Richard’s true passion however is around maximising human potential. As CIO (Chief Illuminations Officer) of Venue Solutions Group Advantage Training, Richard is a sought-after facilitator and speaker. He draws upon his 35 plus years as a senior executive in professional sports, venues and hospitality management to design and deliver leading edge training and professional development programs that deliver those “aha moments”.
In 2022 Richard and VSG Advantage Training were named HR Magazine’s “Top Emerging International Training and Development” company as a result of their cutting-edge professional development work.
Richard also served as President and CEO of Seafair, a premier festival management organization, and President and CEO of Northlands, one of the world’s largest multi-purpose entertainment and meeting complexes. While at Northlands he starred on an episode of the popular television show, “Undercover Boss.”

Richard has volunteered in a variety of industry related leadership roles including serving as Chair of the Board of Directors for the International Association of Venue Managers (IAVM). He continues to instruct at the IAVM Venue Management School and Graduate Institute and was also Chair of its Board of Regents. Additionally, he regularly teaches internationally including as part of the faculty of the Venue Management Association Asia Pacific School and Leadership Institute.
Richard holds an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh’s Katz School of Business and an ICD.C (corporate director certification) from the Rotman School of Business at the University of Toronto. His many professional service honours and distinctions include Major League Baseball’s Lee McPhail Award for excellence in business operations, Virginia Citizen of the Year, and the IAVM Venue Management School Ray Ward Award for his contributions to industry education.

Michael’s 30 plus years of industry experience includes management in global professional sports, NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, MLS, British Premiere League, LaLiga & Serie A as well numerous NCAA division I teams. Michael has held numerous positions including Vice President of operations with Centerplate and the Boston Culinary Group, beverage and merchandise operations for the Miami Dolphins, the Florida Marlins and the University of Miami at Sunlife Stadium. During his career he has been instrumental in the successful operation of four Super Bowls, three Orange Bowls, a BCS football championships, NCAA Final Four two Stanley Cup championship series and countless blockbuster concerts.

In 2010, Michael was one of the founding leadership executives at Legends Hospitality when the NY Yankees and the Dallas Cowboys created a company intending to revolutionize the sports hospitality industry. From GM of Operations at AT&T Stadium, to COO of the hospitality division, to SVP of Innovation and Fan Experience, Michael played an integral role in pushing Legends to become a leader in the culinary, catering and merchandising industries.

His passion for hospitality is evident in his professional and personal life. He currently resides in Miami, FL with his wife and enjoys international travel, golf, fly fishing and aging his own beef.

Prior to Fair Park, she was the Assistant General Manager at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas, managed by OVG360. The Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center Dallas (KBHCCD) is one of the largest convention centers in the nation. Every year it welcomes over a million visitors attending major national and international conventions, meetings, concerts, athletic competitions, auto shows, and more. Located in the heart of downtown Dallas, the KBHCCD has been and continues to be a fixture in the Dallas skyline offering 1 million square feet of exhibit space, three ballrooms, 88 meeting rooms, 1,750-seat theater, and a 9,816-seat arena. The award-winning facility is connected to a 1,001-room hotel via skybridge and is adjacent to two Vertiport landing pads.

Stacey began her venue management career as Director of Finance in South Bend, IN at the Century Center and then in Springfield, MA at the MassMutual Center in both Assistant General Manager and General Manager capacities. She has also held leadership roles at the Fort Worth Convention Center and Will Rogers Memorial Center in Fort Worth, TX; and the Kentucky International Convention Center in Louisville, KY where she reopened the newly renovated convention center.

Stacey, a graduate of the University of Kentucky (GO CATS!), earned her Certified Venue Executive (CVE) designation in 2022. She currently serves on the IAVM Board of Directors and as the Convention Center Sector Director. Stacey has a passion for the giving back through volunteerism; having served on multiple IAVM committees including Membership, Convention Center, Industry Affairs, Strategic Leadership, Leadership Development and Nominating, Board of Governors, Diversity & Inclusive Leadership, and the Executive, she continues to support as needed. Prior to her career in venue management, Stacey held finance leadership roles in both the profit and nonprofit sectors. She currently lives in East Dallas with her husband Nate and their two children, Jackson and Reese. In her free time, she enjoys scrapbooking, volunteering, and spending time with friends and family.

