CareerConnect is a FREE program encompassing career coaching, job fair, and recruitment open house coinciding with IAVM’s 2021 VenueConnect Annual Conference. Individuals seeking full time employment opportunities in the Venues & Live Events Industry from Georgia and the surrounding states are encouraged to attend. VenueConnect attendees are invited to attend and/or assist with the job fair/career advice portion. Volunteer Career Coaches are encouraged to bring information on their open positions. Participating Job Fair organizations include: OVG, Spectra, TeamWork Online & VenuWorks.

Where: Omni Atlanta Hotel at CNN Center
When: Monday, August 2
11am-1pm ET – Career Coaching & Job Fair
1-5pm ET – Open House with Recruiters from: OVG, Spectra & VenuWorks

Registration is FREE!
Click HERE to register as an attendee.
Click HERE to volunteer as a Career Coach. Please remember to indicate if you have positions available.

Before attending, be sure to view the below links:
OVG: Facility Positions / Corporate Positions
Spectra: Open Positions
TeamWork Online: Open Positions 
VenuWorks: Open Positions

By R.V. Baugus

Barry Strafacci knows a thing or two about the Convention Center Lifetime Achievement Award as presented by the International Association of Venue Managers (IAVM) after nomination and selection from the association’s Convention Centers Committee. It was Strafacci, after all, who served as the chair of the committee when the award was formed some 20 years ago. The award has now come full circle as Strafacci — an IAVM Retired Member residing in St. Petersburg, FL, is the latest recipient for the award and will be honored at IAVM’s VenueConnect in Atlanta on Wednesday, Aug. 4 at 2 pm (ET).

For Strafacci, being recognized by his peers provides an extra satisfaction.

“Stacey Church (Convention Centers Committee chair) called to give me the good news,” Strafacci said. “Stacey was actually one of the very first managers I worked with.

“What it means to me is a lot and it’s emotional because there is no greater recognition professionally than being recognized by your peers and the other people that do what you did for a living. That’s the best. When you look at sports awards or theatrical awards it’s when people that are the entertainers would get to vote it would mean more. I think that is probably why it is so overwhelming to me.”

Strafacci’s distinguished and accomplished career certainly makes him a due — if not overdue — honoree for the award. While he still serves part-time as CEO in Barry Strafacci Venue Services, where he provides a wide range of consulting services in pre-opening and management areas of Convention Centers, Expos, and Fairgrounds, it is his tenure in the public assembly venue world that he is most remarkable for.

Strafacci began his career in the public sector as senior policy and budget advisor for the Kentucky Governor’s Office of Planning and Management after earning a graduate degree in Commercial Recreation from Western Kentucky University. After affecting policy at the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Board, which is responsible for the operation of the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center, Freedom Hall Arena, Broadbent arena and Cardinal Stadium and the Commonwealth Convention Center in Louisville, KY, Strafacci was named as vice president of the combined facilities. During his tenure, he expanded the Kentucky Fair and Exhibition Center to over 1-million-square feet of exhibit space before he left in 1989.

Strafacci would go on to serve as a Regional Vice President Special Projects Convention Centers for Global Spectrum (now Spectra Venue Management) and remained in that position while being named the first General Manager at the Harborview Center in Clearwater, FL in 1996. Strafacci’s career with the private management company covered almost 20 years.

Strafacci was introduced to then IAAM in 1985 by Louisville colleague Jeff Blosser, who departed Louisville ahead of Strafacci to lead the Oregon Convention Center and currently is President/CEO of the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle.

“One of the first things Jeff said to me was if you want to be in this business to join IAAM and I did,” Strafacci said. “How fortunate it was for me to get in the business there, to be paired with Jeff as a partner and boss, and to be immediately exposed to the association. IAVM members — and not just convention center members — but our association people help each other which is what makes it so wonderful.”

As his special day quickly arrives, Strafacci reflected on some convention center giants such as Lee Fehrenkamp, John Christison, Blosser, and Roger Dixon, who have helped chart the course for convention centers and the role they play today. Strafacci also mentioned Mich Sauers, who hired him at Global Spectrum and who will be in Atlanta to celebrate along with Strafacci, his family, and IAVM attendees.

“Everybody wants to see each other,” Strafacci said about VenueConnect, which was virtual only in 2020 due to the pandemic. “We get these calls and it’s like long lost friends talking. I worked with Mich Sauers for 20 years and he wasn’t planning on being there when I called to let him know about the award. He called me the next day and said he had made a change of plans and was going to fly in for one day to be there.”

It makes for a fitting moment for someone who has given the industry and association so much through the years and now is the one receiving acknowledgment for meritorious service.

