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THIS IS MICHAEL MARION’S STORY


Erwin. Marion remembered that he picked a negotiation class to   “Russ pulls me to the side and says, ‘Michael, I know how you are and how your language is. You’re an agent. You really have to tone it   came up with my cuss jar.” Marion proceeds to give an example of how the cuss jar works at


his presentations. Basically, Marion warns students that he does not  the sound of a coin hitting the jar is made, it is up to students to come up with their own adjectives before a particular expletive. “Anybody in the last nine years that has been through Oglebay knows about the cuss jar,” Marion said.


The Chairman Toronto will be here soon, and don’t be surprised to see the cuss jar make the trip north with Marion. He is excited and honored to serve in such an important capacity the next year and sings the praises of IAVM while knowing, of course, that nothing is perfect. “It is not just networking in IAVM, but making new friends,” he said. “Richard Andersen and I didn’t know each other well until I started teaching at Oglebay, and now we’re good buddies. The beauty of IAVM is you are with a group of people that understand our busi- ness and they’re not your coworkers. I am here in Little Rock. We have a convention center across the river, but how many other arena people are hanging around here? It is just good to hear that other people have  “Being in leadership and the executive committee and board and


governance, that is all important, but to me at the end of the day if we’re not making sure the members are having fun … sometimes you


get caught up in this business and miss the boat. Volunteering for a committee is so good for people because it gets you out of that rut and  distraction.”


Marion calls the changing generations and their expectations some


of the biggest challenges for the industry, along with competition. “If there is a chance to see a show at a movie theater or live play, there are a lot of entertainment options,” he said. “Whatever sector we are in, we want to make sure the patron has a positive vibe about our venue so they will keep coming. A lot of this is common sense. Get them in, treat them right, help them out, try to keep the lines not too crazy. It is as much common sense as it is a trendy thing.” With his concert background, Marion added that the business has


changed because of ticket prices. “That ticket was $8.50, but now it is $100,” he said. “People have a bigger expectation. They are shelling out some money. It is reasonable for them to have a bigger expectation than I had just to go see Bruce Springsteen.” Most of all, Marion expects people to keep coming to live events


because, well, among other things there are stories people get to tell and memories people get to make. “I never bought the argument about the demise of live events,” he said. “I don’t want to sit in my living room and ring my cowbell by my- self watching Mississippi State games. I want to sit there with a whole bunch of people screaming, ‘How ‘bout them Dawgs!’ Think about a concert. Sitting in my house watching Cream live at Royal Albert Hall is nice, but being in a group of people screaming …” 


have a lot of options, and we don’t want them to opt us out.” Which could very well be another story for another day. FM


IAVM 55


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