By Sarah Burt

Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) celebrated International Women’s Day (IWD) with newly created partnerships with technical education providers to elevate MCEC as an inclusive employer for female graduates in traditionally male-dominant areas.

This year’s IWD theme was ‘Break the Bias,’ and MCEC was proud to be empowering women to follow whichever path they choose, having recently launched an internship program born from a commitment to supporting female recruitment and work experience.

The purpose is to encourage more female participation in operational and technical areas, to broaden the general candidate pools, and to improve opportunities for greater diversity and inclusion in the workforce.

Recently hired intern Ebony Watts is a graduate of the RMIT Diploma of Live Production and Technical Services course and was offered the role in a six-month, full-time level 1 placement capacity.

Ebony said the opportunity MCEC has given her is exciting and diverse.

“This is a big step for me. This is my first real job and I never thought I would be working in a venue like this,” she said. “I have tagged along with lighting techs, multimedia techs, and even venue techs in addition to the general AV crew I have been rostered with. Everyone I’ve met is really nice and has warmly welcomed me.”

“My interest is primarily in lighting tech and I’m fairly confident with basic vision tech,” she added. “I’m nervous to learn more about audio as it’s currently my weak point but I know it’s a necessary part of AV and I’m confident I will get the appropriate support to delve into that area at MCEC” she added.

Sarah Burt is Media and Content Specialist at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.

By Stadium Business

ASM Global has been selected to manage the historic Olympia London venue, which is undergoing a major transformation.

ASM Global will take on management responsibility for Olympia’s exhibitions and events business.

Olympia London opened in 1886 and is one of the city’s busiest venues. The overall Olympia site is currently being redeveloped as a wide-ranging district spanning art, culture, education, entertainment, exhibitions, music, offices, and food and drink space.

The $1.7 billion redevelopment, which will be completed in 2024, includes a 4,400-capacity music venue, a 1,575-seat performing arts theatre, a school for creative arts, 100,000 square feet of restaurants, bars and eateries, two renowned hotels, 550,000 square feet of offices and 2.5 acres of new public space.

ASM Global and Olympia London’s management teams have begun collaborating on venue enhancement plans for the reimagined conference and hospitality facilities.

ASM Global president and chief executive Ron Bension said: “We are proud to partner with Olympia London, Yoo Capital and Deutsche Finance International on this amazing and historic venue, positioning it at the forefront of the industry for the next 100 years.

“Our commitment to guest and partner satisfaction aligns with the reputation of Olympia London, and we look forward to continuing to serve existing and new clients’ event schedules at Olympia London and developing the program with other signature events.”

ASM Global’s UK venue portfolio already includes London’s OVO Arena Wembley and the AO Arena in Manchester. The company has more than 300 venues in its global network.

By Stacie Bauer

Ungerboeck and Tessitura announced the expansion of their partnership with the launch of an integration between VenueOps and the Tessitura platform.

Since its debut five years ago, VenueOps has made waves in the event industry as an intuitive application for venue management and booking. Performing arts centers, arenas, stadiums, museums, and other facilities rely on VenueOps to manage event booking, production, resource allocation, task management, and more.

The integration translates to reduced friction between sales and box office teams, improved communication, and streamlined data entry. It also enables production data to be seamlessly shared between the two solutions, simplifying setup within Tessitura. The two-way data sharing also allows for simplified report creation within VenueOps, among other efficiencies.

To deliver more innovation and value to their shared clients, Ungerboeck and Tessitura are committed to developing unified workflows that will further enhance the solutions they provide today. This commitment is also evidenced in a Tessitura integration that is currently in development with Ungerboeck’s latest cloud-based platform, which will offer similar capabilities to the integration mentioned above.

“The cooperation and partnership with Tessitura are natural extensions of the shared vision to empower teams that champion arts and culture,” said Steve Mackenzie, Executive Vice President at Ungerboeck. “We’re proud to collaborate with an organization of such high caliber.”

