December 10, 2025 • 9 mins
Kentucky Venues CEO David Beck thanks his team for an incredible year of event management at Kentucky International Convention Center and Kentucky Expo Center, named the busiest convention venue in America.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Why my buddy in the studio with me now is
David Becky's CEO of Kentucky Venues. Before we get to
talking about tourism here in our city. How's the wind outside?
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Oh my goodness, it is the strongest win I have
ever experienced. It like being in Chicago today, worse than
being in Chicago. It's all I could do. I know
I'm getting old and weak, but it's all I could
do to navigate that wind walking down for street blog.
I've been in the building last six hours, so it
must have changed significantly. Anyway, welcome, It's good to have
you in and I want to thank you for the
(00:41):
opportunity to go to the rodeo, the North American Championship Rodeo.
That was really a spectacle. Well, thank you, cheer glad
you were there, a great turnout, and thank you for
being part of the group.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
I was amazed at the age of the girls and
boys who were doing some of the performing in that
that there are those some young kids doing that and
true athletes's you's got to be tough to do that,
but I mean, yeah, they were amazing. These these girls,
they looked like they were fourteen years old and they're
up and they're roping and they're I mean they're good. Yeah,
(01:16):
they're all racing. All of its heck of a spectacle. Anyway,
that's all part of another huge thing. So let's reflect
a little bit on twenty twenty five as we obviously
we have a few weeks left in the year, but
we've had another pretty amazing year in this city.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
We really have terry and you know, we're just gone
through Thanksgiving that we reread for holidays and celebrating Christmas
and all. It's really a time reflect. And I was
talking to our team this week and they share some
news with me that the Kentucky Exposition Center here in
the Little Kentucky was ranked the busiest convention center of
any city in North America. And that's pretty impressive here
(01:52):
a hometown to have that kind of recognition.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
Wow, pretty impressive number one in the US of A.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
That's exactly right. We had probably over five million visitors
every state in Kentucky, every county, close to one hundred
different countries, represented about four hundred and fifty million all
economic impact. But for Louisville, Kentucky be recognized. So that
and then you take that you had that to kick. Overall,
our group probably hosted about three hundred events in twenty five,
(02:21):
so it was a good year. I appreciate our staff team,
I appreciate all of our partners here in town, the hotels, restaurants, attraction.
It's a real team effort to recruit business like that
to Louisville, Kentucky. And there are more hotels coming. I
know that, yes, and so all that does is strengthen
our hand when you and your team go and present
the groups why they should choose Louisville over other cities exactly.
(02:43):
In fact, we're looking now Terry, do an analysis of
what business we did not book. It's because of lack
of space. Like the hotel rooms, the dates didn't work.
Because even though we've had two great years back to
breaking records, that's just a foundation we want you grow
that about seventy eight percent of the hotels in this
region are occupied by the people come through those doors.
(03:07):
So that's one of the reasons we're going through the expansion.
You know, we have a new construction at KEC. The
first building about three hundred and fifty thousand square feet
that's equivalent of six football fields under one roof and
Once we get that in December of twenty six, we'll
come back and we build another one two hundred fifty thousand.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
So how do you run all the business that's coming
in twenty twenty six while that's going on.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
That is a challenge. You may remember Terry when kick
with through its renovation, it was closed for two years.
We made a decision to keep the doors open and
continue to have business sets these kind of records while
construction is going on. So it's a challenge. It's a
real challenge. You've got to lay down area for construction
as well as construction itself. And if you drive by there,
you'll see still in concrete up in the air. It's amazing.
(03:56):
That takes space. And we have events outside as well
as in, so a lot of it's like a puzzle.
