Sydney Greenblatt, left, Sydney Greenblatt Marketing, and Monty Jones Jr., Gila River Arena, Glendale, Ariz., particpate in lively speed networking during VT RISE. (VT Photo)
REPORTING FROM LONG BEACH, CALIF. — Diverse teams make better decisions and that was the goal at VT RISE (Raising the Industry in Sport and Entertainment) held here Sept.13.
This inaugural RISE, a daylong conference discussing industry issues from the perspective of diversity, whether it’s generational or gender, will be an annual gathering produced by Venues Today. The first two sessions tackled diversity head-on. The entire conference was about networking and making industry contacts outside one's comfort zone. Speakers were primarily winners of past Venues Today Women of Influence (WOI) and Generation Next (GN) awards.
Each RISE registrant was “labeled” by generation and the number who felt they were possibly “born at 40” like Adam Cook, GN, Rexall Place, Edmonton, Alberta, or “living above my generation” like Becca Watters, GN, Spokane (Wash.) Arena, tended to trend older, not younger. Baby Boomers are facing issues of diversity, like reverse mentoring, head-on.
With 53 percent of the population now millennials (born between 1975 and 1995), it is inevitable that generation will take over. The question is when. Kim Bedier, WOI. Tacoma (Wash.) Public Facilities, noted “labels are for cans, not people.” She suggested we shouldn’t add labeling to the challenges. She also suggested, however, that Baby Boomers tend to live to work while Millennials work to live. We must embrace it.
The venue industry is a lifestyle, said Brenda Tinnen, WOI, Sprint Center, Kansas City, Mo., who moderated the panel and kept things moving and funny. Monty Jones Jr., Gila River Arena, Glendale, Ariz., agreed, admitting to being a workaholic.
Kim Stone, AmericanAirlines Arena, Miami, Fla., and Wesley Cullen, Coliseo de Puerto Rico, San Juan, make networking time. (VT Photo)
Cook concurred that to “live to work, you have to love what you do.” But Millennials inevitably will be taking over all the jobs. “They say it will take two Millennials to do the job of one Boomer.”
Diversity is very much a human resources issue today and in the near future.
“You never know who you are going to work for,” said Tinnen, recalling one of her trainees who became her boss 10 years later.
Cheryl Swanson, WOI, Alerus Center, Grand Forks, N.D., had an aha moment when “five, maybe six” Millennials came to her in a few short months soon after being hired and knowing full well their job description, announcing this was not where they expected to be by this time in their careers. It was clearly a trend, not an anomaly, so “we opened a dialog. We’re starting a program called Managing Multiple Generations.” The object of the program is for the generations to understand each other and work in harmony.
Bedier referred to the joys of “reverse mentoring. We can learn so much from the younger generation.” And it’s not just about technology. “At the end of the day, we have a job to do,” Bedier noted, adding that SVPs and interns need to communicate well to get that job done.
While it may appear Millennials are all about entitlement, in this industry they are entitled to not stop, Cook added. He is dealing with newcomers who have their papers (diplomas and certificates) and think, "I don’t have to pay my dues because I have my paper.” Add to that that Millennials got a blue ribbon for participation, that while score was kept, everyone won, and the sense of entitlement seems pervasive.
“We raised them. What did we do?” said Christy Castillo Butcher, WOI, Staples Center, Los Angeles.
“You can train it out of them,” Cook retorted. “This industry is not about paper. It’s who you know and what you know.”
Politics is an important part of the equation in a career in this business, added Jason Blumenfeld, GN, Colonial Life Arena, Columbia, S.C. “This is a small industry. They rush into the business. How much rope do you give them?” It obviously depends on circumstances. He began his career in a small town setting and rose to the GM job very quickly. Now he’s in a bigger town and an AGM and still learning and progressing in a gratifying way.
Managing expectations is a new science today, Cook agreed.
Cyndee Pennington, WOI, Pensacola (Fla.) Bay Center, added females managing males to the mix. She works with an event services director who wants to be a general manager one day….sooner than later. She had to learn not to push a hot button, but to find some connection that would keep everyone moving forward.
THROWING IN GENDER
Robyn Williams, WOI, Portland’5 Centers for the Arts, facilitated the panel on “Cracking the Glass Ceiling: Look Who’s in Charge Now,” with statistics confirming women are still less likely to succeed to the top jobs and top offices in this industry. Even in performing arts, the vast majority of CEOs are men, and in the industry’s professional association, the International Association of Venue Managers, of which she was chairman, women are under-represented in top spots.
That’s not a problem in public relations, noted Vanessa Kromer, WOI, Nederlander VP of PR. In public relations, women dominate and “I can totally use being a woman,” Kromer said.
Wesley Cullen, WOI, Coliseo de Puerto Rico, San Juan, nailed one of the big perceived differences. “I have a potty mouth, too,” she said, but she can see the unconscious bias in most conversations.
Mike McGee, consultant, and Barbara Hubbard, ACTS, talk about how the industry has changed. (VT Photo)
Barbara Hubbard, WOI, ACTS, was the voice of equanimity. She ran Pan Am Center, Las Cruces, N.M., with a staff of volunteer students, male and female, all of whom she trained. “See this gray hair of mine? I never realized I had a problem. A lot of it is in our minds,” Hubbard said. She was brought up in a time where women were to bear children, and that was her role. But that didn’t stop her from working.
In this industry, gender isn’t the differentiator. It’s who you know. “Networking is the most fabulous part of this business,” said Hubbard. “This business has changed. Figure out a way around that corner,” she said of gender issues.
Male bosses versus women bosses concerned Susette Hunter, WOI, Birmingham (Ala.) Jefferson Convention Center. She is part of a small group of women leaders in this industry doing business in the South. They call themselves the Kudzu Queens, after the vine in those states that “grows two feet every two seconds and takes over everything.” The Kudzu Queens provide support for each other and talk about the issues brought up at RISE on a regular basis. Most of all, they network.
Hunter noted that the landscape has changed. When she started in the industry there were almost no female stagehands and the snide remarks to females who were there, like “come sweep my bus,” could be exhausting. “Now, there are several women in charge of stage crews.”
The tougher they are the more they change, Hubbard wisely suggested. “They’ll turn into lambs some day."