VenuWorks Founder Steve Peters announced that George Wood will be the company’s first CEO. Wood will report to Peters, who will retain his role as chairman and president. The two have known each other for many years, and Wood will officially begin his new position on July 1. This new appointment is meant to free Peters to devote more time to business development, including creating new content for VenuWorks-managed facilities. Wood’s responsibilities will include working with VenuWorks’ accounts along with other senior staff members and eventually being responsible for the core operations of VenuWorks’ management services. Venues Today caught up with Wood to learn more about his journey to the CEO position after 18 years with Ticketmaster, most recently as their senior vice president in Chicago.
How did you get your start in this industry?
I started in the entertainment industry as a musician. I was a drummer and was in various bands that traveled predominantly in the Midwest. And because being a musician doesn’t always pay the best, I also worked some corporate jobs during that same time period and eventually combined the business side of my background with the musical side and became a concert promoter. I did that for several years and built great relationships with Ticketmaster over that time, and they eventually recruited me and I started working for them in 1996. That lasted for 18 and a half years.
How did you get to know Steve Peters?
I’ve known Steve Peters, founder of VenuWorks, for probably over 20 years. I came to know him when I was a promoter first and then through Ticketmaster, so that was a huge appeal to me to come work at VenuWorks, since it’s Steve’s company.
How do you feel about transitioning to the venue side of the business?
I’m really excited. I certainly got a very interesting perspective working for Ticketmaster. They’re a great company. I love so many people that are still working hard there, but that obviously gives you one kind of perspective. As a promoter you have a different perspective. So now I’m excited to get the perspective of a venue manager. And talking with Steve, the longer we spoke, the more excited we got about what the future holds. The music industry has evolved quite a bit in the last couple years. I certainly anticipate that it will continue to change, and I think there’s great potential for exploiting those changes for the benefit of the company and, more importantly, our clients.
Do you feel prepared for the new position?
Right now I don’t know what I don’t know, but I’m going to be learning a lot. I’m going to be a wet sponge for a while, but I’m familiar enough with the industry that I think I have a leg up over someone who would be coming from a completely different industry.
What made VenuWorks a good fit for you?
I served VenuWorks for many years working for Ticketmaster as one of our clients, so I knew they were a first-class organization, and I love so many of the people that work for VenuWorks that it was a fairly easy determination to know that I would fit in well. Or I would certainly hope so! I wanted to stay within the industry, and Steve is an innovator and the things we spoke about the future and potential things we may pursue was all very exciting to me. It’s really about innovations we can come up with to drive our business.
What about this industry keeps you interested in it?
Live entertainment has always been a passion of mine, starting on stage. What’s most interesting to me right now is how things are evolving in the live concert space and how the recorded music and the streaming of music has effected all of that with artists earning most of their revenue from the live performance. I think it’s just a great time to be in this industry. And I’m with a company now that is smaller than Ticketmaster, but is maybe a company that is less interested in protecting the status quo and more interested in exploring changing the status quo. We know the industry is going to evolve, we just want to anticipate where it’s going and be able to take advantage of that.
Are you ready to move to Iowa?
I lived in Des Moines almost 20 years ago when I started with Ticketmaster, so this isn’t unfamiliar territory. I’ll pick up my family, four of my six children will move with me—one of them is in college and another one is married—as soon as we sell our house in the Chicago area, we’ll be moving to Ames, Iowa. They’re actually excited, but I would certainly ignore them if they weren’t.
July 1 is coming quickly. Any first-day jitters?
I’ve spent some time here with Steve and the staff. I’m not really waiting for that start date. In my mind I’ve already started. No jitters, just very excited to get going. I’ll probably be impatient with myself and my learning curve, but hopefully I cut myself some slack as well.
Interviewed for this story: George Wood, (515) 232-5151