Wes Westley
President and Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Westley has been SMG's President and CEO since October 1994. In the years that Wes has been President, the number of facilities managed by the company has increased sevenfold. Under his direction, the company was reorganized to focus on convention centers and stadiums/arenas as distinct entities. The European Division was established to recognize the special needs and features of that market.
Wes joined SMG in December 1991 as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, with responsibility for the company's financial reporting and systems, including corporate finance, facility accounting and internal audit. Prior to being named President, Wes was Executive Vice President of Finance and Development. In that capacity, he was responsible for: strategic planning; corporate development; analysis and negotiation of new business ventures; acquisitions and capital expenditures; risk management; management information systems; and sales and business development. 

A native Philadelphian, Wes' background includes an MBA in Finance from Drexel University and a BS in Business Administration/Accounting from Temple University. He is a Certified Public Accountant. Wes served with the United States Marine Corps in Vietnam.

Maureen Ginty
Senior Vice President Marketing Services and Human Resources

Maureen joined SMG in 1991 as Vice President of Human Resources. She was named Senior Vice President of Human Resources in 1993. In 1995, Maureen assumed responsibility for a newly created Corporate Communications Department in addition to her responsibility to oversee the Human Resources Department. In 1996, her responsibilities were further increased to include the Public Relations, Advertising, Presentation Development Services, and Meeting and Event Production Departments.

Maureen is a member of various industry organizations including IAAM. She is a member of professional organizations, such as the Society for Human Resources Management, The World at Work Benefits and Compensation Association, the Philadelphia Public Relations Association and The Forum for Executive Women. Maureen holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Delaware. She possesses her SPHR and CCP designations. A native Philadelphian, she has served on various community boards including the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society and the Philadelphia YMCA.
Before joining SMG, Maureen was Assistant Vice President with Colonial Penn Group in Philadelphia.

John Burns
Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

John is responsible for all corporate accounting as well as the Risk Management and Management Information Systems Departments of the company. Prior to being named Senior Vice President, John served as SMG's Controller and was responsible for corporate financial reporting, including the preparation of monthly financial statements, the annual corporate budget, the annual financial statement certified by independent accountants, monthly cash forecasting reports and various tax returns, including Partnership Tax Forms. John also serves as the company's Contract Administrator for all management and subcontractor contracts.

A native Philadelphian, He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Villanova University and is a Certified Public Accountant.

John was a three-time All-American in track and Captain of Villanova's track team during their 1979 NCAA Championship year. John was also a member of the U.S. National Track Team which competed in Europe and Russia in 1977.

Michael R. Evans
Senior Vice President Sports and Entertainment

Mike came to SMG in 1998 and was given the responsibility for all of the bookings in the various SMG Stadiums, Arenas and Theaters. With a background as a Concert Promoter and Tour Manager, Mike interacts with various Sports League commissioners, Concert Producers, Tour Promoters and Talent Agents that keep SMG facilities busy. He also oversees Six Regional Booking Managers and was instrumental in developing SMGBooking.com, our proprietary Event Booking System. Mike is a native of California, attended UCLA and holds a degree in government from Harvard University.

Gregg Caren
Senior Vice President Strategic Business Development

A graduate of The Pennsylvania State University’s Hotel & Restaurant Management program, Gregg started his hospitality career almost 25 years ago with Marriott Hotels & Resorts, subsequently working with Hilton and Sheraton properties. He then developed a number of privately owned exhibition facilities in the New York metropolitan area prior to joining SMG at the Atlantic City Convention Center in 1998.

Gregg moved to SMG’s corporate headquarters in Philadelphia in 2000, as the company experienced tremendous growth through new accounts and acquisitions. Today, he is responsible for business development, expanding the company’s horizons into Latin America and Asia. He also leads the International sales and booking support for over 64 convention centers in the SMG network, including facilities in Miami Beach, Honolulu Toronto, Canada as well as San Francisco’s world renowned Moscone Convention Center.

