayor’s Office of Special Events and at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, before taking the role of vice president of Super Bowl Live for the Houston Super Bowl Committee. His new position will focus on building outdoor experiences and activations on the Plaza at Avenida Houston, the GRB’s 100,000+ square foot plaza and event space, as well as various outdoor venues in Houston’s Theater District.

Chefs from Centerplate, the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center’s exclusive food and beverage provider, impressed judges at two culinary competitions in recent weeks. At the 11th annual Hogs for the Cause, a barbecue-themed fundraiser for cancer research, Centerplate New Orleans Executive Chef Brandon Felder, Centerplate New Orleans Sous Chef Adam Gianelloni, and team leader, Sysco’s Andrew Shuford, raised $50,000 for cancer research, the ninth best out of more than 85 teams competing.

Days later, at the New Orleans Food and Wine Experience, Chefs Felder and Gianelloni walked away with a gold medal in the Best in Show – Meat/Poultry Category for their dish “Duck Four Ways”: Duck, Foie Gras and Goat Cheese Ravioli with Duck Confit and Spinach, Rich Foie Gras Laced Duck Demi-Glace, Sunchoke Purée, and Duck Crackling.

“This event is always fun for Adam and me. We get to play around and show our fine dining side,” said Chef Felder. “We never agree on what to do, but it always works out in the end.”

The Centerplate team continues a streak of high placing dishes at the New Orleans Food and Wine Experience, winning three gold medals and one silver medal over the last four years.

“Our Centerplate team, time and again, excels at what they do both in our facility and in the community. Not easy in a world-renowned culinary destination. Our event planning clients routinely give our culinary team high marks,” said Michael J. Sawaya, Convention Center president. “We are proud of Brandon and Adam but not surprised.”

The Major League Soccer Minnesota United played its first game at its new Allianz Field against the New York City FC, a 3-3 deadlock held under bright evening lights.

Allianz Field seats 19,400 and cost $250 million after breaking ground in June 2017. The St. Paul-based club assumed management from construction manager Mortenson earlier this year.

“The club has done an incredible job of catering it to everything we need,” United coach Adrian Heath said in a prepared statement. “I know the supporters are going to be impressed with everything that they’ve got. I can say from the professional’s point of view, and I’ve been doing this since I left school at 15: We’ve got everything that we need. This is as good as anywhere in the world.”

United previously played home games at TCF Bank Stadium, home to the University of Minnesota’s Golden Gophers. Attendance in the team’s final season was 23,902. The team plans to sell up to 2,290 tickets in a standing-only section in the south end of the new stadium.

“You look from the outside and it’s just a beautiful piece of architecture,” United veteran midfielder Ethan Finlay said. “Then you walk out of the tunnel and you can see the detail. It’s truly going to be a special place for years to come.”

United managing director Bill McGuire added that the stadium “will bring soccer, the world’s game, to our community in a long-lasting way, with a vision that says we want the future to be better than the past.”

Daktronics and The Centennial Authority, owner of PNC Arena in Raleigh, NC, are partnering to install a 4,000-square-foot centerhung LED display system by the start of the 2019-20 hockey season to enhance the fan experience at Carolina Hurricanes hockey games, NC State University men’s basketball games, and other special events held at the facility. The centerhung is nearly three times larger than the existing system and adds to the already-installed 5,250 square feet of digital displays at the arena.

“We are committed to maintaining PNC Arena as a first-class facility and providing enhancements that create the best possible fan experience for all events,” said The Centennial Authority Chairman Thomas McCormick. “We are excited to unveil the new centerhung scoreboard at the opening of the 2019-2020 Carolina Hurricanes and NC State men’s basketball seasons.”

The centerhung is curved around the corners to provide a large, single canvas presentation that is HDR ready and capable. This single canvas presentation will measure approximately 25 feet high by 148 feet wide and will feature 5.9-millimeter line spacing to bring high-resolution imagery to fans throughout the arena. Each side of the centerhung provides a 25-foot-high by 47-foot-wide viewing experience while each end measures 25 feet high by 27 feet wide.

“This new video system will bring a larger-than-life experience to fans and event attendees at PNC Arena,” said Daktronics President and CEO Reece Kurtenbach. “We’re excited to work with PNC Arena, the Carolina Hurricanes, and NC State to bring this improved visual centerpiece to their events. As the fan experience at live events continues to be paramount, our team remains dedicated to providing the best possible solutions for our customers to help them exceed their entertainment goals.”

Two displays will be mounted to the underbelly of the centerhung to appeal to fans, players and coaches sitting courtside. Each display will measure approximately 10 feet high by 20 feet wide and will feature 3.9-millimeter line spacing to provide optimized resolution for those viewers.

The main display features variable content zoning allowing it to show one large image or multiple zoned images. Live video, instant replay, statistics and game information, graphics and animations, and sponsorship messages can all be shown simultaneously or take over the entire display in coordination with specific moments during the event.

These displays join approximately 5,250 square feet of Daktronics LED displays currently installed at PNC Arena including two 360-degree ribbon displays, five more ribbon displays, 10 scorer’s tables and an exterior marquee.

JAC Management Group announced a new partnership between Live Nation and JAC Live to launch the new Youngstown Foundation Amphitheatre in downtown Youngstown, Ohio. The partnership will book and promote national and international live concerts and entertainment at the new outdoor venue located within a sprawling riverfront park that will span 22 acres and includes the Covelli Centre. The Youngstown Foundation Amphitheatre is slated to open early this summer and will quite literally
and figuratively change the landscape of downtown Youngstown by hosting an event capacity of up to 4,800.

“Over the last ten years we have we have proudly fostered and grown our relationship with Michael Belkin and the Live Nation Cleveland team here at the Covelli Centre,” said Eric Ryan, President of JAC Management Group & JAC Live. “The extension of this
relationship in the form of a strategic partnership will allow us to further strengthen our industry relationships that will ultimately yield marquee performers and entertainment in Youngstown.”

The venue will host many types of events that can be segmented into community and locally/regionally promoted events and nationally/internationally promoted events. “In the initial planning stages of the Youngstown Foundation Amphitheatre, we had two key objectives in mind; first, we wanted a space with the ability to host a variety of local and community events in the spring/fall/summer months. Next, we wanted to build a venue that could also house national and international touring artists and acts that had previously skipped the market. Through the tireless collaboration of many, we are happy to report that the city has accomplished all of these objectives and then some,” Ryan said.

“We are proud to be working with JAC Live and JAC Management Group – to bring extraordinary live events to the new venue,” said Barry Gabel, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Sponsorship for Live Nation Cleveland.