Selection Monday is upon us! Who will play in the NCAA DI Women’s Basketball Des Moines Regional?

Selection Monday is finally here, and I couldn’t be more excited to find out what teams will be placed in the Des Moines Regional for the 2012 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championships! In case you hadn’t heard, Wells Fargo Arena is a site for a Regional Final of this year’s women’s tournament. For those not familiar with the Big Dance, it means that one of the four teams that play here on March 24 and 26 will be headed to the Final Four in Denver, CO. It means that some of the best women’s basketball teams will be in our fine city and the national spotlight will be on Des Moines!

From a basketball perspective, this is exciting as there are a ton of storylines in women’s college basketball this year. Could the #1 ranked Baylor Bears, and soon to be named Player of the Year Britney Griner punch their ticket to the final four after playing in Des Moines? Could Tennessee head coach Pat Summit, who owns the most ever wins in college basketball, bring her Lady Volunteers for a nice weekend stay? Could Iowa State or Iowa make it through the first and second rounds and be in a region where they stay home and play in Wells Fargo Arena?

From a community perspective, it means that fans from across the country will be spending their weekend in Des Moines, staying in our hotels, eating in our vibrant restaurants, shopping at our shopping centers, and it means that the local community has a chance to support another NCAA event in their backyard. While hosting a Regional Final is new, NCAA events are not a new thing around here. In 2008, Des Moines had the highest attended first and second round site for the Women’s Basketball Tournament. The NCAA track and field championships have been at Drake previously, and will be again this summer. The 2013 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships will be held in Des Moines, and go on sale this Thursday at 10am (shameless plug).

March Madness is here, and Des Moines is once again a part of it all. Let’s fill Wells Fargo Arena and provide a tremendous atmosphere for those student-athletes that will live out their dreams in our great city.

Also at Wells Fargo Arena-

Don’t forget this weekend is full of sports at Wells Fargo Arena! It’s a double-dip this weekend, as Friday night the Iowa Energy host Go Green Night featuring the Russian Bar Trio, presented by MidAmerican Energy. And Saturday night, the Iowa Barnstormers host their first home game of the season. Support the Barnstormers and new coach Mike Hohensee as they take on the Utah Blaze at 7:05pm.

How to be a Monster Jam Judge

With Monster Jam coming up this Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday at 2 and 7:30 p.m., we thought we’d give you a little insight about what it takes to judge the freestyle competition.

During a 90 second freestyle run, the mechanical competitors of Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam face off, smashing their way around (and often through) the obstacles on the track, including buses, cars, dirt jumps, planes, camping caravans, large recreational vehicles and more. Pushed to their physical limits, their mission is to entertain the fans and tame the course. As the freestyle competition unfolds, the drivers work vigorously to out-perform the other monster trucks by impressing the freestyle judges to win the competition. Judges score Monster Jam freestyle on a scale of 1 to 10. Below are some of the criteria used to determine the score.

Points are given on:

• Number and variety of tricks
• Hitting the most obstacles on the track including cars, buses, caravans and dirt jumps
• Higher jumps get higher scores
• Donuts (or Cyclone Donuts)
• Hitting the obstacles in reverse
• Spectacular stunt – something unexpected or seemingly impossible
• Saves – skillfully driving to avoid a roll-over or crash, often “saving” the trick by driving on the two side wheels until the truck rights itself
• Wheelies
• Sky Wheelies
• Combinations – performing multiple tricks using obstacles in one pass

Deductions are given on:

• Rollovers
• Reverse receives a deduction unless the truck is hitting an obstacle
• Failing to use the entire time allotted
• Using more than the time allotted
• No stops! Use the full time  allotted

Now you should probably make your way here to any of the 3 shows this weekend and test out your new found knowledge.  Get tix at http://www.dahlstickets.com, opening night tickets are just $14. Hurry – prices increase $2 day of show.

See the trucks up close and personal at 3 Advance Auto Parts on Thursday, Jan. 5 from 2 – 6 p.m., and get driver autographs!

Grave Digger:
Thursday, January 5^th 2012 from 2-6 PM
Advanced Auto Parts
4801 SE 14^th St
Des Moines

Bounty Hunter:
Thursday, January 5^th 2012 from 2-6 PM
Advanced Auto Parts (Store #5811)
1817 University Ave
Des Moines

Scarlet Bandit
Thursday, January 5^th 2012 from 2-6 PM
Advanced Auto Parts (Store #5104)
2519 Easton Blvd
Des Moines

 

Bringing Events to the Iowa Events Center

We love being one of the premier facilities in Iowa to see a concert, family show or sporting event, and we take our job seriously when it comes to bringing acts to the Iowa Events Center for your enjoyment. Our General Manager Chris Connolly provides some insight to booking the events that come to our great city.

