Coordinating Chaos with Tracey

Tracey Necak- Event & Venue Manager Ariel International Center

Rich historical roots, panoramic skyline and lake views, and consistently excellent service from Tracey and team makes Ariel a standout venue in Cleveland.

For the last five years, Ariel International Center has been the home of our annual Summer Social. Along with weddings, corporate events and non-profit events the venue has been hosting just about any celebration you can imagine since its founding. Since 2018, the venue has had an incredible woman at its helm, helping lead the entire company to successful events each and every weekend.

Tracey Necak serves as the event and venue manager for Ariel International Center and their collection of venues around Northeast Ohio. With four venues and hundreds of events to manage each year, the company is also led by a female Partner & Owner, Radhika Reddy, along with an event and management team of mostly women. We were lucky enough to connect with Tracey and Ariel International Center during our very first event planning phase and since then, have not only returned year after year but have learned invaluable lessons from Tracey and her event expertise.

Radhika began building the Arie International collection of venues with Ariel International Center in 2012. With the bottom three floors serving as office spaces and the top few serving as indoor and rooftop event spaces. Now, there are four total venues under the company umbrella; Ariel International Center, Ariel Pearl Center, Ariel Broadway Hotel & Event Center, and Ariel Lasalle Theatre. For the last seven and a half years, Tracey has worked alongside Radhika to facilitate these venues and all of their events. Tracey told us of beginning to work for Ariel International, “I’ve always been intrigued by her passion and full on commitment to the neighborhood's economic development. Over the years she has purchased a total of four historical buildings that were going to be demolished and turned them into beautiful spaces and unique venues.”

The building, originally an industrial facility dating back over a century, has served as a home to various immigrant-founded businesses.

For those who aren’t in the event industry or who haven’t hosted weddings or corporate events of their own, it can be difficult to see what really goes into guaranteeing an event is successful. Having an experienced director and manager like Tracey on site can be the difference between a chaotic day filled with mishaps and a smooth one that simply feels magical.

As a mother of three and grandmother of two with another on the way, Tracey is no stranger to the celebration of major milestones. After the birth of her oldest daughter, she realized she had a true knack for events and planning. She said, “I would take a small get together or family function and I would be the one to blow it up. I’d make it the most elaborate celebration. I’ve always had a love for the development stages of an event.”

Later on, two of her children began their journeys in the cheer and dance industry which Tracey soon learned was a very expensive interest. Experiencing alongside her best friend who’s daughter was also in the programs, she saw an opportunity to help parents fund their children's passions. They set out to start a mom’s club that fundraised and supported other parents and their abilities to fund travel, equipment, and other necessities for their children in these sports.

It was through these efforts that Tracey learned not only what it takes to plan a successful fundraising event, but how rewarding it could be to give back and allow others to celebrate in the success as well. From there the duo was asked to coordinate weddings and fundraisers for organizations. Both of the ladies then crossed paths with Ariel International and have since ended up running both Ariel International Center and Ariel Pearl Center alongside Radhika.

Now with over twenty years of event experience, Tracey has an impressive ability to take care of the behind the scenes tasks that most people wouldn’t even know need taken care of. So many small details are what make up a successful event and whether it be a wedding day or corporate Christmas party, all of the little things matter. It can be hard for some to pour this kind of passion and hard work into the event and celebrations of others but for Tracey, she prefers the quiet behind the curtain nature of her work. She told us, “I never like to be in front of everything, I like to be behind everything. I’m the mysterious person. The one who gets dirty and handles the obstacles that arise during planning.”

Whether you're hosting a wedding, corporate event, or fundraiser, Ariel has the versatility and incredible leadership by Tracey to make you event magical.

The event industry is always unpredictable and reliant on external factors so being able to roll with the punches is a key part of succeeding in this role. A problem solver at heart, Tracey revels in the ability to make issues and obstacles disappear saying, “Most people are like ‘Who wants issues?’ but they’re there no matter what. So I love those because I love to fix them. I strive to make sure every event runs smoothly and as close to perfect as possible. There are a hundred different things that could go wrong on the day of your event but as long as you don’t know about them, I did my job.”