Gregg serves as SMG’s liaison with international industry groups including the International Association for Expositions & Events (IAEE), Meeting Professionals International (MPI) and the Society of Independent Show Organizers (SISO) and UFI, The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry. Additionally, he maintains senior level relationships with international event planning firms, including the negotiation of preferred contracts with Microsoft Corporation, Experient (formerly Conferon) and Nielson Business Media (formerly VNU Expositions).

Specifically, Gregg represents SMG’s portfolio of over eleven million square feet (110,000 square meters) of exhibition space, serving as home for nearly ten thousand events and twenty million visitors each year. Given the multitude of venues and destinations he serves, Gregg has a unique perspective of the convention and tradeshow industry, instilling the best practices in the industry and managing a “brand” of convention centers much in the same way as international hotel chains.

In recent years, Gregg has focused much of his energy expanding SMG’s portfolio in new, international markets. He successfully established the firm’s first two management agreements in Mexico and is now responsible for helping to launch its first venue in China, within Beijing’s prestigious Olympic Green.

Bob Cavalieri
Senior Vice President of Sales and Development

Bob Cavalieri is an SMG and industry veteran.  Most recently he has performed as a Senior Regional Vice President for SMG as well as the General Manager of the Sovereign Center in Reading, PA.  Prior to joining SMG, he was the President and COO of Centennial Management Group, Inc. and has held several other industry positions including Vice President-Operations for Ogden Entertainment Services, Executive Vice President of the Entertainment Group at Madison Square Garden, General Manager of Philadelphia's First Union Spectrum, Vice President of Detroit's Joe Louis and Cobo Arenas and General Counsel to the NHL's Detroit Red Wings.  Additionally, Cavalieri was in the private practice of law in Detroit, Michigan.  He has a Juris Doctor (Cum Laude) and a Bachelor of Science (Industrial Engineering), both from the University of Michigan.

Bob McClintock
Senior Vice President SMG Convention Centers

Bob McClintock was named Vice President for SMG Convention Centers in 2006. His oversight has been credited with growing the number of short term bookings, increasing revenue, reducing the operating deficit, and establishing a benchmark for customer service. Recently, he helped coordinate $90 million renovation and reopening of the historic Boardwalk Hall, former home of the Miss America pageant and host to world class concerts, boxing, and special events.

Bob is a 14 year SMG veteran, including service as General Manager of the Philadelphia Civic Center. He has helped open the Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center as Director of Operations.

Hank Abate
Senior Vice President SMG Arenas

Hank has oversight of SMG's more than 70 arenas nationwide, hosting the world's biggest sporting events and top entertainers. Hank started with SMG in 1992 as the General Manager of the Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh, PA.  In 2000, he was promoted to Regional Vice President Role for all SMG Northeast region facilities.  Since 2002 he assumed additional responsibilities, overseeing the opening of The Ford Center in Oklahoma City and the operations of the Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield, CA and the Forum in Los Angeles, CA. 

Shea Guinn
Senior Vice President of SMG Stadiums

Shea oversees all SMG stadium complexes including Alltel Stadium, Chase Field, Louisiana Superdome, McAfee Coliseum, Reliant Complex and Soldier Field. Shea has been with SMG-Reliant Park since 2000, where he also serves as General Manager.  Prior to joining SMG, Guinn served as the Executive Director of the Harris County Sports & Convention Corporation, where he was responsible for overseeing the initial development of Reliant Stadium, and Reliant Center.  In addition, Guinn was Harris County's representative in efforts to bring National Football League back to Houston as well as the negotiations and development of Minute Maid Park, home to the Houston Astros.  He has been active in hosting and attracting some of the country's premier events to Houston, including Super Bowl XXXVIII and 2011 Final Four.

Martin Thorson
Senior Vice President of Food and Beverage Services

Martin is responsible for the operations of the  SMG Food and Beverage Division, SAVOR...Catering by SMG as well as, food service facility design and concepts.