What types of acts we look to book:

“Our clients are looking for us to book world class entertainment. On the concert side, your Bon Jovi’s, Taylor Swift’s, George Strait’s, etc. Also, they are interested in us attracting national sporting events such as Figure Skating, Curling, NCAA basketball and wrestling.

For the most part, national promoters and agents have been bringing the bigger acts to us but there are definitely occasions where we will have to chase certain shows. Bob Seger is a perfect example of a show that we chased for months before actually confirming it. We, Iowa Events Center, were first approached by national promoter, Live Nation, way back in late July about a potential Seger show at Wells Fargo Arena. Seger notoriously has a high artist guarantee and Live Nation was not sold on the fact that Des Moines would be able to fully support this show on a Tuesday night in December right before the Christmas holiday. In addition, Wells Fargo Arena hasn’t hosted many successful classic rock shows in recent history. However, we felt strongly that this show would do well and had our Marketing department solicit feedback from the local media in order to help support our case. Once we were finally able to convince Live Nation to partner with us on the show, we then had to establish ticket prices that were affordable to the public but high enough for us to be able make a profit off of the show. After about 3 months of negotiation and tweaking the numbers, we went on-sale to the public in mid-October. When all was said and done, we sold well over 11,000 paid tickets which turned into a successful night financially for both Live Nation and the Iowa Events Center. In addition, we were about to host an entertaining show that more than gave the crowd their money’s worth!

Why we land certain acts over others:

“We are extremely lucky that the people in this region have been very supportive of the live acts that play at Wells Fargo Arena. With that being said, we are well known on a national level for having a great country and family show market. We have had all of the top country artists play at our building on an annual basis, and they continue to make return visits to Des Moines because of that success. As for family shows, we host Disney on Ice, Disney Live, Monster Jam, Arenacross, Harlem Globetrotters and Sesame Street on an annual basis. Like the country artists, these family shows continue to sell a lot of tickets and have been a staple in our building since opening in 2005.”

3 things to think about when picking a date to book a show:

“1. Tenant Schedules – it is important to completely understand the scheduling process. We must look at the schedules of the Barnstormers and Energy.

2.  Other big events happening within the Facility – in bigger facilities like the Iowa Events Center and Roanoke Civic Center( where I was formerly a General Manager), your convention center events can have a big effect on your live events in the arena, both positively and negatively. Roanoke is a good example to show the positive and negative. Two years ago, Roanoke booked Cats as an add on Broadway show on the same night as Winter Jam. They ended up having their older and more upscale Broadway crowd ride the shuttles to the arena with thousands of screaming teenagers. Needless to say, they took a beating the next day from their loyal Broadway subscribers. On the positive side, they booked their Home & Garden show on the same weekend as Walking with Dinosaurs and they ended up attracting a lot of walk-up customers to both shows just for the simple fact that they were already on-site anyway. This turned out to be a real win and their Marketing department did a great job cross promoting the 2 shows.

3. Other big events happening in Town – In Des Moines, we cannot book a show during the 2 week State Fair run in August.”

Why acts like to come to the Iowa Events Center:

“There are a number of reasons why acts like to visit the Iowa Events Center, but the most important reason is money! We,  Iowa Events Center,  have a top notch Marketing team which has been very successful in being able to sell tickets to shows. The ability to sell tickets allows the artist to walk away from Wells Fargo Arena with more money in their pocket which makes the agents and promoters happy and more willing to return to Des Moines with other artists. In addition, we treat the artist and their crew well from the minute they step into the building until the last truck is loaded after the show. We take the time to research each artist prior to their play date and then we present them with an artist gift prior to the show as a sign of our appreciation for playing at our venue. The more comfortable the artist, crew, promoter, agent, etc. are in Wells Fargo Arena, the more willing they will be to come back the next time!”

We love hearing your feedback and requests about certain shows or concerts you’d like to see at the Iowa Events Center. Continue to send them our way – we hope to provide lasting memories for you, your friends and your families for years to come!

Did you know we do weddings too? Some insight from our wedding planner…

Hello IEC fans! You know that the Iowa Events Center does a phenomenal job with big concerts and conventions but did you know we do weddings too? Let me introduce myself!

My name is Janelle and I am the Sales Express Manager at the Iowa Events Center. I have been in the event planning world for as long as I can remember, weddings specifically for about 5 years and I thought I would share some of my insights on wedding planning since it’s the season for engagements! As a wedding planner I’ve seen  big, bad and truly the beautiful! Let me tell you; you will have big ideas, you will have bad ideas and you will have beautiful ideas.

