Community is Woven into Our Business Model
We are urban placemakers and managers.
We are more than a venue management company – we are a project management company that offers event and production services to support client programming across a variety of industries. Our sister company, District Works, provides a wide variety of essential and supplemental services to maintain community beautification.
Through our work with the Oakland Business Improvement District (BID) community, we are emerging as energetic leaders, paving the way for numerous initiatives that have gained us recognition from the California Downtown Association and the International Downtown Association.
OUR LEADERSHIP
The leadership of OVM remains dedicated to this company, putting every ounce of their daily energy into its success and the betterment of their community. Donating time, money and services to various projects, raising tens of thousands of dollars for local artists, and creating spaces for those artists to be seen, heard, and felt. We believe in supporting our local economy through arts activation and well-produced events for the public.
Steve Snider
President & CEO
Steve directs the vision of the company through strategic planning, marketing, and business development, and has a passionate focus on community building and workforce development initiatives. He currently serves as President of the California Downtown Association Board of Directors and also Chairs the organization’s Diversity Equity Inclusion Task Force. Steve has also served as the Executive Director for the Uptown Downtown Oakland Community Benefit Districts for the past 10 years and has overseen the development and implementation of Oakland Central, downtown Oakland’s only unified marketing and events campaign.
Andrew Jones
General Manager
Andrew hires, trains, and oversees all operations for the company. He has a passionate interest and extensive experience in the beautification, programming, and activation of vacant, blighted, and underutilized lots, public spaces, and public rights of way. Andrew has been instrumental in coordinating many of downtown Oakland’s most impressive large-scale public art installations as well as overseen and managed all aspects of some of downtown Oakland’s most impactful and historic public events. Andrew has served as Program Director for the Uptown Downtown Oakland Community Benefit Districts for the past 10 years.
Over the past ten years, we have been presented with opportunities to develop marketing campaigns for various projects in Oakland.
Projects that have required us to research, plan and execute initiatives. Through this work, we have become extremely knowledgeable about local and regional demographics and more sensitive and informed with regards to the conversations around displacement, fair housing, and the pressures placed on our artist communities. Over the course of our career, we have remained dedicated to the betterment of Oakland, as such our connections to the Oakland community and the surrounding region are strong. Our vendor pool and industry connections position us incredibly well to execute any project and develop a foundation for a successful events program.
OUR VALUES
Reliability
Passion
Commitment
Family-Oriented
Integrity
Community
Work Ethic
Employment Philosophy
Oakland Venue Management is committed to creating a culture of ownership and trust among all of its employees and to providing opportunities that support the physical health and financial stability of each employee. Our success as a company can be measured not only by how we benefit our employees, but also our community as a whole.
Our Clients & Partners
OVM is a values-driven company that has worked for over a decade to build productive relationships with local industry and the City of Oakland including the Mayor’s Office, the City Administrator’s Office, the Office of Economic and Workforce Development, the Cultural Arts and Marketing Department, Public Works Agency, and the Police and Fire Departments.
We have also developed and maintained a strong connection to the local arts community and numerous youth development programs in the city of Oakland and across the greater Bay Area. We regularly draw upon and support these programs to achieve our goals of community building through the arts with an emphasis on live event curation. We have termed our placemaking work as “ecosystem development through entrepreneurship and the arts.”
