| |
By Terry Butler
This fall, the University of Rhode Island’s Ryan Center will
celebrate its fifth-year anniversary. It is not only a time to thank the
many individuals who participated in the venue’s successes, but also an
occasion to reflect on how we’ve become a valuable asset to the University
of Rhode Island, and the local community. It was not an easy road.
Situated in the village of Kingston (population 5,500),
the university is located in a very rural area, surrounded by turf farms,
vegetable and fruit stands. Needless to say, the thought of putting an arena
on campus wasn’t universally accepted as a wonderful idea by many in the
community. Unprecedented criticism was heaped on the university
administration as plans progressed to replace an aging gymnasium with a
modern facility. This was a quality-of-life issue to many, as having a
multi-use facility would bring numerous traffic problems and undesirable
patrons to a desirable area. The term NIMBY — “not in my back yard” —
certainly applied. We had our work cut out for us.
In addition, we soon found out that many people find a
college a very intimidating place to visit. Most of us have spent
considerable time on a campus — and other than when trying to find a place
to park every day, we probably feel at ease. However, because of our
location in such a rural section of the state, many residents previously had
no reason to visit URI. Other than attending classes here or dropping off a
child or friend, people didn’t have a reason to visit. Gee, after five years
of trying, we still can’t get MapQuest to recognize our address.
Marching Orders
As the management company, we were also given direction by the university to
“attract and book a broad mix of events appealing to all segments of the
University and Washington County communities.” The Ryan Center wasn’t
planned to be a shiny new place for the men’s and women’s basketball teams
to play; its intent was to raise the profile of the university within the
state of Rhode Island by offering a diverse mix of events.
We’ve worked hard over the past years to fulfill that
commitment to the university. While we have a great venue for the Rhody
Ram’s basketball programs and work well with various on-campus groups like
the Student Entertainment Committee and the Career Services Department, our
strength has become our presentation of shows for the entire Rhode Island
community. Family shows (like the Wiggles, Harlem Globetrotters, Doodlebops,
etc.) and flat shows like the annual Southern Rhode Island Home Show are now
the staple of our business. Our retention rate for these shows is high.
However, our success in attracting these events wasn’t easy.
We were aggressive in promoting the idea of an
alternative facility in the region using the resources of Global Spectrum to
soliciting events to play the “new venue.” One promoter who took a leap of
faith with us was Glenn Grabski, then with Hit Entertainment, who booked
Barney. While many questioned his (and my) judgment in booking a family show
in a rural college venue, we scored big with two sold-out shows. Gotta love
that purple dinosaur!
Another more recent successful event that fulfills our
mission to the university is the Business-to-Business Expo, working with the
South Kingstown Chamber of Commerce. The intent was co-promoting an
event so
the local business community could acquaint each other with their products
and services. It was such a success that after one year, it had to rename
itself the Statewide Business-to-Business Expo, as vendors from outside the
area also wanted to participate. It’s also a great way to introduce business
people to the facility and the events we offer year round. In addition, the
Ryan Center now uses several local vendors who can provide a greater level
of service since they’re nearby.
Our newest venture is a professional tennis exhibition
that we’re promoting this winter. Our goal is to again showcase the
versatility of the facility, as well as tap into the tennis community since
the International Tennis Hall of Fame is located just 20 minutes away in
Newport. As part of the event we plan to sponsor a free tennis youth clinic
for area players to participate as our guests.
What the Island Means
The reason for my article title is that during the recent IAAM Conference in
Salt Lake City, I had the opportunity to see many old friends, as well as
meet new people in the industry. The level of everyone’s enthusiasm was very
refreshing. It made me realize that the service we provide to our local
universities is great. Many times visiting the campus arena is the only
experience people will have interacting with our school, which in our case
is the state university.
We should take pride that we’re not an island. We bring
people from throughout the region together to enjoy an evening of
basketball, a concert or a family show. I’m happy to say that we (like most
college venues) have become a welcomed addition to the local community.
fm
*(with apologies to writer John Donne)
Terry Butler is general manager of the Global
Spectrum/The Ryan Center and Boss Ice Arena, located at the University of
Rhode Island in Kingston.
|
|
Back to Facility Manager
Contents
