VenueConnect24 is offering a 6-part series for Rising Leaders. The sessions are designed to educate, inspire, and empower our members to be better managers.

Jessie States, CMP, CMM, Vice President of MPI Academy, will join us for a 4-part Stakeholder Management Session block that will teach you to develop your own dynamic leadership strategy.

At MPI Academy, States leads and advances MPI’s professional development strategy, developing and managing MPI’s portfolio of education including live and digital events, knowledge experiences, professional certificate programs and educational partnerships. Jessie earned the 2018 Pacesetter Award from the Events Industry Council and the 2023 IACC Award of Excellence. She has also earned spots on the lists of 25 Most Influential People in Meetings and Events (Successful Meetings magazine) and Trendsetters (Meetings Today magazine).

Read on for our Q&A with States.

What can VC24 attendees expect to learn at your session?
In a world that’s constantly changing, leaders must be as dynamic as the environments they navigate. Our series at the IAVM VenueConnect annual conference is designed to transform attendees into such leaders – adaptable, decisive and empathetic. You’ll learn to harness the power of business emotional intelligence to not only read and react to diverse situations but also to influence and develop others effectively. You will emerge with a personalized dynamic leadership strategy, equipped with the tools to inspire, empower and lead with resilience. Embark on a journey that will redefine your approach to leadership and amplify your impact.

What is the best advice you’ve received?
Criticism at work is not personal. It’s a compass. Feedback—positive and negative—is an opportunity for growth. Step back and view it objectively. It’s about the work, not your worth.

What’s the last book you read?
The Factory by Hiroko Oyamada

Please join us at VC24 for this series!

Stakeholder Management Series

• Module 1: Foundations of Leadership
  • Tuesday, July 30
  • 11:00 – 12:00 PM PT
• Module 2: Emotional Intelligence – The Leader’s Compass
  • Tuesday, July 30
  • 3:00 – 4:00 PM PT
• Module 3: Leading Others – Coaching and Management Dynamics
  • Wednesday, July 31
  • 3:00 – 4:00 PM PT
• Module 4: The Culmination – Crafting Your Dynamic Leadership Blueprint
  • Wednesday, July 31
  • 4:15 – 5:15 PM PT

Not yet registered? Visit venueconnect.iavm.org today!

We are thrilled to announce the Rising Leaders track at VenueConnect 2024! Specifically designed to empower the next generation of venue management professionals, the Rising Leaders education sessions are carefully curated to cover a range of topics including industry best practices and the latest trends shaping the future of our industry. You will have the opportunity to engage with industry experts, participate in dynamic discussions, and build valuable connections with peers.

Kicking off the track ahead of VC24 is Megan Henshall, CMP, DES, Global Events Strategy at Google, who met with IAVM’s Director of Education, Greg Wolfe, to discuss inclusivity for the neurodivergent workforce and the importance of understanding how to adapt to the needs of your peers.

Make the Invisible Visible

Neurodivergence encompasses a broad range of conditions, including ADHD, autism spectrum disorder, dyslexia, dyspraxia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, epilepsy, and mental health disorders. 

In the US, it’s estimated that about 10% of adults are neurodivergent, and an estimated 25% of the global population is neurodivergent.

“There’s not a room that you’re in where there’s not someone who has a hidden disability of this type,” Megan said.

During the conversation, she emphasized the importance of making invisible disabilities visible to foster a more inclusive and accommodating workplace environment, highlighting the unique challenges faced by individuals with specific conditions.

Watch their interview here.

• Note: During the interview, Megan references this resource.

Keep an eye on the blog for more information on our 6-part Rising Leader track!

James “Jim” Spellos, President of Meeting U., will be at VenueConnect24 to present “Everything You Need to Know About Artificial Intelligence…But Didn’t Know to Ask.” For over 20 years, his mission has been to help people become more productive and comfortable with technology.

Jim has won many awards throughout his career. A faculty member at New York University for 25 years, Jim received both their Award for Teaching Excellence and their Outstanding Service Award. In 2015, he was named one of the Meeting Industry’s trendsetters by Meetings Today magazine, and Meeting Professionals International included him on their “Most Influential” list in the hospitality industry in 2022. In 2021, Glisser named Jim one of the most influential people in virtual events.

