Ron Spencer, who retired May 15 after 33 years managing the Tallahassee (Fla.) Civic Center, has enjoyed a career done right. He has founded industry associations, forged lucrative relationships and helmed a genuinely profitable complex. Now he has a good pension, four vacation homes, and four sons out of college and gainfully employed. The youngest, Jeff, works for Aramark. His wife, Wendy Spencer, is director of the Corporation for National Community Service, appointed to that position by President Barack Obama 13 months ago and commuting to Washington for the next few years. He is a lifetime board member of the Florida Facility Managers Association, which he helped found, and a retired member of the International Association of Venue Managers. And Spencer knows everyone, particularly booking agents who could help fill his secondary-market, capital-city venue. Venues Today talked with him about the venue industry, particularly in Florida, and what it has become today.
Why did you retire this year and what will happen to your longtime job?
In two more years I was going to have to retire anyway (under his state retirement plan). I’m only 62, but it was time for the building to move on. Florida State is going to invest $100 million in renovations and will own and operate the Tallahassee Civic Center. Roger Englert, my deputy director, is interim, but FSU is going to put it out for private management. The RFP is on the street. There are a few facilities in the state of Florida that have management firms, so they’re looking at that model. It’s smart for them to do that.
Is private management a trend in the industry in general?
I don’t think it’s more of a trend than it has been, personally. If I were starting out again, the best way I think is to hire a good manager and let him manage it. You have to pay companies to do this. If you can’t come up with a good enough manager to run it efficiently, that’s the way to go. They still book a venue because they think they will do well at that particular time with that particular show.
How have you seen the business change?
The first year here (1982), we did 55 concerts. Now we do eight to 10. There is less touring, though it picked up in the last eight years with record sales down. But there was a time touring had fallen off quite a bit. Country was touring, not as much rock. Now it’s coming back but the competition among buildings, particularly if you are not a major market, is just fierce.
What can you do about so much competition?
The country mindset, through the agencies and artists, is to go where their fans are, regardless. I understand it’s an economic issue. But I think the artist would build a much longer and stronger career if they got out to all the areas where their fans are. They might take less money in a secondary market, but it would help them in the long run. They’re not always going to sell out 20,000 tickets. A secondary market like us, Lakeland, Pensacola, we have to work harder. We rely on our relationships. That’s what I did for 33 years.
How did you survive as a GM through all the changes?
We generally made a profit. We ran everything in-house, including concessions. [Aramark was awarded a five-year concessions contract last year.] I had a convention center exhibit hall as well as an arena. We had basketball. Over the years, we had other teams – arena football, indoor soccer. We did whatever we needed to do to make sure we had programming. We had a $7.5-million budget. Out of 32 years, we had a deficit in seven. Our profit would generally be $300,000-$400,000. In 1988, we had debt service on $24 million, included in our operating costs.
Why didn’t you secure a title sponsor?
We tried. I didn’t want to let it go too cheap. I had some bids that I thought were just not enough money so I never pulled the trigger on it. I was looking for $1 million a year. I think that’s right. We’re the capital city of Florida. Any corporation that did business in Florida certainly had business before the legislature and it would have been a good thing for them.
Where is the industry going?
I think the industry has adapted itself to the national promoter, the loss of the local promoter, and to electronic music. I think it is an adaptive industry. Sports will be bigger in most markets. Most facilities have to have some sort of anchor tenant. I think a free-standing arena in a small market without a sports tenant would really have problems.
How did you become a member of Florida Facility Managers Association?
When I first started in Tallahassee in 1982, I asked a building guy how a show did and he wouldn’t tell me. So I called all 12 buildings in Florida and said I wanted to have a meeting to talk about what problems we had. We didn’t have to tell any secrets. The first meeting was in Amelia Island, Fla., in 1983. We went from 12 members (we all played golf except Donna Dowless) to what we are today. We’re receptive. We don’t overburden sponsorships. Virtually all the buildings in Florida are part of it. We get things done with this organization – we have a lobbyist and go after legislation. The legislature knows our industry is important to the state and what economic impact we have. Today, the meeting draws, in total, 180 or so.
What is your best advice for up-and-comers in the industry?
When I first started booking this building, I realized, I’m talking to a guy 3,000 miles away. I don’t know what he looks like and who he is. So, early on, I started going to New York, L.A. and Nashville every year and met with all the agents directly. I established relationships going back 30 years. It’s a different business now with national promoters, but it’s still a relationship business. Just like that song – “If the phone don’t ring, it’s me.” At the end of the day, everyone is willing to pay the same amount of money, so it comes down to relationships.
What was your favorite booking feat?
Bruce Springsteen was great to work with and I consider [promoter] Jack Boyle a very good friend. I had a 10-day Billy Graham crusade. I had a Tina Turner date one time, when Michael Marion (now with Verizon Arena, North Little Rock, Ark.) was an agent. They were going to play Pensacola. At the last minute I went to L.A. and said, “Michael, here’s what you can walk out of the building with in Pensacola. I’ll guarantee you that amount for Tallahassee.” I just showed him the economic facts. The most you can make there is the least you’ll make with me. We sold it out.
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