Internship Agency Portfolio________________________________________________________________________________________

Arena & Event Operations ________________________________________________________________________________________

Charlotte, NC – Summer 2015Allison Smith

1

Table of Contents

Contact Information – 3

Internship and Agency Description – 4

Internship Agency Analysis –

Community Description – 5

Marketing Plan - 6

Organizational Structure – 7

Personnel Practices - 7

Financial Support – 8

Facilities and Areas – 9

Programs – 10

Personal Evaluation/Critique – 11

Job Description – 12

Promotional Materials/Photos - 13-16

2

Contact Information

Charlotte Hornets Sports & EntertainmentTime Warner Cable Arena

333 East Trade St.Charlotte, NC 28202

Phone: 704-688-8600Fax: 704-688-8725

Agency Supervisors:

Donna JulianSenior Vice President of Arena & Event Operations

General Manager – Time Warner Cable Arenadjulian@hornets.com

Dan BainSenior Manager of Arena & Event Operations

dbain@hornets.com704.688.9039

Daniel ZeregaberManager of Arena & Event Operations

dzeregaber@hornets.com704.688.9059

3

Internship & Agency Description

The Charlotte Hornets are a professional basketball team located in Charlotte, North Carolina. The team, who is owned by Michael Jordan, plays in the Southeast Division of the NBA’s Eastern Conference. The Hornets relocated back to the Charlotte area in 2013 after spending nearly 10 years in New Orleans. The Organization has successfully blended the tradition Hornet’s feel with a new, modern feel. Furthermore, Hornet’s Sports and Entertainment is everything associated with the basketball side, as well as everything taking place in the arena. Though I am a Hornet’s intern, I primarily work on the entertainment side of the organization especially since it’s the offseason.

As an Arena Operations intern, I got to experience the ins and outs of professional sport and entertainment, primarily through the side of Time Warner Cable Arena. My department works as the arena liaison to artists and tour teams coming in, as well as keeping the arena functioning on a day-to-day basis. In order to keep the arena up to standard, arena operations is home to a restaurant service, janitorial service, operations team, engineering team, and security team. My department works to make sure all of these groups are working towards the same goal of making Time Warner Cable Arena a premier location for sport and entertainment in Charlotte and the surrounding areas.

The experiences I gained as an intern varied from day-to-day. I had many responsibilities that changed tremendously throughout the summer. I rotated and provided assistance to areas of event management, senior executive support, building operations, arena booking, arena marketing, and security. Duties included, but were not limited to:

Assisting event manager on event day from load in to load out – locating dressing rooms, assisting VIP staff and parties, attending security meetings, making Time Warner Cable Arena as accessible to tour staff as possible.

Maintaining arena master calendar and creating event-meeting agendas. Keeping up with building work orders. Joining staff with building walk-throughs to learn how to better the arena. Organizing event merchandise from previous TWCA events. Organizing and moving stationary, Hornet’s gear, Jordan gear, and old Bobcat’s gear. Sitting in on construction meetings for various projects going on in the arena. Maintaining event tickets for Senior VP of Arena & Event Operations/General Manager of

TWCA – updating ticket counts and seat availability, delivering tickets. Support with departmental expense reports. Various office duties – workroom supply orders, filing and organizing, providing

assistance where needed.

4

Internship Agency Analysis

Due to the nature and size of the Hornet’s Sports and Entertainment organization, the following analysis is strictly based around the Arena Operation’s department. Sections such as marketing, personnel practices, financial support, and programs are customized to be specific to this department and do not represent the entire Hornet’s Organization. Every department would have a different analysis which would span out further than the scope of my internship.