On the Board of Directors for Rock and Wrap It Up – an anti-poverty, anti-hunger organization which recovers excess food from films, tv productions, concerts, sports and other events – Jim co-created their Whole Earth Calculator app. He also speaks about food recovery and sustainability to groups around the country. In 2018 & 2019, BizBash named Jim one of their top 500 people for his work in sustainability.

Jim is an accomplished musician and songwriter and released his first solo album, Stroke of Genius, in 2020. He has a certificate in Plant-Based Nutrition from the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutritional Studies, is a certified Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine’s Food for Life Instructor, and supports Plant Powered Metro New York in educating people about a healthy diet and lifestyle, which helped to save his own life.

Read on for our Q&A with Spellos.

What can VC24 attendees expect to learn at your session?
Attendees will be able to understand the how and why of how generative AI works, and how it applies to their jobs. They’ll also learn how to best prompt the generative AI tools to be able to obtain the best, most accurate information. And, they will be able to see external services that extend the use and functionality of generative AI across all of the tasks they perform.

What is the best advice you’ve received?
Question everything.

What’s the last book you read?
I’m too busy devouring content on AI to read many books, though the last one I read was Dr. Michael Greger’s How Not to Age.

Please join us at VC24 for this session!

• Everything You Need to Know About Artificial Intelligence…But Didn’t Know to Ask
• Tuesday, July 30  |  3:30 PM – 4:30 PM

Not yet registered? Visit venueconnect.iavm.org today!

Brooke Adamson, VP of Tourism and Destination at JLL, will be presenting “Venue Data Analysis Best Practices: How to Get Started” at VenueConnect24. 

Read on for our Q&A with Adamson.

Short Bio:
Based in North Carolina, Brooke Adamson is a Vice President with JLL’s Hotels & Hospitality Group specializing in tourism strategy, destination development, and tourism asset development advisory. Brooke was Director of Business Systems at the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority for 10 years where she was responsible for strategic planning, KPI management, and business intelligence. She assists clients with strategic planning, tourism readiness and sustainability, convention center asset management, public facility feasibility and overall destination positioning.

Brooke has extensive experience in Destination and Venue Management Organizations managing strategic planning, cultural initiatives, and business systems. She is an expert in data and system analysis, KPI management, and creating and implementing strategic plans. Brooke has also worked closely with industry associations including IAVM serving on the Diversity and Inclusive Leadership Committee Impact Study Working Group, Mentor Committee, and Strategy Committee.

What can VC24 attendees expect to learn at your session?
The session will walk through how to get started along your data and business intelligence journey to fully utilize your data and reports to drive a culture of data driven decision making, explore best practices and common venue analysis examples, and showcase how to tie this work into your long-term strategic plan.

What is the best advice you’ve received?
One valuable lesson I’ve learned is the power of reframing change and new decisions. It’s important to remember that just because you may have new information that could lead to a different decision now, doesn’t mean that your previous choice was wrong or a mistake. At that time, you made the best decision based on the information available to you. As someone with a background in mathematics and business analysis, I can over-analyze everything. However, this advice serves as a reminder of the practicalities of decision-making and the significance of approaching practices and policies with a fresh, data-focused perspective.

What’s the last book you read?
I recently re-read Multipliers by Liz Wiseman. It focuses on how leaders can amplify the smarts and capabilities of the people around them, and I try to re-read it every few years. 

Please join us at VC24 for this session!

• Venue Data Analysis Best Practices: How to Get Started
• Tuesday, July 30  |  8:00 AM – 9:00 AM

Not yet registered? Visit venueconnect.iavm.org today!

Jerry Barshop of the Dallas Convention Center, past IAVM president and Charles A. McElravy Award winner, passed away June 14 at the age of 96.

Jerry Barshop, center, holds court at an IAVM meeting.

He is best known as the man who put Dallas on the convention destination map, having started working for that city when public assembly was nothing but a 10,000-seat arena and 50,000 sq.ft. of exhibit space, noted Frank Poe, who worked with Barshop in Dallas. By the time Barshop retired in 1992, the Dallas Convention Center could boast one million square feet of column-free space and was host to most major conventions.

The “confidence that Dallas city government had in Jerry” impressed Cliff Wallace, CVE, who followed Barshop as president of IAVM. “His responsibilities exceeded what most of us were doing at our venues, and he was very modest about that as if we should all be ready to pitch in and help out our cities, especially if it could enhance our venues. He was ethical, fair and his goal was simply what was right, best and above board.” 

