Jeff Cogen, Nashville Predators, and Richard Andersen, Lighthouse Management, will be keynoters at the first-ever Venue Operations Summit in Nashville.
Both the pragmatic and diplomatic approaches to getting what you want from higher ups will be addressed during keynote speeches at the first annual Venue Operations Summit in Nashville, Tenn., April 12-14.
VOS, produced by Russ Simons, Tom Williams and Mike Wooley of Venue Solutions Group and the staff at Venues Today, will address the nitty-gritty of operations and engineering at sports and entertainment venues. It is a segment of the industry that is underserved in terms of conferences at which to learn from each other and experts in the field, Simons said.
Topics will include OSHA and public assembly facility managers, including preventing problems and reacting to incidents; the much-ignored state of roofs, including inspections, documentation and repairs; the proper inspection, maintenance and repair of telescopic risers and when systems need to be replaced; and how to prepare for disaster to avoid a disaster.
The sessions are all designed to include actionable information that can be put into practice immediately back at the venue, Simons said. And dealing with higher ups on budget items is one of the skills that is being emphasized.
Richard Andersen, Lighthouse Management, who has run ballparks, arenas and fairgrounds and is a sought-after motivational speaker, will provide insights into convincing presentations.
Jeff Cogen, CEO of the Nashville Predators, will bring a practical approach. What would it take to convince him to budget for a new purchase?
“My speech is ‘Coercion Being Such a Nasty Word, We Prefer Leverage’,” Cogen said..
He explained he would would need to hear a compelling reason for the expenditure. “What is it accomplishing – incremental revenue, enhancing the fan experience? I need an explanation/ summary of why the addition of that asset would be strategic monetarily or customer service- wise or for expense reduction. What’s it doing? That would be the primary focus.”
But he has a further criteria. The Predators have a refined Purchase Order system, “so by the time it gets to me it’s pretty much vetted. The other thing is, we added to the bottom on the PO the question, ‘Is this person a Predators’ season-ticketholder?’ If they’re not, it requires either mine or Sean’s (Henry) signature. Coercion being such a nasty word, the other question I’d ask is, ‘Are we leveraging this for them to do business with us?’ To me, that’s a revenue opportunity.”
For Cogen and probably most CEOs, “if we are spending $30,000 on a piece of software, they need to buy season tickets with us.”
Other topics and speakers include Using Historical Trends to Improve Operations, during which Greg Poole, director of facility operations, Toyota Center, Houston, will talk about how to use the data we now have about building systems, and Women in Operations, with Molly Fortune, restoration director, The Fox Theatre, Atlanta, discussing how women can thrive in an operations department.
For a full listing of speakers and the agenda, go to www.venueoperationssummit.com. The conference will take place next month at The Renaissance Hotel in Nashville.
Interviewed for this story: Jeff Cogen, (615) 770-2301; Russ Simons, (816) 352-6494
