Nashville – A new biography chronicling the remarkable life of entertainment and venue management industry pioneer Barbara “Mother” Hubbard is set to launch, co-authored by industry veterans Linda Deckard and Jessica Boudevin Terborch. “ACTS of the Heart: The Remarkable Story of Live Entertainment’s Mother Hubbard” offers an in-depth look at Hubbard’s early life, her role […]
HOW GOLD CASHED IN ON STINKY PROMOTIONS
The circus was playing Detroit and Joe Gold was there to advance the show when the shit hit the Cadillac. “My two best stories have to do with manure. And we were the talk of the town both times,” Joe says of his years as regional marketing director for Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey. […]
HOW GREG FLAKUS MOTIVATED HOUSTON’S SUPER-SLEUTH VOLUNTEERS
The Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo was the first big, national client for Greg Flakus’ GF Strategies. He was hired in 1997 to wean its 110 commercial concessionaires from the historical flat rate per foot charge for space to 15 percent of the gross, using a sales tracking system he had refined for fairs. The […]
BIGELOW ON BOOTLEG POPE MERCH & HAVING FUN
On Oct. 4, 1979, Pope John Paul II visited Living History Farms, Des Moines, Iowa, and Chris Bigelow was there. It was the largest crowd in Iowa history. It was a cold and rainy autumn day. Bigelow, who now has his own consulting firm, The Bigelow Companies, tells it like it was: In 1976, Bigelow […]
HOW STUART ROSS LEARNED TRICKS FOR THE TOURING TRADE FROM FAIRS AND CARNIVALS
When some Eastern European promoter poured beer on the ticket stubs so they could not be accurately weighed, Stuart Ross found a workaround. Concert production pro Ross didn’t know the scope of his problem when he found a solution. He discovered a scale that could weigh/count the hard tickets sold for Lollapalooza general admission at […]
HOW AN ELEPHANT AND AN ENEMA CAN BE A CAREER STARTER
A young and naïve Adina Erwin was in search of a career in 1994. She had stumbled onto the live entertainment industry as a nighttime event receptionist at the Charlotte (N.C.) Coliseum. That’s when she started to see “this is a thing, you can do this.” “I didn’t know this industry existed. I didn’t know […]
HOW A MARATHON JOB INTERVIEW LED TO A LIFELONG GIG…AND MORE
Brad Bryant’s big break into show biz involved a baby, a lime green Monte Carlo, and a front porch in Pemberton Estates Court. To get the job as a promoter for Feld Entertainment, he had to interview with the maestro, Bill Powell, who worked out of his Florida home. There was no job description. Today, […]
TUESDAY AT 7:30 THE SHOW WILL GO ON; AND BRAD’S YOUR GUY
Yes, sir. Disney on Ice will open at 7:30 on Tuesday. No matter whether it’s in Jakarta or Jacksonville, every Feld Entertainment promoter knows the show must go on and you do what it takes, preferably in trade not tender. Brad Bryant started his career with Feld Entertainment in 1986 (a separate story). By 1992-93, […]
HOW KIM STONE LOST CONTROL OF THE STREET DURING THE HEAT’S PARADE
In 2006, five months into her new job as executive VP and GM of AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami, Kim Stone had to plan an NBA championship parade — in 72 hours. It did not go well. There’s nothing in her storied career in venue management, which has led her to manage Chase Center in San […]
PAULINE’S DEATH LEAVES A BIG HOLE IN THE AB LEGACY
Before Google, I had Pauline. Pauline Davis was not just a good friend, a traveling companion, a co-worker, she was my memory. From the day I met her at Amusement Business in 1976, she was my guide to the industry and my ever-ready journal of faces and places. Pauline Davis, also known as Hardaway and […]