So, let’s talk ideas. There truly are only so many times you can Google centerpieces, photographers, venues, reception ideas, etc. without feeling overwhelmed. The stress, the anxiety and the frustration builds up and you haven’t even been engaged for 24 hours.

A friendly reminder as you start out on your planning adventure….this day is about you and your groom. Don’t let that go to your head but truly it’s about creating a day full of everything that shows the love you share and what you’ve always dreamt of. And that, my dear bride is exactly where you start. What is the one word that explains you and your groom? Build on that. It’s really that simple. This is the perfect way not to be cookie- cutter and to create you’re the perfect ambience for a night to remember. When you take that simple word and build from it you can use great resources like Pinterest and DIY Magazines to create an out of the box, perfectly fit evening that was more enjoyable than anything else.

My good friend was recently engaged and knowing that it was going to be a fairly quick engagement I was getting concerned as the weeks ticked by that she hadn’t made any decisions and the wedding was approaching quickly. So, in conversation I asked her – how’s wedding planning going? Her response was perfect: “We’re enjoying being engaged. The planning will happen and decisions will be made. I want to enjoy every moment.”

After planning 300+ weddings I can tell you my recently engaged friend has the perfect advice. Your dream wedding will happen if you plan till you are blue in the face or if you take the time to enjoy every decision.

To make the ease of planning a reality, utilize your resources. Tour venues and ask questions about vendors they recommend, what a 200 person reception would be estimated to cost. Ask for ideas about what they would suggest for a hosted cocktail hour without breaking the bank. The people in the industry are the one’s who know what’s going to work for you and your budget. Through those simple questions you can uncover a lot about what you can do for your reception, the venue you are visiting and the type of person you’d be working with for the next several months. Those qualifying questions can push you further in the right direction without adding additional “Google” stress.

So here’s to enjoying each moment of planning…each decision….all along the way. Up to your special day!

Love…YOUR Day!

I’m just a little obsessed…

…with country music. Ask anyone I work with. Which is why I’m so excited to live in Des Moines, where we have not 1, but 2 awesome country radio stations.   Little did I know that when I moved to Des Moines after I graduated high school it was such a hub for Nashville’s music tradition. Which is why it makes me so happy to work here at the Iowa Events Center, where we get so many great country acts. Two on our lineup right now: Zac Brown Band and George Strait. Um, hello? Two of the biggest names in country music? I’ll take it, and pass on big kudos to our team for bringing in such quality acts for the public’s enjoyment.

The CMA Awards are on tonight (hence the timing of this blog post) so I felt like celebrating the fact that we have such great acts on our lineup. You never know who else we are going to bring in.  For your enjoyment, some music videos from Zac Brown Band (Chicken Fried, Live – a classic), a George Strait medley, and the always lovely Martina McBride, who is joining George on Feb. 24. Zac Brown Band and Martina are scheduled to appear tonight – can’t wait to see them!

What country acts do you want to see at Wells Fargo Arena?

Local performer starring in Phineas and Ferb: The Best Live Tour Ever!

Phineas and Ferb Live is coming to Wells Fargo Arena Oct. 22 and we are lucky enough that this year, there is a native Iowan in the show. Diana Reed is originally from Norwalk and was Miss Iowa in 2007 before finishing in the top 10 of the Miss American pageant and winning the talent competition.  She is a University of Iowa grad and was the Golden Girl baton twirler in her time there. Since then she has been all over the country working on Broadway,  Disney World and Universal Studios to name a few.

Yesterday I was lucky enough to meet Diana as she spoke to a choir class at Norwalk High School about a career in the performing arts. Below you’ll find some snippets from her talk, as she taught the students Gitchi Gitchi Goo, talked about a day on tour, as well as her upcoming role in the show.

She really was great, and if you haven’t bought tickets yet, you need to come and cheer for our local girl!

 

 

 

 

Double Rainbow!! Oh, and some great U of I students too

Yesterday Adam, our director of marketing, and I ventured out to Iowa City for a talk with the school’s PRSSA chapter. We had quite the adventure in the 7 hours the trip ended up taking us from start to finish.

First of all, it was raining like crazy on our drive there. The good thing about the rain? Rainbows! We saw not one, but TWO rainbows, and both ends of them. It was like we were driving through to the Wizard of Oz!

Once we got to Iowa City, a city neither of us are very familiar with, we proceeded to drive through flooded streets, in the dark, trying to find our way without hitting anyone crossing the street. We found the parking lot, but the next challenge was to get into the building by either wading through about ankle deep standing water, or climing up a muddy hill with dress shoes on. We chose the second option, and let’s just say we began our talk with mud all over our pants and shoes. Fun first impression!