As for her favorite part of the job, Tracey loves being a lifelong learner. Despite her vast knowledge and experience, she feels that she is constantly learning new things and bettering herself and her team for future events. When it comes to the reward of it all, Tracey sees her hard work pay off in the faces of her clients when it all works out for the day of the event. She shared, “I love talking to a client in the beginning and learning what their vision is and then taking that and doing everything and anything that I possibly can from a venue standpoint to make that come to life. Then seeing them and their eyes light up when they see it all come together on the day of, I love that.”

Not only is working with clients a special experience, working with vendors can be too. Tracey acknowledged that Cleveland is a truly amazing place that supports community over competition when it comes to the event industry, and most industries for that matter. She has seen and worked with so many vendors over the years for everything from catering to floral installations and every event trend in between. 

It can be such a gift to see the hard work of yourself and many others come together to make something truly special into a reality. “It’s camaraderie. No matter what happens, no matter the competition or anything like that, if someone needs assistance, I’ve watched the whole industry come together as one and be there for each other and you’ll only find that in Cleveland,” Tracey said of the event industry in our city.

We then asked about some of the struggles she overcame throughout her journey, especially when it comes to being a woman in the event industry. Tracey touched on the difficulties that sometimes come with being a building manager as well as an event manager. Maintaining the building's spaces when it comes to electrical, plumbing and more can lead to some pushback from others thinking that she may not know enough about the maintenance and building needs. 

The venue spans ~68,000 sq ft on 3 acres, featuring lakefront & Cleveland skyline views. Here is Alex from our first ever tour!

“They don’t always perceive a woman as knowing what she's talking about when it comes to how to do something like fixing a toilet,” she said, “So sometimes you get the runaround and you get pushed to the side or played a little bit. I have to say that as of now, I don’t have those issues anymore but it’s taken a long time to get there. Having to break into it and get comfortable for them to be comfortable working with me.”

The other struggle Tracey mentioned to us was that of having to be the enforcer when it comes to rules and other standards for the venues. Over time she has built up a better ability to tell people what is possible and impossible when it comes to their visions for the space, but it wasn’t always easy. She told us, “It used to be very hard for me, I am used to being a rule bender. I always feel bad but there is a reason why you shouldn’t. It was a struggle, instilling the rules that I didn’t know at the time were necessary but the rules are set for a reason.”

What it mostly comes down to is the difficulty of juggling so many different events with different clients who all have different needs and ideas. Comparing an intimate and laid back wedding with a large-scale non-profit fundraiser for example not only comes with a different set of rules, but with a completely different set up and timeline. Having to pivot her approach for various clients and their event needs is a unique skill that Tracey has perfected throughout the years after learning more about the client facing conversations that can be required.

Feeling out a client's needs from the beginning helps her to narrow down how to begin planning and also stay ready to quickly change her approach if need be. Though Tracey has become a pro at this, the obstacle of balancing the differences in varying events always remains to a degree. She told us, “The corporate events are usually annual so you have that return client. You have to make sure that things on a business level are clean cut and sharp. For a wedding, it’s once in a lifetime. They are going to remember it forever and their memory is going to be just this one time. So that has to be like magic.”

Tracey is so in touch with her clients and what they envision for their day and does everything in her power to ensure that dreams become reality. It is what truly sets her apart and makes Ariel International Center an amazing space to host any and all events. It is a very flexible space and her ability to transform it makes it easy for clients to see their visions come to life.

Summer Social 2024 Banner and Entrance.

When it comes to the industry, trends are not only evolving and becoming more and more interesting, but are also coming and going in the blink of an eye. We asked Tracey when she has seen recently that has really sparked her interest and stood out to her. She told us that both live-streaming and audio guest books are additions to events that she has loved to see people adopt more and more.

