Aventus named Rob Edwards chief operating officer. Edwards has held positions with Eventim U.K., AudienceView Ticketing Corp. and Tickets.com.
L-Acoustics appointed Franck Fabry to regional sales manager. Fabry previously served the Canadian market for Bosch/Telex and Meyer Sound Laboratories.
Kenneth Hardiman was named senior executive chef of the new arena of the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks, the Wisconsin Entertainment and Sports Center, for Levy Restaurants. Hardiman was the executive chef of Milwaukee’s Mason Street Grill.
AEG Live Senior Vice President Ali Harnell has joined the global touring team for AEG Presents, while Mike DuCharme will serve as vice president for AEG’s Nashville regional office and Adam Weiser as vice president of the national theaters and clubs team. The changes follow the exit of Lenore Kinder to become an agent at Paradigm.
Ware Malcomb tapped Anita Makwana as director of corporate accounts in the firm’s Irvine, Calif.-based headquarters. Makwana joined Ware Malcomb in 2005.
Guidepost Solutions appointed Robert J. McDonough as vice president of sports and entertainment. McDonough most recently served as the director of security for the AMB Group LLC and the Arthur M. Blank Sports Entertainment Group LLC. Before that, McDonough was the first director of security in the United States for Bayer Corp. McDonough served as a special agent with the U.S. Secret Service for 24 years.
Kletra Newton was named chief operating officer of the San Mateo County (Calif.) Event Center. Newton joined the event center management team in 2014 and in 2016 was named director of event sales and services.
Nashville-based National Shows 2 added talent buyer Taki Pappas to its staff. Pappas started in the music business at Live Nation. After working more than 13 years with PACE Touring, Avalon Attractions, SFX Touring and Clear Channel Entertainment, Pappas most recently served as the director of programming, concerts and comedy at the Durham (N.C.) Performing Arts Center.
Madison Square Garden Co. named Victoria Parker executive vice president of MSG Productions. Parker joins MSG after serving as the head of creative strategy for Verizon’s Oath Studios. Before Verizon, Parker spent 10 years at The Weinstein Co., where she served as vice president of corporate affairs and senior vice president of theatrical productions.
PASSINGS
Jerry Moses, 71, sports concessionaire and Major League Baseball player, March 26 in Haverhill, Mass. Moses played as a catcher in the majors 1965-75, primarily for the Boston Red Sox. In 1986, Moses and Chris Verros (now Centerplate’s president and CEO) launched Fanfare, a small foodservice company that grew to 15 accounts before it was sold to Fine Host Corp. seven years later. Aramark acquired Fine Host in 2002 for about $100 million.
MOVE OF THE MONTH
Western Specialty Contractors promoted Tom Brooks to chief operating officer. Brooks replaces Jim Rechtin Sr., who retired after 46 years of service. Brooks started with Western in 2012 as vice president of operations and business development, then was promoted to senior vice president of operations in 2016.