The massive 875,000-square-foot Amway Center in Orlando, Florida, is a state-of-the-art sports entertainment center. While it is the home of the Orlando Magic basketball team, it is a flexible venue designed to accommodate a vast array of entertainment. The facility is used for everything from a concert by the Eagles or Britney Spears, to ice hockey, to arena football, to conventions, as well as 41 regular season home games played by its major tenant, the National Basketball Association's Orlando Magic.

The building is a LEED-certified (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), sustainable, environmentally friendly design, with unmatched technology. Dispersed throughout the building are over 1,000 digital monitors, the latest in broadcasting technology, and the tallest high-definition video board in an NBA venue. To fully utilize this nearly $500 million complex, conversions from one event to the next must be done rapidly-often in a matter of hours. Letting the facility sit idle because of delays in conversion is not an option.

Well-executed conversions help maximize facility revenue and at the same time minimize expenses. Fast and efficient conversions are critical. Like any other process, a conversion can be analyzed and separated into its component activities, each requiring its own human and capital resources. The operations manager must determine when to do the conversion, how to train and schedule the crew, which tools and capital equipment are necessary, and the specific steps necessary to break down the current event and set up for the next. In addition to trying to maintain a stable crew and to maintain control during the frenzied pace of a conversion, managers divide the workforce into cross-trained crews, with each crew operating in its own uniquely colored shirt.

At the Amway Center, Charlie Leone makes it happen. Charlie is the operations manager, and as such, he knows that any conversion is loaded with complications and risks. Concerts add a special risk because each concert has its own idiosyncrasies-and the breakdown for the Eagles concert will be unique. Charlie and his crews must anticipate and eliminate any potential problems. Charlie's immediate issue is making a schedule for converting the Eagles' concert venue to an NBA basketball venue. The activities and the time for various tasks have been determined and are shown in Table 15.3.

                        

                        

Discussion Questions*
1. Make a Gantt chart to help Charlie organize his crew to perform the concert-to-basketball conversion.
2. What time will the floor be ready?
3. Does Charlie have any extra personnel or a shortage of personnel? If so how many?