Coming from a big family, if you wanted something you had to work to afford it. Dot Lischick is one of eight siblings, “fifth, tied for fourth, with Eloise, my twin.”
As general manager of the Broadmoor World Arena, Pikes Peak Center for the Performing Arts and World Arena Ice Hall, a U.S. Olympic Training Site in Colorado Springs, Lischick says her “favorite day is having something go on in each building at the same time. It’s exciting, charges people, gets you all wound up and it’s ‘wow, look at what we did.’”
Selected by her peers as a 2018 VenuesNow Woman of Influence, Lischick admits she didn’t grow up dreaming of managing an arena, but it fits her energetic style to a tee.
She started working at William Paterson University, Wayne, N.J., in student activities, putting up posters and collecting admissions at the coffee house where they showed weekend movies. Her major was sociology and she was aiming to save the world.
But her college jobs, more than her academic choices, fueled her interest in venue management, a skill she honed while working to get her masters in counseling and continued with jobs at Princeton University, Bridgewater State University, and home again at Paterson, where she managed their convention program.
“Those things all led me to my position in Iowa where I managed the RiverCenter and Adler Theater, for the city of Davenport,” Lischick said.
That happened with the help of the late Loris Smith, Ogden Entertainment, who was on the board of directors for William Paterson. “He introduced me to IAAM.” Lischick recalled. “I applied for the job in Davenport and got it. I wanted out of these colleges and wanted to get into the real world.” Smith showed her how.
Lischick was in Iowa for 10 years and was ready for her next move when the call came about Colorado Springs. Another IAVM connection, Mich Sauers with Globe Facility Services, asked if she would be interested in a position in Colorado Springs, a town she had just seen on a cross-country trip and loved. “It was karma,” she said.
She started the new job in 1996; the building opened in 1998. For five years, she ran it for GFS, and then the World Arena opted to be self managed and she was fortunate enough to stay on board.
The last couple of decades have been a great ride. “We have a great board. They encourage the entrepreneurial spirit,” Lischick said. “When I first came, they allowed me the opportunity to get heavily involved in the community, which helped build the excitement and club membership. That introduced me to the right people.”
She parlayed those relationships into a solid business platform. The Broadmoor World Arena is not subsidized. They make their own way. “Relationships are 99 percent of getting something done and then you demonstrate your ability. If you don’t have the relationships, you’ll never get the chance; and if you don’t have the skills you’ll never develop the relationships.”
“For an arena, we do a lot of catering, which is pretty abnormal,” Lischick said. Centerplate is the concessionaire.
Their close association with The Broadmoor resorts brings a lot of dinners and social events to the arena. The benefits are mutual. Lischick was on board when the Broadmoor took naming rights to the arena. “We always said we were the Broadmoor of Arenas,” Lischick said with a smile. This made it formal.
“Dot is always calm, cool and collected under pressure. You always know she’s the one in charge. She’s a multitasker, doesn’t get rattled and has huge responsibilities but makes it look easy,” said Ann Alba, VP and resident manager, The Broadmoor, who works closely with Lischick to make things happen. “She knows the operation so she can make decisions quickly.”
She is also not afraid to be in the thick of things. Alba recalls an Elton John date at the Broadmoor World Arena as proof of Lischick’s take-charge style. John, of course, was staying at the Broadmoor, as were several of his fans — more than 350 of them. To transport that many people from the resort to the arena for the show, they had to abandon the usual 14-passenger shuttle trips in favor of partnering the Gray Line buses. Those drivers were not as familiar with the drill.
“I walked through it with Dot, but when it came time, we all became parking attendants. It was Dot out there with her radio organizing the traffic. The two of us out there in heels getting the transportation in order,” Alba recalled.
The two have worked foundation dinners for 2,800 employees to auxiliary parking for 900 resort employees. “The answer is always yes with Dot,” Alba said.
“I do the same for her in reverse,” Alba said, helping take care of artists and VIPs on tour. Donna DiBenedetto, AEG Presents, and a fellow 2018 Woman of Influence and also a twin from a large family, was a recipient of that largesse when she brought Elton John to Broadmoor World Arena. “My room was as big as a house,” the New Yorker said of her stay at the resort.
Lischick’s skills were instrumental in the county’s decision to ask the World Arena staff to also manage Pikes Peak Center in 2004. Lischick uses the same staff to control costs. “They had some struggles there. We were always more entrepreneurial because we didn’t get any money from anyone. We had to figure it out or the door closes. Using one staff for all three venues made it very affordable to manage in terms of overhead and labor,” Lischick said. Lischick manages 32 full-timers, 350 part-timers and a $7 million budget for all three buildings.
The constant challenge is to focus on the future, which includes $4 million in renovations in the Ice Hall, which opened first.
Mentors include Loris Smith, who helped her in the early days; her twin sister who always has an honest answer, and her partner Ralph Sauer, a trial lawyer by profession. “You can always say, ‘I’m going to call my in-house attorney,’” she said of the relationship.
Lischick’s best advice to young people coming into the business: “Get into it and learn what you can where you are. It’s not going to be your last job. Suck up all you can and learn what you can where you are and figure out what you like. If you figure out what you like, you will excel in it.”
Other 2018 Women of Influence: