IAVM introduced its Venue Group Membership program this summer. The program delivers an affordable discount pricing structure that enables venues to sign up to 20 employees who are involved in venue management. Since its debut, several venues have joined the program, including the AT&T Performing Arts Center in Dallas, Texas, which was the first venue to sign up for it.
“We believe IAVM memberships provide extraordinary value for team members in their personal and work lives,” said Russell Read, CFE, vice president of operations for the AT&T Performing Arts Center. “Ideally, we would like for all our team members to hold memberships, but budgets constraints always played a factor. This new program now allows us to bring more people into the fold and reap the benefits that IAVM offers.”
Read said that nothing is more important than the relationships that are found and strengthen through IAVM.
“It is through our fellow venue managers we find education, mentorship, collaboration, and support,” he said. “All employees, no matter what stage they are in within our company or industry, benefit from being plugged into a community of their peers. The more input you have the more output you get. That output, of course, translates to new opinions, increased participation in the association’s development programs, and a robust pipeline of new venue managers who will inevitably be our next industry leaders.”
The San Diego Convention Center is also a member of the new program.
“At the San Diego Convention Center Corporation, we take great pride in our staff as they are our greatest asset,” said Carol Wallace, president and CEO of the San Diego Convention Center. “Participation in the IAVM group membership program is a great way for us to afford our employees the opportunity to grow as professionals via training and insight with the industry’s leading venue managers.”
Wallace said the group membership program has allowed the corporation to not only bring more of its experienced professionals to the table, but also to identify and introduce its leaders of tomorrow to the industry conversation in the early stages of their professional development.
“IAVM is made strong by the knowledgeable and accomplished membership they maintain,” Wallace said. “The insight each member brings to the association from their corner of the industry is of great value. The environment of mentorship and collaboration allows leaders to better understand and address issues relating to the public assembly venues management industry. By increasing the participation of our leading professionals, the IAVM group membership program can only benefit the industry as a whole.”
The current venues officially participating in the program are the AT&T Performing Arts Center, the San Diego Convention Center, the Swiftel Center (Brookings, South Dakota), the MassMutual Center (Springfield, Massachusetts), and the Chaifetz Arena (St. Louis, Missouri).
“We are excited about the increased engagement opportunities that this new membership model affords. Our network will grow significantly and our expertise will broaden as a result. More collaboration from members with a wider scope of perspectives will make the industry and IAVM stronger,” said Gina Brydson, IAVM’s director of membership. “Member venues supporting this program means more mid-level managers and young professionals will be brought into the fold, which sets the tone to nurture the future leaders of our wonderful association. Group Membership will assist our members in training their staff more affordably while weaving them into attending schools and conferences on an annual basis, again at discount pricing. These new members will increase their participation, learn important skill sets, and build lifelong relationships with their peers and our Allied Partners, which helps them achieve their goals, too. Our Allied Partners want a bigger network—individuals that either have purchasing power or influence the sale. This is a win for everyone in our industry.”
Please read “Introducing IAVM’s Venue Group Membership Program” for more information, and if you have questions or you’re ready to sign up, please call IAVM Member Services at 972.906.7441 or membership@iavm.org.
(Image: Tim Hursley/AT&T Performing Arts Center)