Tessitura, which serves over 750 arts and cultural organizations, strives to meet the ever-growing business needs of its members. This integration marks the first of many benefits Tessitura’s global members can expect from joint innovations with Ungerboeck.

“Ungerboeck has a long history of driving innovation as a technology leader in the events industry,” said Erin Lively Koppel, Tessitura’s Chief Strategy Officer. “We’re so pleased that our partnership is leading to greater efficiencies for arts and cultural organizations across the globe.”

Tessitura will host a webinar in April to highlight the full capabilities of the VenueOps integration for their member community.

“We are thrilled to see this collaboration between Tessitura and Ungerboeck,” said Debby Urbauer, Chief of Staff at the Smith Center. “As one of the organizations who beta tested the integration with VenueOps and Tessitura, this certainly opens up doors to less duplicate entry and increased collaboration between our booking and box office teams.”

Stacie Bauer is Event & Sponsorship Coordinator, Marketing for Ungerboeck.

By Jude-Anne Spencer-Phillip

On Wednesday, March 2, 2022, the Pennsylvania Convention Center hosted “Doing Business with the Pennsylvania Convention Center: Diverse Business Roundtable.” The roundtable was the first of two events being hosted by the Pennsylvania Convention Center Authority (PCCA) in March to encourage greater participation by minority, women, and disadvantaged business enterprises (MWDBE) in contract opportunities at the Center.

“The Pennsylvania Convention Center Authority and ASM Global are committed to fostering an environment in which all businesses are afforded equal access and an equal opportunity to compete for contracts with the Authority,” said David A. Nasatir, Esq., Chair of the Pennsylvania Convention Center Authority. “There are many diverse businesses in the Philadelphia region that are not aware of the opportunities that exist with the Convention Center and are not familiar with the process for becoming one of our suppliers. The purpose of the roundtable events is to ensure that these businesses are provided with the tools and information they need to be able to successfully compete and contract with the Center.”

Approximately 75 diverse business owners were registered for the event and had the opportunity to interact with key staff of the Pennsylvania Convention Center and other business owners. During the event, they gained insight into the Center’s procurement processes and learned about some upcoming capital projects. Some of the Center’s DEI community partners, such as the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Economic Opportunity, the US Minority Business Development Agency, the Asian American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Philadelphia, and the Eastern Minority Supplier Development Council, were also on hand to provide attendees with important information on registering their businesses as a MWDBE and successfully operating as a diverse business owner.

“Last year, the Pennsylvania Convention Center spent approximately $20 million in capital projects ranging from IT upgrades, facility renovations, professional services, and the purchasing of goods and services,” said Jeffrey N. Brown, PCCA Board Member, Chair of the Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) Committee, and Founder, Chairman and CEO of Brown’s Super Stores, Inc. “Our goal is to create meaningful and substantial opportunities for MWDBEs in the Pennsylvania Convention Center and in our region.”

One such success story comes from Donahue Bailey, Project Executive at Atrium International, Inc. Atrium International, Inc. started as a subcontractor and is now one of the Center’s prime contractors, providing architectural engineering services with a specialization in project management and construction management.

“Working with the Pennsylvania Convention Center has been very impactful for our business,” Bailey said. “I attended several of the Doing Business with the Pennsylvania Convention Center events and was able to connect with one of the Center’s prime contractors at the time. As a result of that opportunity, the Center saw the quality of our work and we were eventually signed on as a prime contractor.”

“Being listed as a contractor for the Pennsylvania Convention Center has helped us to gain other business and I would encourage persons to take the first step towards expanding your business by attending the Doing Business with the Pennsylvania Convention Center events,” Bailey continued.

The next event in this effort will be a Doing Business with the Pennsylvania Convention Center: Networking Breakfast on Monday, March 28 from 8:30 am to 11:00 am at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. The event will include an insightful discussion with Jeffrey Brown and an opportunity to network with some of the Center’s prime contractors and community partners. Business owners can register for the event on Eventbrite.

