Michelle Swann, the general manager and CEO of Cobb-Marietta Coliseum & Exhibit Hall Authority, Atlanta, always loved live entertainment. After graduating from Niagara Falls (N.Y.) University, she did a short one-year stint at a nonprofit and then landed her first job in venues. She’s been working in the industry ever since.
Swann will mark 21 years at Cobb Center in December and plans to stay in her current role indefinitely.
“There is always a new challenge, a new opportunity, and that’s what made this position so exciting and different from most,” said Swann. “There’s so much going on here. The (Atlanta) Braves are moving in 2017 to where we are. The new stadium is less than a half mile from here. We’re also planning a new 400-room hotel. I have a lot of projects on the burner, and I’m excited. I have no plans to leave or go anywhere else.”
Swann originally dove into the venue pool as a temporary worker at the start-up office for Niagara Falls Convention Center. “At the time Niagara Falls was a bustling tourist mecca,” Swann said. “The city planners were visionary and secured funds from New York State for a multipurpose convention center. The convention center was still just a pipedream and two years away from opening. I had a friend who worked for the city and he asked if I was interested in working in the temporary offices.
“After the project was built, I stayed. We hosted trade shows, conventions, basketball, the circus and Elvis Presley. That gave me a ground-up exposure to all the facets of pre-opening and opening a large building. I was in love with the whole process and found a home.”
And, yes, Swann did get to see Elvis. She quickly climbed the ladder, and within a few years she rose to assistant general manager of the facility.
Swann developed a special relationship with the director of the Niagara Falls Convention Center, Louis S. Harp, who became her first mentor in the business.
“Louis really inspired me — as a venue manager and as a female,” Swann said.
He advised Swann that commitment to this industry meant paying dues and working the hard and necessary hours.
The next opportunity came when she took a position as the assistant manager of the William B. Bell Auditorium and Augusta-Richmond County Civic Center in Georgia (now known as the Augusta Entertainment Arena). She stayed there for five years before moving to College Park, Ga. and a job as assistant director at the Georgia International Convention Center. The director there was Don Poor.
“Don was supportive from the beginning,” said Swann.
Poor, currently the Ocean Center director in Daytona Beach, Fla., recalled meeting Swann in 1984. “She’s a great person. She’s bubbly and has a warm personality. Michelle is people-oriented, she has good customer service and her leadership skills are top notch. She would never ask anyone to do anything she would not do herself. She thinks a project through and then implements it flawlessly. She’s heartfelt, appreciates what people do for her and I can’t say enough good things about Michelle,” Poor said.
During her time at Georgia Convention Center, Swann joined the International Association of Venue Managers (IAVM). It turned out to be a career-changing decision. It was at her first District 5 IAVM meetings (now called Region 5) that she met Lionel Dubay, the next great mentor in Swann’s professional career.
“Lionel impressed upon me the importance of meeting people, getting involved, volunteering and getting on committees.” Swann followed Dubay’s advice and credits it with pushing her towards a leadership position.
Dubay is now the assistant vice president of business services for the University of Florida, Gainesville.
“She has such a warm and generous personality; you’ll never find anyone who will have a negative thing to say about her,” Dubay said.
After three years at Georgia International Convention Center, Poor moved on and Swann was promoted to executive director. It was here that Swann experienced a low point in her career. A year after finishing a multimillion dollar expansion of the convention center, the City of Atlanta informed her that the Atlanta airport had acquired land adjacent to the center. The city planned to build a new runway right next to the new building. “It was devastating,” remembers Swann.
Eventually it was decided that the Convention Center would move a mile away. Swann was busy organizing the move when she got a phone call from Poor.
“Don left to develop Cobb Galleria Center in Atlanta,” Swann said. “He asked if I would come to work for him as his assistant general manger. At the time I was very pleased with my work at the convention center. I thought it was the peak of my career. I had no interest in moving.”
Poor, however, argued that she wasn’t at the peak of her career: she was at the beginning of a new phase. “I realized I could do things at the new Cobb Center I could not do before,” she said. She signed on, and three years later Poor moved on again, leaving Swann to steer the ship.
“I was now general manager and CEO,” said Swann. “I was a little bit intimidated but things were moving on here. We were doing a feasibility study to expand the convention center. Year after year there was always new expansion. We did another study for a
performing arts center and that’s when we developed the Cobb Performing Arts Center.”
Earl Smith is a former chairman of the board of Cobb Center, which launched in 2007. “Michelle was instrumental in getting the performing arts center off the ground,” said Smith. “We needed $142 million from the state to get it up and she found a way to get it by creating an educational program for the school kids of Georgia. I’ve had a good opportunity to measure her work. She’s organized and a no-nonsense kind of person. She moves forward while maintaining things, she definitely impacted the economic growth for Cobb County. She’s capable of doing her job while simultaneously following the wishes of the board. She made the board look good.”
Said Swann, “Earl was more than a boss to me. As a chairman who was dedicated to fulfilling our mission, he was an advisor, counselor, teacher, cheerleader and a special friend. Working with him and for him for over 16 years has been one of the highlights of my career.”
Swann said that her mantra in leading is to focus on her staff and their needs, and that flexibility is essential. “It’s a changing environment we live in,” said Swann, “Being rigid doesn’t benefit anyone.”
“What I think is integral and has worked very well over many years is focusing on the employee and engaging them,” said Swann. “You can track that to the bottom line. The relationship the company has with the employee translates down to the customer. If the employee is engaged, and feels that we’ve invested in them, it trickles down to the customer. Brand loyalty, customer loyalty, it all starts with employee loyalty.”
Swann currently oversees 150 full-time and 200 on-call employees. She said that her favorite part of the job is inspiring the next generation of venue managers.
“Even when they take another job I find satisfaction in that I prepared them for their next opportunity,” Swann said. “It’s rewarding. It’s all about giving opportunity, I like that more then anything.”
Swann’s only gripe is that she’s not out on the floor as much as she’d like to be. “I’m housed at the convention center but I have a team at the performing arts center and I hardly get to see them outside of meetings. I wish I had more free time.”
Interviewed for this story: Michelle Swann, (770) 955-8000; Don Poor, (386) 254-4500; Lionel Dubay, (352) 392-0306; Earl Smith, (770) 722-3219