Mack Stone Retires After a Blossoming Career. By Dayna Cantelmi A STONE’S THROW In an industry that runs on the relationships we make, it is import-
ant to remember it’s not only the relationships we build with our cli- -
ously crossing paths throughout your career or always knowing some- one who knows someone, creating minimal degrees of separation that connect us all. In the case of Mack Stone, recently retired General Manager of the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center in Columbia, SC, it is the friendships he has forged that are the hallmark of his 43 years in the business.
After opening the Greenwood Civic Center in Greenwood, SC in 1977, Stone met Steve Camp of the Myrtle Beach Convention Center during the 1978 International Association of Venue Managers Region 5 dinner in West Palm Beach, FL. As fellow South Carolinians, the two immediately formed a bond, as did their wives, who also attended the dinner. IAVM Region 5 introduced Stone to a new family of mentors, business across the board. New to the industry, Stone made sure to spend as much time with seasoned professionals as he could in order to learn from them. Eager to take on the challenge a larger facility and leave Myrtle Beach, to give him a call. That very call came within the year when Camp made the move to
Charlotte, NC and Stone became Executive Director of the Myrtle Beach Convention Center. With Camp’s strong referral, the Myrtle Beach team was excited to welcome Stone, and he stayed with the cen- Camp and Stone continued to stay in touch over the years. In 1983, an opportunity presented itself to Stone when Clyde Haw-
kins, another IAVM connection, phoned to say the Tivoli Theatre in Chattanooga, TN was ready to build a convention center with an ad- jacent hotel and a shared parking garage. From his early experience opening the Greenwood Civic Center, and then expanding the Myrtle Beach Center, Stone developed a love and expertise when it came to construction and design, and he jumped at the opportunity to open another facility. From there, Stone went on to manage the City of Phoenix, AZ’s
convention center, symphony hall, municipal baseball stadium, three adjacent parking garages, and the Herberger Theater Complex before working in tradeshow production for a bit. Then in 2002, Steve Camp called again to see if Stone was in-
terested in opening the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center (CMCC) in Columbia, SC. With a unique arrangement where a man- aging party was needed for the center, which was being funded by an operating agreement between two counties and the city, Camp helped establish the Midlands Authority for Conventions, Sports and Tour- ism, now Experience Columbia SC. Camp spent the majority of his
career at the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority, which operates un- der the same structure, and his consultation made it possible to bring umbrella organization. When the building opened in 2003, Camp served as President and
CEO of the over-arching authority, and he and Stone worked along- Under Stone’s leadership, the CMCC team began doing annual
the region to connect with industry colleagues and share best practices. The team started with one of Stone’s past homes in Chattanoo-
ga and have since been to Greenville, SC, Sevierville, TN, Knoxville, TN, Jekyll Island, GA, Savannah, GA, Myrtle Beach, SC, Charlotte, NC, Raleigh, NC, Greensboro, NC, Asheville, NC, Nashville, TN and Atlanta, GA, establishing relationships along the way. Members from several departments, including sales and events, catering, and opera- tions, participate in these tours. Takeaways from these tours include sustainability ideas, parking solutions, pricing comparisons and structures for internet, rentals and rigging, software recommendations, funding structures, insight into the types of markets the CMCC team could tap into with more ex- hibit space, and learning more about the strengths and challenges of the CMCC compared to those of the centers in other cities, among other ideas. They found there is a special comradery between meetings professionals, as we are often the only ones who truly understand the ins and outs of this business, and there’s a shared understanding of the challenges and successes that come with it. The path of Stone’s career took shape due, in large part, to the rela- tionships he made with veterans in the industry through IAVM. Today, there are 20 IAVM members within the Experience Columbia SC or- ganization. Those professionals utilize their memberships by attending - in the discussions happening in the Venue Managers Open Forum to share ideas and gain insight from other members, and encouraging more colleagues to join IAVM. Through IAVM and Stone’s legacy of the importance of keeping doors open, these individuals have not only learned the business, but have learned to connect with industry colleagues and never stop raising the bar through collaboration and idea sharing. Stone’s career is a perfect example of the industry’s connectivity.
You never know when the person you sit beside at a dinner can end up becoming your mentor and good friend. Now that’s show business. FM
Dayna Cantelmi is a marketing and communications associate with Experience Columbia SC.
CONVENTION CENTERS:
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