Mead Replaces Huckstep At NAA

NEC Group director Phil Mead greeted his appointment as chairman of the National Arenas Association by vowing to support the outstanding relationships his organisation has with other industry bodies such as the Concert Promoters Association.

He didn’t particularly refer to maintaining a united front against secondary ticket-sellers, but that’s been a feature of the NAA’s approach under Geoff Huckstep, who recently stood down after serving a three-year term as chairman.

Mead, who has also worked with U.S. venue operator Global Spectrum to set up Global Spectrum Europe, said the NAA has made great strides in many areas in recent years and he’s looking forward to the opportunity to build on its initiatives in training, event research, health and safety and best practice in event management.

Geoff Huckstep, chief exec at Nottingham TrentFM Arena, said, “I have been honoured to chair the NAA for the past three years at a time of unprecedented growth in the live music industry. I am extremely proud of the work the NAA has undertaken during the past three years on ticket touting, the implementation of ‘best practice’ to improve our service to customers, and the introduction of a number of health and safety related procedures.”

In addition to the appointment of the chairman, the NAA elected TrentFM deputy chief exec Martin Ingham, SECC ops director Malcolm Close and O2 Dublin general manager Cormac Rennick to join the organisation’s steering group.

The NAA represents 16 venues across the U.K. and Ireland, totaling more than 170,000 seats. To qualify for membership, venues must have an indoor capacity of at least 5,000 and stage a minimum of 12 public events per year.

In 2006, more than 8.3 million tickets were sold across the venues.

The NAA was due to publish its 2008 statistics at the International Live Music Conference (ILMC) March 12-15.