With a heavy heart we share the new that we lost one of our employees over the weekend. Marcus Smith, who was part of our team at the Chesapeake Conference Center, passed away over the weekend in a motorcycle accident. The following is an email that Troy Thorn, the Executive Director for the Chesapeake Conference […]

HSP Director, Pollock Passes Carol Pollock, longtime venue director and IAVM member passed away unexpectedly on May 15 after suffering complications from pancreatic cancer. She was a trailblazer for women in the venue management industry with her career spanning over three decades. She served as Executive Director of Hoyt Sherman Place, a historic theatre in […]

Vicksburg Convention Center on track for record year   As the Vicksburg Convention Center (VCC) team wraps up the fiscal year the end of September, we are on track to have the lowest net operating deficit in the history of the Center (est. 1997).  How is that for an opening sentence?  To say that is […]

Ragland Named Executive Director at VenuWorks managed venues in Dodge City, KS   (Ames, IA) VenuWorks Founder and President Steve Peters has named Chris Ragland as the Executive Director of the United Wireless Arena and Conference Center in Dodge City, KS, following a nationwide search.  Ragland steps into this role after serving as Assistant General Manager and […]

Topeka’s Performing Arts Center Announces “The Return of Broadway”   The Topeka Performing Arts Center has announced a professional nationally touring four-show 2014-2015 Broadway Season.  Subscription sales start July 18th with three show packages starting as low as $100! The season kicks off with the 50th anniversary of a stage and screen classic, The Music […]

The constellation of stars signing on for the late-summer revival of You Can’t Take It With You starring James Earl Jones just expanded by two: Rose Byrne (Neighbors, Damages), in her Broadway debut, and Annaleigh Ashford (Masters Of Sex, Broadway’s Kinky Boots) will appear, along with Kristine Nielsen (Vanya And Sonia And Masha And Spike). The cast will also include stage veteran Mark Linn-Baker (also Perfect Strangers), Crystal […]

VenuWorks President, Steve Peters, is pleased to announce the inclusion of three VenuWorks locations in Venues Today TopStops Midwest 2013. The U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, ranked 3rd in venues with a capacity of 5,001-10,000: Paramount Theatre in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, ranked 7th in venues with a capacity of 2,000 or fewer: and […]

(Evansville, IN) This Saturday, Ford Center will be in the spotlight as it hosts the live nationally televised NCAA Division II Championship Game from Evansville, Indiana. While the tournament is estimated to bring an economic impact of $250,000 to the city, the NCAA Division II championship is important to Evansville for historical reasons as well. […]

VenuWorks of Bemidji LLC, the firm that manages the Sanford Center & George W. Neilson Convention Center, surprised Payton Lund as she was the 500,000 customer to walk into the Sanford Center at Saturday’s Jake Owen concert. The facility opened its doors just three years ago in October of 2010 and now has entertained over […]

In 1996, Steven Peters asked if he could purchase some contracts from his employer Ogden Group Entertainment, a private management company that operated the Iowa State Center and other entertainment venues across the country. He thought they didn’t fit within the company’s model, and he thought he could do better. The request was denied, and […]

Burnsville, MN – The Burnsville Performing Arts Center (BPAC), managed by VenuWorks, announced on Friday that the facility once again reduced its operating deficit in 2013 by $115,872, a 37 percent decrease from 2012. Increased programming and new sponsorship revenues were large contributors to the record breaking financial success of the Center, with revenues increasing […]

(Chesapeake, VA) In a unanimous 8-0 decision, the Chesapeake City Council voted on Tuesday, February 11, to enter into a multi-year contract with VenuWorks for the management and operation of the Chesapeake Conference Center. VenuWorks, located in Ames, IA, manages fifty convention and conference centers, special event halls and arenas throughout the United States. “We […]

The City Council has approved a five-year contract handing over management of the city’s money-losing conference center to a private firm. The council voted unanimously Tuesday night to put VenuWorks of Ames, Iowa, in charge of operating and marketing the $9 million events facility in Greenbrier. The center has seen bookings decline since the city […]

VenuWorks Founder and President Steve Peters has named Sharon Cummins as the Executive Director of the U.S. Cellular Center, Paramount Theatre, Cedar Rapids Ice Arena and McGrath Amphitheatre following a nationwide search. Cummins steps into this role after serving as Interim Executive Director at the four VenuWorks-managed facilities since October 2013. “When Sharon stepped in […]

Robert Morse and Marquese James were not scheduled to do maintenance work Sunday, Dec. 22, at the RiverCenter in Davenport. But because it snowed the night before, Morse, the center’s maintenance supervisor, and James, a part-time operations employee, were called about 1 p.m. for snow removal. Morse, 58, said he wanted to get the job […]