Franklin Roach

Senior Lecturer
Department of Sport and Entertainment Management
College of Hospitality, Sport and Retail Management

Education
M.P.A., Golden Gate University
B.A., College of William and Mary

Biography
Frank Roach is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Sport & Entertainment Management at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, South Carolina. He teaches undergraduate courses in public assembly facility administration, event management, and other topics in live entertainment. Roach accepted the academic appointment following a nearly 30 year career in live events and facility management with his last posting in the business world as Vice President of Venue Relations for industry giant Clear Channel Entertainment. Roach was President of TourVen, Inc., an entertainment management and marketing consulting firm, which provided tour scheduling, marketing , and consulting services for the highly successful “Barney’s Big Surprise” tour and to various other sports, entertainment, and venue operations. He was also a partner in Motorsports Entertainment Group. Roach founded TourVen, Inc. following a two-year stay with MCA Concerts, Inc. as Vice President of Family Entertainment where he established and directed the family touring unit, which produced and operated “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Live.”

Prior to his posting at MCA Concerts, Frank Roach was Vice President of Routing and Tours for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Combined Shows, Inc. There, Roach booked and negotiated arena contracts for two units of the circus and four units of Walt Disney's World on Ice. All told, Roach has booked more than 25,000 performances in more than twenty countries around the world.

Before joining the Ringling organization, Roach was Assistant Director of Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, Virginia. During his tenure, Roach doubled the number of the Coliseum’s bookings. Roach came to the Hampton Coliseum from the city's Department of Commerce, where he was involved in convention and tourism promotion, as well as promotion of sports, concerts, and other events at the Coliseum.

Roach holds a Masters of Public Administration degree from Golden Gate University in San Francisco and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. He has been a member of the International Association of Assembly Managers (IAAM) since 1976 and has served as Chair of the organization’s External Affairs Committee; Chair of the Board of Regents of the Public Assembly Facility Management School; and Chair of the Board of Trustees of the IAAM Foundation. Career awards include the Virginia Travel Council’s Meritorious Service Award (1975), City of Hampton Employee of the Year (1978), Public Assembly Facility Management School’s Ray Ward Award (1998), and IAAM’s Distinguished Allied Member Award (2002).

He is a sought after speaker at industry conferences and has presented at the International Conference on Sport and Entertainment Business, Arena Management Conference, Arena Sales & Marketing Conference, SMG Corporate Management Meeting, IAAM’s Annual Conference, IAEM’s Mid-Year Meeting, and IAAM District Conferences. He has twice served as Keynote speaker at the Venue Management Association (Asia & Pacific) Annual Congress. He has authored articles for Stadia, Australasia Leisure Management and Facility Manager magazines.

Roach is married to the former Sally Gendernalik, a 20 year industry veteran who is currently the Executive Director of the historic Township Auditorium in Columbia, S.C. He has two daughters and a granddaughter.

E-mail: roachf@mailbox.sc.edu
Office: Rm 2012, Carolina Coliseum
Phone: (803)-777-5214
Fax: (803)-777-8788