Jude-Anne Spencer-Phillip is Senior Communications Manager at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.

By Suzanne Freckmann

Upon entering the third year of the pandemic, Americans are not only more sensitive to germs in public restrooms, they now hold higher standards for the cleanliness, condition, and technology used in these shared spaces, according to the annual Healthy Handwashing Survey™ from Bradley Corporation conducted in January.

Despite ongoing COVID outbreaks, most Americans have not been deterred from using public bathrooms. In fact, 41% of Americans report using public restrooms as often as they did before COVID came on the scene. Interestingly, 27% say they use them more now than previously.

“Thanks to the pandemic, more people are paying closer attention to various elements in public restrooms – how clean they are, how easy they are to navigate without touching surfaces and how they can be improved,” said Jon Dommisse, vice president of marketing and corporate communication for Bradley Corp., a global manufacturer of commercial restroom equipment.

The survey, which has examined the state of U.S. public restrooms and handwashing habits for 13 years, identified key COVID impacts on how Americans view public restrooms – as well as the businesses and establishments that provide them.

#1 Restroom maintenance gets higher marks

A positive side effect of the virus is that half of the population believes public restrooms are now cleaner and in better condition than before COVID. More men (55%) give a thumbs up to the cleanliness of restrooms compared with women (47%).

“Prior to COVID, upwards of 70% of Americans reported having an unpleasant restroom experience,” Dommisse explained. “Evidently, increased cleaning protocols and stocking of supplies is being observed and appreciated by restroom users.”

Further, 79% think a posted and updated cleaning schedule in a restroom is important. “Signage goes a long way in helping to reassure visitors the facility is taking steps to ensure a clean environment and cares about keeping them safe,” he said.

#2 Unclean restrooms tarnish the overall business

Americans increasingly think poorly of a business when they encounter a messy restroom. In 2022, 51% of Americans say an unpleasant public restroom at a business shows poor management, up from 39% in 2021. Respondents also report that encountering neglected restrooms lowers their opinion of the establishment (43%) and shows the business doesn’t care about its customers (38%).

#3 Americans place high value on touchless restrooms

84% of Americans believe it’s important for public restrooms to be equipped with touchless fixtures and 63% say they are more likely to return to a business that offers no-touch capabilities in its restrooms.
“In fact, Americans view touch-free technology as the number one feature that makes them feel safer from germs in restrooms,” Dommisse said. “Touchless features are also Americans’ most requested improvement in restrooms. More cleaning/restocking takes second place.”

Which touchless restroom features are considered most important? Respondents cite faucets, soap dispensers, flushers, and restroom entrance doors as their top four.

#4 Consumers spend more money at a business with pleasant restrooms

Americans are willing to put their money behind restroom cleanliness. Almost 60% say they are likely to spend more cash at a business with clean, well-maintained restrooms. Another 58% say when out running errands they’ll take restroom breaks at a business they know has “good” restrooms.

#5 Coronavirus concerns persist, in general

The majority of Americans continue to be in an elevated state of germ consciousness, triggered by the coronavirus. While 89% of the general population felt more aware of germs in April 2020, that number has fallen to 78%. Northeasterners currently have the highest level of germ concerns (86%) while Midwesterners have the lowest level (72%).

“Certain types of facilities cause more trepidation about coming into contact with germs,” Dommisse added. “Specifically, Americans are most concerned about germs in stores (50%), medical facilities (39%), restaurants (34%) and gas stations (28%).”

The annual Healthy Handwashing Survey from Bradley Corp. queried 1,035 American adults Jan. 10-21, 2022, about their handwashing habits, concerns about the coronavirus and flu and their use of public restrooms. Participants were from around the country and were fairly evenly split between men (46%) and women (54%). For more information, visit www.bradleycorp.com/handwashing.

Suzanne Freckmann is a PR Associate for Bradley Corporation.