Sandy Dunn’s husband Joe had a scholarship to get his master’s degree in Worcester, Mass. Sandy had been working at Chautauqua (N.Y.) Institution as a stagehand and, to her way of thinking, that was her career.
Naturally, she decided to apply for a job at the biggest venue of the era in Worcester, the one-year-old Centrum. The problem was, there were no jobs available.
She went in for the courtesy interview and Tony Tavares, manager there at the time, kept her waiting for three hours. Joe kept popping in saying this is ridiculous, don’t wait.
But during that time, Dunn heard the receptionist tell her girlfriend on the phone that she was quitting that day. The rest is history.
Upon commencement of the interview with Tavares, who said you’re a great candidate but we have no jobs, Dunn said, “You do, your receptionist is quitting. I’d like that job.”
Today, that 2016 Venues Today Woman of Influence is GM of DCU Center, what used to be the Centrum, for SMG. Her path was not necessarily direct, but it seemed predestined.
“She is one of the most effective leaders. She has a great style of being able to operate effectively in the boardroom or equally effectively on the floor with the operations group. She is very flexible,” said Rich Krezwick, now with AEG Facilities, who was one of Dunn’s supervisors in the early days at the Centrum. “Her style flexes mighty well. She is well liked in the community and by her staff.”
Dunn remembers 1979, when she started part-time at Chautauqua Institution as a stagehand. It was a college summer program. She was majoring in communications with a theater minor, theater being set design, lighting design, audio and back of house.
What she loved was the family atmosphere of the theater world at Allegheny College, Meadville, Pa. “My roommate was in theater and dragged me over and we painted a couple of flats and that was that. I stuck with the family.”
She worked two years at Chautauqua in summers and then began working fulltime in 1981 as production manager. The institute includes eight theaters, including the 7,000-seat amphitheater.
Back when she told Tavares his receptionist was resigning that day and she’d like that job, she did so because “this is my industry. I could become a secretary for widgets for some manufacturing firm or could come here and be a receptionist and I’m confident I can grow. Before I left, I had the job.”
She started at the year-old Centrum in 1983. A lot of future GMs came out of that venue, including Pat Lynch, Neil Sulkes, Craig Gates (Tsongas Arena for quite awhile), Greg Tesone, Philadelphia Convention Center now, and Mike Scanlon started there as an intern.
Dunn was a receptionist for only six months, when the executive assistant to GM Neil Sulkes position became available. “We don’t even have that position in this world anymore, but in the 80s, I saw everything the GM was seeing, every letter and phone call came through the secretary. I was exposed to everything; it was terrific training ground,” Dunn said.
When Sulkes left and went to Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, N.Y., Krezwick came in as GM. “I had moved beyond the traditional secretarial role and Rich quickly saw that and moved me to event manager and administration. I was doing HR and event management. Then he moved me to director of administration and events and so I was doing contracts, HR and events.”
In 1990, Dunn was transferred by SMG to Niagara Falls where she worked for four years at the now defunct Niagara Falls Civic Center, a combination convention center and arena. Her rolodex of convention people grew, a blessing that would serve her well when she returned to Worcester.
They were building an attached convention center in Worcester and called her back. “We were able to ramp up staffing and booking and accommodate the convention center side of the business,” she recalled. It was her second GM job. It was 1994.
She does not recall any problem with being a woman in venue management. “In hindsight, we look back and think wow, there weren’t a lot of women in the industry, which thank goodness has changed.”
But Dunn is a product of two brothers, two sons, basically a male world, “so I never thought twice about it at the time I was named GM.”
DCU Center is the original Centrum plus the convention center. She has been back as GM for 22 years. “I raised my kids here. When I moved back and took this role, I had 4 and 7 year olds. Worcester is a terrific city to raise kids. I am six miles door-to-door from my home to the building all these years.”
Her husband works for the state of Massachusetts in the department of industrial accidents. He has normal hours. He’s one of the early Mr. Moms, Dunn said. “I couldn’t have done it if I didn’t have a husband willing to share, if not have the lion’s share of home duties. My whole life, my husband does all the cooking. He’s that home support person. Now, 50/50 is more common. Back then, 50/50 was not common.”
Dunn says her kids were not arena rats. “It was rare my kids would come to shows, only if my husband wanted to come. I couldn’t be a mom, I was working.” Now, ages 29 and 26, they get access. “My oldest son was three months old at the Bruce Springsteen Tunnel of Love kickoff tour at the Centrum. He was in his bassinette, which I left with the receptionist and said radio me if he cries.”
“That was the 80s. In 2016, I don’t think that would work as well.”
Dunn said she sets a high bar for employees and likes to be kept in the communications loop, but is “not controlling, I hope. I know what’s going on in the building all the time. I look at the posting sheets for security. I know what’s going on but also have an expectation my staff is getting the job done.”
Her favorite part of the business is change. “There’s nothing better than every day is different. I’ve watched Worcester completely change in 22 years. Every parcel around our building has been developed or redeveloped. Like most older industrial cities, Worcester is taking awhile to reinvent itself, but in the last five years, I’ve seen dramatic change,” Dunn said.
Her longevity has led to many community roles, from sitting on a lot of economic development boards, including the Chamber of Commerce, Discover Central Mass (the local DMO), high level economic development coordinating council, and the state’s Massachusetts Cultural Council.
And she will have been married 35 years this September.
Along the way, she’s realized it’s sometimes important to take a step back to take a step forward. “People don’t stop to say what do I live to do, even if I have to go backward to go forward. Do you end up in a career you even like?”
Her staff are very career-oriented and with crazy longevity. “When you hire people, it doesn’t matter what’s on the resume if they have the right passion for this business. You can teach them the skill set. Everyone in my building has a passion. They love to open the doors and take the tickets and greet the customers and make sure the artists and meeting planners are happy. I love to come to work every day. It’s not like a grind.”
Dunn loves being the consummate hostess. She manages a 14,800-seat arena and a 50,000 sq. ft. convention center hosting 350 events a year. “For me it’s the hospitality of it all,” Dunn said.
Interviewed for this story: Sandy Dunn, (508) 755-6800 X2106; Rich Krezwick, +44-772 535 0639