The Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre in Queensland, Australia, has announced three new appointments to its management team. Keith Bazley will serve as executive manager of property operations. Most recently, Bazley managed a portfolio of government-owned facilities at the Department of Housing and Public Works. Adrian Potts, who previously worked on major sporting events with Harry the Hirer, has been appointed audio visual manager; and Andrew Sjaus will serve as food and beverage manager.
Franki Buckman has been named vice president & general manager of Southwestern International Raceway in Tucson, Ariz. Most recently, Buckman served as VP & GM of Firebird International Raceway in Chandler, Ariz. She worked at Firebird International Raceway in a variety of roles for 18 years, including VP of Sales and Marketing.
Global Spectrum has named Art Davis the new general manager for the 61,000-capacity Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis, Tenn. Davis has been with Global Spectrum since 2008 as director of Finance for the Memphis Redbirds and AutoZone Park. In 2011, he became involved with the finance and accounting at Liberty Bowl Stadium.
Bill Derwin will join the ServiceMaster Company as president of Terminix. Derwin joins ServiceMaster from the Otis Elevator division of United Technologies Corporation, where he served as VP of Otis’ $4.2-billion global field operations. He also spent five years as a consultant at McKinsey & Company, and began his career in engineering at The Boeing Company in Seattle. Larry Pruitt, who had been serving as Terminix’s interim president since March, will transition to the role of COO.
Global Spectrum has appointed David Farrar as GM of Kovalchick Convention and Athletic Complex on the campus of Indiana University Pennsylvania. He comes to the facility after two years as the assistant GM and director of events at the Global Spectrum-managed Budweiser Events Center in Loveland, Colo.
Dale Gann has been promoted from executive VP of Operations at Palm Beach International Raceway in Jupiter, Fla., to the facility’s vice president and general manager. He joined the team at PBIR in March 2009. Gann was born and raised in New Jersey, working in information and technology and network engineering positions for companies such as Planet Hollywood before joining the IRG Sports + Entertainment team.
IRG Sports + Entertainment has announced that Scott Gardner has been named president of the International Hot Rod Association. Gardner, longtime owner and promoter of the Cordova (Ill.) Dragway Park, will transition into his new position for the next two years, leading the IHRA team out of the Norwalk, Ohio, office. Aaron Polburn had been president and GM of the IHRA since 2004.
Seth Gordon has been promoted to president and COO of Signature Systems Group. Gordon was hired in 2008 as the company’s director of business development and was promoted to senior VP of strategy in 2012. He has been integral to establishing Signature’s European headquarters in the U.K. Signature was founded in 1998 by former President and CEO Arnon Rosan, who is leaving the company to pursue a new role at a start-up tech company.
Sandra Hawke is retiring from her position as marketing & sales director at MetraPark, Billings, Mont., effective Dec. 31. She has been with the venue for 25 years.
Jaffe Holden has appointed Garth Hemphill as senior A/V consultant at the company’s Houston office. He has produced sound for hundreds of productions at facilities including Seattle Repertory and the Dallas Theater Center. Hemphill has more than 30 years of experience designing systems for sports stadiums, corporate conference rooms, houses of worship and performing arts facility.
Monty Jones, Jr., has been chosen as the new general manager at the Global Spectrum-managed Jobing.com Arena in Glendale, Ariz., home of the Phoenix Coyotes. Previously, Jones managed the Augusta (Ga.) Entertainment Complex. Before his time in Georgia, Jones managed the Emil Jones Convocation Center in Chicago.
VenuWorks has hired Annette Kirklin as executive director of the Vicksburg (Miss.) Convention Center. She has served as the executive director of the Southern Cultural Heritage Foundation since 2008. She has previously worked with VenuWorks as a special projects coordinator in Vicksburg.
Exhibition Place in Toronto has announced two promotions. Former Senior Account Executive-Association Market Stephanie Lander has been promoted to Sales manager. Her new role involves the GTA Association Market and managing the corporate team. Geoff Mak has been promoted from account executive to senior account executive.