Adam has led sports and entertainment venues across North America for more than 20 years. His experience includes serving as Deputy Director for TVE, Vice President of Business Operations for Seafair (Seattle, WA), Vice President and General Manager at the Rose Quarter (Portland, OR), Venue Director and General Manager at Edmonton Expo Centre and Rexall Place (Edmonton, AB, Canada), and Acting General Manager for Global Spectrum at Comcast Arena (Everett, WA).

Adam currently serves on the Venue Management School (VMS) Board of Regents and has served on IAVM’s Governance, Arenas, and Membership committees, as a member of its Board of Directors, and as a part of Region 4’s leadership. He was named a recipient of the Venues Today Generation Next Award in 2014, and has engaged in speaking opportunities and published articles throughout the industry.

The TSA manages Raymond James Stadium, home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the University of South Florida Bulls, the Hillsborough County Tournament Sportsplex and three City of Tampa municipal golf courses- Rocky Point, Babe Zaharias and Rogers Park. The TSA also serves as the landlord for Amalie Arena, home of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Steinbrenner Field, spring home for the New York Yankees.

Eric previously served as the President and CEO of the Lansing Entertainment and Public Facilities Authority. Prior to Lansing, Eric served as the Director of Event Services for the Minneapolis Convention Center and as Associate Director for the UIC Pavilion in Chicago. He began his career at the Iowa State Center in Ames, Iowa where he served as the Guest Services Manager and was later promoted to Event Coordinator.

He is currently and instructor at the Graduate Institute and in his 16th year of instruction for the Venue Management School. Eric earned his Certified Venue Executive (CVE) designation from IAVM in 2013 and currently serves as the Past Chair of IAVM’s Board of Directors.

Eric received a Bachelor of Science in Finance and a Master of Science in Business Education and Administration from Illinois State University and serves as member of the Westshore Alliance, the Visit Tampa Bay Advisory Board and the Tampa Bay Sports Commission board.

He is happily married and the proud parent of two daughters. Eric loves to hunt, golf, fish, wood-work and spend time with his family.

Notable credentials earned during his time in the venues profession include:
• Certified Venue Executive (CVE) the elite credential of the IAVM gained in 2018;
• Participating as a student in the IAVM’s Graduate Institute in 2014;
• Accredited Venue Manager (AVM) awarded by Venue Management Association (Asia & Pacific)
• 2011 Allied Venue Professional of the Year awarded by the VMA (Asia & Pacific)

In his current role as Director of Dean Hassall Consulting Pty Ltd, Dean provides advisory services in event and venue management, venue development, strategic facility planning, procurement and business analysis. He delivers implementable managerial and operational solutions throughout Australasia to a client list that encompasses government authorities, joint ventures, public facility owners/managers/operators, venue hirers and operational service providers.

Previous senior management positions held by Dean in the fields of sport, facilities and events include:
• Chief Executive Officer, North Queensland Fury Football Club
• Assistant General Manager, Suncorp Stadium (operated by ASM Global)
• Manager - Business Development, Sport and Recreation Queensland (State Government)
• Manager - Venues & Operations, 2001 Goodwill Games Brisbane
• Venue Manager, ANZ Stadium
• Venue Manager, The Sleeman Sports Complex (Aquatic Centre, Velodrome and Theatre)

Dean is a long-term active member in the Venue Management Association (Asia and Pacific), the peak industry body in Australia, New Zealand and the Asia Pacific region. Dean is a past Council Member of the VMA, long term Committee member and current Chair for the region’s leading educational program for the venue industry – Venue Management School. Dean is a graduate of this school and in 1998 was awarded the Ogden IFC Scholarship for outstanding graduating student. Since 2002, Dean has instructed at the VMA Venue Management School, and was selected as an IAVM VMS instructor in 2019.

Hunt is very active in IAVM, currently serving as a member of the Arenas committee as well as on the Board of Regents for VMS. He chaired the VMS Board of Regents from 2018-2019 in addition to serving as a board member from 2015-2021. He has also served on the IAVM Board of Directors three separate times in addition to chairing the Arenas Committee. In 2022, Hunt received the Ray Ward Award at VMS, an honor recognizing his dedicated service and extraordinary contributions to the overall success and quality of the school.
From 1999-2007, Hunt was the Director of Humphrey Coliseum and Athletic Concessions for Mississippi State University. He held his first general manager position from 1997-99 at the Tupelo Coliseum, where he negotiated the first venue naming rights deal in the state of Mississippi and brought professional sports (ice hockey and indoor soccer) to the area for the first time. He also held positions at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga and Auburn University, and he served as assistant venue manager of the Ocoee Whitewater Center during the 1996 Olympic Games.