Community Description –

Since my internship encompasses so many different events, our community is not set under a single description. Time Warner Cable Arena is located in the heart of Charlotte which is home to a very diverse population. Charlotte city limits is home to 45% Whites, 35% African Americans,

13% Hispanic, and various other races to make up the last 7%. There is a variety of the wealthy established in their careers, middle class families, and poverty-stricken individuals just working to get by. Since we are a premier place for sport and entertainment in the area, we have various communities coming from all over the state and southeast for our TWCA events. For Hornet’s basketball events, the arena attracts sports fans ranging from wealthy season ticket holders to fans that barely have enough money to sit in the nosebleeds. Profiles for the audience vary depending on the tour and artist coming in. When Kenny Chesney came during the summer, his crowd was classified as a heavy drinking group ranging from 20-30 year olds. New Kids on the Block had a crowd that was primarily

middle-aged women. Taylor Swift’s crowd was the most diverse I saw over the summer ranging from super-fan little girls, to young adults, to middle-age couples, and even to senior adults. I have learned that though our building is stationary and not moving, the community that comes in all depends on the event.

5

Marketing Plan –

My department has a whole different marking plan than the Hornet’s side would have. While the Hornets are trying to market to sports fans in the area, the Arena Operations has to market to the entertainment side of the organization. We have two members in the Arena Operation’s department who work day in and day out solely marketing and promoting upcoming events as well as Time Warner Cable Arena. Since we have such a widespread of entertainment coming into the building, we have to work on many levels reaching different groups of people. The crowd coming in for Kenny Chesney varied drastically from those coming in for Taylor Swift. We use social media outlets such as Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook to reach the interested groups. For Kenny Chesney, we targeted college campuses and areas around Charlotte that are interested in country music. For Taylor Swift, we targeted family friendly places which helped to reach the variety of people who attended the concert. Also, the Arena Operation’s department works closely with places only a block away uptown Charlotte like gyms and promotional companies. In exchange for these companies advertising for upcoming concerts,

we give them tickets that they can use for give-a-ways. This helps to get the word out and get more people in our building while also helping the surrounding businesses. The marketing plan for our department varies from other marketing departments in that we constantly have to change our target market. However, one thing always stays the same – we market our building as “The Premier Destination for Sports and Entertainment in the Carolinas.” Our hopes are that artist/show touring the country will make their way through Time Warner Cable Arena.

Organizational Structure –

6

The Organizational Structure that you can see is just a small portion of the entire Hornet’s Sports and Entertainment organization. The chart you see is strictly the Arena and Event Operations Department. James Jordan serves as the Executive Vice President of the department, while Donna Julian serves as the in-office Senior Vice President. Since the Coordinator position for Donna is in transition, I have partially been serving as that position. Under Donna lie Event Operations, Arena Booking, Arena Marketing, Security, and Guest Services. All of these departments work together on a day-to-day basis ensuring that our arena is running efficiently, is safe, and is a premier place for sports and entertainment in North Carolina. Apart from the Arena and Event Operations department, the Charlotte Hornets organization is home to nearly 200 employees and 40 interns ranging from HR, Marketing, Sales, Communications, Basketball Ops, etc.

Personnel Practices –

The HR Handbook for Hornet’s Sports and Entertainment is not available to be as an intern. The information it contains is strictly for full-time staff members. From what I have experienced, the HR practices are similar to that of a normal large organization. The HR Department recruits, hires, and manages all of the Hornet’s staff. Depending on the available position, the candidate has to interview with multiple people ranging from HR to the specific department. One thing I have noticed as an intern is that the organization is very big on hiring from within. It is more efficient to hire someone from within who has already proved that are capable of doing the job. All summer the organization has been very up-front that we, as interns, are looked through first when a position becomes available. After the hiring process, HR provides an overall orientation, while each department has a specific orientation. For example, the Sales Department has their new-hires go through an extensive training process. Confidentiality is a huge part of the Hornet’s personnel practices. I am constantly surrounded by people of high-class ranging from artists, to NBA players, and even executives like Michael Jordan. Just by the nature of the workplace, staff

7

James Jordan EVP of Operations

Eliza HarriganCoordinator of Operations

Donna JulianSVP of Arena & Event Ops/General Manager

Event OperationsTrista Langdon

Dan BainDaniel Zeregaber

Arena BookingKate Dordick

Arena MarketingValentina Barton

SecurityAnthony Datcher

Joe RenhardtCharles Cobb

Guest ServicesMarlene HendricksAngie Vonwergers

Coordinator, Arena & Event Ops In Transition

Arena CoordinatorAlex McKenzie

members are surrounded by people and information that has to be kept privately. It is HR’s responsibility to maintain these confidentiality statements. Overall, the HR department is in charge of managing the most important asset of the Hornet’s: the people.