Put it together and try to make everybody happy. Parking
may be different this year, and I tell everybody that
that's part of the pain for success and growth. But
next year it's going to be better.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
When we look at everybody knows what the Kentucky Expo
Center as we called it the fairgrounds and we were kids,
what is the overall look, the reshaping look when this
whole project is complete. Exterior will have a more modern,
up to date, a lot more glass. You'll see the
architecture focusing on the appearance. As you go down I
(04:35):
sixty five you'll see a different view of that. The
interior will be very similar to what we have now,
what I call the South and North Wig. When you
look at the floors, you look at the ceilings. Class
A property so people can come there and have trade shows,
very divers a side. You know, we have trade shows,
we have livestock shows, we have a lot of sporting
events at the same time. In fact, today they're putting
(04:58):
in new seats in Freedom Hall, renovating from the Call too,
so the Freedom Hall. Freedom Hall will continue to have
the same structure, but we're renovating the inside, new lighting,
new ceiling tiles, sound systems, new new lighting and now
new seats. So we're making improvements from the gates all
the way in through Freedom Hall. And when you say
class that you're talking about there's a certain height, yes, yes,
(05:19):
minimum on that so that they can get monstrous things
in there.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Yes, that's right. You've got to have certain heights, width
of doors to get in and out. The quality of
the flooring, all that comes together. There's just band the
other technology that goes along with. The General Assembly saw
the business plan and they chose to invest in Kentucky's
growth in tourism and that just like you mentioned broadband,
heating and cooling, the new ventilation, all that's behind the scenes.
(05:44):
You don't see it, but you miss it if it
doesn't work. For example, we've had five major power adage
since I've been there. We'll have our own new power system.
So if the lights go out in Louisville, k seal
still have electricity. And so I remember State Fair. You
mean they didn't have generators before, not that size we
had them. We had in fact, I've gone to know how.
(06:06):
I've gone to Evansville, Indiana to get them. But now
we'll have our own internal structure. That's bad for business.
If I'm competing with you and I tell the meeting planner, hey,
their lives go out, you can imagine they're not going
to give them a second look. So things like that
are important that we take for granted, but it's critical.
Besides that, we're a major emergency center for our region
(06:26):
of country. Every agency of government uses our facilities during mercisies.
So we've got to have it. We've got to have
the broadband, we've got to have electricity to functional.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
And then you've already mentioned your crew, but you have
a lot of folks. It takes a lot of people
to keep all that running. You can't just have Barney
on a tractor doing that, right, I mean, it's a
heck of a staff.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
We've got Barney, but we've got a few more go
with it. No, it takes a lot of people, you know.
We I'm very I'm sitting back looking to this and
thinking how blessed it is to be a sociate with
this kind of team. Besides our employees, our colleagues that
work with us every day at both KICK and KEC,
the new construction terry, four thousand construction people, skilled labor
(07:11):
they're putting up still and doing mainstream work left grom plumbing.
Who had thought about Besides all the tourism business, there's
four thousand people employed just in the construction of new buildings.
So it's not just an economic engine in our community,
it's a pillar in our community of jobs and growth.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
And how does twenty twenty six schedules stack up with
twenty twenty five. Well, it's hard to increase every year,
but we're working hard with that. Our partners, like Little Tourism,
the Sports Commission, all the different groups work together. We
share information, we work together. Sometimes we go as a team,
sometime we go as individuals. Our goal is to keep
all the existing business we have and try to help
(07:51):
them grow and expand. At the same time, we're filling
dates in between you tay Nanny Wember. Last September had
two major festivals, two weekends back to back, well over
four on thousand people. We had two shows sandwiched in
between them that most people didn't realize. So you're trying
to fill dates to grow the economic impact on Kentucky.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Congratulations on a heck of a twenty twenty five. Thank you, Terry.
I'll share that with her team. Merry Christmas to you,
Marry all your family and all your listeners.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
Merry Christmas to you. You're incredible, David Beck. I'm glad
you're keeping this thing all running smoothly. Well, that's the
whole trick. I mean, all these people come down, you
only get one shot. That's the idea, Right, people come
to you, you only get that first impression from people
that are rowing.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
In and excites me. I've been in this community for
almost forty years, Terry, I didn't realize the impact, and
sometimes we're all so close to it. But those of
us here in Louisville, we have a lot to be
proud of and what our city and our community and
our state has to offer.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
Indeed, appreciate you. David Back, CEO of Kentucky.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
Venues busy sidewalks.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
I think that's Dino.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Chris.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
Yes, I just heard some ice cubes clink. So let's
Dean Martin people, hasn't me you smile at the SMI
Why my buddy in the studio with me now is
David Becky's CEO of Kentucky Venues. Before we get to
talking about tourism here in our city. How's the wind outside?
