You may have taken the first step in the process toward becoming a CVE by completing the “CVE Checklist” to ascertain if you have accumulated the 300 points needed to make application and start the formal process, or perhaps this is the first time you have considered pursuing certification.

Now’s the time to take the next step in your career and join that group of your peers who have reached the pinnacle of achievement with IAVM by becoming Certified Venue Executives. Remember – Applications and a completed letter of confirmation from your supervisor are due no later than November 1, 2022. 

The written essay is due by February 1, 2023 – allowing you extra time to enjoy the holidays and end of the year activities.

Don’t delay, apply today. All the information you need to begin the process is found on our web site. Make 2023 the year that you earn your CVE!

By R.V. Baugus

From “Allied Member Community” to “Young Professionals” and everything in between, IAVM’s VenueNet currently has 51 communities for members to join to participate in discussions covering a vast range of topics.

Participating is easy. Simply go to VenueNet and click on the Participate tab at the top. From there click on Join a Community, where you can view Communities from A to Y (sorry, we don’t have a Z category just yet!).

Diversity and Inclusive Leadership (DILC) is a community with 24 members. As with the other VenueNet Communities, under the Community name is a description of what people can expect to read about and be able to comment on when they join the Community.

“Engagement and support of DILC from everyone is the only way to be successful and ensure a continued focus,” said Cindy van Rensburg, Past DILC Chair and Division President for Levy Convention Centers in Houston. “Launching a DILC site on VenueNet was important to share resources, learnings, and transparency to get more people engaged.”

One of the more recently formed Communities is Foro Abierto de Administradores de Recintos, a place for Spanish speakers to exchange experiences and knowledge from all venue types.

“The reason why the community was built was thinking of the large number of colleagues who feel comfortable expressing themselves in the Spanish language,” said Ruben Hernandez, CVE, Business Specialist with Mirrub Soluciones in Monterrey, Mexico, and IAVM’s Region 6 Mexico representative. “There´s a large Spanish-speaking community in North América and sometimes they feel a language barrier to expressing their questions and doubts.

“I think that, in the beginning, this forum must generate interest in Mexican venues to be a powerful tool. We are working together with the new AMEREF administration to do that.

“All the issues in Administration, Operations, and Sales are so important and this is an excellent way to get tips and information from each venue.
In the past, I’ve been able to get important information about maintenance, security, and food and beverage like a suggestion for kitchen flooring or devices to reduce floor vibration.

“Points of view from people of the USA, Canada, Mexico, and Australia are valuable and we know there are a lot of Spanish-speaking members working in all venues.”

Added Daniel Huerta, Retired IAVM member who remains active on IAVM committees and along with Hernandez helped organize and promote the Community: “It’s a great tool for networking and getting info on a number of subject matters. We just need folks to commit to using it.”

Maximize your IAVM membership now and be part of one of the Communities designed just for you!

The Events Industry Council introduced its new Sustainability and Social Impact Foundations Certificate, which provides guidance to event industry organizations on how to launch their own sustainability and social impact programs. It is also suitable for organizations with established sustainability and social impact programs and can be used to review existing policies and plans and help to identify gaps.

The course dates are:

Thursday 8, September from 10.00 am – 12.00 pm ET
Thursday 22, September from 10.00 am – 12.00 pm ET
Thursday 6, October from 10.00 am – 12.00 pm ET
The Certificate is an element of EIC’s Sustainability and Social Impact Journey, which includes a pathway for individuals, events and organizations.

Organizations in the EIC Sustainability and Social Impact Foundations Certificate Program will receive:

Access to the EIC Sustainable Event Standards Excel Workbook
EIC Foundations Certificate templates and resources
Access to eight (8) hours of continuing education 
Review of their sustainability and social impact policies and plans by a subject matter expert
A digital badge, valid for five (5) years (upon successful completion of the program)
More information on the EIC Sustainability and Social Impact Foundations Certificate can be found here.

Mid-August marked the one-year milestone of the debut of one of live entertainment’s most technologically advanced venues that has enjoyed record-breaking attendance and along with it, world ranking in box office sales.

To date, Coca-Cola Music Hall has held 59 concerts and 43 private events with a total attendance of more than 165,000 people.

ASM Global President and CEO Ron Bension said, “Our work with Coca-Cola Music Hall is an excellent example that the island is ready to foster more significant alliances of private and government companies for the development of all sectors.”

Since its opening, the 4,200 capacity Coca-Cola Music Hall has featured artists such as Ednita Nazario, Caramelos de Cianuro, El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, Stryper, Jesse & Joy, Louis Tomlinson, Gente de Zona, Toño Rosario, Ana Torroja, Camilo, Ilé, Alejandro Fernández, CNCO, Jerry Rivera, Manuel Turizo, Eladio Carrión, Noel Schajris, DJ Nelson & Alberto Stylee, Melendi, Rosario, Nío García, RKM & Ken-Y, Il Divo, Los Tres Pianistas, Myriam Hernández, Almost Queen, and Barak, among others.

It was also the venue for the Miss World 2021 International Pageant and comedy shows from Daniel “El Travieso” and “Sé lo tuyo!” with Alexandra Fuentes and Raymond Arrieta.

