Bill Cunningham, 1928-2018, and Ray Ward, 1934-2018. (Courtesy Linda Deckard / Amusement Business)
Bill Cunningham and Ray Ward were passionate about venue management and, even more so, passionate about professionalism in the industry in a day when it was more political than professional.
The two gave back to an industry they loved in remarkable ways, including key roles in establishment of the Certified Facility Executives program and the Venue Management School at Oglebay in Wheeling, W.Va., through the International Association of Venue Managers, which both helmed as president during their careers.
They were of like mind personally and professionally and they died just a week apart in their San Francisco Bay Area homes, Cunningham on May 8 and Ward on May 2. Cunningham hired Ward as assistant director at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Complex when he took that job as general manager at the age of 37 in 1964, after beginning his career at the Philadelphia Trade and Convention Center. He plucked Ward from his multifaceted job as assistant athletic director at the University of California-Santa Barbara. Ward’s wife, Rosemary, recalled how thrilled Ward was to be on board and how pleased Cunningham was to have snagged him.
Together, they changed an industry.
Gregg Perloff, who worked with Bill Graham Presents in that era and now promotes as Another Planet Entertainment, recalls that professionalism that made them so effective.
“Bill and Ray had a great venue. One of the big things was they didn’t interfere with the promoter/producer,” Perloff said. “They helped expedite and facilitate things—they had great relationships with the police, fire department and city. They handled the aspects they were good at and they respected the fact the promoter was risking a lot of money. You were treated with a lot of respect and you were treated as a partner. It wasn’t that way in a lot of other arenas at that time.”
Legendary promoter Bill Graham became one of Cunningham’s best friends, giving the keynote at what was then IAAM, the International Association of Auditorium Managers, in San Francisco in 1978 when Cunningham won the industry’s prestigious Charles A. McElravy award, Bill Cunningham Jr. recalled. Cunningham was president of IAAM in 1973-74.
Ward was IAAM president in 1988-89 and also won the McElravy Award. Even after leaving his job in Oakland where he first worked with and then succeeded Cunningham, Ward was very involved in IAVM, to a point that the Board of Regents established a Ray Ward Award at the Venue Management School, bestowing the first one on Ward in 1996.
In the last few decades, their contributions to venue management professionalism have almost superseded their contributions as venue managers, as it should be. They operated in a different era of venue management, and they changed it.
Perloff recalled the inaugural Day on the Green at Oakland Coliseum, among the first stadium festival series staged.
“We were considered to be the third franchise, along with the football and baseball teams. One year, we did 10 stadium shows, close to 600,000. In those days, that was a huge amount of people, Perloff said.
Day on the Green was conceived as just that, a daylong event, from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., featuring five or six major bands. “Some of the opening acts we had on that series were bands like AC/ DC and Van Halen. Can you imagine seeing Van Halen at 10 in the morning?” Perloff marveled.
Bill Jr. recalled his dad having to calm the groundskeeper for the Oakland A’s, who was worried about the mid-baseball season Day on the Green. “I understand your concern, John, but we’re not in the business of growing grass,” was his dad’s comment, Bill Jr. said. And there were rewards. One Day on the Green occurred on Bill Sr.’s birthday, and the entire crowd there to see the Doobie Brothers, the Eagles and Elton John sang happy birthday to the venue manager, much to the admiration of his son.
Enjoying the job was key to both men and venue management, Bill Jr. said. Bill Sr. liked to book the events; Ray Ward was a whiz at keeping the books and handling the revenue] streams. The pair ran a profitable complex.
“Ray and Bill ran their buildings so well, which is why they were so successful,” Perloff said. “In those days, the building made money, It was a real partnership.”
Sharing their secrets to success was high on the agenda of both men. Brad Mayne, executive director of IAVM today, like many in the industry considers Ward a mentor.
“I would not have been active in IAVM if it weren’t for Ray. I was a student and instructor at Oglebay and I was sitting at lunch and this gentleman walked up to me, and he asked me general questions, including have you ever been a volunteer in IAVM? Next thing I knew, I was the chairman of the Awards Review Committee.” Mayne chose Ray Ward to present when he received his own McElravy Award.
Even after Ward quit teaching at VMS, the Board of Regents made him a provost “because of his ability to see the big picture and put it into details. Anytime we had to rewrite bylaws, we turned to Ray. He thought it through, all the what-ifs. He probably had more influence on more people in the industry than anybody I know,” Mayne said.
Michael Marion of Verizon Arena in North Little Rock, Ark., the 2018 recipient of the Ray Ward Award, agreed. “Ray was the conscience of Oglebay. I think about me coming in in 2009. You knew who Ray was. In regents meetings, he was our history, he would remind us why things were like they were, and not in an old-stories way, but here is the philosophy, the meaning behind Oglebay.”
In negotiating class at Oglebay, Marion said he always recommends “Bill Graham Presents” as required reading. “I always hold up that book and say read this, this is how things started and Ray Ward was right there in the middle of it,” Marion said.
Cunningham’s genius also included picking the right people, including Ward and Bob Quintella, who followed in Ward’s footsteps. In Oakland, “they had an amazing board of businessmen, the precursor” to the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority, Perloff said. Bill Jr. recalled that was one of the main reasons his dad took the Oakland job. The GM job in Philadelphia at the time was totally political. Oakland set it up to be independent.
When it turned political in Oakland, while the city and county were trying to keep Al Davis and his Oakland Raiders in town, Cunningham left, Bill Jr. remembered. That’s when he started Coliseum Consultants, establishing yet another career path for venue managers.
“My first recollection was in Philadelphia, in 1962, when dad took me to a Philadelphia Warriors game before they moved out West, “ Bill Jr. said.
Managing a profitable, multipurpose facility in a major metropolitan area gave Cunningham and Ward an influential platform. Both of them were big on professionalism. Their legacy is in giving back.
“Leaders in the industry always give back,” Bill Jr. said.