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Oh my goodness, it is the strongest win I have
ever experienced. It like being in Chicago today, worse than
being in Chicago. It's all I could do. I know
I'm getting old and weak, but it's all I could
do to navigate that wind walking down for street blog.
I've been in the building last six hours, so it
must have changed significantly. Anyway, welcome, It's good to have
you in and I want to thank you for the
(00:41):
opportunity to go to the rodeo, the North American Championship Rodeo.
That was really a spectacle. Well, thank you, cheer glad
you were there, a great turnout, and thank you for
being part of the group.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
I was amazed at the age of the girls and
boys who were doing some of the performing in that
that there are those some young kids doing that and
true athletes's you's got to be tough to do that,
but I mean, yeah, they were amazing. These these girls,
they looked like they were fourteen years old and they're
up and they're roping and they're I mean they're good. Yeah,
(01:16):
they're all racing. All of its heck of a spectacle. Anyway,
that's all part of another huge thing. So let's reflect
a little bit on twenty twenty five as we obviously
we have a few weeks left in the year, but
we've had another pretty amazing year in this city.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
We really have terry and you know, we're just gone
through Thanksgiving that we reread for holidays and celebrating Christmas
and all. It's really a time reflect. And I was
talking to our team this week and they share some
news with me that the Kentucky Exposition Center here in
the Little Kentucky was ranked the busiest convention center of
any city in North America. And that's pretty impressive here
(01:52):
a hometown to have that kind of recognition.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
Wow, pretty impressive number one in the US of A.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
That's exactly right. We had probably over five million visitors
every state in Kentucky, every county, close to one hundred
different countries, represented about four hundred and fifty million all
economic impact. But for Louisville, Kentucky be recognized. So that
and then you take that you had that to kick. Overall,
our group probably hosted about three hundred events in twenty five,
(02:21):
so it was a good year. I appreciate our staff team,
I appreciate all of our partners here in town, the hotels, restaurants, attraction.
It's a real team effort to recruit business like that
to Louisville, Kentucky. And there are more hotels coming. I
know that, yes, and so all that does is strengthen
our hand when you and your team go and present
the groups why they should choose Louisville over other cities exactly.
(02:43):
In fact, we're looking now Terry, do an analysis of
what business we did not book. It's because of lack
of space. Like the hotel rooms, the dates didn't work.
Because even though we've had two great years back to
breaking records, that's just a foundation we want you grow
that about seventy eight percent of the hotels in this
region are occupied by the people come through those doors.
(03:07):
So that's one of the reasons we're going through the expansion.
You know, we have a new construction at KEC. The
first building about three hundred and fifty thousand square feet
that's equivalent of six football fields under one roof and
Once we get that in December of twenty six, we'll
come back and we build another one two hundred fifty thousand.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
So how do you run all the business that's coming
in twenty twenty six while that's going on.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
That is a challenge. You may remember Terry when kick
with through its renovation, it was closed for two years.
We made a decision to keep the doors open and
continue to have business sets these kind of records while
construction is going on. So it's a challenge. It's a
real challenge. You've got to lay down area for construction
as well as construction itself. And if you drive by there,
you'll see still in concrete up in the air. It's amazing.
(03:56):
That takes space. And we have events outside as well
as in, so a lot of it's like a puzzle.