Unsurprisingly, these ‘trends’ both have a common factor that appeals to Tracey's love for meaningful and impactful events…the people. Being able to include those who can’t be at the event and allow them to experience meaningful moments despite whatever the obstacle may be provides a little bit of magic and eliminates the exclusivity of gathering your loved ones. Additionally, capturing voices in real time to keep forever is such a special way to commemorate any event and Tracey especially loves its ability to bring the listener back to the time of the event and remind them who showed up and made an effort to celebrate.

At the risk of sounding full of ourselves, we would be remiss not to mention Tracey's special shout out to us at Woman Up regarding our events. When we asked her to tell us about any events that have stood out to her over the years of her career, she so kindly mentioned ours. She said, “The first time we met, and you pitched what you wanted to do, you were finishing each other's sentences and there was so much excitement. Your eyes were so wide and you all were so young. Then the second year you guys came in and just nailed it. To watch growth like that within a year I was like ‘Oh my gosh, I was a part of helping them logistically do all of that!’ and I loved that.”

She went on to talk more about how non-profits hold a special place in her heart and working their events is a highlight for her. She said, “I like the hard work that goes into those and figuring how it’s going to end up and making it grow. We do quite a few of them. The purpose behind these nonprofits are outstanding as well.” At the end of the day, Tracey works in a people centered business and the relationships she develops with clients makes such a difference in all of their experiences.

On top of her management of client relationships and interactions, as the event and venue manager, Tracey must also manage the relationships with her staff and all the individuals who help to make an event possible. In addition to running Ariel International Center and their events, Tracey has also overseen the opening and management of the two newer venues, Ariel Broadway and LeSalle. Though she often feels like she is in three places at once, she has so much pride in her work that she sometimes would rather do things herself to ensure that they are up to her standards. Truly passionate about her work, Tracey clearly dedicates herself to each and every event.

We initially fell in love with the historic and industrial vibe of Ariel and because of Tracey we decided to host every Summer Social here.

We asked her what it is like to assist in opening a brand new space while still managing the existing ones. She told us, “It needs some extra love but you don’t want to neglect everything else. When we first got it I was over there every single day and doing stuff and my days were long because I would come back to International and do things here. So it was tedious and difficult but now it’s to the point where somebody else can run the daily things.”

Following those same lines, we asked Tracey what it is like to have four venues and direct clients to the one that is the best fit for them. She listed some of the differences between the spaces such as the hotel connected to Ariel Broadway and the rooftop at Ariel International. She also mentioned the capacity, liquor license, and preferred caterers as major factors that often help her navigate which venue may be the best fit for a client.

She said as well, “I just had four tours the other day and two knew exactly what they wanted and the others wanted to go ahead and book appointments at other locations. Both scenarios happen all the time. That’s why I think it is important for each of our managers to have the knowledge of all four venues so they can ask questions and direct clients the right way.

As for the future, Tracey is happy in her role and sees herself continuing to make event magic at Ariel for many years to come. As for the industry, she noted that it is constantly changing and events are rarely ever stagnant. This not only keeps things interesting but also allows for so much growth and experience each year. She told us, “The industry changes constantly but the job you do does not. The job is to produce successful events and that does not change ever. You have to be able to do your job consistently, and continuously as the industry changes. I see myself doing exactly what I do today. Fully committing and dedicating myself to ensure that each and every event that I do with Ariel or anywhere else is successful. I still learn every day”

Her innate ability to read the energy of the event and pivot her approach to match is what makes Tracey such a gifted manager and director of events. She is very in tune with every client she meets with and assesses their needs quickly to provide the best possible experience in the easiest possible way. Her passion for her work is evident in all she does and it is crystal clear that you are in perfect hands when you begin your event journey at Ariel International Center. We may have a personal bias because of our incredible relationship with her over the last five years, but Tracey is truly the driving force behind what makes the venue such an incredible place to host not only our events, but all types of celebrations. Tracey is thoughtful, humble, knowledgeable, and beyond dedicated. You always know that your event is HER event and she will bend over backwards to ensure its perfection. It has been an honor to work with her for all of these years and we couldn’t have asked for a better interviewee for our July issue as the final Summer Social approaches!