CITY OF SAN ANTONIO

INTERDEPARTMENTAL CORRESPONDENCE
TO:

Sheryl Sculley, City Manager

FROM:

Michael Sawaya, CSF Director

THROUGH:

Carlos Contreras, Assistant City Manager

COPIES TO:

Mayor and City Council; Andy Segovia, City Attorney; Jef

Coyle, Director, Government and Public Afairs

SUBJECT:

LaborFest 2016

DATE:

September 7, 2016

The purpose of this memo is to provide the facts related to the LaborFest Festival
that occurred this past weekend. LaborFest is a 3 day Music and Art Festival held
over the Labor Day weekend, and put on by a for-profit company led by Larry
Williams as CEO. LaborFest was held at the Sunken Gardens Theatre from 20122015. In early 2016, after the Sunken Gardens site became unavailable due to a
previous booking, Mr. Williams sought to schedule LaborFest 2016 at the Henry B.
Gonzalez Convention Center and to expand the event to include outdoor concerts,
indoor concerts, a health and career expo, and an outdoor carnival. After several
communications with City staff and a site visit, Mr. Williams entered into a
contract for the LaborFest event on March 4, 2016.
Although the contract for use of the Convention Center had been executed, Mr.
Williams continued to seek the use of his previous ticket merchant rather than the
Citys exclusive ticket vendor. Additionally, Mr. Williams did not provide the
necessary ticketing information to Ticketmaster which led to delays in having
tickets for the event available at Ticketmaster outlets, although they were
available on Ticketmasters website as of March 4, 2016.
Subsequently, Mr. Williams contacted me on July 22nd to express his concerns
about ticketing for the event. During a meeting on July 28, he complained about
the way LaborFest tickets were being sold. Specifically, he wanted the ability to
sell his own tickets without using Ticketmaster, the Citys exclusive ticket
provider, as required under the LaborFest contract. However, in order to address
his concerns the City, on the same day of the meeting, allowed Mr. Williams to
use an alternate ticket provider.
We soon learned that ticket distribution was not the only issue Mr. Williams would
seek assistance from the City to address. Mr. Williams continued to bring up
other challenges he was facing. To help Mr. Williams in executing his LaborFest
plans, the City lowered convention center rental by $20K and released $25K from
current ticket sales to cover expenses for paying the artists scheduled to perform.
(Normally proceeds from ticket sales are held by Ticketmaster until the event

actually occurs as a safeguard for possible cancellation and attendant ticket

reimbursement costs).
Also during the July 28th meeting, Mr. Williams informed the City team that the
planned location for the outdoor carnival would not be available and that he was
working with the Institute of Texas Culture (ITC) to move the outdoor carnival
there. The discussions with ITC proved unsuccessful. Consequently, in early
August, the City granted a lease (at no charge) for the outdoor carnival to be held
in the southeast area of the convention center complex.
As the Labor Day weekend approached, Mr. Williams continued to seek the Citys
help to address event planning issues including help on security costs, hotel
accommodations for performing artists, media and advertising, and organization
of a health expo for the first day. In fact, days before the event, Mr. Williams
asked the City to provide $150,000 so that he could put the event on, which staff
was not authorized to do.
LaborFest did open this past Labor Day weekend. On Saturday, the LaborFest
indoor concert at the Convention Center was to feature the OJays, a popular R&B
group from the mid-60s and early 1970s. However, after the performances of the
opening acts, Mr. Williams informed the crowd that the OJays would not be
performing due to unforeseen circumstances. The following day Mr. Williams
informed us that the Sunday LaborFest concert featuring Chaka Khan was being
postponed. In short, all headliner music acts were cancelled by Mr. Williams,
much to the chagrin of attendees who had purchased tickets.
The LaborFest event was poorly attended in fact the carnival rides were shut
down early due to the lack of riders. Mr. Williams has suggested that the City
shares the blame for the issues that plagued LaborFest 2016. However, the City
provided the following to help Mr. Williams along the way:

Rent reduction of $20,000 for Exhibit Hall 2 of the Convention Center to

accommodate the LaborFest Health and Wellness Expo;
Release of $25,000 in ticket sales revenue to provide LaborFest with
operating funds;
Space for the outdoor carnival at no cost to LaborFest
Bus parking for performing artists at no cost;
Marketing support via the convention centers Facebook page, convention
center marquee, and Alamodome database e-mail blasts to support
LaborFest ticket sales;
The City decreased the amount of required liability insurance coverage from
the standard $2M to $1M; and
Reduction of the Performance Bond for cleanup from $50,000 to $25,000.

Also, Mr. Williams has not paid the City for 2016 LaborFest fees of approximately
$90,800 including rental, security, and set-up costs, and still owes the City $4,733
for fees incurred at last years LaborFest event held at Sunken Gardens. Despite
Mr. Williamss assertions, the sequence of events suggests that the City did not
cause any undue delay (See attached timeline). Our assistance and attention

was significant and the events lack of success cannot be reasonably attributed to
any actions or inactions of the City.
Consequently, we strongly recommend that no additional concessions or
payments be made to Mr. Williams or the LaborFest event.

Timeline of Events
March 4
Contract for HBGCC executed; tickets available online
March 4 April 19
outlet sales
April 20

Negotiations regarding Ticketmaster addendum delay

Tickets on sale at Ticketmaster outlets

June 8
available for festival

City made aware that original outdoor venue is not

July 28

Ticketmaster is updated with LaborFest info; City reduces rent

for HBGCC space; City allows advance to LaborFest of $25K in
ticket sales for artists; City allows LaborFest to use own ticket
vendor

August 22

City identifies site for LaborFest outdoor festival

September 1

City Council approves license of city-owned property to

LaborFest at no cost