THE SUNDAY PROFILE : On Golden Pond : Brad Mayne has accomplished things other managers wouldn’t try. And turned the Anaheim arena into the area’s premier venue.

There is a large photo of the sold-out Billy Joel concert on the wall behind Brad Mayne’s desk, testament to Mayne’s guarantee to a promoter that he could do in Orange County what wasn’t being done in Los Angeles at the Sports Arena--sell it out.

There is an autographed Mighty Ducks jersey, a testament to the “Field of Dreams” ideal, “Build it and they will come,” and the primary tenant that did.

There are four framed posters, with messages about attitude, goals, risk, and teamwork.

Teamwork is the ability to work toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishment toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to obtain uncommon results.

Mayne, 40, general manager of the Pond of Anaheim, has made a habit of getting uncommon results, accomplishing things that most won’t even attempt.

His bosses speak of him as if he were a straight arrow dipped in poison. An honorable man, a nice man, who knows how to play hardball in a boardroom.

“He’s an employer’s dream, for godsakes,” said John MacAniff from the New York corporate offices of Ogden Facility Management.

The Pond is not just another piece of real estate at Ogden: It is the company’s crown jewel--and it is Mayne who has put it in the spotlight.

Going about the business of running the arena, now in its third year, brings Mayne into daily contact with a dizzying array of people: celebrities, workers, fans and officials.

At 3 p.m. he’s on the phone, negotiating a concert for AC/DC. That night, he’s roaming the lobby, talking to visitors and trying to make sure they love their Pond experience. The next day, he’s giving a tour to a contingent from Perth, Australia, which is considering construction of a rugby stadium.

“Last night, about 9 p.m., I got home to spend time with the family and the phone rings,” Mayne said. “It’s someone from Chicago calling about an ice show to discuss some marketing things. The work follows me home.

“Working in this industry is a way of life. We work weekends, holidays and evenings--when other people want to be entertained.”

That’s in addition to the regular 40-hour work week, of course, when all the arrangements are put in place to make the weekends and evenings happen.

It’s not the kind of schedule that leaves much time for other pursuits.

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When Mayne landed the Barbra Streisand concerts for the Pond, Bob Cavalieri, Ogden’s facility management group vice president, called it Mayne’s “greatest coup.”

“She had a lot of facilities in the L.A. market to choose from,” Cavalieri said. “When that happened, I remember picking up the phone and calling him.”

The conversation went like this:

Cavalieri: “Now you’ve done it.”

Mayne: “Done what?”

Cavalieri: “You’ve established the Pond as the place to play in the L.A. market.”

“He’s stolen the crown from all the other facilities,” Cavalieri said. “It’s a very competitive market, and a manager has to work very hard there. What people don’t realize is how many facilities there are--the Greek Amphitheatre, the Universal Amphitheatre, the Sports Arena, the Forum, the Blockbuster Pavilion, Irvine Meadows.”

Maybe that’s why, when Streisand opened her show in Anaheim, she said, “Hello, Los Angeles.”

“Barbra Streisand was probably the pinnacle of entertainment, considering she was only going to play five cities on a national tour,” Mayne said. “The Pond’s ability to sell out six shows and gross more than $12 million in ticket sales was important in the image-building that we were creating for this facility . . . .

“It was saying, ‘If we can handle Barbra and are successful with this, then any event can be successful.’ ”

It was the second-largest concert gross from ticket sales of the year, surpassed only by Streisand’s seven Madison Square Garden performances.

The negotiations took several weeks, were time-consuming and created their own headaches because of some of Streisand’s requests. Among the concessions: The arena floor was carpeted; the building was cleared of nonessential staff during rehearsals, concert-goers had to pass through metal detectors and check beepers at the door. And even though Mayne did for Streisand what he would not do for most performers, Mayne doesn’t blink when he says it was worth it.

“He’s probably one of the top five facility managers in the country--not just at Ogden,” MacAniff said.

At a concert industry awards dinner to be held in February, Mayne is one of seven nominees for executive of the year.

“It’s a pretty cutthroat business--everyone is looking for an advantage,” Cavalieri said. “You always have to be on your toes as a facility manager.

The Pond, one of five nominees for arena of the year, has already earned a number of industry accolades--including being voted best new concert venue in its first year by Pollstar and Performance magazines. That year, it brought in $25 million; in its second year, $26.6 million; in its third, it’s projected to bring in $28 million. Still, it isn’t expected to become profitable until its 12th year, 2005, because of start-up expenses.

