New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center has named Alexis Berggren as director of Event Services. Having served in various capacities with the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, Ore., the Mid-American Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa and Arts Incorporated in Lincoln, Neb., Berggren brings an in-depth knowledge of the convention industry to her new role. Most recently, Berggren worked at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood as their director of Operations and Event Services.
Gwinnett Center in Duluth, Ga. has hired Jim Blackhall as director of facilities. Blackhall has over 25 years of facility experience and will be responsible for maintenance of the facilities, as well as managing expansion projects and maintaining equipment. Most recently, Blackhall owned Blackhall Associates, where he created customized maintenance programs for large companies.
Leonard Bonacci has been named a regional vice president of SMG’s Stadiums and Arenas Division after working 17 years as senior executive for the Philadelphia Eagles organization. Bonacci has been working as a consultant for SMG at the new Minnesota Stadium, which he will continue to do in his new position.
Lexie Boone, current general manager of Colonial Life Arena, Columbia, S.C., for Global Spectrum, will stay with the venue, transitioning to state management when the University of South Carolina athletics department takes over July 1. He will then become senior assistant general manager. Prior to his arrival in Columbia in December 2012, Boone was general manager of UCF Arena & The Venue at UCF, University of Central Florida, Orlando, from 2008-2012; and assistant general manager of Colonial Life Arena from 2006-2008, all with Global Spectrum.
David Bradley has been hired as the vice president of Sales and Services with the Shreveport-Bossier Convention and Tourist Bureau. Bradley will be in charge of selling group tours, conventions and meeting space and over 10,000 hotel rooms. Starting in 2002, Bradley held the position of director of Convention Sales for Valley Forge Convention Center and Visitors Bureau in Pennsylvania. The Boston native has more than 20 years of experience within the hospitality and tourism industry.
Wanell Costello has replaced Don West as Arizona State Exposition and Fair’s executive director. West resigned after more than eight years in the position, while Costello is promoted to the role after having served as the fair’s deputy director.
The Darwin (Northern Territory) Convention Centre has appointed Pietro Delpechitra as the new director of Client Services. Delpechitra brings an extensive background in event management, having most recently worked as the Venue Services & Operations manager at Auckland Live.
The Digital Signage Federation announced their 2015 Board of Directors, with three directors returning to serve a second term and five new directors elected to the board from a list of 11 nominees. Led by the 2015 Chair Ken Goldberg, CEO of Real Digital Media; Vice Chair Randy Dearborn, vice president Multimedia and Guest Technology, MGM Resorts International; and Secretary/Treasurer Ricjard Ventura, vice president Business Development and Solutions, NEC Display Solutions, are Manolo Almagro, managing director Digital and Retail Technology, TPN; Mark Boidman, managing director Media, Entertainment, Communications and Technology Group, Peter J. Solomon Company; Len Dudis, corporate director IT, SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment; Mark Geiger, associate director Marketing & Business Development, Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta; Spencer Graham, manager of Operations WVU Information Stations, West Virginia University; Steve Hargis, director Film & Video Production, Bass Pro Shops; Susan Heller, director Global Digital Signage Platform, Thomson Reuters; and Jeffrey Kent, Chief Technology Officer, Cineplex Entertainment.
Megan Doster has joined Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment as Management consultant of Marketing and Live Entertainment. Doster will be leaving Global Spectrum where she served as senior Marketing manager in Hamilton, Ontario. Before joining Global Spectrum, Doster worked with Comcast-Spectator and Florida Citrus Sports in their marketing departments.
Therese Everett joins Citizen Business Bank Arena in Ontario, Calif., as its new director of Marketing.
Alice Fei has been promoted to senior vice president of Human Resources for Comcast-Spectator after serving as vice president of Human Resources since March 2014.
Scott Hallgren is the new executive director of the VenuWorks-managed Bridge View Center in Ottumwa, Iowa. Beginning in March, Hallgren will replace Larry Gawronski as he leaves the venue to take a corporate role. Hallgren had been general manager of Clay County Regional Events Center, Ames, Iowa.
