San Diego (Sept. 28, 2009) – The San Diego Convention Center (SDCC) hosted the International Association of Assembly Managers (IAAM) Southern California Chapter meeting on Sept. 22. Over 60 industry professionals from Anaheim, Los Angeles, Palm Springs, Del Mar and San Diego attended in addition to 24 graduate students from San Diego State University’s (SDSU) MBA/Sports Management program who aspire to become professional managers and operators of large public assembly facilities themselves."As industry professionals it is incumbent upon us to prepare the next generation of facility managers," said Brad Gessner, general manager of the SDCC and a 30-year IAAM member. "These students earning their degrees in sports management will most likely be running sports arenas and stadiums in their future, and we feel it is important to pass on whatever knowledge and experience we can." Richard Andersen, general manager of PETCO Park and adjunct faculty member at SDSU, was one of the presenters and agrees that giving students opportunities to interact with working industry professionals is one of the best ways of growing future leaders. "We all know that knowledge is important to be successful in our industry, but networking and mentoring is equally important, and this IAAM chapter meeting provided an excellent opportunity for all of the above," said Andersen. "It was a terrific gesture by the San Diego Convention Center to host this meeting and especially the students from SDSU. They did a fantastic job and deserve a huge thank you." IAAM is committed to the professional operation of amphitheaters, arenas, auditoriums, convention centers/exhibit halls, performing arts venues, race tracks, stadiums and university complexes. At the Southern California Chapter meeting topics of discussion included mentoring opportunities, energy saving programs, H1N1 flu response plans, and a process to "re-life" older public assembly facilities. "Part of the dialogue focused on how we can "re-life" older buildings, which is defined as the taking of a depreciated building and breathing new life into it," said Gessner. "From an environmental standpoint it is the right thing to consider in order to keep from depleting our planet’s natural resources and from placing debris from older buildings that are unusable into landfills. As facility managers and industry leaders, we want to be forward-thinking and "re-life" those buildings that are still viable in order to benefit everyone in our community." IAAM Southern California chapter members in attendance at the luncheon, catered by Centerplate the SDCC’s exclusive food and beverage provider, included facility managers from the Del Mar Fairgrounds, PETCO Park, San Diego Sports Arena, San Diego Theaters, Viejas Arena, and QUALCOMM stadium. For more information on IAAM, please visit www.iaam.org. For more information on the San Diego Convention Center please visit http://www.visitsandiego.com. Now celebrating 20 years of success, the Convention Center has generated $18.3 billion in regional economic impact, $364 million in tax revenues for the City of San Diego and supports 12,500 jobs countywide. The San Diego Convention Center Corporation is a public benefit corporation created by the city to exclusively market, manage and operate the 2.6 million sf waterfront facility. ###
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