Put it together and try to make everybody happy. Parking
may be different this year, and I tell everybody that
that's part of the pain for success and growth. But
next year it's going to be better.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
When we look at everybody knows what the Kentucky Expo
Center as we called it the fairgrounds and we were kids,
what is the overall look, the reshaping look when this
whole project is complete. Exterior will have a more modern,
up to date, a lot more glass. You'll see the
architecture focusing on the appearance. As you go down I
(04:35):
sixty five you'll see a different view of that. The
interior will be very similar to what we have now,
what I call the South and North Wig. When you
look at the floors, you look at the ceilings. Class
A property so people can come there and have trade shows,
very divers a side. You know, we have trade shows,
we have livestock shows, we have a lot of sporting
events at the same time. In fact, today they're putting
(04:58):
in new seats in Freedom Hall, renovating from the Call too,
so the Freedom Hall. Freedom Hall will continue to have
the same structure, but we're renovating the inside, new lighting,
new ceiling tiles, sound systems, new new lighting and now
new seats. So we're making improvements from the gates all
the way in through Freedom Hall. And when you say
class that you're talking about there's a certain height, yes, yes,
(05:19):
minimum on that so that they can get monstrous things
in there.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Yes, that's right. You've got to have certain heights, width
of doors to get in and out. The quality of
the flooring, all that comes together. There's just band the
other technology that goes along with. The General Assembly saw
the business plan and they chose to invest in Kentucky's
growth in tourism and that just like you mentioned broadband,
heating and cooling, the new ventilation, all that's behind the scenes.
(05:44):
You don't see it, but you miss it if it
doesn't work. For example, we've had five major power adage
since I've been there. We'll have our own new power system.
So if the lights go out in Louisville, k seal
still have electricity. And so I remember State Fair. You
mean they didn't have generators before, not that size we
had them. We had in fact, I've gone to know how.
(06:06):
I've gone to Evansville, Indiana to get them. But now
we'll have our own internal structure. That's bad for business.
If I'm competing with you and I tell the meeting planner, hey,
their lives go out, you can imagine they're not going
to give them a second look. So things like that
are important that we take for granted, but it's critical.
Besides that, we're a major emergency center for our region
(06:26):
of country. Every agency of government uses our facilities during mercisies.
So we've got to have it. We've got to have
the broadband, we've got to have electricity to functional.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
And then you've already mentioned your crew, but you have
a lot of folks. It takes a lot of people
to keep all that running. You can't just have Barney
on a tractor doing that, right, I mean, it's a
heck of a staff.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
We've got Barney, but we've got a few more go
with it. No, it takes a lot of people, you know.
We I'm very I'm sitting back looking to this and
thinking how blessed it is to be a sociate with
this kind of team. Besides our employees, our colleagues that
work with us every day at both KICK and KEC,
the new construction terry, four thousand construction people, skilled labor
(07:11):
they're putting up still and doing mainstream work left grom plumbing.
Who had thought about Besides all the tourism business, there's
four thousand people employed just in the construction of new buildings.
So it's not just an economic engine in our community,
it's a pillar in our community of jobs and growth.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
And how does twenty twenty six schedules stack up with
twenty twenty five. Well, it's hard to increase every year,
but we're working hard with that. Our partners, like Little Tourism,
the Sports Commission, all the different groups work together. We
share information, we work together. Sometimes we go as a team,
sometime we go as individuals. Our goal is to keep
all the existing business we have and try to help
(07:51):
them grow and expand. At the same time, we're filling
dates in between you tay Nanny Wember. Last September had
two major festivals, two weekends back to back, well over
four on thousand people. We had two shows sandwiched in
between them that most people didn't realize. So you're trying
to fill dates to grow the economic impact on Kentucky.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Congratulations on a heck of a twenty twenty five. Thank you, Terry.
I'll share that with her team. Merry Christmas to you,
Marry all your family and all your listeners.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
Merry Christmas to you. You're incredible, David Beck. I'm glad
you're keeping this thing all running smoothly. Well, that's the
whole trick. I mean, all these people come down, you
only get one shot. That's the idea, Right, people come
to you, you only get that first impression from people
that are rowing.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
In and excites me. I've been in this community for
almost forty years, Terry, I didn't realize the impact, and
sometimes we're all so close to it. But those of
us here in Louisville, we have a lot to be
proud of and what our city and our community and
our state has to offer.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
Indeed, appreciate you. David Back, CEO of Kentucky.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
Venues busy sidewalks.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
I think that's Dino.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Chris.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
Yes, I just heard some ice cubes clink. So let's
Dean Martin people, hasn't me you smile at the SMI
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