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Spectra is excited to be “Together Again” with our clients, vendors, and attendees. We are committed to working with each event organizer on a specific plan for their event that follows guidelines to allow each event to take place in a manner that is safe for the staff and attendees. While it is impossible to eliminate all risks of COVID-19 while attending an event, Spectra is confident we have mitigated many risks and can provide a clean, safe environment at the Iowa Events Center.
As of June 1, 2021, events at Wells Fargo Arena, Community Choice Convention Center, and Hy-Vee Hall were allowed to be held at full capacity, subject to each event planner’s policies.
covid response initiatives
part-time employee experience
On April 8, 2021, we provided a free curbside meal pick-up for any part-time staff who had worked over the past year. This included operations, engineering, box office, parking, guest services, F&B, and CSC Security. This was a free meal for two per employee to thank them for their hard work, their flexibility, and continued support over the last year.
We served almost 300 meals total and had representation from all part-time departments. The Directors were present and handed out the food to the staff and were able to provide in-person, masked thank you's as well. This was well received by the staff and we are looking at opportunities to do this on an annual basis.
to-go meals
We provided over 7,200 to go meals for our clients which included gala pick-ups, holiday party drop-offs, cookie boxes for holiday gifts, and welcome back to the office boxed lunches. In addition to supporting our clients, we also created take away boxes for our guests including meals, signature cocktails, holiday charcuterie boxes, and cookie kits.
ronald mcdonald house suite gala
We hosted our first suite gala, allowing each suite to be a “table” and people comfortably keeping distance while raising much needed funds for the Ronald McDonald House.
culinary experience packages
We auctioned off two in-home culinary experience packages as a part of the Make-A-Wish Gala, raising over $20,000 for Make-A-Wish.
Chris Connolly—General Manager
Carrie Jackson—AGM, Director of Sales
Ryan Ziegler—AGM, Arena
Derek Hickey—District General Manager
Ali Brackett—AGM, Director of Catering
Carrie Jackson—AGM, Director of Sales
Janelle Menz
Carrie Petersen
Jessica Van Sloten
Ryan Ziegler—AGM, Arena
Carrie Jackson—AGM, Arena
Haleigh Biancalana—Director of Events
Matt Cushman
Lyndsey Lomelino
Zach Lough
Courtney Vitale
Diane Frischmeyer—Director of Finance
Andrew Dobraska
Lisa Givens
Tim Smith
Adam Flack—Regional Marketing Director
Viki Arias Kepler
Jackie Mabe
Elly Simpson
Laurie Kemmit—Regional VP of Partnerships
Jason Evans
Ryan Ziegler—AGM, Arena
Jake Reichling
Brandon Ortale
Ryan Ziegler—AGM, Arena
Jason Smith—Director of Operations
Harold Peterson
Alex Abrahamson
Dennis Ashby
Jim Bacon
Marlon Ballentine
Steve Carlson
Gary Colby
Brian Cooper
Kyle Disney
Steve Franz
Mark Gamble
Tom Hines
AJ Johnson
Jeff Kling
Jeff Lindquist
Meghan Peterson
Mike Stanley
Derek Hickey—District General Manager
Ali Brackett—AGM, Director of Catering
Chad Vander Ploeg—Executive Chef
Jonathan Cook
Calli Crew
Mark Kehert
Jeff Maynes
Raul Murillo
Adam Shepard
We purchased touchless pedestal scanners mainly for Wells Fargo Arena ticketed events, however we will also utilize them if needed at our Convention Centers. Patrons can now self-scan themselves into an event which eliminates the exchange of hard tickets with a staff member scanning them in. These also reduce the number of staff members needed at each entrance.
We replaced the bearings and gear box following a vibration analysis performed on cooling tower #3, to prevent further damage.
We replaced two variable frequency drives on our roof top units at Hy-Vee Hall.
We replaced compressors, contactors, fuses, filters, and the crank case heater and added refrigerant to the 15 year old roof top unit. The remaining 10 roof top units had minor repairs and upgrades completed.
We added a key fob to our southwest service elevator in Community Choice Convention Center to secure our mechanical room. The security command center window was replaced to allow for a safer environment for CSC staff.
Boiler #3 had 182 tubes replaced and the internal shell was flushed to remove scale and sediment.
Daktronics remounted our Wells Fargo Arena speakers to allow them to swivel for concert rigging purposes.
The Wells Fargo Arena ice plant air separator and one of the four ice compressors were replaced before hockey season.
Hopkins Roofing won the bid to replace the entire Hy-Vee Hall roof. They started in late April and will be completed in early spring. The previous roof had many leaks and was deteriorating very quickly.
paper, cardboard, plastic, glass and aluminum recycled
food composted
materials diverted from landfills
of all waste recycled/composted
As a result of our Retro-Commissioning study and implementing energy saving opportunities we avoided energy costs of approximately $98,180 this year for a
total of $487,378 over the past 4 years.
