Dick and Marilyn Shaff with Fred Corsi, University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Ariz., at VenueConnect in 2011
THE MAN WHO NEVER RETIRED
Humble is a description that stuck to Dick Shaff, GM of Moscone Center, San Francisco for SMG, who died unexpectedly Aug. 2 at the age of 77.
In 55 years in the business, 20 at the Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center and 35 at Moscone Center, Shaff mentored many in the industry, teaching them as he was taught by the late Win Hanssen back in the day in Long Beach. At the time he was assistant general manager there, he was only 27.
“Dick let his people work,” said wife and helpmate of 56 years Marilyn Shaff. “He did not micromanage. He hired people and didn’t interfere. Dick’s demeanor came from learning from Win.
“When you’re young, you think you know it all. Dick would come in with ideas and Win would say, ‘Okay.’ Dick would do what he wanted to do and it got all screwed up and he’d go back to Win and say it didn’t work the way I thought it would work. And then Win would say, ‘Try this.’ Win was a fantastic teacher. His philosophy and how life goes rubbed off on Dick.”
Shaff’s accomplishments professionally include managing two major venues, Long Beach and Moscone, becoming president of the International Association of Auditorium Managers (now IAVM) in 1994-95, receiving the IAVM Charles A. McElravy Award in 2002; the International Convention Center Conference’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011. That doesn’t account for the many awards professionally and personnaly from the cities he served.
His pride and joy professionally was the expansion of Moscone Center West. “That’s his baby,” Marilyn said. “He worked with Art Gensler (Gensler Architecture). Everybody that was building Moscone West just blended. They all got along. It was fabulous. That’s the only expansion above ground.”
That was the third of what became a expansion every 11 years. When he died, Shaff was looking at yet another. In a 2012 interview with Venues Today, Shaff said: “We went out some years ago and asked our clients if they wanted us to do something like Boston, go out of downtown where land is available, and build a megaconvention center. Overwhelmingly, they all said no. They would much rather we stay downtown and they’d put up with the uniqueness of the facility, which is why we built Moscone West.” While Moscone North and South are built below grade, Moscone West is street level and patrons have to cross a street to get there.
The current plans will turn meeting rooms and unexcavated underground space into 80,000-100,000 sq. ft. of new exhibit space which is contiguous, marrying Moscone North and Moscone South underground, and add another 120,000 sq. ft. of meeting room space above grade. The projected cost is $500 million (compared to $200 million when they built Moscone West above ground in 2003) and the completion date was pegged at 2017, though that has been pushed back. In fact, when asked to stay on for the next expansion, Shaff protested he would be 80 by the time it was done. Truth be told, if fate had not intervened, he would still be there.
Marilyn and Dick Shaff married when they were seniors in college and have two children, Lori Rombach and Greg. Now they have five grandchildren; Kyle and Hayley, 25 and 23; and Hannah, 18, Wayne, 12 and Austin Harley Shaff, 8.
Shaff’s death was unexpected, despite issues with blood clots since December 2014 when he made a quick trip to Hawaii to visit the outgoing SMG staff at the Hawaii Convention Center, Honolulu. He was regional VP for SMG. Those were his people.
“When he came back, he had trouble breathing,” Marilyn said. “His doctor was his guardian angel.” She found blood clots and sent him to the ER. He was treated, released, but back again in April. “We never even thought anything was going to happen. Been there, done that,” Marilyn said. “His death was so sudden. Dr. Lee said probably one of the blood clots broke away, went into his heart and killed him instantly. It was a matter of seconds.”
Shaff left home on his last day of life to go to Moscone Center for an employee’s retirement party. Two doors from home, he pulled the car over and put it in park. A neighbor jogging past called paramedics. “We look at it as he died at home,” Marilyn said.
Monday, Aug. 15, the San Francisco board of supervisors will celebrate a memorial service. Sept. 13, Travel San Francisco and the convention center/SMG will host a memorial service at Moscone Center. That will be all. Shaff would not have even wanted that much. He was a humble man.
He went on medical leave the first of June, just to get his body back in shape, Marilyn said. “He intended to go back to work. It didn’t work out.”
Shaff’s philosophy was that venue management was there to serve the city. He always worked well with the convention bureau, which is now called Travel San Francisco.