By R.V. Baugus

Darlene Somers, CMP DES, has heard the talk from client friends she has worked with in the past in the hospitality industry when she shared about her new employment as Director of Meetings at IAVM: “Oh my God, I can’t believe you’re a part of IAVM! I’m so excited to see you in Atlanta!”

Indeed, Somers, who carries an impressive portfolio of more than 20 years experience as an association management event professional in the world of hospitality, likes to say that her newest career move “makes the circle complete.”

Somers is just as excited to attend VenueConnect and while she will not have the full thrust of responsibility for the position as next year will carry in Phoenix, she looks forward to observation, learning, and, yes, meeting some of those past acquaintances as well as getting to say hello and meeting attending IAVM members.

“What a blessing to be able to attend VenueConnect,” Somers said. “Not that I’ve got free time, but just to learn about all the parts that make VenueConnect so special. It will almost be from an attendee standpoint for me. When you’re staff all you really see is behind the curtain and you’re very much backstage looking at how the machine works. I will have an opportunity to see it from the opposite side and come back behind the curtain to help make it all come together. I see it as a blessing to be able to attend this meeting before I’m responsible.”

Somers comes to IAVM from her own business with DWS Project & Event Management and prior to that served as Senior Meetings Manager with the Association Management Center from 1996-2020.

“My previous experience has been a lot about building and maintaining functioning teams,” Somers aid. “The company (AMC) worked for a lot of associations all at one time, talking four or five associations, and all of their events were my responsibility. For every client that I worked with or every team that I worked with, it was all different. The dynamics were different, the people were different, and the objectives were different, but it was all about serving the client and bringing the best value to them.”

While COVID-19 resulted in a layoff from a long-time position, Somers offered advice that they used during that time. Mostly, there is no shame in having a career stalled or derailed by a pandemic.

“I call it my time of forced self-reflection,” she said. “It would have been a shame to have wasted that opportunity. Just think deeply about what it is you want to do and what value you can still bring.”

Somers now has one group to work with and concentrate on to bring value, and that is to the IAVM membership and the events and meetings that are held.

“I really look forward to getting down to the granular level of member support,” she said. “To really just understand what members need and give them things that they need before they need it.

“I really wanted to work for AN organization. That was sort of my motivation in looking at IAVM. I did a lot of research and talked to many of my contacts in the industry. I’ve been very involved in PCMA (Professional Convention Management Association) from the very beginning and have worked with folks mainly in convention centers and some performing arts buildings. To work directly and serve an industry that I have been a partner to all these years has me really excited.”

In addition to being an active member of PCMA, Somers has served on several international committees and task forces. In addition, she co-authored a chapter in Professional Meeting Management, 6th edition, and has been a highly rated speaker at industry events. She is a committed volunteer with the local Cultural Arts Festival and Fridays@4, an organization focused on helping association and nonprofit leaders develop meaningful connections and skills for career success.

With football season approaching, it is worth noting that Somers took 1st place in her inaugural attempt at playing Fantasy Football and is eager to defend that title this season. She is married with two young adult children, has one dog who wandered up to her house and never left, and is “babysitting more bottles of red wine that any one person really needs.”

Somers holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from Texas A&M University and earned a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in the Workplace Certificate from the University of South Florida, Muma College of Business.

As for her hiring in July immediately followed by a plane trip to Atlanta for IAVM’s biggest annual event, Somers could only say that it is like “drinking from a fire hose.”

The faucet to that hose has been turned on, and IAVM members can rest assured the Association’s new leader as Director of Meetings is ready to extinguish any fire set before her.

By R.V. Baugus

The Women in Leadership panel session at VenueConnect is always one of the top-attended and most anticipated, and this year will be no different in Atlanta when the session takes place on Wednesday, August 5.

Before taking their seats on the panel, Stacey A. Hall, PhD, Executive Director, National Center for Spectator Sports Safety and Security (NCS4), Professor of Sport Management, College of Business and Economic Development, at The University of Southern Mississippi, and Celise Kalke, Managing Director of Synchronicity Theatre in Atlanta, shared about themselves and what they look forward to at the session.

Please share briefly about your role as a woman in leadership with your organization.

STACEY HALL: The NCS4 is the nation’s only academic center devoted to the study and practice of spectator sports safety and security. As Executive Director, I oversee a dedicated team of staff responsible for accomplishing our mission of supporting the sport and entertainment industries through innovative research, training, and outreach programs. We work closely with diverse organizations and subject matter experts to better understand the threat environment, identify vulnerabilities, communicate risk-mitigation techniques, and close capability gaps.

