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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
The headline about the time an 80,000-ton boulder crushed part of Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, Colo., was never written. Gary Lane, who managed Denver’s eight sports and entertainment venues at the time, kept it quiet, an amazing feat that would not have been possible today. Red Rocks was a gem among the venues he […]
Mother Nature and the media walloped Allen Johnson Jan. 1, 2010 when Citrus Bowl stadium hosted what became known as the “Mud Bowl.” The executive director of Orlando Venues learned a lot that year about covering all your bases and making sure everyone is doing their job. In December 2009 the Citrus Bowl [now Camping […]
Thirty-one years later this September, Rip Rippetoe still conjures up lessons learned from Jerry Lewis and Siegfried and Roy during his Las Vegas days. Those memories reinforce his philosophies that we’re all in this together and how you show up makes a difference. In 1989, Jerry Lewis’ MDA Labor Day Telethon moved out of casinos […]
When Becca Watters waited up all night to give Toby Keith a ride to the airport, she had no idea how significant that sacrifice would be. Sometimes, the worst of jobs in the arena industry is the best of lessons and leverage for the future. It was July 2008 and Becca was a 21-year-old intern […]
Since December 1988, Feld Entertainment’s Bill Powell had been traveling to Buenos Aires every two weeks to put together a self-promoted production of Disney on Ice at a not-yet-built venue. He had built the show promotion from scratch, but he couldn’t build the building. He was counting on the company that showed him a girder […]
Once Bill Powell and the Feld organization had contracted to play a non-existent building in Buenos Aires just seven months out, it was time to think beyond the building to the marketing, ticket selling and promotion of the event. Powell had booked Walt Disney’s World on Ice (as it was known at the time) in […]
As Tammy Koolbeck prepared to go on stage with the sponsor to do a curtain speech before the show, the radio erupted with the news the water fountains were exploding and water was running everywhere. Water was shooting out like a rendition of Old Faithful. The show was ready to go on. It was Easter […]