The San Diego Convention Center Corp. Board of Directors voted unanimously Friday to hire meeting industry veteran Clifford Rippetoe as president and CEO.
Rippetoe was most recently president and CEO of the Kentucky State Fair Board, which operates the Kentucky Exposition Center, Freedom Hall, Broadbent Arena and the Kentucky International Convention Center.
Known as “Rip,” he replaces Carol Wallace, who stepped down after 25 years at the downtown waterfront facility to become an industry consultant.
“The San Diego Convention Center is a world-class facility and we are thrilled to welcome Rip Rippetoe as our new leader,” said Rabbi Laurie Coskey, the center’s board chairwoman. “Rip brings a breadth of industry expertise and skills that will help insure our continued success for years to come.”
Rippetoe will be immediately faced with a pair of major challenges when he comes aboard on April 18.
First, a stalled expansion project has become a political football with the Chargers turning their hopes for a new stadium in San Diego toward a joint- use facility downtown. Tourism and hotel leaders want an expansion that would keep all the floor space together, but the stadium plan could result, instead, in a convention annex down the street.
Second, center officials fell behind on major maintenance and capital projects, including replacing the building’s iconic sails.
On the other hand, the center is coming off a successful 2015 and this year is projected to be record-breaking, with 66 major conventions attracting nearly 674,000 attendees.
“I’m excited to be joining the San Diego Convention Center team,” Rippetoe said. “San Diego is a great destination. I look forward to working with our community and industry partners to create economic impact by hosting world-class conventions, tradeshows and events.”
–City News Service