Born March 17, 1928, Jerry Melvin Barshop was a third-generation Dallasite, with the sensibilities of a person from a large family that lost everything during the Great Depression. “The man was the provider. He wanted to make sure my brother and I were never hungry, that we never suffered what he suffered at an early age,” recalls his daughter, Celia Barshop, who is a current member of IAVM and Managing Director, Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center for the Dallas Symphony Association.

Both his son, Bruce, and Celia worked for Ticketmaster. Bruce Barshop pursued the concert business before going into law and moving to the West Coast. Celia stuck with the city of Dallas and has spent her career in the event business, usually working for nonprofits that run city-owned buildings.

Barshop encouraged his daughter to enter the business he loved. “Dad always said I was a great planner, and I really like people, and he thought this would be a great industry to be in – but only if I enjoyed it,” Celia remembered. She didn’t start working for the city until her dad retired in 1992, after which he was likely to attend any event she worked and offer his advice.

Barshop served Dallas for 40-plus years, ascending to the role of Director of Convention & Event Services. His leadership in the building and growth of iconic Dallas landmarks like Reunion Arena, the Dallas Convention Center, Farmers Market, WRR Radio, and Union Station leave an indelible mark on the city he cherished and the millions who enjoy those venues.

Incoming officers of IAVM in 1985, as caricatured for the cover of Amusement Business, include Ron Wigmore, Cliff Wallace and Jerry Barshop.

He also left his mark on the industry and the association he loved. He served in various roles in IAVM (IAAM at the time) and was instrumental in decisions like moving from private management of the association handled by a Chicago firm to an in-house executive director, recalls Poe, also a past president of IAVM and currently executive director of the Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta.

Barshop was a staunch advocate for expanding IAVM membership beyond the top two positions in a venue. “He actively encouraged us to get involved,” Poe recalls. “He would tell us, there’s a lot of learning you can do and not just in meetings. Of even more value in the long-term is the network you develop.”

Barshop received his IAVM length-of-service award at the annual convention in Detroit-Windsor in 1975. A member of District 6, Barshop received his 10-year pin. He received his CVE in 1980, along with only one other Certified Venue Executive, Tom Minter, CVE. He was elected IAVM president in 1983-84 and was awarded the Charles A. McElravy Award for outstanding contributions to the association and the industry in 1988.

He was also a mentor to many future leaders of IAVM.

According to Poe: “I had the honor of working under Jerry as a part-time employee starting in 1969, at a time in my life when my focus was on earning a degree and working to pay my way through school. Little did I know at that time my work at the Dallas Memorial Auditorium would guide me toward a career in public assembly management. I only knew Jerry at the time as one of the ‘big bosses.’

“When he and Jack Beckman offered me a full-time position as a payroll/accounts payable clerk, I was still clueless as to Jerry’s intentions for my career. Fast forward to today, Jerry’s mentoring handprint is reflective all over my career. When he retired and I was offered the opportunity to follow in his footsteps, I knew it would be a daunting task. Each day from that time till now, Jerry’s influence upon me as a professional in this industry, an industry he loved so dearly, has made me work hard every day to not disappoint him. Jerry was truly a one-of-kind GIANT in our industry.”

Cliff Wallace, Senior Executive Advisor, Shenyang (China) New World Expo, served on the board of IAVM for several years with Barshop and then followed him as President (now Chair) of IAVM. “I learned so much from him being relatively young to even be in the industry, much less moving through the chairs to lead such an Association. He helped me greatly in the journey,” Wallace said. 

“Jerry’s temperament, patience and drive to move IAVM forward were impressive. He was kind and gentle and liked to mediate complex issues quickly to resolve in simplistic common-sense fashion.”

Carol Wallace, CVE, president and CEO, San Diego Theatres and another past president of IAVM, was similarly impacted by Barshop. She entered this business because she had to walk through his Dallas Convention Center to get to her other job and decided, this looks interesting.

Of Barshop, she wrote: “Jerry was not only an industry legend and icon but also my personal mentor who profoundly influenced my life and career. For 40 years, he guided me and many others, leading the way with his visionary approach to venue management. Jerry’s commitment to inclusivity was groundbreaking. He was one of the first leaders to bring people of color into the venue management industry, tirelessly advocating for diversity and creating countless opportunities for mentorship and professional growth. His efforts ensured that voices from all backgrounds were heard and valued, leaving an enduring legacy that continues to shape our industry.”

