Talking Points

JERRY GOLDMAN
Assistant General Manager
U.S. Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, Minn.

HOMETOWN: St. Louis, Mo.
CAREER PATH: I started with Contemporary Productions, which is now Live Nation, as a promoter rep in 1995 and worked for them for seven years before getting hired by SMG. After that, I moved to Atlanta and opened the Gwinnett Arena as the booking manager. Then, I moved to San Antonio at the AT&T Center as the director of booking and marketing and was there for three years. Then, I moved to Tulsa, Okla. and opened up the BOK Center and was assistant general manager there for four years. I moved to Nassau Memorial Coliseum, Long Island, N.Y., as the general manager for three and a half years. And now, I’m making the trek to Minnesota to be the assistant general manager of the U.S. Bank Stadium.
NEW POSITION: I’m most excited to have the chance to open a new, state-of-the-art, NFL stadium and be a part of the process a year prior to opening and assist in putting our team together.
GO-TO BANDS: Pearl Jam and Van Halen with Sammy Hagar.
FAVORITE EVENT I’VE WORKED ON: Hosting Paul McCartney at the BOK Center.

(516) 286-9196

JAMES RASMUSSEN
Director of Arena Programming
Sleep Train Arena, Sacramento, Calif.

UNIVERSITY: I went to Pepperdine University, Malibu, Calif., and got a degree in advertising.
HOMETOWN: Red Bluff, Calif.
HOW I GOT MY JOB: I was a consultant for Sleep Train Arena while I was at ArenaNetwork, and the opening came about and the opportunity to come to my “hometown” arena and open the new Golden 1 Center is the reason I came.
FAVORITE PART OF MY JOB: Negotiating with the agents and promoters. I love negotiating and trying to get the best deal for everyone so everyone walks away happy. I like the give and take and the honesty that everyone brings to the table.
IF I DIDN’T HAVE MY JOB: I would probably be in the advertising world. Advertising was originally plan A, but then I got here and this has definitely worked out.
WHEN I WAS A KID I WANTED TO BE: A sports agent. I watched “Jerry Maguire” and I wanted to be Jerry Maguire.
I WOULD ESCAPE TO: Golfing on an island somewhere or just go golfing in general.
MY TOP SONG RIGHT NOW: “Better Have My Money” by Rihanna
SPORTS ALLEGIANCES: The Sacramento Kings, San Francisco Giants and San Francisco 49ers.
SOMETHING PEOPLE WOULD BE SURPRISED TO LEARN ABOUT ME: I saw Justin Timberlake six times in concert in the last year.

(916) 928-3604

MARY BENSEL
Executive Director
Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, Sarasota, Fla.

HOMETOWN: I was born in Trenton, N.J., and then moved to Bucks County, Pa.
FLORIDA LOVE: I’m very happy when the winter has been what it was last year to be in Florida. I was general manager for 10 years at the Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall in Fort Myers, Fla., and then I took a short stint to go work for Troika as their booking and sales director, which was a totally different end of the business for me. When I got asked to come back to Florida about a year later, I said yes because it was Valentine’s Day and there was a blizzard going on.
FIRST JOB IN THE INDUSTRY: When I was in grad school, I had an assistantship, and I was the marketing director, the box office manager and the business manager of the theater department.
FAVORITE PART OF MY JOB: I love performers. I love film and live performance. I go to almost every show here that we present, and I love watching people’s faces. They may come in looking grumpy or unhappy, but they leave, 99 percent of the time, just thrilled.
GUILTY PLEASURE: I love to travel. I want to go back to Africa. I’d love to go to Tanzania or Kenya to see the great migration. Or it might be Tahiti. This summer. I’m going down to the Puerto Vallarta, Belize, Vienna and Croatia and Slovinia. If you travel, you have a wider perspective on life, and you open your mind to all sorts of different kinds of people and cultures. 

(941) 955-7676