“[Ogden] looked at it as a 30-year investment,” Mayne said, “and over 30 years, it will pay back. Of course, if we get an NBA team, that would change.”

How? It would become profitable even sooner.

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Before joining Ogden in 1989, Mayne worked for the city of Tacoma, Wash., where he helped turn the Tacoma Dome into a moneymaker. Ogden, a Fortune 500 company, agreed as one of the conditions of employment, to give Mayne the opportunity to run “a prestigious facility in a major market on the West Coast.”

“I didn’t have designs on any particular facility,” Mayne said. “I had a goal of being in a major facility before the age of 40, and [also] a goal of helping design, construct and open a new facility.”

Ogden first sent him to Cedar Rapids, Iowa. There, the troubled Five Seasons Center--an arena, convention center and performing arts theater--went from a $480,000 deficit to a $75,000 surplus in two years.

“[That] proved to the company that I could achieve what they wanted to achieve, which gave them confidence that I had the experience and the ability to take on a project of [the Pond’s] size.”

In January 1991, Ogden asked Mayne to be project coordinator--including design and construction--for what was then being called the Anaheim Arena Project.

In July 1992, he was named manager--with the job of carrying out the facility’s 30-year contract with Ogden.

He was 37--and all his career goals had been met.

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MacAniff said it is a combination of dedication and experience that makes Mayne successful.

“He understands what’s important, how a building operates, understands the problems buildings have. He’s good with people, good with unions, good with building users.”

Not every decision has gone down smoothly. He signed a stagehand contract with L.A. Stagecall of Redondo Beach instead of the local union, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Local 504, which picketed the Pond’s first event, a Barry Manilow concert.

However, Anaheim City Manager Jim Ruth said his office has received few complaints about the Pond. Parking problems that developed in the arena’s first year have been resolved, he said.

“He’s a problem solver, a very reasonable, very approachable person, and he has high standards,” Ruth said.

“He and I have had our differences--I’m looking out for the city’s interests. But I’ve never found him unreasonable. We’ve always found common ground and come to a rational conclusion, and that’s one of his strengths. He’s a credit to the community and a credit to the operation out there.”

Tony Tavares, president of the Mighty Ducks, Disney Sports Enterprises and former head of Spectator Management Group--a competitor of Ogden’s--has a real appreciation for Mayne’s challenges, which include working with Tavares.

“He is more into finding solutions,” Tavares said. “We don’t agree across the board on everything, but we have a better relationship than most marriages. . . . I like his demeanor best of all. He’s much more relaxed and reserved; as a result we don’t have many big confrontations. I might come in screaming, and he says, ‘Hey, relax, let’s talk this over.’

“His personality defuses that [anger]. One of his best characteristics is his ability to manage me.”

The common denominator among those who speak of Mayne is his easygoing nature, his handle on his emotions.

“The worst you can say about Brad,” Cavalieri said, “is he gets exasperated sometimes.”

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Running a major entertainment venue brings Mayne into contact with a cultural cross-section. He said that he is careful not to impose his personal beliefs--he is Mormon--on the way he books the building.

“I don’t consider myself a guardian or a censor,” Mayne said, “but I do consider myself responsible for the safety of those who experience our entertainment at the facility.”

Some concert proposals have raised Mayne’s eyebrows, he said, but he has not backed down from staging any after doing logistics studies.

Among high-security events that went off without incident: The Budfest, a huge rap concert.

Another time, Mayne had agreed to a Snoop Doggy Dogg-Dr. Dre feature, but the concert later fell through after Snoop was charged with murder.

Mayne said some acts or events deemed to need heightened security have turned down the arena when security costs escalated.

One event canceled after being booked was “Tribal Trek: A Celebration of Pride and Dance,” a gay pride celebration planned for last fall. Organizers charged that Mayne was pressured by the Disney Co. into hiking the fees and imposing unreasonable restrictions because the event might tarnish the Mighty Ducks’ image. Mayne said the charge is not true. He attributed the quoted increased price to significant growth in the size and scope of the event, which was to spill out into the parking lot. He watched as “Tribal Trek” moved to a Paramount Studios back lot.

That, he said, was lost revenue. And Ogden is in the revenue business.

Tim Ryan, 39, the Pond’s assistant general manager, said Mayne’s willingness to stage events that appeal to a variety of audiences is no surprise. “I’ll go into his office after a weekend of partying and tell him, ‘Brad, you and I are complete opposites.’ And he’ll say, ‘I know; that’s why I hired you.’ ”

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Mayne was 14 when he worked his first sports facility: He sold hot dogs at University of Utah football games in Salt Lake City.

