Summit Speakers
Rich Beaudrie
Rich Beaudrie
Rich has spent his entire 20-year career as a lifelong learner and professional educator. His passion for helping others grow and transforming the way we design learning experiences began as a fifth-grade teacher in Milan, MI. These passions led to a career in corporate learning, innovation, and strategy, working for major corporations to small start-ups. For the last ten years, he has been a student of how the workplace and our learners are changing due to the rapid acceleration of change driven by advances in technology, and most recently, Covid 19. Rich currently serves as the Principal Program Lead, Digital Learning in Learning & Development at Chick-fil-A, supporting Staff-facing learning and Digital Innovation. He and his wife Bethany live in Canton, GA with their two teenage children and dog Charlie.
David Broughton
David Broughton
Research Director @Sports Business Journal
Gary L. Gardner
Gary L. Gardner
President & CEO of TOTALeACCESS
Gary brings forty years of investigative, security, intelligence, analysis,
forensic, technology, management and teaching experience to the national
and international business and law enforcement communities. Gary is a
decorated U.S. Army Ranger veteran with service in Vietnam. His career
includes 30 years of service with the FBI in executive management, as
Supervisor/Co-Commander of both the renowned Bank Robbery and
Terrorism Task Forces in the New York City office. At FBI Headquarters, he
oversaw cutting-edge investigative information technology and crisis
management. Gary later served as NASCAR’s Director of Security, overseeing
all aspects of NASCAR’s corporate and event security, investigations,
physical and cyber security, international security, employment screening
and executive protection. He collaborated with the US Department
of Homeland Security to establish the first evacuation guide for large
sporting events. Gary established TOTALeACCESS specializing in state-ofthe–
art security, risk/crisis management, intelligence collection/analysis,
investigations, information security/cybercrime, training. Gary serves as
Chairman of the InfraGard National Board of Directors where he has led
strategic growth of programs and membership to over 70,000.
Sean Hurwitz
Sean Hurwitz
CEO, Founder, PIXO VR, Corp
Sean is a serial entrepreneur with decades of experience building businesses through the smart use of technology and assembly of elite teams. Sean founded PIXO VR in 2009 based on his belief in the power of technology to unlock peoples’ potential. With PIXO VR, he has been helping companies transform their training programs through VR technology. Sean applies his belief to not only help customers grow, but his company and himself as well.
Harry Hynekamp
Harry Hynekamp
Vice president, Guest Services, AMB Sports & Entertainment
Joining AMBSE in 2018, his team is responsible for delivering the best guest experiences for all customers, guests and fans of the Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta United FC, and all other world class sports and entertainment events at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The NFL’s 2022-23 Voice Of The Fan Survey results reflect that the Atlanta Falcons are the franchise with the best Gameday Staff and Overall Gameday Satisfaction in the NFL.
Prior to joining AMBSE, Harry enjoyed an 18-year career with Mercedes-Benz USA. Throughout his career, he held a variety of roles in finance, project management, training, CASE (Connected, Autonomous, Sharing & Services, Electric) and customer experience. As the first ever GM of Customer Experience, he successfully led and sharpened the
Organization’s focus on delivering the best customer experience. In 2017 Mercedes-Benz was again ranked as the #1 luxury brand in JD Powers Sales Satisfaction Index study. Hynekamp’s contributions are chronicled in author Joseph Michelli’s best-selling book “Driven to Delight”.
Harry is an IIFX Distinguished Fellow.
Ryan McConnell
Ryan McConnell
EVP, Head of Kantar Sports MONITOR
Ryan leads product and content development for Kantar Sports MONITOR, a syndicated service he launched in March 2020. In his spare time, he helps lead North American syndicated strategy for MONITOR products, which help brand marketers develop a deeper understanding of cultural and consumer trends. Ryan has spent most of his career helping businesses seize opportunities through penetrating insights on American consumers and sports fans. An expert on the intersection of culture, fandom, and consumption, Ryan’s insights have been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Sports Business Journal, Front Office Sports, Bloomberg Businessweek, Quartz, and more. Ryan’s work interests include the rapidly changing media landscape, generational research, consumer psychology, and cultural trends. When off the clock, Ryan enjoys traveling, rooting for the Knicks, Mets, and Jets (not recommended!), and spending time with his two kids, Cassidy (14) and Benjamin (12). He lives in Durham, North Carolina.
Russ Simons
Russ Simons
Chief Listening Officer, Managing Partner
Venue Solutions Group
Over the past three and a half decades, Russ Simons has been involved
in nearly every facet of the sports and entertainment facility industry,
from design and construction to operations, marketing and PR, safety
and security. At Venue Solutions Group (VSG), Russ directs the firm’s
organizational analysis, operational consulting, guest experience
benchmarking, and safety, security, and risk management efforts. VSG
is a team of former senior facility managers who evaluate building
systems, operations, management, facility condition, guest experience,
safety and security, and sustainable operations. Russ has worked with
team and facility operators at every level from collegiate to all U.S.
based major professional leagues. Russ’s work goes hand-in-hand with
architects and engineers to design facilities that are safe, operationally
efficient, revenue positive and sustainable. He hasworked with a wide
variety of clients, including the Orlando Magic, San Diego Padres,
Indiana State Fair, Pittsburgh Steelers, Reliant Park, Texas A&M University,
The Fabulous Fox Theater in Atlanta, and the historic Keeneland
Equestrian Facility. Prior to creating VSG, Russ was a senior principal
with global design firm Populous. There, he managed the firms’ facility
operations, evaluation, and analysis group which assisted public
assembly venues in all operational aspects.