ARENAS ARE FUN
But Shaff’s best stories are from his time as an arena manager in Long Beach. That’s where he enlisted Marilyn and her neighbor, Fern Hamilton, to handle backstage catering for the Rolling Stones.
Throughout his career, Shaff liked to drop that tidbit. “My wife did catering; she started with the Rolling Stones.”
Marilyn recalls that her husband asked her to cater backstage for the Rolling Stones, promoted by Bill Graham Presents, because he couldn’t find anyone else to do it.
“He worked long hours and I had two little kids. I used to get upset because he was never home,” Marilyn said. After she started catering backstage, she understood. “We had all the food and service stuff and had to wait until they were done and left the dressing room, because we never went in while they were there. We were waiting one night and Dick looked at me and smiled and said, ‘Well, I’m going home.’ I didn’t get home till 2 or 3 a.m. The shoe was on the other foot. I understood his hours. We never had an argument after that.”
After the Rolling Stones, Marilyn and Fern started catering for Wolf & Rissmiller, also famed promoters in Bill Graham’s day. She also remembers having Steve Wolf and Jim Rissmiller over for barbecue at their home. It was a small, close-knit industry in the 70s and 80s. “Back in that day, everybody knew everybody,” Marilyn said.
Once he became assistant general manager in Long Beach, he did it all, from sweeping floors to box office to event coordinator. “Back in those days, you book the event, work the event and, if it’s short crew, you set up and sweep up and do the box office,” Marilyn recalled.
When Shaff was promoted to GM, Marilyn and Fern gave up backstage catering due to the conflict of interests. “He always said, ‘I probably made the wrong decision. I should have let Fern and Marilyn get a catering truck.’ Now it’s big bucks. When we did it, we did it out of our kitchens at home,” Marilyn said.
Marilyn also recalls the post IAAM vacations with industry friends, the spouse meetings during the convention (when Shaff was IAAM president, she was first lady, running the spouse retreat), and most importantly, region (district) meetings where everyone knew everyone. “We would support each other,” she remembered.
From his career to his personal life, the stars aligned for Dick Shaff. A week before he died, they had a company picnic, the first in 20 years. Bob Sauter, acting GM of Moscone Center, and Shaff and department heads barbecued. Employees got to relax and enjoy and they got to come up to him and take pictures and talk to him.
On Aug. 3, the day after he died, Sauter called the staff together and read an email from company CEO Wes Westley. They had a banner with Shaff’s picture from the picnic. He was wearing his “I Love Moscone” T-shirt. It read 1939-2016. The flags were flown at halfmast.
GRANDPA ON LIFE AND SUCCESS
In 2014, Hayley Rombach, granddaughter to Dick Shaff, interviewed her grandfather for a college assignment. A portion of his assessment of himself is published here. “Read this and you will see the man that we all knew and loved,” said Marilyn Shaff, his wife of 56 years.
> Do you think having a close family and/or close friends affects having a long life? Absolutely. Nothing more important than family.
> Tell me about your life now. What does your daily routine look like? Life is great. Married for 54 years. Have a wonderful family with five grandchildren. Have been the General Manager of the Moscone Center in San Francisco for 34 years and still enjoy going to work most days. Have no plans to retire at this time. I work five days a week. Major responsibility now is working on plans for expansion of the center.
> What do you do when things are not going quite the way you expect them to go? Have learned not to get too upset when things are not going the way you want them to. With time they always tend to work out. Just relax and take a deep breath.
> Do you feel your life is important to other people? If so, how? Yes. It is important to my family and to the many people that I work with. I have responsibility for the welfare of hundreds of employees.
> Do you feel that your life is still filled with interesting things? Absolutely. Everyday is an adventure and you learn something new. The list is long. Being with my wife and family, all sports, spending time at The River, riding my Harley, cruising, movies, being with friends, eating out, eating in general, watching TV with grandma, etc.
> Would you tell me one or two accomplishments that you are especially proud of? Raising a great family and my career in general. I have received a number of awards and held a number of offices. Having my name on the dedication plaque for Moscone West is something I hope my great grandchildren will have the opportunity to look at with pride someday.
> Do you feel that you are aging successfully? I do. I think continuing to work makes a big difference. I still feel like I am 18 until I try to move fast. For a guy that is 74 ½ I think I am.
> What is your secret to aging successfully? Not taking life too seriously and enjoying everything I do. Being with Grandma has also been a great part of the secret.