The times were different, but still very similar, in the venue management world. While promoting his city as a convention destination, Barshop was also protecting and promoting an entire industry. He made some headlines when the International Society for Krishna Consciousness sued to be able to solicit and proselytize at a medical convention inside the Dallas Convention Center. The court sided with the city of Dallas in a May 5, 1978 ruling. Barshop had to testify. He was not the only venue manager embroiled in such controversies during those antiwar years when many tested the boundaries and venue managers worked to protect the image of their cities and the boundaries needed for their clientele, Poe recalled. “There was a different level of scrutiny back then. Sometimes, people even protested artists because they believed they were inappropriate for people to hear.”

At his funeral service in Dallas June 17, many remembered the impact he’s had on their lives. Celia shared that Jack Beckman told a story even she hadn’t heard, about the time he was hired to manage Reunion Arena. Barshop and his boss had flown to Corpus Christi to interview Beckman after he finished working a concert. A riot broke out at the concert and Beckman arrived late and soaking wet, apologizing for his appearance to his future bosses. “Well, you’re here now. What will be will be,” Barshop drawled in his Texas accent.

Carol Wallace had a similar experience with the unflappable, always pleasant Jerry Barshop. Wallace expressed her interest in learning about venue design and construction. Barshop was leading one of the many expansion projects at the Dallas Convention Center. “He invited me to an early morning breakfast meeting with the architects and others involved in the design process so that I could observe. I had worked a late-night concert and did not arrive home until 1 a.m. and then had to double back downtown for a 6 a.m. breakfast. I went because I really wanted to learn.

Jerry Barshop, left, with Lou Owen, unknown woman, Bill Luther and Dean Justice.

“I attended the meeting; nobody in the room looked like me. The meeting started, we had breakfast and after breakfast …I fell asleep. Jerry nudged me and I excused myself and returned to the office. When Jerry arrived at the office later, I quipped, “Just tell me I didn’t snore!” I was so embarrassed and did not want to attend any future meetings. But Jerry insisted that I needed to attend. He said we all have crazy things happen in our careers, but you just don’t let it deter you. You get back in the ring! So, I went back. As time wore on and I became familiar with the team members one of the friendly teases was that ‘if you didn’t keep the meeting moving, Carol’s going to fall asleep!’”

Jerry Barshop left his mark on the city of Dallas, the venue industry and his immediate family as one of the best. Carol Wallace was brought into the industry by Barshop and Poe. “Having two men like that who brought me in as the first person of color in the administrative office, not in housekeeping, at the Dallas Convention Center and then supporting me and mentoring me through the industry, I have to say, was a blessing.”

Celia revealed her dad loved listening to classical music in his downtime. He would say he didn’t understand it very well, but it caused him to think because it was so complex. During the rock and roll years at Reunion Arena he found another love – Led Zeppelin.

“He described Led Zeppelin the same way, saying ‘the songs are so good, and you have to think about the melody and it’s very complex,’” Celia said.

And when he listened, he listened loud, so loud it would set off the break-in alarm in his home because the windows vibrated so violently. Celia would get the back-up call from the security company because she lived nearby. Jerry wouldn’t hear the alarm because the music was so loud. “I could hear it when I pulled into the driveway,” Celia recalled. “I’d call back and say false alarm, he’s okay.” She never said it was just Led Zeppelin.

Barshop was also a serious family man and supported fully by his wife Wauscel who was regularly with him at district and national meetings of IAVM, as were Bruce and Celia, Cliff Wallace noted.

“Dad never took a vacation. Our vacation was the IAVM conference. There were spouses’ programs and kids’ programs. I met and stayed friends with Roy Saunders’ kids, the Mancuso kids from Omaha. I have some really fond memories. The closing lunch with RBBB that the kids could go to was a big-to-do,” Celia recalled.

For family and friends, the main lesson learned from Jerry Barshop was to be a servant leader. And he taught that “it doesn’t matter what your job title is. You do whatever it takes to get ready for an event,” Celia added. “Being a servant-leader just seemed effortless with Dad; it was who he was at work and how he was in his personal life.”

Barshop was predeceased by his parents, his brother and his cherished wife of 68 years, Wauscel LaRue. He is survived by his children, Bruce and Celia, and their families, including six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren, whom he held dear.