Industry Spotlight, Alex Alston, City of Jacksonville, Sports & Entertainment

Alex Alston

What’s your current position?

Chief of Sports and Entertainment; Manage and produce the City of Jacksonville Special Events, including Florida-Georgia football game, Jacksonville Jazz Fest, and Sea and Sky airshow, among others; primary liaison between City sports teams and administration; oversee ASM Global contract as venue manager; leading executive in sports and entertainment space for the City.

What would you say most motivates you?

Pride of being a Jacksonville native and wanting our destination to thrive in the sports and entertainment space.

What are you most excited or passionate about?

Developing creative ways to do more with what we have and how we are structured. It’s exciting to do things people say aren’t possible or have never been done here.

What are the goals you most want to accomplish?

Tough one, but like my first answer above, creating an atmosphere and destination known to attract and produce worldclass events. Help Jacksonville brand itself like it hasn’t been before.

What attracted you to lead the sports tourism effort for the City of Jacksonville Sports & Entertainment Division?

Working in the industry for a long time, I always wanted to be in a leadership role, particularly in my hometown. Spending seven years at ASM Global was invaluable; we were contracted by the City and worked closely with my current department. After spending a little over two years in the private sector at FIS, helping lead their foray into sports and entertainment, the opportunity came with a new administration to lead the City’s Sports and Entertainment Division, and I jumped at the chance.

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in Atlantic Beach, a suburb of Jacksonville, a great place to grow up, and we rarely “crossed the ditch”, a term we give to the intercoastal waterway dividing the beaches from mainland Jacksonville. Graduated from Fletcher High School, then after one year at West Point, attended the University of Florida for undergraduate and graduate school.

Did you have any key mentors or people who deeply influenced who you are, what you believe in, and what you’re committed to in your work and life?

Personally, my grandfather was a huge influence. Longtime HS football coach and Duval County Athletic Director learned so much from him about how to treat people and work hard for what you want. Professionally, Bill McConnell was a big influence, working under him during my time

at ASM Global. He came with 25 years experience from the NFL, and I learned so much from him, particularly as it relates to taking a measured and strategic approach to deals and opportunities.

What projects are you working on now?

Over the past two weeks, our team successfully executed the Sea and Sky air show featuring the Blue Angels and the annual Florida-Georgia college football rivalry. Sea and Sky took place over Jacksonville Beach, so it took a multi-municipal partnership, as well as coordination with Naval Station Mayport, to execute.

We welcomed over 100,000 throughout the weekend, and the event took an incredible amount of logistics and operational execution from our team due to the footprint and significant build. FL/GA is the biggest and most high-profile event we host annually. We play a crucial role, but it is also all hands on deck from ASM Global, JSO, JFRD, university officials, etc., to pull it off each year.

Were there any surprises?

Sea and Sky had significant resistance this year in indemnification and insurance rates. Multiple insurance issues, both with the base and the City, led to all seven civilian pilots backing out of the event. The event was still a success with the Blue Angels, but the issue caused a lot of last-minute adjustments to timing, scheduling, shuttle service, footprint, etc.

Tell us about some of the memorable characters in this story.

Each year, we induct four former players/coaches into the FL/GA Hall of Fame. One of the inductees this yearwas Coach Mark Richt. All of the stories you hear about how great of a human being he is are true, and then some. I spent significant time with him and his wife, Catherine, and they are the most wonderful, humble, and gracious people I have ever met.

He told a great story about the 2007 game when the Georgia team ran on the field to celebrate an opening touchdown. His intention was for all the players on the field to celebrate, but the team misunderstood and thought he meant for the ENTIRE team to celebrate, so he was as shocked as any when they all rushed onto the field. He received a standing ovation after the acceptance speech, and is a moment I’ll never forget, even being a Gator!

What was most challenging?

Managing staff working on an event being fresh into the organization and needing to learn the scope and responsibilities of each role made for some challenging moments. Not knowing exactly when to step in, make a decision, etc., is something that I look forward to not having to experience now that I’ve gotten the first few events under my belt.

Did the work fail in some ways? How? What might you have done to prevent those areas of partial failure?

I wouldn’t say there were any failures, just things that, while out of our control, can be managed more effectively in the future with more planning and thought in those areas.

What was most rewarding?

Seeing the reactions of the thousands looking up at the Blue Angels and the thousands enjoying the FL/GA festivities is why we do what we do.

Alex, you are now back in sports tourism, and so many of your colleagues are excited to have your enthusiasm and experience back in the mix. You previously left your mark in Gainesville, FL, Tulsa, OK, and with ASM Global, before a very successful stint with FIS Bank soliciting professional sports accounts with more than $1 Billion in spending… How will you use this impressive resume to lead the effort in Jacksonville?

Having been on so many different sides of the sports and entertainment landscape, I can offer some perspective and big-picture thinking that may sometimes be lacking. With the division being under a municipality, there are some limits to what we can do.

Still, I can bring some ideas and partnership recommendations that may help us operate more efficiently and innovatively. Also, the built-in network and understanding of how different entities operate should be an asset to the role and what our division is tasked with managing and executing.

What gets you out of bed every day to continue your drive? What motivates your work ethic?

A couple of things: It is easy to get out of bed when you love what you do. My family motivates my work ethic. Making them proud and positioning our family for long-term stability and prosperity keeps me going and wanting to be as successful as possible. It’s never been about me; it’s all about how I represent them and hopefully, provide them with a good life and opportunities to experience the world in different ways.

What would you say are your best skills? What do you bring to the table that helps you rise above the rest? Where and how did you learn those skills?

I feel as though my interpersonal and relationship skills are number one. I enjoy interacting with all different types of people and feel it is so important to have genuine and impactful interactions. When you enjoy engaging with people, they can tell and immediately become disarmed and easier to work with.

I learned this skill from having a large extended family growing up and we spent a lot of social time together, celebrating, arguing, playing sports, etc. You learn the value of those relationships when you interact with a bunch of Catholics on Thanksgiving, and there are 20 empty wine bottles on the table!

What’s next for you in your work? What are you looking forward to down the road in your career?

In the immediate future, my goal is to raise the profile of our Sports and Entertainment Division through enhanced event experiences and more event recruitment to Jacksonville.

In doing that, if it secures our position over the next few years, either through another four years for the current administration or surviving a transition with a new administration, that will be the goal. After that, if I have done everything I mentioned above, who knows…If there is one thing I’ve learned throughout this journey, it’s never say never!