Adventures In Venueland

The stars at night are big and bright 👏👏👏 as we head deep into the heart of Austin, Texas to catch up with Jeff Nickler, SVP for Oak View Group, and project lead for the brand new Moody Center which opens with its first public event tonight! Hear how the country roads of West Virginia led Jeff’s career to the hotel industry in Miami, a cutting edge arena in Tulsa, running Arena Alliance in an office with Irving Azoff in LA, and now the the starry-night sky of Austin. He walks us through prep for opening a new premiere arena in Texas, including innovative designs and working with their Minister of Culture, Matthew McConaughey. Hear how important culture is to Oak View Group, and how Jeff and his family have settled into the quirky, exciting, and music-loving capital city of Austin. Jeff walks us through his fun times in Tulsa, which included their team creating clever artist gifts and amazing back of house experiences that raised the industry bar. Enjoy this fun episode which will make you throw on your cowboy boots and 10-gallon hat and line dance your way to the lone star state for a visit. Yeehaw!

Jeff Nickler: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | LinkedIn
Moody Center: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
Oak View Group: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | LinkedIn

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ADVENTURES IN VENUELAND

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Learn more about Event & Venue Marketing Conference

Meet our team:

Paul Hooper | Co-host, Booking, Branding & Marketing
Dave Redelberger | Co-host & Guest Research
Megan Ebeck | Marketing, Design & Digital Advertising
Samantha Marker | Marketing, Copywriting & Publicity
Camille Faulkner | Audio Editing & Mixing

Have a suggestion for a guest or bonus episode? We'd love to hear it! Send us an email.

This is no desert mirage, we’re chatting with Gina Rotolo, VP of Marketing & Communications for Coachella Valley Firebirds, a freshly-hatched AHL team who will be nesting at Acrisure Arena, the brand new Oak View Group arena coming to Coachella Valley, California. Gina, who is currently in Texas but will soon relocate, tells us all about the new team and arena, which has a diverse senior leadership team including a strong mix of women in key roles. Learn all about her experiences and knack for opening venues and what unique offerings this building and team will bring to the California market. Gina also walks us through her career, including her time with MGM and AEG in Las Vegas, as well as previous venues and buildings she’s worked for and opened along the way. She openly shares struggles she has faced and gives inspiring insight into working through them and continuing to grow. This episode is packed with solid career advice, encouragement to take risks and try new things, and lessons learned that may help you in your journey.

Gina Rotolo: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | LinkedIn
Coachella Valley Firebirds: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
Acrisure Arena: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

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ADVENTURES IN VENUELAND

Follow on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, or X/Twitter
Learn more about Event & Venue Marketing Conference

Meet our team:

Paul Hooper | Co-host, Booking, Branding & Marketing
Dave Redelberger | Co-host & Guest Research
Megan Ebeck | Marketing, Design & Digital Advertising
Samantha Marker | Marketing, Copywriting & Publicity
Camille Faulkner | Audio Editing & Mixing

Have a suggestion for a guest or bonus episode? We'd love to hear it! Send us an email.

Oaktown what’s good? For this episode we head to the Bay Area to talk with Lionel Bea, Director of Operations & Co-founder of Bay Area Productions, an urban event production company based in Oakland, with a focus on hip hop, R&B, gospel, blues and comedy acts. Lionel also serves as SVP of Black Promoters Collective, a coalition of six of the nation’s top independent concert promotion and event production companies that produce over 200 events annually across the country. Hear about how Black Promoters Collective started during the beginning of the pandemic, and what their mission and goals are. Lionel takes us through his 37 years in the live events industry, from a record-obsessed kid in Oakland to promoting Stevie Wonder at The Garden, he’s seen it all. Hear about his experience promoting Jamie Foxx and being a prodigy of the late, great Bill Graham. Enjoy this episode which is dense with live event stories as well as discussion of the importance of black music, promoters, and artists in the scope of live events.

Lionel Bea: Email | Facebook
Black Promoters Collective: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

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ADVENTURES IN VENUELAND

Follow on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, or X/Twitter
Learn more about Event & Venue Marketing Conference

Meet our team:

Paul Hooper | Co-host, Booking, Branding & Marketing
Dave Redelberger | Co-host & Guest Research
Megan Ebeck | Marketing, Design & Digital Advertising
Samantha Marker | Marketing, Copywriting & Publicity
Camille Faulkner | Audio Editing & Mixing

Have a suggestion for a guest or bonus episode? We'd love to hear it! Send us an email.

