BRIGHT LIGHTS

The second year of VenuesNow’s All-Stars differs greatly from the first and perhaps any that will come afterward. COVID-19 stopped the live industry in its tracks in March and left event professionals with many more questions than answers.

You’ll see the effects in our list of honorees, some of whom stood out in 2020 for their ideas and efforts to revive the business in the face of a pandemic and make important changes necessary for fans to return to sporting events and concerts.

But we’ll also continue traditions begun with our first class of All-Stars in 2019. Once again our editorial team has identified, researched and debated people and venues from across the industry and heard the opinions of those who work in it. We evaluated individuals for factors that included documented excellence, innovation, financial success, commitment to diversity, and leadership in their field, in addition to their response to the challenges that 2020 has brought.

Again we tried to recognize people at multiple levels of the business, not just those at the top. Some of the rising All-Stars you see today will undoubtedly return to the list in later years, with new responsibilities and fresh achievements.

This was the year not just of COVID but also of a more urgent examination of diversity in our culture and our workplaces. At VenuesNow, we began a feature called Venue Voices that you will continue to see. We made progress in diversity on our All-Stars list this year, but as in our industry, that progress must continue.

In a year that has provided some low moments, it was a pleasure to immerse ourselves in identifying the people and buildings that are doing big things, both those that made the list and others that did not, at least not this year. We introduce to you our 2020 VenuesNow All-Stars. We hope you enjoy reading about some old acquaintances and some new faces among them.

Thank you to our 2020 VN All-Stars Presenting Partner
Thank you to our 2020 VN All-Stars Sponsors

Scott Bailey

President, Opry Entertainment Group

Ryman Hospitality Properties

Lisa Baird

Commissioner

National Women’s Soccer League

Brittanie Boyd

Senior Vice President, Marketing,

Philadelphia 76ers

Rich Claffey

Executive Vice President, Venue Management

Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp.

Jonathan O’Neil Cole

Principal & Owner

Pendulum Studio

Mark Davis

Owner

Las Vegas Raiders

Dayanny De la Cruz

Executive chef, Hard Rock Stadium

Centerplate

Chris Donohue

VP, Business Strategy & Partnerships

See Tickets

Jonathan Emmett

Principal and Design Director

Gensler

Michael Evans

President

Live Nation Arenas

Jaime Faulkner

CEO

E15 Group

Matt Feldberg

Co-Founder

Hotbox

Dayna Frank

CEO / Board President

First Avenue Productions/ National Independent Venue Association

Tom Garfinkel

Vice Chairman and CEO

Hard Rock Stadium/Miami Dolphins

Sean Gleason

Commissioner

Professional Bull Riders

Daniel Griffis

President of Global Partnerships

Oak View Group

Ebony Hattix

Senior Manager of Box Office Operations

FedExForum /Memphis Grizzlies

Mike Healy

Senior Vice President of Venue Operations and Guest Experience

Texas Rangers

Alyssa Henry

Head of Seller and developer business units and infrastructure engineering

Square

Amy Howe

Global Chief Operating Officer

Ticketmaster

Susan Somersille Johnson

CMO

Prudential Financial

E. Stanley Kroenke

Chairman and owner; Developer

Los Angeles Rams; SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park

Amy Latimer

President

TD Garden

Frantzer Le Blanc

Corporate Director of Operations

Oak View Group Facilities

Zachary Leonsis

Senior Vice President of Strategic Initiatives; General Manager

Monumental Sports & Entertainment; Monumental Sports Network

Ken Martin

General manager, Sports & Entertainment

Solutions Group, Cisco

Jose Mola

General Manager, Sports Operations

ESPN Wide World of Sports at Walt Disney World

Patricia Olinger

Executive Director

Global Biorisk Advisory Council

Paula Portz

Chief operating officer

Legends Project Development

Sherri Privitera

Senior Principal / Americas Regional Board Member

Populous

Clifford “Rip” Rippetoe

President & CEO

San Diego Convention Center Corporation

Art Rodriguez

Vice president of operations for sports and entertainment

ABM Industries

Juan Rodriguez

Executive vice president and general manager

BBVA Stadium

Erin Schnieders

Senior Vice President, Venues

National Basketball Association

Ann Marie Simpson-Einzinger

Co-Founder & Co-Chairman

Mixhalo

Corissa Smith

Vice President

AECOM Hunt

Kim Stone

GM

Chase Center

Mark Tester

Executive Director

Orange County Convention Center

Katie Tuten

Co-Owner; Co-Founder

The Hideout; Chicago Independent Venue League

Dana White

President

UFC

Karri Zaremba

SVP, Product – Ballpark Experience & Ticketing

Major League Baseball

Gillian Zucker

President of Business Operations

Los Angeles Clippers

VENUES AND MORE

Drive-In Concerts

All-Stars: Innovation

VENUES AND MORE

Globe Life Field

All-Stars: Stadium

Arlington, TX

VENUES AND MORE

Staples Center

All-Stars: Arena

Los Angeles

VENUES AND MORE

Count Basie Center for the Arts

All-Stars: Theater/ Performing Arts Center

Red Bank, NJ

VENUES AND MORE

Avant Gardner

All-Stars: Club

Brooklyn

VENUES AND MORE

Las Vegas Convention Center

All-Stars: Convention Center

Las Vegas

VENUES AND MORE

Brooklyn Bowl Nashville

All-Stars: New Building

Nashville

VENUES AND MORE

Dodger Stadium

All-Stars: Renovation

Los Angeles

 

 

2020 VN All-Stars Roundtable