YOUNGSTOWN CONVOCATION CENTER Director becomes jack of all trades

Jeff Kossow was instrumental in getting 3 Doors Down and Tony Bennett to perform this coming weekend.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
CITY HALL REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Jeff Kossow works at a frantic pace.
As the city arena's executive director, Kossow is primarily responsible for booking acts and events at the facility, and making sure the facility generates revenue.
He also monitors the construction and operation of the facility, gives tours, constantly answers questions from arena staffers and those wanting jobs at the arena, deals with vendors and contractors, and has a hard time turning down press interview requests -- even if they are for 5 a.m. local news shows.
That typically means 10-to-12-hour days for Kossow for the past few months and for the foreseeable future.
"The job doesn't get any easier when it opens," he said. "It gets harder. The events are ongoing and need attention. There's 15 balls in the air all the time, and you can't let any of them drop."
Has next year in mind
Kossow is booking as many profitable events as possible for the first quarter of 2006 while making sure the shows scheduled through the end of this year go smoothly.
He points with pride to what is booked for 2005 starting with the arena's first paid event: a Saturday concert by 3 Doors Down. The next day, legendary singer Tony Bennett performs.
In 2005, there will be seven to nine concerts, Disney on Ice, a high school basketball tournament, a boxing event and 14 home games for the Youngstown SteelHounds, the Central Hockey League team that will call the arena home.
"Everyone in our business is surprised with the number of opening events we've booked," Kossow said. "It's a nice array of events. This is one the strongest openings I've done. It's good. It's real good."
This is the sixth time Kossow has prepared an arena for opening.
Sitting at his desk drinking coffee, Kossow responds to e-mails and checks his calendar while talking on his cellular telephone that seems to vibrate every few minutes with different people calling throughout the day.
During cell phone-free time, Kossow talks on his office phone, usually using its speaker function so he can take notes of the conversations.
"It's important to communicate with people," he said.
A day in the life of ...
On one day, he speaks to a concert booking agent who breaks the news that a scheduling conflict means the cancellation of a concert at the facility because the band is double-booked. Kossow is far from pleased about the cancellation but is somewhat relieved that he didn't call a press conference to announce the show.
Before that call, he assures a promoter that the Youngstown facility has enough space to accommodate a three-ring circus.
After that, he makes a final decision to not bring a rock act to the facility because there isn't enough time to properly promote the show and sell enough tickets. But he won't rule out booking the group for the arena at a later date.
He's also considering a proposal to have a famous music diva perform at the facility. She's a bit pricey, but Kossow has to decide if the profit for the show is greater than the expense.
Kossow said his personal tastes play no factor in his decisions to book shows for the arena. The bottom line is will the event make money, he said.
He routinely checks his voice mail and writes who called and why in a thick log book so he or his administrative assistant, Pam McMahan, can return the messages. Kossow, hired as executive director in December, is on his fourth phone message log book.
Multitasking
In between calls and e-mails, Kossow rattles off to McMahan a list of items that need immediate attention. Kossow gives McMahan supporting documents for many of the items. In a few minutes, Kossow's items fill four pages of McMahan's notebook.
"We do this every day," said McMahan, who's worked for Kossow since March.
When he's not at his desk, Kossow is walking through the arena to make sure everything is operating efficiently and there are no problems.
On this particular day, the telephone system for the arena is being installed, and Kossow checks the work that includes hundreds of thin colored wires.
Kossow meets at least once a day with officials from the construction companies building the facility to make sure everything is moving according to schedule.
"I'm here every day to deal with any issues that arise," Kossow said at the arena. "I have to rely on a lot of service providers, and I'm depending on them to get the job done. But if there are questions or issues, I need to make sure they are resolved."
There may be a handful of minor unfinished work at the arena when the 3 Doors Down concert is held, but none will pose a problem, he said.
"Unfortunately, it always comes down to the last few minutes, but things do come together," Kossow said.
He'll be able to let out a sigh of relief after Saturday's show if it's a success and ticket sales -- something he monitors daily -- are strong for the concert.
But Kossow has to get back to business the next day for the Bennett concert and continue to fill as many dates as possible with profit-making events.
"It never ends, but I enjoy the work," he said.
skolnick@vindy.com