LIVE INFLUENCE: An impressive group of VenuesNow/Venues Today Women of Live gathered in 2018. Bottow row left to right: Marla Ostroff, Patti-Anne Tartlon, JoAnn Armstrong, Jane Kleinberger, Peggy Daidakus, Kim Bedier, Barbara Hubbard, Carol Wallace, Donna Dowless, Kerry Painter and Leslee Stewart. Top row L-R: Kim Stone, Cheryl Swanson, Tammy Koolbeck, Evelyn Ingram, Linda Deckard, Lynda Reinhart, Susette Hunter and Michelle Montague.
DONNA DOWLESS
Ticketing Trailblazer Left Indelible Mark On Venues Industry
When industry figures reminisce about early conferences and conventions, it’s often said that there were usually only three women in the room. Donna Dowless was one of them.
Over four decades, Dowless rose from the secretarial pool to industry acclaim for her impressive career in venue management and at Ticketmaster during a pivotal time in the evolution and growth of the global ticketing company. In an industry dominated by men, Dowless inspired a generation of women and people of color who used the trailblazer’s example to build successful careers of their own.
“When I first met her, I was a much younger manager and I was really intimidated by her, because it was Donna Dowless,” said Kim Bedier, venue management consultant and veteran arena manager, most recently as SVP and GM of the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. “She had done all these amazing things and cracked so many glass ceilings on her way.”
“She had to overcome and work through things that I never dreamed of and she did it with so much elegance and class and yet never compromised her position or professional ability,” offered Richard Andersen, longtime acquaintance and chief illuminations officer at Venue Solutions Group. “She became an icon for so many people, particularly women and people of color — people that needed a champion for diversity.”
Dowless was born at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida. Her father, Roy, was a career U.S. Air Force Colonel and her mother, Hortense, was an executive assistant and visual artist. After moving every three years, the family settled in Washington, D.C., where Dowless attended the Washington School for Secretaries.
“I thought I would be an assistant to a congressman or a senator or something like that,” Dowless recalls now. An instructor told the then 17-year-old about a position for a junior secretary at the District of Columbia Armory and RFK Memorial Stadium that set her on a different path.
“I went on the interview and I got my first job,” said Dowless.
FRIENDS: Donna Dowless and friends enjoy the scene at the Pollstar Awards in 2009. L-R: Edie Burke, Key Arena; Jeff Trisler, Live Nation; Kim Bedier, Comcast Arena; Dowless, XOXO Media; Sheryl Brown, Key Arena. (Pollstar)
She excelled and became the assistant manager of the D.C. Armory Board and RKF Memorial Stadium and the assistant director of the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland, before moving to Lakeland, Florida, in 1975 to become the assistant box office manager at the Lakeland Civic Center. Within a year, she was elevated to box office manager and was eventually named executive director in 1983.
Dowless joined Ticketmaster in September 1987 as the executive director of Ticketmaster-Florida. In August 1996 she was appointed executive vice president of the Southeast Region. In October of 2003 she was promoted to executive vice president of industry relations and served in this position until June 2006.
“I was very fortunate to work with Donna, whose optimism, energy and ability to build meaningful relationships left a mark on our industry,” said Marla Ostroff, who joined Ticketmaster in 1988 and was named managing director of North America in 2020. “Her unique blend of artistic talent and deep passion for live events elevated Ticketmaster and inspired everyone around her, creating a lasting legacy of connection and positivity.”
Andersen was in business operations at Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami Dade County, when he met Dowless in 1991. The leadership team was exploring ticketing options at the stadium, which opened in 1987. It was the first multi-purpose stadium in the U.S. built to host multiple sports franchises from the NFL’s Miami Dolphins to the MLB’s Florida Marlins.
“She and I basically spent about six months initially working together and at that point put together — and it was literally all her — one of the bigger ticketing deals going at the time,” said Andersen. “Joe Robbie was arguably the epicenter of great stadiums in the U.S. in the early ‘90s and we had both Major League Baseball, the NFL and every major outdoor concert there was, and Donna negotiated the deal to bring Ticketmaster in.”
Dowless’ experience on the venue side proved beneficial.
