Charlie Chicko has been in the Sports, Entertainment, Event, and Facility Management Industry for just over 20 years. He started his career as an Event Manager working for the Hunt Sports Group and the Dallas Burn of Major League Soccer. He quickly became the Event Director for all Dallas Burn home soccer matches at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas TX. During this same time he was also responsible for preparing a new 21,000 seat outdoors soccer specific stadium named Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, TX (now Toyota Stadium) for its inaugural opening day in the fall of 2005. After a successful opening day, he oversaw all day to day and event operations at Pizza Hut Park as well as all match day operations for the Dallas Burn (now FC Dallas) of Major League Soccer.
In the summer of 2006, Charlie was hired by Kroenke Sports and Entertainment as the Sr. Director of Venue/Event Operations for Dick’s Sporting Goods Park and the historic Paramount Theatre. In this role he oversaw all day to day venue and event operations. While in these facilities Charlie oversaw hundreds of events including professional, international, and high school soccer matches, concerts, plays, festivals, and fundraising events. Charlie’s expertise includes front of house and back of house venue operations, event and facility budgeting, staffing, and building maintenance. Some of his favorite events to manage were the Mile High Music Festival, PHISH, Kenny Chesney, Warren Miller, Trace Adkins, Kingston Trio, Heart, John Prine, Lyle Lovett, and his personal favorite, STEP UP FOR CANCER.
In the spring of 2016, Charlie started Marquee Event Solutions (MES). MES has enjoyed steady growth over the years and is currently working with several high profile clients and events all over the country. In January of 2017, I added a specialized traffic and parking division, Colorado Event Traffic (CET). This division of MES focuses on the design, development, and execution of Traffic Management Plans for concerts, venues, events, and festivals. Colorado Event Traffic has enjoyed working with 50+ new clients and over 100+ events each season.
Charlie teaches Facility Operations for the Sport, Entertainment, and Event Management Program at Johnson and Wales University, the Denver Campus.