A day in the life of Mike Kelly, the Director of Operations for Erie Events. He describes his role and how he contribute:

I started with the Erie County Convention Center Authority, now commonly known as Erie Events, in 2007 as the Convention Center’s Director of Food & Beverage. In 2008, I moved over as the Director of Operations, while still leading the food & beverage operations.  Recently, I was asked to lead the food and beverage operations for Erie Events.  This morphing of roles has taught me a great deal about the Bayfront Convention Center and Erie Insurance Arena businesses and has led to some very memorable experiences.

WE handle events from 3,000 to 5,000 people at the Convention Center at any given time;  Corporate business meetings, sporting events, consumer shows, weddings and wedding receptions, large banquets and even larger cocktail parties.  Many times events are happening simultaneously!   At Erie Insurance Arena, that number can range anywhere from 500 people for small sporting events to 8,000 for large concerts.

It’s a big job and people ask me how I manage to keep all these events straight on a daily basis. My answer is very simple; I have amazing co-workers!  A constant, concerted effort is made across the Authority by many employees to produce events, keep our establishments clean and safe and provide great hospitality and experiences for our guests.  Some days can be very trying as one could imagine, but the satisfaction of knowing we successfully produced an event that exceeded someone’s expectations is the reward!