Oak View Group Adds VP Of Sales And Sponsorships

(photo by Michelle Kaneko) – Aki Kaneko

Aki Kaneko, a former sales and sponsorships executive from Billboard, has been announced as Oak View Group’s new VP of sales & sponsorships for its media & conferences division, effective June 25.

Oak View Group (Pollstar’s parent company) also recently hired a new VP of operations in Jon Guynn. Both Guynn and Kaneko will report directly to Ray Waddell, the company’s president of media & conferences.

“I have known and worked with Aki for many years and know him to be an executive of tremendous vision, integrity, and work ethic, with a deep, strategic understanding of the needs and opportunities within the live entertainment industry,” Waddell said in a statement. “With the leadership of Aki, Jon Guynn and Executive Editor Andy Gensler, we have built a formidable foundation for OVG’s Media & Conferences Division, providing a source of industry leading data, credible content, and vital communication across all platforms, worldwide.”

Kaneko will work out of Los Angeles, where OVG is based, and where it was recently announced Pollstar’s headquarters will be moved. He will lead the company’s efforts in international advertising and sponsorships for the various media platforms of Pollstar, VenuesNow and SportTechie, as well as the Pollstar Live! Conference & Awards and the VenuesNow Conference.

OVG’s media & conferences division also recently programmed the recent Midem Live Summit in Cannes, France.

“I’m thrilled to join the Oak View Group and its team of visionaries,” Kaneko said in a statement. “Tim Leiweke, Irving Azoff, (OVG President of Business Development) Francesca Bodie and Ray Waddell are disrupting the sports and live entertainment world in innovative and creative ways. I’m going to bring that same forward-looking spirit to the media and conferences space.”