AEG Ogden has appointed Trevor McCartney as the inaugural general manager at Oman Convention & Exhibition Centre. Most recently, McCartney served as the director of business development at the Qatar National Convention Centre. Before he began working in Qatar in 2011, McCartney was chief executive at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching, Malaysia for three years and director of international Sales and Operations at the Pattaya (Thailand) Exhibition and Convention Hall. He has been a key member of preopening teams at three major conference centers in the United Kingdom. The Oman Convention & Exhibition Centre is due for completion December 2016. McCartney will begin his new role in early 2014.
Megan Nuding has accepted a position as director of ticketing at the Sands Bethlehem (Pa.) Event Center and Toyota Pavilion in Scranton, Pa. Nuding most recently served as box office manager at the Santander Arena in Reading, Pa. Tammy Bateman will step into the role of box office manager.
Taylor Pannullo has joined the team at carbonhouse as regional sales and account manager — North America. Most recently, Pannullo spent eight years
with Madison Square Garden Entertainment in New York. While at MSGE, her responsibilities ranged from ticketing to writing proposals and contracts. She also coordinated onsite tour sponsorship activations for all of MSGE’s New York venues.
AEG has ended its relationship with Randy Phillips, CEO of AEG Live, and is restructuring the management of that live entertainment. Jay Marciano, COO of AEG, has been appointed chairman of AEG Live and will assume a more active role in the management of that division, overseeing an L.A.-based executive team led by Paul Tollett, John Meglen, Shawn Trell and Rick Mueller. Tollett has been named CEO and President of Goldenvoice and will have a broader role in the management of AEG Live’s business as a newly-appointed member of the company’s board. Meglen, who has been co-CEO of Concerts West since AEG entered the concert promotion business in 2000 through an acquisition of that boutique touring firm, will assume the role of President of Global Touring for AEG Live. Trell has been promoted to the role of COO, AEG Live, taking over for Tom Miserendino who recently relocated to London to assume the role of President and CEO, AEG Europe. Trell has served as senior VP and General Counsel, AEG Live for over a decade. Mueller, who has more than 20 years of experience as a concert promoter prior to joining AEG Live in 2011, has been promoted to the position of President, AEG Live North America.
AEG Facilities has announced that Steve Rosebrook has been appointed general manager at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. He was part of the venue's opening team, serving for more than one year as VP of Operations. Rosebrook brings more than 24 years of facility management industry experience to his new role. He previously served as the assistant general manager and regional director of Operations for AEG Facilities at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn.; assistant GM of Toyota Center in Houston; and facility service manager of the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.
Bob Seaton has joined Etix as the company's chief technology officer. Seaton, former senior architect at PayPal focusing on enterprise solutions for Global Operations and Customer Service, has previously held senior architecture, engineering and management positions with Visa, Globeset and Motorola. His new position will allow him to move back to North Carolina, where Seaton is originally from.
The Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Ind., has promoted several key staff members. Clement (C.J.) Steigmeyer has been promoted to VP of Finance and COO. Previously, he served as VP of Finance and CFO. Michele Remenschneider, who previously served as ticket office manager has been appointed VP of event services. Nathan Dennison has been promoted to VP of Sales, having previously served as coordinator of Marketing & Media Services. Brad Riehle has been promoted from network administrator to systems & technology manager, while Jayne Connor has been promoted to ticket office manager.
Amber Weberpal Allen was named president of the Phoenix Chapter of the National Association for Catering and Events (NACE). Weberpal Allen is the regional director of Catering at the new Vee Quiva Hotel & Casino, Wild Horse Pass Hotel & Casino, and Lone Butte Casino. She has been a member of NACE for the past five years, holding the roles of hospitality director, secretary and vice president. She joined the Ovations Food Services team nearly a year ago and assisted in the creation of a sales plan for Vee Quiva Hotel & Casino.
SMG Wichita has named Joe Wescott house manager for the Orpheum Theatre in Wichita, Kan. Wescott previously served as Hot Tix assistant manager for the League of Chicago Theaters. He is a graduate of Roosevelt University in Chicago.
SMG has promoted Jake Wood to director of Sales and Marketing for CenturyLink Center in Bossier City, La. Most recently, Wood served as Marketing manager at the facility. He is a graduate of LSU Shreveport and a native of West Monroe, La.