Since January 2000, Mr. Perkins has served as the Assistant General Manager of the RBC Center in Raleigh, North Carolina, home of the 2006 Stanley Cup Champion Carolina Hurricanes and NC State University’s Wolfpack Basketball.
Prior to joining the RBC Center team, he called the Meadowlands Sports Complex in New Jersey home for 24 years, which features the Meadowlands Harness and Thoroughbred Race Track, Giants Stadium and Continental Airlines Arena. He was a key member of the staff during the later part of construction and helped open all three venues. He was initially the assistant manager at the 45,000 seat Meadowlands Race Track, were he was responsible for every facet of a start-up operation, including serving as a lead member of the negotiations team, which established 29 trade and labor union agreements. He developed policies and procedures, prepared strategic financial plans, recruited professionals, skilled and unskilled staff and provided training. He last served as Vice President of Guest Services & Facility Operations for Giants Stadium and Continental Airlines Arena, which hosted thousands of world-class events.
He is a Certified Facilities Executive (CFE), a Certified Protection Professional (CPP) and a Crowd Management Professional (CMP). He has been a Private Investigator, Regional Security Manager and has held a U. S. Government Top Secret Clearance.
Larry is Past President of the International Association of Assembly Managers (IAAM) serving from 2006 to 2007. He has served on numerous Boards and Committees, including the Board of Directors, Board of Education, the Senior Executive Symposium (Cornell University), the Public Assembly Facility Management School at Oglebay, Life Safety Council, and the Academy for Venue Safety and Security in Dallas, TX (Chair and Instructor).
He is the author of “Crowd Safety and Survival – Practical Event and Public Gathering Safety Tips,” 2004; “Crowd Management; in the eye of the storm”, 1997; and has written numerous articles for the IAAM Facility Manager Magazine, Stadia Magazine, Teen People Magazine and others. He is an internationally renowned Crowd Management expert. More recently, Larry appeared on ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” and a NBC TV Dateline segment on crowd safety and survival entitled, “Get Out Alive.” In 2006, Perkins was named “Tar Heel of the Week,” by the Raleigh, NC News and Observer newspaper.
On February 17, 2009, Governor, Bev Perdue, appointed Larry as a Commissioner to the North Carolina State Emergency Response Commission.
Larry is the founder of the Northeastern Americans with Disabilities Act Consortium (NAD AC), and is the past President of the International Customer Service Association of the Heart of Carolina Chapter.