· Eight flexible meeting rooms
· Connected to Iowa Hall of Pride
· Hall A, B and C: 150,00 sq. ft. connected
· 24,000 sq. ft. of pre-function space
· 11 loading bays
· Business Center
· Drive-on access
· 21 flexible meeting rooms
· 23,000 sq. ft. of pre-function space
· Eight HD projectors displaying images and video on Grand Concourse air walls
· Veterans Memorial Hall (a museum quality exhibit paying tribute to Iowa Veterans who have served the United States during each international conflict since Iowa’s statehood in 1846)
· Four boardrooms
· Views of Grand Concourse and Veterans Memorial Hall
· State’s largest ballroom (28,000 sq. ft)
· 1 million lighting combinations
· 14,000 sq. ft. of pre-function space
· Two meeting rooms
· Two green rooms
· Networked for Wi-Fi
· Audio & Visual Services by preferred vendor, Markey’s Rental & Staging
· Catering offered exclusively by Spectra Food Services & Hospitality
· The Exhibition Level is ideal to host large shows such as the Ag Expo
and Des Moines Home + Garden Show
· Coors Light Club Lounge
· 630 Club Seats
· 20 Loge Boxes
· 39 newly remodeled Luxury Suites
· Ketel One Bar in the Willis Auto Lounge
· Templeton Distillery at The Fort
· The Loft — arena bowl premium rental space
· Press Box seating
· Hall of Fame Suite
· 17,000-seat capacity Arena
· Home to the Iowa Barnstormers, Iowa Wild and Iowa Wolves
· 360° curtain system along with a half-house curtain
This summer we enhanced our Nursing Mother’s area in the Wells Fargo Arena First Aid room.
While this has always been the location for nursing mothers, we decided to enhance the room
creating two areas of privacy with comfortable seating. This enhancement has been
well received by our mothers in attendance and we are looking at providing
something similar in our other buildings.
IOWA WILD
The Iowa Wild started their 2020–2021 season on February 5, 2021, which was the first home game since February 25, 2020. The team was slated to play a shortened season of 34 games due to the global pandemic, with an even split of home and road games. The Wild ended their season 17–13–4–0 and due to the pandemic,
the AHL was not able to conduct
traditional Calder Cup Playoffs.
IOWA BARNSTORMERS
In December of 2020, John Pettit fell ill and passed away due to COVID-19 complications. It is certain that he will be sorely missed by the Barnstormers family, but in honor of continuing his legacy, operations will stay in the family as
Juli Pettit steps into the role of
General Manager. The Barnstormers
home opener at Wells Fargo Arena was
on May 22 and their season will conclude
at home on August 14.
IOWA WOLVES
The NBA G League announced in March that the league would play a truncated
2021 season at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Florida because of health and safety considerations given the global pandemic. Due to this decision, no games were held at Wells Fargo Arena.
The Wolves finished 2–13.
John Pettit, the Iowa Barnstormers’ COO and Vice President, died from complications of COVID-19 on December 24, 2020. John was involved with Wells Fargo Arena since the venue opened in 2005, serving first as General Manager of the Iowa Stars AHL Hockey franchise. He then in 2008 returning as the General Manager of the Iowa Barnstormers as Jeff Lamberti and the ownership group revitalized the franchise to play at the arena.
John was active in the community through his work with the Barnstormers, developing tremendous relationships with non-profits and the local corporate community. John took particular pride in developing theme nights for the Barnstormers, including the highly attended Military Night, which was annually the largest attended regular season game. John was instrumental in the Barnstormers moving to the IFL back in 2015 and saw the team win the league championship in 2018. John was inducted into the IFC Hall of Fame in 2021.
After John’s death, his daughter, Juli Pettit took over as General Manager for the Barnstormers and continues to lead the team.
“John was a respected leader and a friend who had a great
passion for helping organizations throughout Central Iowa.
I appreciated John’s vast knowledge of the sports and
entertainment industry, but more than that, I appreciated how
John cared for the people close to him; his family, his friends,
and everyone associated with the Barnstormers organization.”
CHRIS CONNOLLY, GENERAL MANAGER
Chad Vander Ploeg—Executive Chef
Iowa Restaurant Association—Dine Iowa Culinary Competition
Ali Brackett—AGM, Director of Catering
Iowa Restaurant Association
includes social media, text club and
cyber club/group sales email lists
5,211 Followers
(60 followers gained)
4,994 Followers
(138 followers gained)
196 Followers
31,782 Followers
(1,035 followers gained)
43,900 Followers
(57 followers lost)
2,818 Followers
(22 followers gained)
16,800 Followers
(548 followers lost)
212,796 Subscribers
250,000 Subscribers
2,436 Subscribers
As of the summer of 2021, we are excited to share that all three buildings within the Iowa Events Center are officially certified through KultureCity as Sensory Inclusive™. We are the first live event and entertainment facility of our kind to be certified in the state of Iowa. We are thrilled to be able to add this as another way to service our guests.
