Last Wednesday (five days out), Arvada Center CEO Philip Sneed got a call from Denver Mayor Hancock’s office looking for a venue. They were asked to send all the venue specs and floor plans. By the next afternoon, a team from the U.S. Secret Service was on site doing a walkthrough that took several hours. By Friday morning, the event was on.
“It was just a wonderful, happy circumstance that they needed a space, and ours was available,” said Sneed, whose team wrapped up a long run of the children’s play “Charlotte’s Web” on Friday. Otherwise, there would have been a conflict.
The event was invite-only, and the White House more than filled the main auditorium of 525 – another 150 or so watched on a monitor from a nearby ballroom.
For its part, the Arvada Center was allotted all of 12 seats, and Sneed had the impossible task of doling those out. Those there rubbed elbows with a who’s-who of the Colorado Democratic machine, including Gov. Jared Polis and Attorney General Phil Weiser, as well as a variety of officials from leading nonprofit causes. By Tuesday morning, pool photos showing Harris on the Arvada Center stage were in newspapers across the country.
“It was really great exposure for us, and everyone involved had high praise for our staff,” Sneed said.
