Author: Brad Weissberg

Management: February 2020

The Spectra-managed Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall and the Atlantic City Convention Center named Ronnie Burt vice president of sales and marketing of the convention center. He most recently was president and CEO of Visit KC. The Straz Center for the Performing Arts in Tampa, Fla., named Summer Bohnenkamp vice president of programming and marketing and Jeanne Piazza director of programming. Bohnenkamp began her performing arts center career as an agent in the Straz Center’s ticket sales office in 1997, and Piazza has been with the venue for more than 16 years. Turnkey Search promoted Diana Busino to managing director and chief operating officer and Kyle Brown and Allie Crone to vice president. Busino has been with Turnkey for 14 years, Brown for five years and Crone for two years. Jamie Crittenberger will launch a global sports and entertainment practice for ZRG and joins the firm as managing director. Crittenberger will… Continue Reading Management: February 2020

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Talking Points: Mark Prows

Mark Prows, Senior Vice President of Entertainment Operations, MGM Resorts International This outdoor sports kind of guy has found his professional adventure in Vegas. (Photo courtesy MGM Resorts International) I thought I’d grow up to be An attorney. … Oh man, it makes me shudder to think. First job in the industry At the University of Wyoming, I had the opportunity to help build the university’s venue team from scratch. We had oversight of all of the on-campus venues, a stadium and two additional theaters. Favorite part of the job Working from the very front line, which includes pushing boxes, racking/stacking and selling tickets, mixing sound for basketball games, etc. I loved learning everything I could and getting my hands dirty.  Least favorite part of the job There are times when I look around at the masses of people that come to our events and absorb the incredible and overwhelming feeling of… Continue Reading Talking Points: Mark Prows

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Opening Number: Super Bowl Food

Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium is hosting the Super Bowl on Feb. 2, and concessionaire Centerplate is preparing to feed 65,326 hungry fans over 4 hours as the Kansas City Chiefs battle the San Francisco 49ers for the Vince Lombardi Trophy. Here are some more numbers to snack on, provided by Centerplate. 2,500 Hospitality staff that will be on hand 25 Centerplate chefs being flown to Miami to help prepare the F&B. 10 Kitchens in use — 7 existing kitchens plus 3 mobile kitchens being brought in for the game. 2,700 Lobster tails to be brought in from Maine. 8,000 Short ribs being prepared for game day. 10,000 Hot dogs expected to be sold. $7 million-plus Total local purchasing Centerplate does in Miami-Dade County each year.

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Super Bowl’s First Female Executive Chef: Bring It On

FOOD QB: Dayanny De la Cruz will preside over F&B at the Super Bowl. (Matthew Noel / Centerplate) Centerplate’s Dayanny De la Cruz has been preparing for this moment since she was 6 The Kansas City Chiefs are going to the Super Bowl for the third time this year; it will be the seventh appearance for the San Francisco 49ers. Beating them both is concessionaire Centerplate, which will be providing food and beverage at the biggest game of the year for the 15th time. Besides the new creations being cooked up for this year’s game, there’s something else new on the menu, according to Centerplate officials: the first female Super Bowl head chef. Super Bowl LIV will take place Feb. 2 at Hard Rock Stadium near Miami. Centerplate, owned since 2017 by Sodexo, has been providing hospitality services at the venue, the home of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, since 2001… Continue Reading Super Bowl’s First Female Executive Chef: Bring It On

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Translation Not Lost on Delaware North

Concessionaire to test Google Assistant Interpreter, starting in back-of-house operations A futuristic universal language translator – like the one from “Star Trek” — is beaming into select sports stadiums serviced by concessionaire Delaware North sometime this year. The Google Assistant Interpreter was introduced last year and finished testing at Dream Downtown New York City, Caesars Las Vegas and the Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport, among other locations in 2019. Delaware North will be the first hospitality company to use the software. The interpreter works in real time. The user speaks a language into the system and it is translated into one of 29 other languages: Arabic, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Filipino (Tagalog), Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian and Vietnamese. The translator software was brought to Delaware North’s attention through its partnership with Google. “Our… Continue Reading Translation Not Lost on Delaware North

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