Adventures In Venueland

Adventures abound as we head to Los Angeles to chat with Noelle Scaggs, Founder and President of Diversify The Stage and multi-platinum recording artist and co-front person of Fitz and The Tantrums – indie pop and neo soul band with hits like “Out of My League” and “The Walker.” Noelle walks us through the inception of Diversify The Stage (DTS), and its mission of creating more equal and equitable opportunities among aspiring live ...

Hop aboard the Las Vegas monorail and join us as we circle around Sphere, the newest venue coming to Las Vegas, featuring the largest (and second largest) LED display in the world! 🔮 For this episode we speak with Courtney Payne, Director of Group Ticketing Sales at Sphere, who indulges our venue geekiness and gives us the lowdown on some of the many unique features which have caught the eyes of people around the globe – the uniqu...

Toss on your Pats jersey and head with us to Foxborough as we hear all about New England’s largest venue from Kassie Epstein, Manager of Business Development & External Affairs for Gillette Stadium (Kraft Sports + Entertainment). Kassie and her team oversee every full stadium ticketed event that doesn’t fall under New England Patriots football or New England Revolution soccer - such as motorsports, collegiate events, and their conc...

Saddle up as we head down to Fort Worth, Texas, and talk with Becca Berger, Senior Sports Marketing Manager for Fort Worth Sports Commission. Becca tells us what it’s like to work for a sports commission, explaining the many aspects of what she’s involved in for events coming to the city – from hospitality to marketing to hosting and execution. She talks about what it’s like working with national governing bodies and things that ma...

Journey with us up north to the “Golden Heart of Alaska” as we chat with Terrell Echols, General Manager of the Carlson Center in Fairbanks, Alaska. As you can imagine, there are many differences and exciting challenges with running a venue in Alaska. Terrell tells us about the venue’s place in the city and what they aim to provide. In addition to hosting touring events, the Carlson Center also serves as a community center, recreat...

Welcome to Miami, by way of Seattle! For this episode, which we recorded in-person while at EVMC in Seattle, we talk with Liz Roca, Director of Tour Marketing at United Talent Agency (UTA). She tells us what it means to work for an agency, and how that role varies and compliments venue and promoter marketing. Liz, who previously has worked on the promoter and venue sides, goes through tips and discusses challenges having worked on ...

Live from the Emerald City, we interview Joe Paganelli, CEO of New Rising Sun, producers of the Pacific Northwest's iconic Bumbershoot Arts & Music Festival, which is celebrating its 50 anniversary this year. Joe joins us at the Event & Venue Marketing Conference for our second live episode of Adventures In Venueland. We learn all about his start in live events with legendary promoter Bill Graham Presents, his time with The Fillmor...

All aboard to Beantown as we take the “T” to downtown Boston and visit New England’s largest sports and entertainment arena, TD Garden, and chat with Tricia McCorkle, Senior Director of Marketing & Communications. As home to the Boston Celtics and Boston Bruins, the venue lays claim to the most championship banners in the country, but it’s much more than a hallowed ground for sports. This year TD Garden will host over 50 concerts, ...

Grab your passport and join us for a little globetrotting as we chat with Brian Kabatznick, Executive Vice President, Business Development & Facilities for Oak View Group International. We catch up with Brian in London, and hear about Oak View Group’s developments internationally, including the upcoming Co-op Live in Manchester, Cardiff Arena in Wales, a new arena coming soon to São Paulo, as well as potential future developments i...

Beautiful, sandy beaches meet jaw-dropping mountains and forests as we travel to the “Marvelous City,” Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, to talk with Silvia Albuquerque, Regional Director of Rio de Janeiro Venues for GL events. Silvia gives us an overview of the three venues she oversees – Jeunesse Arena (largest arena in Brazil and main location for events in Rio), Riocentro (biggest convention center in Latin America), and Lagune Barra H...

BONUS EPISODE (Part 3 of 3) – Waste not, want not, right? We’ve all heard the phrase “zero waste,” but what does that mean for venues and how can they be zero waste facilities? Venues are surge facilities, with thousands of patrons purchasing food and merchandise that have byproducts that need to go somewhere. For our final part of our Earth Week Series, we’re joined again by Brianna Treat, Director of Sustainability at Climate Ple...

BONUS EPISODE (Part 2 of 3) – Now that we’re a little more versed in venue sustainability, let’s dive a bit deeper and learn all about carbon. For Part 2 of our Earth Week Series we’re joined again by Brianna Treat, Director of Sustainability at Climate Pledge Arena and the Seattle Kraken, and we're talking all things carbon! What is it? How do you track it? What does carbon look like in a venue? We dig into all these questions and...

BONUS EPISODE (Part 1 of 3) – It’s Earth Week, which means it’s the perfect time to dig into the impact venues and the live event industry have on our beautiful planet. As we discuss innovations and solutions around venue sustainability, we take an inside look at a venue which is prioritizing this on a level never seen before – Climate Pledge Arena. For Part 1 of our Earth Week Series, we chat with Brianna Treat, the Director of Su...

Podcasters unite! This Venueland journey takes us to Chicago where we chat with Jahaan Blake, Career Coach, Fan Experience Consultant, and host of the A Game of Her Own podcast! Jahaan talks about how she got into the industry – from an early love of sports to a unlikely opportunity with the Boston Red Sox to later gigs with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs – and how she ultimately decided to strike out on her own and do co...

Put your helmet on and meet us on the field in The Bay, as we talk with Allie Dicken, Director of Brand & Influencer Marketing for the San Francisco 49ers. Allie tells us all about her role with the team, as well as involvement with their stadium shows at Levi’s Stadium. We dive into influencer marketing, including strategies, tracking methods, what stats and skills to look for, and the best approach to handling them. As an early a...

Place an order for your favorite deep-dish pizza, kick back, and join us in Chi-Town as we chat with our friend, Colleen Quinn, Communications & Digital Marketing Director at United Center. Colleen walks us through the complicated and interesting process of bidding on hosting the Democratic National Convention – from the RFP response to hosting the DNC Committee to presenting at a visit to Baltimore. She talks about how she got int...

Pass through the Gateway Arch and explore the Show Me State with us as we chat with our friend Cindy Underwood-Oleshak, based in St. Louis, Missouri. Cindy’s career has taken her to all sides of the live events industry – from 13 years on the venue side at Scottrade Center (now Enterprise Center), to freelance marketing and publicity for Sesame Street Live, The Wiggles, Dreamworks, the Vancouver Olympics, music festivals, and so ma...

No matter if you’re team Buffalo Chicken Wings or team Nashville Hot Chicken, you’ll love our latest episode with thespian and all around great guy, Kevin Kennedy, Marketing Strategy Manager at Outback Presents. Kevin takes us along on his career journey, from his start in live theater and in the box office at Shea’s Performing Arts Center, to kicking it on tour with The Rockettes, to his time with the Buffalo Sabres and KeyBank Ce...

Land of 10,000 Lakes or Land of 10,000 events? Join us as we talk with Rick Hansen, Director of Booking at Historic Theatre Group – which manages booking at the Orpheum, State, and Pantages Theatres in Minneapolis – all a part of the Hennepin Theatre Trust. In a market rich with live events with more theater seats per capita than any city in the US outside of NYC, Rick gives us an inside look into booking multiple venues in a city ...