Bob Wagoner, ND State Fair Manager, Instructs Students

Bob Wagoner is one of the most qualified venue managers in the industry. Wagoner visited the Entertainment Management program the week of October 5 and shared his knowledge with MGMT 101 Introduction to Entertainment Business, MGMT 295 Venue Management, and MGMT 401 Event Management. His scope of expertise includes, but is not limited to event planning, negotiating, and venue management along with many other daily responsibilities.

Bob Wagoner is currently the General Manager of the North Dakota State Fair. The annual fair is the largest annual event in the state attracting 250,000 people each July. Bob was educated at University of Toledo and received a Certified Facility Executive designation in 1989. Before moving to Billings in December 2001 to accept a position as the General Manager at the MetraPark, he held positions as Assistant General Manager at the Toledo Masonic Auditorium in Toledo, Ohio, General Manager at the Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium in Spartanburg, South Carolina, Director at the Wicomico County Civic Center in Salisbury, Maryland, and Assistant Director of Civic Facilities in Norfolk, Virginia.

"Start early, stay organized, have a good staff," he explained to students in all the classes. It's important to break all the responsibilities into reasonable pieces in order to track progress. Wagoner explained that all the fundamentals are the same in venue management.It's important to learn everything you can about the current facilities, construction, staffing, and previous problems in the past. It's important to meet with a committee regularly that includes a fire marshal, maintenance staff, and the event coordinators to discuss any operational issues. All areas of venue management determine the budget and affect the programming. Wagoner explained his rule of thumb for programming venues, "every bad event you have, you need three good ones to make up for it."

Wagoner explained that administration, accounting, crowd management, human resources and law are the most gainfully employed aspects in the venue industry. He asked students in all classes, "how are they going to remember you, and when does your sphere of influence stop after the event?"