As a student at Utah, he worked in the school’s ticket office for athletic and special events, then began marketing those events. Mayne became supervisor of the ticket office not only for the Jon Huntsman Center, but also for the university’s off-site locations.

He graduated with a degree in commercial recreation management and promptly became . . . a plumber.

“I enjoyed being a plumber--the opportunity to work outside and work with your hands,” Mayne said. “You get instant gratification by seeing the fruits of your labor. It’s also nice spending eight hours working with a half-hour for lunch and going home and not worrying about work because it had to wait for me to go back to it.”

He went through the trade technical school and union apprenticeship program for four years but came out of it realizing he liked the arena business better. He took a $10,000 annual pay cut to become the event coordinator at the Salt Palace Center in Salt Lake City. He worked in various positions for five years until he became the assistant general manager of the Salt Palace complex.

Interested in advancing to bigger operations and bigger responsibilities, Mayne landed in Tacoma as the city’s deputy director of public facilities. His responsibilities included the Tacoma Dome, Cheney Baseball Stadium, the convention center and the Pantages Theatre. Mayne worked with finance expert Jay Green to reverse the Tacoma Dome’s operating budget from one of a $480,000 deficit to one of $150,000 profit in the first year.

“I believe it was at that time that I knew I definitely wanted to continue on in the arena business,” Mayne said. He also realized that working for a private management firm would give him more opportunities than working for municipalities.

That’s when Ogden came calling and put him in Cedar Rapids.

In addition to his role at the Pond, Mayne is governor of Ogden’s first venture into professional sports ownership, the Anaheim Splash Continental Indoor Soccer League team. According to the league’s commissioner, Ron Weinstein, the 2-year-old Splash has already emerged as the model of how to run a franchise.

Mayne defers credit to those around him--his assistant, Ryan, who is the Splash general manager, and the myriad of ushers, concessionaires and operations people who work under them.

“It’s the staff that I direct that does the work,” Mayne said. “It takes a large support staff to operate the Pond. We have more than 1,000 employees. Without their professionalism and ability, my work would be unsuccessful.”

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Cheryl Mayne and her husband live in a four-bedroom, three-bath, 2,000-square-foot house in Lake Forest. The yard is small. There’s no pool or spa. They have three cars, none fancy. Their only extravagance, it appears, are the six pieces of exercise equipment scattered throughout their home.

“He uses some of them, but not as much as he should,” said Cheryl of her husband and his workout regimen.

They were married in 1975--she was 19, he was 20. Their oldest daughter, Tori, 19, is a student at the University of Iowa. Kelli, 17, and Dawn, 14, live at home.

“We have a very good family life with normal family problems,” Cheryl said. “There’s very little fighting around the house. It’s a strong family.”

One of the family perks is getting to see many of the acts that go through the Pond.

Mayne, however, sees only fragments.

Out of six Streisand performances, for example, Mayne got to see her perform only four songs. And the two times her HBO special was broadcast, Mayne was working events at the Pond.

“Several months after the show, I got to watch it for the first time on a tape that was purchased by my wife,” Mayne said.

Mayne spends performance hours making sure all is going well behind the scenes, which ensures smooth sailing in front of the public.

One time, the Splash had a large walk-up attendance that caught him off guard. Mayne had too few ushers, ticket takers and concessionaires available, which led to 30- and 40-minute waits, and shortages of food and beverage items.

“That,” he said, “is the last time that will ever happen.”

It simply flies in the face of what gives him his greatest professional pleasure:

“Seeing the enjoyment on the faces of the people who come to the event feeling they were entertained and wanting to come back to the facility for more.”

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Brad Mayne

Age: 40

Background: Born in Salt Lake City, now lives in Lake Forest.

Family: He and his wife, Cheryl, have three daughters, Tori, 19, Kelli, 17, and Dawn, 14.

On the Streisand concerts: “Barbra was a special entertainer that required and deserved special handling, and made it perfectly clear in her agreement that there were special requirements . . . So we did things for Streisand that we have not done for other performers.”

On small events at a large arena: “We do it so we have a good variety of high-quality events available to everyone in the marketplace, whether it’s a $350 ticket for Barbra Streisand or a $9.50 ticket for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Even though we may have only 3,000 for the show, there are still 3,000 citizens who want to see that event, which is important to us.”