New Day Underwriting Managers LLC named Kim Johns as account manager within the company’s Construction Group. Before coming to New Day, Johns worked for Martin Financial Group as a commercial account manager and has also worked for other leading insurers, such as Plymouth Rock Assurance and Liberty Mutual Insurance.
Miami Dolphins announced additions and promotions to the senior leadership team. Todd Kline was named to the newly-created position of senior vice president and Chief Commercial Officer, where he will oversee all sponsor revenue for the Dolphins. Jeremy Walls was promoted to senior vice president & Chief Marketing Officer and will use his sales experience to lead the marketing and ticket sales operations. Jason Jenkins was also promoted to senior vice president of Communications and Community Affairs from the position of vice president of Communications, which he was named to in May 2013.
Invictus Entertainment Group announced David Langley as their new director of Marketing and Artist Relations and will head up the company’s Toronto office. Langley worked for Echo Advertising as a media buyer and for Genesis Vizeum as the senior media buyer. Langley also rose to the position of Marketing supervisor at Live Nation Canada and most recently worked as director of marketing for Open Road Recordings.
Paulino Lopez has been promoted from Event coordinator to Event manager for El Paso Live. Lopez served as a Performing Arts Management Fellow at Texas Performing Arts Department before joining El Paso Live in 2011.
Eddie Orjuela will be working with Nederlander Concerts to book and consult on Latin programming for the company’s venues. Orjuela is the president and founder of Orjuela Entertainment, LLC, which produces live Latin events, provides artist services, brand activations and management consulting. Orjuela has produced and promoted many well-known Latin artists like Enrique Iglesias, Aventura, Mana, Gloria Trevi and many others.
Events organizer Reed Exhibits has appointed Nick Pilbeam as Divisional director of Travel, including such industry events as the International Luxury Travel Market portfolio and the World Travel Market portfolio. Pilbeam will be taking over for Richard Mortimore who was promoted to chief executive of Reed Exhibitions UK last year. The majority of Pilbeam’s career has been spent at British Airways group and Avios, its air miles loyalty program.
INgrooves Music Group hired Nick Roden as director of International Business Development. Based in the independent music distributor’s London office, Roden will be responsible for developing distributor, label and artist business relationships. Roden has worked for a number of independent music company’s, including Pinnacle Records, TuneTribe.com, Warner Music and most recently at Defected Records as Commercial director.
Orlando Venues has named John Sparks as Stadium Operations assistant division manager for the Orlando Citrus Bowl and new MLS stadium that is scheduled to open in 2016. Most recently, Sparks served as managing partner for Sage In Sight and has also worked for Turner Broadcasting Systems for the CNN Center in Atlanta, Ga., Spurs Sports and Entertainment in San Antonio and Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
SMG has hired Patrick Talty as general manager of the new Minnesota Multipurpose Stadium in Minneapolis. Coming from his role as senior vice president of Live Events with the World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., Talty will also bring his experience as general manager of Zayad Sports City in Abu Dhabi to his new position.
ArenaNetwork has hired Jolene Wallace-Herz to the position of talent buyer. A 15-year veteran in the live entertainment industry, Wallace-Herz worked with Live Nation in their Los Angeles office, managing the activities for shows promoted in Southern California and Las Vegas. Wallace-Herz has also worked for SMG at the Forum in Inglewood, Calif., and Nederlander Concerts in Hollywood.
Phil Weinberg will take on an expanded role as Comcast-Spectacor’s executive vice president and General Counsel. As a 25-year Comcast-Spectator employee, Weinberg has served in both these positions since 1996 but will now also have responsibilities with government and regulatory affairs, public relations and community investment.
Centerplate has appointed Eric Wooden as the senior vice president to lead Hospitality Solutions Group. Wooden has been with Centerplate since 1989, overseeing all venue enhancements in the company’s portfolio. Dennis Martinez was also hired as the company’s Facility Design director, coming from serving as COO of RevEquip. Martinez brings years of international design experience to the role.
Nevada County Fairgrounds CEO Sandy Woods has announced her retirement, which will go into effect once a new CEO is hired. Woods came to the Grass Valley, Calif., fairgrounds in 1995 as deputy manager before serving as CEO starting in 2009.