Kick on the lasers and wait for the bass to drop as we catch up with Jace Cohen, Co-founder of Versa. Jace’s company specializes in talent buying and festival experiences, and he shares how they have adapted and innovated over the last two years. Hear about how they launched the first major festival in Wuhan, China in 2018, bringing huge electronic acts overseas for the massive event. Jace walks us through his career journey, starting as a show runner touring with bands before joining Live Nation and Insomniac Events as a talent buyer to eventually starting his own business. Enjoy this informative and interesting episode which may inspire you to start your own company or take the next big risk, whether it’s bringing innovative drive-ins to parking lots during a pandemic or throwing a festival where NFTs serve as the ticket.

Jace Cohen: Instagram | LinkedIn
Versa: Website

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ADVENTURES IN VENUELAND

Follow on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, or X/Twitter
Learn more about Event & Venue Marketing Conference

Meet our team:

Paul Hooper | Co-host, Booking, Branding & Marketing
Dave Redelberger | Co-host & Guest Research
Megan Ebeck | Marketing, Design & Digital Advertising
Samantha Marker | Marketing, Copywriting & Publicity
Camille Faulkner | Audio Editing & Mixing

Have a suggestion for a guest or bonus episode? We'd love to hear it! Send us an email.

BONUS EPISODE – Ready… set… race with us to the iconic Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum as Joe Furin, General Manager, takes us behind-the-scenes of the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum. What’s it like to take a legendary venue that’s 100 years old and retrofit it to host the season kickoff for NASCAR? It’s just about as wild as it sounds. Joe talks us through the ideation, construction, and execution of one of NASCAR’s most ambitious events which takes a thrilling race and squeezes it into a tight track that truly shows off the skill of drivers. Enjoy this look inside a unique and boundary-pushing event that flipped a football field into an adrenaline-fueled racetrack.

Joe Furin: Email
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

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ADVENTURES IN VENUELAND

Follow on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, or X/Twitter
Learn more about Event & Venue Marketing Conference

Meet our team:

Paul Hooper | Co-host, Booking, Branding & Marketing
Dave Redelberger | Co-host & Guest Research
Megan Ebeck | Marketing, Design & Digital Advertising
Samantha Marker | Marketing, Copywriting & Publicity
Camille Faulkner | Audio Editing & Mixing

Have a suggestion for a guest or bonus episode? We'd love to hear it! Send us an email.

Head with us to the City of Festivals, Milwaukee, as we catch up with Paul Bee, the Vice President of Ticket Sales and Service for the Milwaukee Bucks. Paul, who also serves as the VP of DEI for the Event & Arena Marketing Conference, takes us through many of the social justice initiatives the Bucks organization are doing as well as his personal focuses as he works to impact his company and the industry as a whole. Coming from the sales side, he talks through his career journey from the West Michigan Whitecaps to the Cavaliers and Red Wings, the role sales plays in connecting consumers with live events, and how that connection can lead to lifelong loyalty. Enjoy this fun, informative episode which includes great career and sales advice to inspire you as you work toward making a difference in your own company.

Paul Bee: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | LinkedIn
Milwaukee Bucks: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
Fiserv Forum: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

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ADVENTURES IN VENUELAND

Follow on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, or X/Twitter
Learn more about Event & Venue Marketing Conference

Meet our team:

Paul Hooper | Co-host, Booking, Branding & Marketing
Dave Redelberger | Co-host & Guest Research
Megan Ebeck | Marketing, Design & Digital Advertising
Samantha Marker | Marketing, Copywriting & Publicity
Camille Faulkner | Audio Editing & Mixing

Have a suggestion for a guest or bonus episode? We'd love to hear it! Send us an email.

Put on your shades and cruise with us to sunny Anaheim as we chat with Megan Ebeck, Marketing Manager at Honda Center. Megan walks us through her career, including time at multiple venues, handling social for an Olympian, and interning with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. She takes us through the last two years which included a furlough, layoff, new job, resignation and all the highs and lows this industry could throw at her, which she persevered through to land at her current job. Beyond her work on the arena side, Megan oversees marketing and design for this podcast and is on the planning committee for the Event & Arena Marketing Conference. Get inspired to try new things, hone your skills, and learn to roll through challenges with this sunny new episode straight from SoCal.

