Otto Benedict has been appointed SVP & GM of facilities at Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC). Previously, Benedict was director of operations for AEG’s StubHub Center, Carson, Calif., where he worked for over nine years. Following his tenure at StubHub Center, Benedict took on the role of VP of Operations for Choura Events. He also teaches a facilities management class for the Sports Management Master’s program at California State University, Long Beach.
Western Specialty Contractors has promoted Justin Berndt to region manager of its Chicago Concrete Restoration, Chicago Facade Restoration and Indianapolis branch offices. Berndt was previously senior branch manager of the two Chicago branches. Berndt began his career with Western in 2004 as an assistant project manager.
GES has hired Dax Callner as chief strategy officer, events. Prior to joining GES, Callner was chief strategy officer with Sparks. Before that, he founded Crux, a strategic marketing consultancy specializing in digital, social and experiential initiatives.
SoundExchange has announced that Richard Conlon will join the company as chief external affairs officer. For the past three years, Conlon has served as a senior advisor to CEOs and senior management at major music publishers, record labels, collective rights management organizations and financial institutions. Previously, he was senior VP, corporate strategy, communications and new media, at Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) for more than 20 years.
Comcast Spectacor announced promotions for several key members of its Spectra Ticketing & Fan Engagement team. Kim Damron has been named president of the division. Previously, Damron was the chief operating officer. Prior to Damron’s 12-year tenure at Spectra (formerly Paciolan), she served in leadership positions at Tickets.com, Buy.com and Paramount Studios. Steve Demots has been promoted to chief revenue officer. He was formerly senior VP of business development. Craig Ricks has been promoted to SVP of marketing. Ricks has served in a strategic marketing role with the company for 14 years. Christian Lewis is the new VP of business development. Lewis has been at Spectra for more than three years and served in leadership roles at Terrapin Sports Marketing at the University of Maryland, College Park; CBS College Sports Properties and at Cardinal Sports Properties, Stanford (Calif.) University.
Rey del Valle is the new chief financial officer at DTI Management. Previously, del Valle was SVP of finance at AXS Ticketing, where he oversaw the successful acquisitions of Veritix and Transticket. Prior to AXS, del Valle was Ticketmaster’s SVP of finance for eCommerce and technology.
VenuWork’s-managed Rialto Square Theatre, Joliet, Ill., has hired Valerie Divine as executive director. Previously Devine was VP of production for Paramount Theatre, Copley Theatre and RiverEdge Park, all in Aurora, Ill.
Greg Janese has joined UTA as head of corporate and special events. Janese comes to UTA from Paradigm, where he was employed for 12 years and headed the corporate and special event division. Prior to joining Paradigm, Janese was president of TBA Entertainment Corporation. He joined TBA after selling Avalon Entertainment Group, a company he co-founded, to the entertainment group.
Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) announced the hire of Heather Brooks Karatz as executive VP of legal and general counsel. Karatz joins the LAFC team after working at Independent Sports and Entertainment (ISE), formerly known as Relativity Sports, where she served as general counsel and SVP since March 2013.
John Graham has announced his retirement from his position as executive senior associate athletics director, Frank Erwin Center, Austin, Texas, after 28 years at the helm, effective Aug. 31. Graham got his start in the arena industry in 1980 as the events manager of Assembly Hall (now State Farm Center) at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He spent nine years at Assembly Hall, working his way up to assistant director and then associate director, before moving to Austin to join the Frank Erwin Center as associate director in May of 1989. He was then promoted to director in October of 1990, succeeding Dean Justice.
Mike Guirguis is joining UTA, where he will focus on creating new opportunities for artists, including establishing new partnerships across all areas of entertainment and building new businesses around clients. Most recently, Guirguis was the founder of NiteVision Management where he managed artists Chris Brown, Teyana,Taylor, DJ Sourmilk and Dave Aude among others. Guirguis also was a member of the management team for R&B artist Akon.
The Center for the Performing Arts at The Woodlands (CPAW), Texas, has named Cameron Klepac the new director of marketing & education. Most recently, Klepac served as assistant director of public relations and education for CPAW’s Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion. Prior to The Pavilion, Klepac oversaw brand management and events for The Woodlands (Texas) Convention and Visitors Bureau and Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, Texas.
UK agent Bex Majors has joined UTA’s international booking department. Majors began her music industry career as a promoter in Cardiff, Wales. She then went on to become the in-house promoter at Cardiff Barfly, followed by a stint as booking agent at UK dance music promoter Helter Skelter in 2005. In 2006, she joined CAA. Majors will be based out of the agency’s Beverly Hills, Calif., office.
Brad Saks has been named talent buyer for Knitting Factory Presents. Saks was most recently talent buyer and concert promoter at Skyway Theatre, Minneapolis. Previously, Saks opened AEG Live’s Minneapolis office after a four-year stint in New York and Mexico, booking for Ocesa Presents and Metropolitan Talent Presents.
KAI Design & Build has hired Michael A. Scott as a senior project architect. Prior to KAI, Scott worked as an architect at HOK, KAI Design & Build; Kwame Building Group and Grice Group Architects. He has a bachelor’s degree in architecture from Kansas State University, Manhattan.
STRI Group is strengthening its management team with the addition of new business development manager, Mark Stidwill, who previously worked for PGG Wrightson Seeds. Stidwill will be based out of STRI’s Brisbane office. Sam Myott has been added to STRI’s agronomy team in Melbourne. Michelle Dickinson is STRI’s new senior agronomist. Previously, she worked at Ground Science.
Thomas Trevethan has joined Shaw Conference Centre (SCC), Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, as food & beverage director. Trevethan brings 15 years of leadership with luxury brands such as the Ritz Carlton, Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, Marriott Autograph Collection, Caesars Entertainment and the Paris Casino and Resort, Las Vegas. He has received US Senate and Congressional recognition from former presidents Barrack Obama, George W. Bush and Jimmy Carter, and he was invited to the White House by first lady Michelle Obama in 2010.
Shaw Conference Center (SCC), Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, has hired Jason Wang as executive pastry chef. Wang previously worked at SCC and rejoins in the leadership role. Wang developed his culinary skills at the Italian Bakery and SCC beginning as a pastry demi chef de partie and subsequently moving into pastry chef de partie, senior pastry chef de partie and pastry sous chef roles.
UK music agent Billy Wood has joined UTA and will book international dates from UTA’s London office. Wood began his talent agent career in 2007 at Create Music. He moved on to Mission Control Artist Agency in 2009. In 2010, Wood joined William Morris Endeavor (WME).