“Donna came in promoting Ticketmaster, understanding how venues work and what we need,” explained Andersen. “It wasn’t theory for her. It was practical. She understood the challenges we faced because she’d been on the other side.”
“I went to Orlando to meet with her in her regional office,” recalled Michael Marion, who, an agent at that time, has more recently served as general manager of Simmons Bank Arena in North Little Rock, Arkansas. “I knew her when she was at the building in Lakeland and I was an agent in LA. I remember it distinctly due to the large phone room – remember those? She was always the consummate professional and was responsive to client questions or concerns. Her background as a building GM gave her a unique perspective of her clients.”
Bedier said, “She knew how to do it all. She understood all aspects of the customer experience and I think that coupled with her personality translated into her being incredibly successful … She showed up and she said yes and she worked really hard. If I have one takeaway, it’s those three things.”
Dowless boiled it down to one thing: “Relationships. I had relationships with a lot of the venue managers. And I knew the business. I knew the venues. And I knew about box office and ticketing before there were computers.”
Dowless made an impression on a personal level, as well.
“Immediately, within a couple months I realized that Donna was different,” said Andersen. “She wasn’t a huckster trying to sell stuff and move on to the next client. She really cared. She’s legitimately a person whose heart is empathetic, caring and as focused as anyone I’ve ever met.”
Giving back to the community is central to her character. Dowless has been an active member of the International Association of Venue Managers serving in multiple roles including director at large for arenas, chairperson of the arena committee and the committee for programming and planning.
She was a founding member of the board of regents, served on the board of the IAVM Foundation and served on the board of trustees. She’s won numerous awards including the Joseph J. Anzivino Distinguished Allied Member Award from IAVM and she was named one of the top five most influential women in sports and entertainment by VenuesNow predecessor, Venues Today.
Dowless pays it forward. She was involved very early in the formation and launch of the IAVM Venue Management School,
where she taught best box office practices for a decade.
“I’d been around the industry and there were other associations that had these schools so there was a group of us that said, ‘We should have venue management school.’ So, the board of regents put it together,” Dowless explained.
According to the IAVM website, since it began in 1987, more than 2,800 venue managers have attended VMS and the Graduate Institute. Dowless stays in touch with some of her former students: “They run major venues now,” she said.
“She was one of the original instructors at the IAVM’s Venue Management School at Oglebay and has had a lasting influence on many industry professionals,” Marion said.
During her decades-long career, Dowless met Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan and music icons, but it was an encounter with Andy Warhol during a Rolling Stones’ concert at Capital Centre in the mid- ‘70s that paved the way for her current artistic endeavors.
“I said, ‘One day, I’ll go to school to be an artist,’” she recalled. “And his comment was, ‘If you’re an artist, then be an artist.’”
In 2005, Dowless formed XOXO Media Group in Orlando, Florida, where she lives with her husband Bill Racek, a former industry veteran from the Caesars Superdome and UNO Lakefront Arena. The arts and entertainment consulting company specializes in developing strategic alliances including development opportunities for Dowless’ career as a mixed-media artist.
Orlando Magazine named her the city’s No. 1 local artist and in 2007, Mayor Buddy Dyer officially gave Dowless the title of Ambassador of Love for the City of Orlando.
“Each day, Donna works tirelessly to make our community a better place to live as she leads with love in all that she does and is committed to uplifting every person who calls Orlando home,” Dyer said. “Donna recognizes the incredible power of the arts to bring people together and is always focused on making art and culture accessible to all.”
“It’s a natural thing for me to spread love throughout the community,” explained Dowless. “Love comes naturally to me. To love and be loved is the greatest thing of all.”
Dowless serves on the board of the Downtown Orlando Arts District, the board of the After School All Stars, Orange County Public Art Review and is an honorary trustee for the Maitland Arts Center. She also serves as a member of the Full Sail Entertainment Business Advisory Board and is a guest lecturer for the degree programs.
“She’s incredibly talented on so many levels and the fact that she was able to pivot from all her great work in the venue management industry and then Ticketmaster now to be such an accomplished artist,” Bedier said. “She’s a Renaissance woman.”
