AEG names general manager for L.A. Convention Center
The city-owned Los Angeles Convention Center entered a new era Tuesday when a new general manager was named by the private company hired to run the facility.
Anschutz Entertainment Group, which won a contract to run the center in October, named Brad Gessner to the post. He most recently served as general manager of the 2.6-million-square-foot San Diego Convention Center for six years.
The L.A. Convention Center offers 720,000 square feet of exhibit space, 46,000 square feet in two event halls and 102,000 square feet of column-free space in a sky-lighted meeting room.
Still, Los Angeles has long been beat out by surrounding convention centers, including those in San Diego and Las Vegas, in drawing big gatherings. Gessner said that is about to change.
“We have a lot of things that they can’t offer there,” he said, noting Los Angeles International Airport, several professional sports teams and the proximity to Hollywood as some of the perks of the city.
AEG, which owns the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotel complex adjacent to its L.A. Live and Staples Center properties in downtown Los Angeles, won a five-year contract to operate the nearby convention center.
The contract gives AEG an annual base fee of $175,000 with the potential to double that if it meets certain targets, such as raising revenues and bookings. But the real profit will come from bookings at AEG’s hotels, restaurants and other attractions.
In addition to Gessner, AEG announced six members of his executive team to manage the center.
As part of its effort to boost bookings at the convention center, AEG announced that it will offer convention organizers new choices for electrical, food and audio/visual services. “That is going to make us much more attractive to show managers,” Gessner said.
AEG already manages convention centers in Hawaii, Qatar, Oman and Australia. It also manages sports and entertainment arenas around the world, including Oracle Arena and Coliseum in Oakland and Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh.