Financial Support –

Though I am not allowed to go into numbers specifically on this analysis, I have been exposed to the financials within the arena. Since we are located right uptown Charlotte, the Hornet’s get a lot of financial help from the city. Just as an overview, the city released its records showing what funds were approved for Time Warner Cable Arena. The city will allot nearly $27.5 million to the arena for renovations over the next few years. However, that does not mean that the Hornets are exempt from paying their dues. For capital projects, which include things such as mass renovations for the arena, the city is going to vote on and provide the bulk of the funds. I have worked in multiple sport industries but I have not been exposed to the financials like I have in this position. Though the budgets and project money does not surprise me, it is still a very steep number. Sometimes I have to step back and think about how big the arena is, and then the numbers are more justifiable. The Hornets are responsible for maintaining the building and those funds have to come from within. Every department has their own code signaling their own accounts. In Arena Operations, the codes are in the 500’s, while admin codes may be in the 100’s. The SVP in our office is in charge of maintaining all the budgets for the five accounts within Arena Operations.

I have also had a little exposure to event financials. I have learned how tour teams are charged when they come into a building such as ours. It surprised me how different things would pop up on event day and the management team would be charged accordingly. For example, one tour needed to use our speakers in the upper level. Since this was not in the original agreement or contract, there had to be a fee from the building for operators and to tie-in the speakers. Every night once the show is underway, the event manager is required to sit down and record all of his expenses from the day. After the show, I was also exposed to the gross ticket sales and how the tour did from a financial perspective.

The head of each department in the Hornets Sports and Entertainment industry has a credit card that can be used for business purchases. I have had direct contact with the SVP of Arena Operation’s card throughout my internship. Whether I am picking up food around Charlotte or ordering supplies for the office, I am allowed to use that card. At the end of the month, I am responsible for rounding up all receipts from the card usage and get the expense report made and sent to finance. There are three finance employees that I have worked with regarding expense reports, invoices, and event financials. I understand that budget is a huge part of any organization, but it wasn’t until this position that I was exposed to something financial every single day.

8

Facilities and Areas –

Time Warner Cable Arena opened in 2005 as the Bobcat’s Arena. After a 2008 deal with Time Warner Cable, the arena changed the name to Time Warner Cable Arena. Since opening the arena has housed events such as the 2012 Democratic National Convention, NCAA basketball tournaments, various conference basketball tournaments, professional bull riders, NASCAR pit crew challenges, Checker’s games, various concerts – all on top of the main event: Hornet’s games.

The arena will be hosting the NBA All-Star game in 2017 which is an excellent opportunity for Charlotte, but also brings a lot of work. To meet the NBA standards for such an event, the arena has to perform some major updates on the building. The building is in the process of renovating 21 suites, the BackCourt Club, and practice court restrooms during the summer 2015 off-season. These areas are getting a face-lift and making the areas flow with the rest of the arena. A major project that I’ve been involved in this summer is a scoreboard/center hung update. Next summer the existing scoreboard will come down and a whole new designed and extravagant scoreboard will go up. This is the biggest project that the arena will be tackling before the All-Star game. Along with these updates, the remaining suites will also be getting renovated next summer, as well as locker room areas on our event level. These locker rooms are used when artists come into the building and for various other events. When all of the updates are completed, the arena will become much more pleasing to the eye. A major reason Time Warner Cable Arena has to be dedicated to renovating and updating is because from an arena standpoint, we need to be competitive with the other 29 NBA arenas. Shown to the right is a picture of a suite that has been fully updated. Though the other 21 will not look completely like this, they will look similar. The suite

9

pictured was done as a model suite to get a better idea of what the staff wanted for the remaining suites.