A native of Starkville, Mississippi, Hunt holds a bachelor’s degree from Mississippi State University and a master’s degree from the University of Mississippi. Venue management runs in the family, as Hunt’s father was a longtime member of what was then the International Association of Assembly Managers and his daughter Abby is currently Manager of Events at the Landers Center in Southaven, MS.

Many moons later, Tammy is still in Iowa and in August 2015, she began serving as Executive Director of Stephens Auditorium on the campus of Iowa State University becoming only the fifth director in the venue’s 50 year history. She had career building stops as the General Manager of the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena (hockey smell anyone?) and in the VenuWorks corporate office as National Director of Marketing, Vice President of Venue Operations and Senior Vice President/Chief Marketing Officer before coming off the road and getting back to her first love of events. During those corporate years, she was fortunate to work four Super Bowls, open a college football stadium and convention center as well as persevering through several campaign events and presidential visits (thanks to Iowa Caucuses). But the lure of working events daily pulled her off the road and back into a venue full-time.

Giving back has always been important to Tammy. Through the years, she has served on many local boards and credits her volunteer work with giving her a good understanding of Robert’s Rules of Order and keeping her involved in events before she discovered this crazy, exhilarating industry of venue management as a career. She began her involvement in “national” organizations after starting at the venues in Cedar Rapids by joining the Arena Marketing Conference Planning Committee in 1997. In 1999, she became the first Board President when she helped transition the group into a 501(c)6 organization known as the Event and Arena Marketing Conference (EAMC). In 2006, she was awarded the GiGi Award of Excellence by EAMC.

The opportunity to serve in IAVM leadership came in 2006 after serving on sub committees that needed some marketing/public relations assistance for a few years. She was tapped on the shoulder by the late David Ross, CVE and Steve Peters, CVE to join the Region III leadership as treasurer. Tammy served as Region III Director from 2009-2011. After her board term ended, she continued with committee work over the next several years chairing the VenueConnect Planning Committee and Industry Affairs Committee and becoming an instructor and Regent at Venue Management School. Tammy was awarded IAVM’s Chair Citation in 2014. In July 2017, she was elected by IAMV membership for a four-year term in Board Leadership. She recently finished her year (2019-20) as Chair of the Board for IAVM and currently serves as Past Chair, Chair of the Leadership Development Committee and continues to assist with advocacy efforts.

Always up for a road trip, Tammy has one state (Alaska) and two major league baseball cities (Oakland and Detroit) to visit before she can check off 50 states and 32 MLB cities. Her husband, Mike and son, Tyler usually like to tag along because wife/mom can get good seats.

He worked in some of the most luxurious resorts in the world before establishing himself as a world leading expert in the event technology field, holding management roles in tech companies such as Micros-Fidelio, Ungerboeck Software, Aventri and is currently Executive Vice President at Momentus Technologies.

Currently Steve is the North American Chair for the International Convention & Congress Association (ICCA), is also Chair of the International Association of Venue Managers (IAVM) Strategic Leadership & Resources Committee, on the Board of Regents (and an Instructor) for IAVM’s Venue Management School, a member of IAVM’s Cyber Security committee, and an instructor at the Venue Management Association’s (VMA) Australian Venue Management School.

Over the past 25 years, Steve has spoken in over 20 countries on topics related to the industry, with a focus on technology.

Graduated with an MBA from MS State University in 1978 and advised the concert committee, known as Music Maker Productions, booking Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, and Jimmy Buffett and others.

Worked as an agent for Triad Artists in Los Angeles representing such artists as Tina Turner, Steve Winwood, and Whitney Houston for 6 years.

Director of the Tupelo Coliseum (Now Cadence Arena) for 5 years booking artists like Eagles, Tom Petty, and Van Halen

Served as GM of Simmons Bank Arena in North Little Rock, AR from 1997 to present. The arena has hosted such artists as The Rolling Stones, Kevin Hart, Paul McCartney, Garth Brooks, NCAA basketball opening rounds, and many other touring artists.

In 2004 named Pollstar Magazine’s Facility Executive of the Year

In 2006 earned the designation of Certified Venue Executive

Instructor, VMS 2009- present

Chair, Venue Management School, 2014-15

Ray Ward Award Recipient- 2018

Chair, IAVM 2018-2019

Michael has seen Bruce Springsteen over 30 times.

Married to former Triad agent Meg Goldenberg and has a 26 year old son, Jonah.