Over the past year, the Iowa Events Center has taken steps to increase the fan experience of all who walk through our doors. We worked with the company KultureCity to create the best experience for fans with sensory needs. Our full-time staff, including members of all three tenant teams took part in the Sensory Inclusive™ training, and signage has been placed around the facility to note quiet areas, headphone zones, and more to help our guests with sensory needs feel welcome and comfortable in our facility.
Along with the training and signage, we also have sensory bags available for guests. Sensory bags can be checked out at our Guests Services Office in Wells Fargo Arena or at the Administration Office in Hy-Vee Hall. These bags include headphones, a communication card, fidget toys, and a lanyard. Guests are able to check these out for the duration of their event to help assist them with any sensory overload or other reasons for use.
We also worked alongside local non-profit Please Pass the Love to create a sensory room in Wells Fargo Arena as an additional way to service guests with sensory needs. This room, located on the main concourse will be completed in October 2021 and staff to host an open house to celebrate.
There were no concerts held in FY-21 due to the pandemic.
The Sports category included 15 Des Moines Buccaneers games, 17 Iowa Wild games, 3 Iowa Barnstormers games, State Wrestling, Girls’ State Basketball, Boys’ State Basketball and AAU Wrestling.
Family shows included 16 Disney on Ice performances, 5 Monster Jam performances, 2 PBR performances, and 2 World’s Toughest Rodeo performances.
We also hosted 13 Special Events which included Iowa State Dance & Drill.
The Special Events category accounted for 46% of our event mix, 40% of our gross revenues, and 40% of our net income. During the pandemic, sporting events, dance competitions, gymnastics, wrestling, and volleyball continued to move forward and helped us with our overall bottom line.
Clients were asked a series of questions to rate their overall event experience. The results of the survey are based on 29 responses with a combined overall score of 4.83 out of 5.
Some highlights included:
Over the past year, the Charity Committee donated a monetary value of $34,098 to various charities and organizations across the state of Iowa.
One highlight was the Hy-Vee vaccine site that took place in the convention center over two dates in April. Each day, Hy-Vee distributed 3,000 doses of the vaccine to community members, which also included many of our staff. The two date rentals—including set up days—were donated to
Hy-Vee on behalf of the Iowa Events Center in support of the cause and community outreach.
This year, the committee was able to hear of the financial impact of the live auction experiences and ticket packages that were purchased for the Make-A-Wish Iowa Gala in May of 2021. The Food and Beverage team graciously donated two In-Home Chef Experiences that included Iowa Events Center chefs to come and cook in the purchaser’s home for up to ten guests. Make-A-Wish Iowa also purchased two premium ticket packages for Alan Jackson, which included all you can eat and drink. Between the four items, a total of $44,000 was raised for the charity, resulting in nearly three children that will have their wishes granted due to products received by the Iowa Events Center.
The Diversity and Inclusion Committee has been dedicated to educating and promoting a culture of diversity, equity and inclusion among the staff at the Iowa Events Center. They have generated relevant content for the Iowa Events Center monthly newsletters, created skywalk signage promoting events such as Black History Month and Pride Month, scheduled workshops with local leaders and identified volunteer opportunities to help support the community.
Virtual workshops were made available where staff listened and interacted with speakers such as Wayne Ford and Rudy Simms. Both speakers delivered powerful messages, helped raise awareness of particular social injustices and provided sound ideas on how to be more diversified and inclusive.
The committee along with other Iowa Events Center and Iowa Wild staff volunteered at Capital City Pride’s “Night at the Zoo.” The team had a great time helping and will continue to search for other ways to participate in community events.
As Spectra looks ahead towards the July 1, 2021–June 30, 2022 fiscal year, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to leave the live meetings and events industry in an unpredictable space. While it is encouraging that Feld Entertainment, PBR, and other live event producers have found ways to get their events back on the road, the concert industry is still working to develop tours in an ever-changing climate of municipalities loosening restrictions, pulling back and increasing restrictions, and in some cases opening fully.
The end of this fiscal year showed that the calendar for the next 12 months will improve over this fiscal year, and Spectra predicts that live events for Wells Fargo Arena will come back due to conversations we have had with Live Nation and other promoters. The in-person meeting and convention industry will take longer to come back to pre-pandemic levels, but local and regional businesses have increased their bookings headed into this next year.
With the advances in technology that the pandemic has helped usher in—including contactless concessions and digital tickets—consumer analytics will improve to allow Spectra to focus on improving and maximizing customer satisfaction at events.