Programs –

Overall, the Hornet’s organization has many programs going on throughout the summer ranging from Hornet’s Hoops to Day of Service. The main program that I was involved in this

summer was called the “Summer Concert Series.” The arena marketing staff worked to put together the promotional item that is pictured. Since hiring an arena booking expert, Time Warner Cable Arena has really increased their presence in the concert world. The Chief Operating Officer for the Hornet’s recently mentioned to a group of interns that if a tour is only stopping one time in the Carolina’s, we will do everything possible to bring it to our arena because it benefits the whole Charlotte community. The Summer Concert series consisted of 10 concerts covering all areas of music. The 2015 summer was one of the busiest and most packed summers in the arena’s history. By putting all of the concerts into one series, we were able to bring the differences together and use one promotional item to display the entire summer. The promotional item was hung around the arena as well as given out around the Charlotte area. I believe as the program

gains popularity, the arena will begin to attract even more artists/shows to Time Warner Cable arena to create an even bigger Summer Concert Series.

Job Description: Position: Arena Operations Intern – Hornet’s Sports & Entertainment

Department: Arena and Event OperationsReports To: Coordinator of Arena Operations & Sr. Event Manager

Overall Summary

The position will require rotation throughout the department in the areas of administrative coordination, event management, building operations, arena booking, arena marketing, security,

10

guest services and senior executive support. The intern must receive academic credit, and be pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in a related field. This is a non-paid position.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

Assisting event manager on event day from load in to load out – locating dressing rooms, assisting VIP staff and parties, attending security meetings, making Time Warner Cable Arena as accessible to tour staff as possible.

Maintaining arena master calendar and creating event-meeting agendas. Keeping up with building work orders. Joining staff with building walk-throughs to learn how to better the arena. Organizing event merchandise from previous TWCA events. Organizing and moving stationary, Hornet’s gear, Jordan gear, and old Bobcat’s gear. Sitting in on construction meetings for various projects going on in the arena. Maintaining event tickets for Senior VP of Arena & Event Operations/General Manager of

TWCA – updating ticket counts and seat availability, delivering tickets. Support with departmental expense reports. Various office duties – workroom supply orders, filing and organizing, providing

assistance where needed.

Required Skills, Abilities, and Experience

The qualities listed below need to be representative of the Arena Operations Intern: Possess a strong ability to manage one’s own time and prioritize tasks when given clearly

defined goals and objectives Able to maintain confidentiality and use discretion when privy to sensitive information Strong teamwork skills and the ability to manage individual projects Be a flexible and reliable team player, both within department and the company as a

whole Have the ability to multi-task and thrive in a fast-paced, deadline driven environment Present and interact with all levels of the organization and outside contacts in a

professional manner Dependability – consistently arrive to work on time, follow instructions, and respond to

manager’s instructions. Ability to work extended hours including nights, weekends, holidays. Proficient Computer skills, including Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook Problem Solving using creativity and organizational skills

Promotional Materials/Photos –

By the nature of my position, I was unable to take pictures of everything I worked on over the summer. On the event side, I had to be respectful of the artists and shows coming in to our arena. This meant that I was not allowed to walk around taking pictures of private areas backstage. On the arena side, I am not able to include information in this portfolio that is confidential to the Hornet’s organization. I have been involved with multiple renovation projects that have not fully been made public. For example, I have been involved with the initial design of the new center

11

hung scoreboard. Even though I have personally seen renderings, I am not in a position to share that information at this time. This section contains a very minimal amount of photos and promotional materials, but I hope this gives a picture to what my summer was like.

Every week I was required to submit a timesheet, like the one pictured below.

My office and desk area

12

13

Weekly agenda that I would create for Event Operations meetings with 30+

Hornet’s staff

Example of a storage organization project – the files shown are event files

from when the building opened until current events

Here is a photo showing a glimpse of the set up process for a concert. I reviewed stage layouts prior to event day, and watched them come to life when the tour arrived. As you can faintly see in the picture, the catwalk on the right side of the paper had just been completed out on the main floor. Tours will send their specifications, then our event managers use software to build the stage on a computer, or send it to an engineering company to build. Time Warner Cable Arena has a staff that can come that is specialized in rigging for the building. They know all the weight points on the bowl roof and work with the tour team to get the stage set up appropriately. Since tours bring everything from stage to lights to speakers, the process has to be down to a science to get the stage set up on event day.

Though it may be hard to see, the picture shown to the right is a locker room set up for a band that came over the summer. When tour teams get the locker rooms