In 18 years of industry experience, Martin has managed venue food service throughout the U.S. Martin has extensive experience with Stadium, Arena and Convention centers His experience encompasses all areas of food service, restaurants, catering and concession operations, with a focus on food and beverage quality, service and the patron/fan experience

Martin has a Bachelor of Science degree in Hotel and Restaurant Management and is involved in food bank and community programs throughout the Savor...Catering by SMG network of facilities.

John Sutherland
Managing Director (SMG Europe)

John Sutherland has worked in major venue management for over twenty years. He joined Ogden Entertainment Services (UK) Limited / SMG Europe (2000) in October 1994 from his role as Vice President of Operations for a large public corporation, located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and responsible for five major facilities in the region.

Born and raised in the United Kingdom, he left for Canada in 1977. For the next eighteen years, John worked extensively in the hospitality and entertainment industry, dedicating himself to the provision of high levels of customer service and effective, efficient operation of facilities and events.

During this time, John oversaw several significant projects including the 1986 Expo Vancouver World's Fair and the 50,000-seat BC Place Stadium in Vancouver. John returned to England in 1994 to oversee the opening of the 20,000 seat Manchester Evening News Arena and, more recently, the Sportcity site in Manchester, the main venue for the 2002 XVII Commonwealth Games.

In John's current role as Managing Director of SMG Europe, he has responsibility for all the European activities of SMG Europe including the development of new business and overseeing the existing venues.

Thomas L. Connors
Senior Regional Vice President - SMG Latin America

Thom is responsible for operations oversight of SMG's facilities in Mexico, Puerto Rico, South Florida, Savannah and Memphis as well as Business Development throughout Latin America. In addition he is the General Manager of the Puerto Rico Convention Center. Before his relocation to San Juan, he served on the Corporate staff as national coordinator of the Convention Center Division. Previously he was Southeast Regional Vice President while also serving as General Manager of the Miami Beach Convention Center and the Jackie Gleason Theater. Prior to Miami Beach, he was based in London for four years where he was Director of Development for SMG International. He has managed public assembly facilities since 1978, when he was appointed Manager of the Centroplex in Orlando, FL.

Thom has been involved in the planning of over two dozen new projects coordinating research, design input, pre-opening services and operating transitions. He attended Michigan State University where he majored in Communications. Thom is active in many industry organizations and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Exhibition Industry Foundation and the Marketing Advisory Committee of the Puerto Rico Convention Bureau.  In 2005 and again in 2006 he was named  One of the 100 Most Influential People in the Industry by Trade Show Week magazine.
 

John Adams
Senior Regional Vice President - Convention Centers 

John currently is the General Manager of the Colorado Convention Center and Western Region Vice President for SMG responsible for the supervision of the El Paso Convention Center, Albuquerque Convention Center, Salt Palace Convention Center, South Towne Convention Center, Eccles Conference Center and Egyptian Theater in Ogden Utah, Palm Springs Convention Center and the Palm Springs Bureau of Tourism, Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center, Fresno Convention and Entertainment Center, in addition he also works closely with the Moscone Center operations in San Francisco.

John was named General Manager of the Denver Convention Complex in 1994 when SMG was awarded the management contract for the facilities by the City of Denver. John’s career spans over 27 years in the facility management industry, including the last 22 with SMG. Prior to Denver, he was the Assistant General Manager of the San Francisco Convention Facilities which include the Moscone Center and the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. In 1999, John was promoted to supervise several southwestern accounts for the Convention Center Division and recently promoted to Regional Vice President in 2006.

In the Hospitality industry he is active with IAAM, IAEM, and ASAE. Locally he is active as member of the Denver Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau Board of Directors, the Denver Chamber of Commerce and is active and serves on a number of committees with the Downtown Denver Partnership. He was fundamental in the programming and project development of the recently completed $300 million renovation / expansion of the Colorado Convention Center and has personally participated and completed five facility expansions in his career.