2025 Women Of Live: Trish McNamara

Trish McNamara
General Manager – Brisbane Entertainment Centre | ASM GLOBAL APAC

A CAREER HIGHLIGHT | The creation of the Pink Ladies Room at Door 6 in honour
of P!NK’s 11 record breaking shows in 2009, enjoyed by over 125,000 fans.

As the city of Brisbane builds up to host the 2032 Olympics and Paralympics, Brisbane Entertainment Centre (BEC) general manager Trish McNamara can’t help but be swept along in the enthusiasm.

The BEC is awaiting, along with other venues, for the Queensland government to decide what role it will play in sports events or entertainment.

For McNamara, “Brisbane is on an exciting precipice of change and growth. I’m excited for the kids that come to train at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre that may end up at an Olympics event here. We continue to improve our customer focus and make the site a better place to enjoy with our RACQ (Royal Automobile Club of Queensland) partnership.”

Over 37 years, McNamara drove the BEC’s success and community connections, first in finance 1988, and then marketing and events.

General manager since 2007, her leadership style is described as attention to detail, a down to earth approachability, a focus on experience and an impressive relationship with Stadiums Queensland, the government-run entity which owns the venue.
In the past 12 months, the BEC’s focus has been on customer experience, including more retail outlets and targeted products resulting in faster service, and premium service, which she describes as “refurbished spaces, thinking outside the box to offer something different.”

The BEC now has 42 full timers and 497 part timers. Her emphasis on gender equity sees the breakdown as 65% female and 35% male.

BEC’s work with the local community includes repurposing leftover food into meals and working to end period poverty with Share The Dignity.

A certified venues executive in Australia and the US, she further qualified in Crowd Safety Management and Responsible Management of Licensed Venue certification.

She served as a board member of the Venue Management Association for eight years, a VMA Congress committee member and a VMA Congress chair three times.