The PRSSA group was great. Very engaging and interested in what we had to say. We love reaching out to student groups to offer any type of wisdom and insight we can into the industry. This group in particular was interested in event planning and marketing so we had some pretty great stories to share. We met some great students who already had some interesting and valuable internships that will no doubt serve them well in the future. For me, it is great to talk to students like this because I still remember being very motivated and driven in college, but not really knowing if any of it was going to pay off in the end. Now that I am lucky enough to have a great job, all I want to tell those students is that don’t worry, it really will work out in the end. Keep doing what you are doing. We may have even locked up a workshop spot at their regional conference to come in and give some more students real life problems to work on. Can’t wait!

After, the group told us about $2 wings at Summit, one of the local bars. We met up with one of our former interns who still goes to Iowa and definitely dominated some wings. $14 for 3 baskets of wings and 3 beers? Makes me miss college towns!

We made it back about midnight. No fun stories on the way home, except we made it without either one of us falling asleep in the car. Success!

Last Phase of Vets Renovation

We’ve come a long way since beginning renovation of Vets Auditorium into a new state-of-the-art convention center. On Sept. 24 we hosted a media day to take the media and some clients on a tour of the facility. Here are some photos, a video and an article printed in the DM Register about how far the construction has come.

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Face-lift gives Vets Auditorium New Life – Des Moines Register

 

Make $$ For Your Group at the IEC!

Are you looking to raise money for your group or organization? We’ve got the perfect answer for you – and it’s something different and fun! You can earn valuable dollars for your organization by sending volunteers to work at one of our portable or permanent concession stands during an event.

Working concessions at the Iowa Events Center puts you front and center in the fast paced and fun environment of an Iowa Energy basketball game, Iowa Barnstormer game or a major concert such as Kenny Chesney,  Taylor Swift,  AC/DC.

Ovations Food Services (the food service contractor for the Iowa Events Center) is proud to partner with area non-profit groups to provide fundraising opportunities for groups of all sizes. Did you know that last season, Ovations Food Services paid out over $142,000 cash to groups participating in our Not-For-Profit Fundraising Program? Over 40 Not-For-Profit organizations are currently signed up to earn CASH and we are looking for more.

The menus at the concession stands are easy to prepare and serve, and Ovations provides each concession stand with a cook and a staff stand leader to help with any questions or equipment operation such as using the cash register or pretzel warmer – or even how to assemble the Iowa Dog, a favorite at our “Hot Dog Nation” stand!

This is a great alternative to the usual route of bake sales and car washes to make money for your group. Some stands require just two volunteers, others up to 10.

Earning potential depends on the size of the stand you work, and how many times you work.  We ask that you make a commitment of working at least 5 events per year.  We pay between 8% – 10% of your stand sales directly to your organization.   We pay a minimum of $300 to your group for working a permanent stand and $50.00 for a portable stand.

We are now signing groups up for the 2011-2012 season.  If you want to be a part of this growing program contact Ginger Gadbaw Smith, AGM/Director of Arena Operations and Concessions for Ovations Food Services at 515-564-8011 or gsmith@iowaeventscenter.com to receive an introductory packet.

A Little Summer Fun

Because most tours take their breaks during the summer, this time of year tends to be a little slower at the Iowa Events Center. It’s a great time for the staff to catch up on projects they may not have time to tackle during the busy show season. It’s also a great time to get a little staff bonding in.

Last Tuesday we had an all-staff meeting which included catered lunch and a talk by our general manager regarding the state of the company. Then it was time for a good old-fashioned staff buckets tournament. What is buckets you ask?  It’s is a Canadian game, similar to Bags (or Cornhole, whatever you call it) where you throw bottles filled with water into big buckets filled with water. When I found out we were playing, I was pretty sure it was made up.  Nope, sure enough it’s a real thing.

Scott Inukai our Video Technicion and Joe Koelling from AV won the tournament. Bags champions!

Wednesday was the marketing department outing. The planners – our director of marketing and assistant general manager – kept us in the dark until the day of the outing. We met at Bass Pro Shops for lunch  (which, if you haven’t eaten there, is a really fun place. We even tried alligator for appetizers, tasted just like chicken!) From there we found out we’d be meeting at Sleepy Hollow and going for a canoe trip the rest of the day.  It was perfect outside and we spent the rest of the day floating along the river. What a great idea – kudos to the planners!

We work hard during the year – so it’s always nice to get out of the office once in a while and be rewarded for that hard work.