We have long-standing training partnerships with DHS/FEMA and INTERPOL and offer professional development/certification options. The center focuses on applied research that is meaningful and impactful to industry decision-makers. We maintain an extensive repository of best practices and provide networking and peer-to-peer learning opportunities through an annual conference, forums, and webinars. We engage with solutions providers through our technology alliance group and have the capabilities to test technologies through product reviews and operational exercises to educate stakeholders on market options.

I invest a lot of time connecting with academic partners, industry associations, and government agencies to ensure collaboration and the limitation of duplicated efforts in the field. We can all come together to develop and distribute the best resources possible for professionals responsible for the operations and management of venues and the safety and security of patrons.

CELISE KALKE: I served as the Managing Director of Synchronicity Theatre, a professional theatre in Atlanta whose mission is uplifting the voices of women and girls. I am a co-leader with our Producing Artistic Director Rachel May.

Identify some of your philosophies as you lead others.

STACEY HALL:
· Characteristics that I think are important include honesty, transparency, integrity, respect, humility, and empathy.
· Empower others
· Praise – give credit when credit is due (and publicly when possible)
· Clearly communicate your vision
· Be approachable and serve with your heart – I am here to help others achieve their career goals and grow personally and professionally
· Create an organizational culture and climate where no one feels scared to share thoughts/opinions/perspectives. The success of an organization is not because of one person but the work of many individuals! Celebrate the ‘WE,’ not ‘ME.’

CELISE KALKE: At Synchronicity we practice collaborative leadership, believing that our staff works best within an empowered environment with an emphasize on collaboration and transparency.

What do you see for the future generation of women leaders as far as what it takes to “get there”?

STACEY HALL:
· Mentorship and networking are critical. More resources/training is available specifically for women interested in pursuing leadership roles. More women in the field are qualified and eligible to lead and manage – opening more doors.
· Organizations also realize the importance of DEI initiatives, making them stronger/successful when their staff reflects the consumer population.
· Women should advocate for themselves and don’t be afraid to ask for what they want or need. Share career goals with others and map out a pathway to achieve identified career goals (women in leadership roles should seek to help other women in the industry when appropriate).

CELISE KALKE: Nimbleness, confidence, humility and assertiveness.

By R.V. Baugus

As Principal of Alpharetta, Ga.-based Talent Effects, Inc. since 2002, Don Lang knows a thing or two about strategies for successful leadership. His company supports senior leadership teams who seek to increase their effectiveness in selecting, developing and advancing talent to realize sustainable business success.
Lang is also a Senior Lecturer in the Executive MBA Programs of Michael J. Coles College of Business at
Kennesaw State University.

Perhaps never more than today is the topic of successful leadership and strategies to get there so important as guests, venue staff, contractors, and more try their best to resume operations in a clean and successful manner. It is a session in which Lang will present at VenueConnect titled Becoming a 3X Strategic Leader.

There is always a demand for strong, strategic leaders. But what exactly do we mean by strategic? And how does a leader become more strategic? This session will explore “strategic” leadership from three skill perspectives: thinking, planning, and execution, and how a leader can sharpen skills in any or all of these areas to further increase career and organization success.

Before Don moves on to his 3X session, we caught him for 1X to discuss the presentation and why the room should be packed.

Based on your session title, can you share briefly the role of thinking, planning, and execution when it comes to being a strategic leader?

It’s not uncommon to think of leadership and strategy from the standpoint of strategic planning, yet planning is only one element of a leader’s strategy skills or perspective. Effective leaders are skilled at thinking, planning, and execution and demonstrate those skills concurrently and continuously. The world is moving too quickly to sequence these strategic actions independently or to do so on a periodic basis.

How in your role at Kennesaw State University do you demonstrate these three skills?

As the faculty lead for leadership, teaming, and coaching topics in the Executive MBA program, I continuously scan the environment for issues/trends/challenges facing business leaders to identify key learning points. I consider options to create an action learning class environment and facilitate meaningful applied activities to build understanding and skills around those topics.

Strategic can be an overused and at times a word bordering on cliche. What definition would you give to the word?

Agree, strategic is sometimes a word bordering on cliche! Let’s begin with leadership. Leadership is about creating value. Strategic leadership requires seeing and understanding broader definitions of value, the tensions of organizational life, and the cultural and organizational competencies that produce desired financial results. Strategic is about seeing and understanding the range of organizational options for creating value, assessing cultural/organizational competencies, and deciding on and leveraging the right implementation actions.

What are some of the consequences for those who choose not to be strategic in the manner you have described for your session?

Without understanding the range of value creating options, leaders may limit their decision-making and, as a result, their organization’s future viability.

How about a major takeaway or two you would like to have your audience go home with?

Two takeaways: 1.) a framework for understanding and managing competing values in your organization and 2.) key actions to develop your strategic thinking, planning and execution.