The three-level theater—one of the industry’s first to be cashless—features the most advanced sound system of any venue its size in the world and the most advanced fixed lighting system in Puerto Rico. Coca-Cola Music Hall quickly assembled a large team of in-house specialists to help clients with staging, audio-visual, and acoustic services, all of which are included as part of the rental fee. Other amenities include ultramodern suites, dressing rooms, Wi-Fi coverage, box office, security, ushers and cleaning, among other services.

“On behalf of the entire Coca-Cola Music Hall team, we thank the public for the support we have received in just one year. We have managed to keep the entertainment industry in Puerto Rico thriving. We showed the world that we are a world-class venue, and I am confident that we will continue to grow in the years to come,” said Jorge L. Perez, CVE, ASM Global regional manager in Puerto Rico.

Thanks to its strategic location within DISTRITO T-Mobile, visitors to the Coca-Cola Music Hall can enjoy great experiences before and after each event. The experiential complex comprises several areas, including Popular Plaza, which is an open space with state-of-the-art LED screens, restaurants, a 177-room Aloft San Juan Hotel, Caribbean Cinemas VIP, Toro Verde Urban Park with ziplines and much more.

“Coca-Cola Music Hall is a state-of-the-art performance hall that competes with the best international venues and offers locals and visitors a one-of-a-kind experience. The diversity and capabilities of its facilities and the public’s response have been key to both, the venue and DISTRITO T-Mobile’s success as the premier entertainment destination in Puerto Rico,” said Francisco Mariani, general manager of DISTRITO TMobile.

The executive director of the Puerto Rico Convention Center District Authority, Mrs. Mariela Vallines, added, “The Convention District has an ambitious plan to continue improving our facilities and expand the entertainment offered for our visitors. All our facilities have proven to be ideal for any private and public event. This first anniversary of the Coca-Cola Music Hall echoes that we are doing the right thing so that Puerto Rico
continues to develop both in the entertainment industry as well as tourism, gastronomy, and other related sectors.”

Within only five months of operation, the Coca-Cola Music Hall closed 2021 in the No. 31 position in box office sales worldwide (theater category) in Pollstar magazine’s “Year-End” results.

“We are extremely grateful to the artists and the producers for choosing Coca-Cola Music Hall as the ideal place to host their events and also to our partner PRISA Group and sponsors Coca-Cola, T-Mobile, Banco Popular de Puerto Rico, JetBlue, Visa, Evertec, Cervecera de Puerto Rico, Destileria Serralles, V. Suarez and ticketing partner Ticketera,” Perez said. “We are committed in continuing to offer a varied entertainment program in a safe environment. This is an achievement for all of Puerto Rico.”

The Seattle Seahawks and Lumen Field announced plans to modernize the stadium’s concessions experience with a new store powered by Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology for checkout-free shopping and Amazon One for entry and payment with palm recognition. Lumen Field will become the first NFL stadium to implement both technologies in a single store, District Market. Amazon’s technologies are designed to offer fans a frictionless shopping experience as they grab food and drinks to get them back to the game faster by eliminating checkout lines.

In collaboration with Lumen Field’s hospitality partner, Levy, and DBK Studio, Levy’s innovation studio, Lumen Field’s store equipped with Amazon’s technologies is scheduled to open in time for the 2022 Seahawks regular season.
“We are continually looking at new ways to innovate and modernize our fan experience, and we know fans will love the fast, convenient experience the Just Walk Out technology and Amazon One-enabled store will deliver,” said Zach Hensley, Seahawks Vice President of Operations and General Manager, Lumen Field. “We are proud to bring this technology to our fans so they can spend more time enjoying the game.”

“We’re excited to partner with the Seahawks and Lumen Field to bring Seattle fans an incredibly fast and convenient new way to enjoy their favorite food and beverage,” said Sandeep Satish, Managing Director of DBK Studio and Vice President of Strategy & Analytics for Levy at E15 Group. “Checkout-free experiences, like District Market, have taken off in a very short amount of time because they give fans unprecedented control and enable them to spend so much more time enjoying the event. We look forward to continuously growing these truly frictionless experiences.”

The stadium’s Just Walk Out technology and Amazon One-enabled store will be located on the upper concourse in an upgraded area of section 323. District Market will offer a selection of assorted beer, wine, seltzers, and non-alcoholic beverages, along with gameday snacks and cuisine from the stadium’s community neighbors in Seattle’s International District. Fans purchasing alcohol will be required to show their ID to a store attendant for age verification.

When a fan visits District Market, they can opt to insert their credit card at the entry gates or hover their palm over an Amazon One device to enter. Once inside, shoppers can take what they want and then just leave after they’re done shopping. As they shop, Just Walk Out technology determines what they take from or return to the shelves, and the credit card they inserted or linked to their Amazon One ID will be charged for items they took after they leave the store.

“We’re proud to be part of Lumen Field’s commitment to continuously innovating the fan experience and are excited for the NFL season to kick-off with the opening of District Market so fans can see first-hand the convenience of Just Walk Out technology and Amazon One,” said Dilip Kumar, Vice President, AWS Applications. “Our goal is to help fans get back to their seats quickly without missing a moment of the action, so we’re excited to see how NFL fans enjoy the new store.”

Fans can enroll in Amazon One, which is Amazon’s palm recognition and payment service, at the enrollment kiosks located outside the store. They can also enroll where Amazon One already exists, like at select Amazon Go, Amazon Fresh, and Whole Foods Market stores.

Photo by Seattle Seahawks