Megan Ebeck: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | LinkedIn
Honda Center: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

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ADVENTURES IN VENUELAND

Follow on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, or X/Twitter
Learn more about Event & Venue Marketing Conference

Meet our team:

Paul Hooper | Co-host, Booking, Branding & Marketing
Dave Redelberger | Co-host & Guest Research
Megan Ebeck | Marketing, Design & Digital Advertising
Samantha Marker | Marketing, Copywriting & Publicity
Camille Faulkner | Audio Editing & Mixing

Have a suggestion for a guest or bonus episode? We'd love to hear it! Send us an email.

BONUS EPISODE – Lace those skates and hit the ice with us as we talk with Michael Terry, Director, Communications and Media Strategy for U.S. Figure Skating as they head to Beijing to compete in the 2022 Winter Olympic Games. Michael gives us an inside look into what it's like being involved in the big event, how things have changed due to the pandemic, what led him into working for the national governing body, and some of the challenges and rewards of promoting an international sport. With the Olympics opening ceremony today, enjoy this fun inside look into one of the biggest winter sports that is sure to leave you longing for quads and axels as the skaters hit the rink in Beijing.

Michael Terry: Twitter | LinkedIn
U.S. Figure Skating: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

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ADVENTURES IN VENUELAND

Follow on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, or X/Twitter
Learn more about Event & Venue Marketing Conference

Meet our team:

Paul Hooper | Co-host, Booking, Branding & Marketing
Dave Redelberger | Co-host & Guest Research
Megan Ebeck | Marketing, Design & Digital Advertising
Samantha Marker | Marketing, Copywriting & Publicity
Camille Faulkner | Audio Editing & Mixing

Have a suggestion for a guest or bonus episode? We'd love to hear it! Send us an email.

Grab your camera and jump in the photo pit with us as we interview music photographer and tour content creator, Anna Lee. Hear all about Anna’s journey into becoming a tour photographer, and what her favorite things and biggest challenges are while on tour. She walks us through the creation of her #ALMFanCam project where she takes a disposable camera from a super fan around with her at each show, snapping unique behind-the-scenes photos of bands. We discuss the evolution of rock photography and how it has evolved from solely documentation to being a part of a band’s marketing strategy. Ever wonder what it’s like to tour around with bands and capture their story? Check out this fun episode with self-dubbed “girl with blue hair” and “resident Smashing Pumpkins super fan,” Anna Lee.

Anna Lee Media: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | LinkedIn

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ADVENTURES IN VENUELAND

Follow on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, or X/Twitter
Learn more about Event & Venue Marketing Conference

Meet our team:

Paul Hooper | Co-host, Booking, Branding & Marketing
Dave Redelberger | Co-host & Guest Research
Megan Ebeck | Marketing, Design & Digital Advertising
Samantha Marker | Marketing, Copywriting & Publicity
Camille Faulkner | Audio Editing & Mixing

Have a suggestion for a guest or bonus episode? We'd love to hear it! Send us an email.

For this episode we head to sunny Savannah, Georgia and catch up with Monty Jones, Jr., General Manager for Enmarket Arena and Savannah Civic Center with Oak View Group. Monty tells us all about the brand new arena opening in Savannah next month, and their various initiatives, including having 75% of their event operating income go to local, minority-owned businesses. He takes us through his career adventure, from a parks and recreation interest, to big and small markets, and how relationships he has built along the way have helped provide opportunities in his career. Enjoy this informative episode that’s sure to inspire you to take that next career leap and to follow your passion.

Monty Jones, Jr: Twitter | Instagram | LinkedIn
Enmarket Arena: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

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ADVENTURES IN VENUELAND

Follow on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, or X/Twitter
Learn more about Event & Venue Marketing Conference

Meet our team:

Paul Hooper | Co-host, Booking, Branding & Marketing
Dave Redelberger | Co-host & Guest Research
Megan Ebeck | Marketing, Design & Digital Advertising
Samantha Marker | Marketing, Copywriting & Publicity
Camille Faulkner | Audio Editing & Mixing

Have a suggestion for a guest or bonus episode? We'd love to hear it! Send us an email.