The first director of a new administration tech support team, Brandon Cavaness, worked his way up from student volunteer to leading over 70 people in the newly created team.
“I started off as a student volunteer at IU Auditorium and slowly worked my way up through the student positions there,” Cavaness said. “Then the day after graduation, I was able to get a full-time position managing box office operations doing a lot of backend IT work with Ticketmaster.”
Cavaness’ portfolio eventually grew to encompass event responsibilities such as working in IU Event Services supporting the team who manage guest safety for athletics and other high-profile events as well as University Events, which execute events on behalf of the Office of the President which include commencement ceremonies, groundbreakings, and more.
“Prior to where I am today, I was the director of event systems,” Cavaness said. “It’s a broad brush because events are a far-reaching broad category.”
When applying for this new position, Cavaness thought he brought a unique set of skills that would add value to this unprecedented position. “I worked with a wide array of constituents in my previous role, from the president to students, and I just love connecting with people on a personal level,” he said.
Cavaness highlights his previous work in the events space as a contributing factor to how he sees this new role.
“A lot of events work is iterative,” Cavaness said. “Even though every commencement was unique, each had a similar structure and we’d have meetings about what went right and what we’ll do better next year. And that’s my mindset, I want to know what went right and what can we do better next time.”
In this role, Cavaness wants to ensure he’s a strong, advocative voice for his team.
“The administration tech support team encompasses and supports a wide array of business needs for the university,” Cavaness said. “It is my goal to understand the unique aspects of each area and ensure we are resourced for success.”
“The team is full of incredibly talented and dedicated professionals, whom I’m very excited to work alongside.
