LEGENDS / ASM GLOBAL LAUNCHES STRATEGIC INITIATIVES FOR HUNTINGTON PLACE
DETROIT, MI – 6/10/2025 – Legends / ASM Global is launching a series of bold new strategies alongside a new leadership team at Huntington Place aimed at enhancing the guest experience, driving revenue growth, and improving the venue's operational structure. In May 2024, Legends / ASM Global signed a five-year contract extension with the Detroit Regional Convention Facility Authority (DRCFA) to operate Huntington Place.
As part of this next chapter, long-time ASM Global executive Bryan Crowe has been appointed CEO of DRCFA. With over 20 years of leadership experience at ASM Global, Crowe has built a career around optimizing venue performance, increasing client satisfaction, and creating sustainable revenue growth. His leadership is now central to Huntington Place’s renewed focus on innovation and long-term impact.
Under Crowe’s guidance, Huntington Place has restructured its organizational chart to align talent and resources with the venue’s evolving goals. This new structure is focused on improving customer experience, streamlining operations, and opening new direct lines of revenue—an effort already yielding early momentum.
A cornerstone of this reorganization is the creation of the executive director of revenue and customer experience role, and in May 2025, Huntington Place proudly welcomed Douglas Trueblood to this newly created position. Trueblood brings a dynamic background in tourism, branding, and customer engagement, with leadership roles across some of the world’s most iconic destinations and entertainment brands. Before joining Huntington Place, he served as vice president of marketing for Hudson Yards Experiences in New York City, where he spearheaded branding, marketing, and promotional strategies for signature attractions, including EDGE, City Climb, and Vessel—helping to position Hudson Yards as a vibrant cultural and tourism destination.
Trueblood also served as chief sales and marketing officer at the Bermuda Tourism Authority and held a senior leadership role with the Nassau & Paradise Island Promotion Board. His extensive theme park background includes over a decade with Universal Destinations & Experiences (formerly Universal Parks & Resorts) in Orlando, Osaka, and Singapore, as well as leading marketing efforts for Dubai Parks and Resorts. Douglas’s career also spans the media sector, with eight years in publishing and digital content at major outlets such as The Hollywood Reporter, Billboard magazine, and the Los Angeles Times.
His global perspective and experience launching destination-marketing campaigns are expected to make an immediate and lasting impact on how Huntington Place connects with visitors and event organizers, enhancing both revenue performance and the overall customer experience.
Additionally, Crowe made a strategic internal move by naming Becky Bixby to the role of executive director of venue operations. In this newly created role, she will oversee engineering and facility services, IT, operations, parking, and public safety, ensuring operational excellence across the venue.
With over 30 years of industry experience, Bixby brings a 360-degree perspective to her work, having served as a venue operator, general service contractor, and client. From November 2023 to May 2025, she held the role of Interim General Manager, guiding the venue through major accomplishments and improvements.
Under her leadership, Huntington Place became the top-scoring convention center in Legends / ASM Global’s Insights program, a guest-experience survey platform. Bixby’s success led to her appointment as an Insights project manager, helping onboard other venues to the program. She played a key role in the venue’s recognition as a 2025 Center of Excellence by Exhibitor Magazine. She was the project manager securing LEED Gold recertification in January 2023 and is currently working with the team on their next round of recertification.
Bixby is a LEED Green Associate, holds a Certification in Exhibition Management (CEM), and is a graduate of IAVM’s Academy for Venue Safety and Security. She is currently pursuing her Certified Venue Professional (CVP) credential and is an active member of IAEE and IAVM. Her leadership continues to elevate Huntington Place as a premier, sustainable, and guest-centered event venue.
These leadership appointments are part of a broader transformation underway at Huntington Place—one that prioritizes excellence at every level of service and operations. With the foundation of the DRCFA contract firmly in place since May 2024, this year marks the launch of a multi-year strategic vision aimed at positioning Huntington Place as a national leader in event hosting, customer service, and innovative revenue generation.
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About Huntington Place
With 723,000 square feet of exhibit space, Huntington Place, Detroit’s convention center, boasts one of the largest contiguous exhibit floor spaces in North America and has the largest ballroom in Michigan with 40,000 square feet. It is a LEED Gold certified venue and has received numerous industry awards for excellence including the 2020 USGBC Leadership Award for Building Performance, making it the only convention center in the history of the award to receive it. It is the 16th largest convention center in the United States. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and huntingtonplacedetroit.com.
About ASM Global
ASM Global is the world’s No. 1 development and full-service venue company focused on client-first approaches for driving significant financial success. Acquired by Legends in 2024, the company’s elite network spans five continents, featuring a portfolio of more than 400 of the world’s most prestigious arenas, stadiums, convention/exhibition centers, and performing arts venues.
ASM Global translates its unique visionary ownership experience into innovative project development, planning, and execution; content programming; curated guest-immersive experiences; locally tailored solutions; and optimized revenue streams for our client’s properties and surrounding communities. Focused on value creation and economic growth, ASM Global realizes venue business potential to elevate the profitability and profile of our clients and partners. We cultivate strong, inclusive relationships with the communities we work and live in while championing the welfare and development of our employees and small business partners, resulting in a more cohesive, resilient, and vibrant community.
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Media Contact:
Heather Anderson
handerson@huntingtonplacedetroit.com
313-877-8289