By Dennis Dennehy

First Avenue, one of the country’s leading independent concert promoters and venue owners, and AXS, a leader in mobile ticketing, marketing and data solutions, have entered an exclusive ticketing partnership that includes the six venues owned or operated by the Minneapolis-based company: First Avenue, 7th St Entry, Turf Club, Fine Line, The Fitzgerald Theater, and the Palace Theatre, which First Avenue co-operates with Jam Productions. First Avenue will utilize the full suite of AXS products and services to enhance every level of the event lifecycle, from where fans discover and purchase tickets to how they enter the venues.

“As independent venues and concert promoters, the First Avenue team is constantly looking for innovative ways to offer the best experience from start to finish for the fans. We are thrilled to welcome AXS as our official ticketing partner, elevating our fan experience with new features like 3D seat maps at our theaters, seamless mobile tickets and transfer and a broad array of marketing and distribution capabilities, helping fans discover and purchase tickets wherever they are on the internet. They make the buying processes incredibly easy and secure, which is exactly what we want to offer,” says Nate Kranz, First Avenue’s General Manager.

AXS’ patented ID-based mobile ticketing solution, AXS Mobile ID, powers seamless and secure ticket delivery, transfer, resale and contactless entry into the venues. Additionally, the AXS Anywhere technology allows for promotion and purchasing on major social media, streaming, and discovery sites such as YouTube, Spotify, Facebook, Songkick, and Bandsintown.

“Independent venues are the lifeblood of our industry and AXS is committed to bringing the best technology to help them generate new revenues and deliver a world-class consumer experience. As a pillar of their community for over 50 years, we could be not be more excited about our partnership with First Avenue,” said Stephanie Streeter, Senior Director for AXS Music.

Dennis Dennehy is Chief Communications Officer for AEG Presents.

Dave Straley is the Event Coordinator at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center on the campus of the University of Florida. Dave has risen through the ranks of the “O’Dome” beginning as a part-time student worker in 2013 to his full time administrator role since 2017. He oversees both the “Changeover” and “Floor Crew” divisions in addition to being the leading administrator for all UF Women’s Volleyball and Basketball games, various tradeshows, banquets, and other arena events. He enjoys his free time on the beach, weightlifting, and spending time with friends and family.”

“I was elated to find out I was awarded the 30 Under 30 award, not for myself but for every single person that has helped me along my journey. This award reinvigorated my passion and helps make the long days and nights along with working holidays and weekends, all worth it! ” 

Join your Foundation in congratulating Dave on being honored as one of the 30|UNDER|30 Class of 2020 and don’t forget to come back each Thursday as we spotlight another honoree!

Many thanks to our volunteer members who are recruiting new members to the Association. As of today, we’ve brought in 36 new members because our leadership is promoting the value of belonging to IAVM. Here are the top five recruiters of the JustOne campaign:

• Andrea Smalls – Georgia International Convention Center/GICC – 8 new members
• Jim Brown, CVE – First National Bank Arena – 3 members
• Bill Bavirsha, CVE – UIC Sports Complex – 3 members
• Kerry Painter, CVE, CEM, CMP – Raleigh Convention and Performing Arts Complex – 3 members
• Paul Turner, CVE – AT&T Stadium – 3 members

All of these leaders are part of IAVM’s Group Membership Program. Group membership is an easy way to get more of your team members involved, either as Professional Group Members or Allied Group Members.

This annual recruitment campaign enables IAVM’s volunteer leaders to recruit one new member. Who makes up the IAVM Leadership? The Board of Directors, Foundation Board of Trustees, Regents, Governors, Committees and Task Forces – 298 individuals — spread the word about the value of IAVM membership.

Why is this important? In these challenging times, our collective voices make a difference with our advocacy efforts. IAVM’s governance is working hard to identify the next round of leaders that will propel the Association into the future, but more importantly, deliver expanded connections from diverse backgrounds that will enhance sharing opportunities at our schools and conferences and on boards and committees.

There is still time to build on our success. Encourage your peers, employees, suppliers or neighboring venues to join soon. The campaign ends on March 31, 2021.

REWARD: The Board, Committee, Council, Task Force, Region and individual that refers the most members will be recognized at VC21 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Questions, contact Member Services at membership@iavm.org.

By R.V. Baugus

I sit here in Dallas, Texas, thankful that during the last National Hockey League season the Dallas Stars advanced to the Stanley Cup Final before losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning and the right to drink from Lord Stanley’s Cup.

I sit here cursing Jerry Jones for what happened more than 25 years ago when Jimmy Johnson left the Dallas Cowboys after bringing two Super Bowls to the city with the likelihood of more down the line. Since then, the playoffs have mostly been a cricket noise for the Boys. The latest NFL season ended with the league’s darling Kansas City Chiefs falling to a guy named Brady wearing a familiar No. 12 but playing in an unfamiliar Tampa Bay Buccaneers jersey. Yes, that Tom Brady who delivered the trophy to his new team in just his first year as a Buc.

I sit here remembering how just a decade ago the Texas Rangers appeared in back-to-back World Series, but with a rebuild that has seemingly gone on since those Series appearances, those glory years seem much more distant. The most recent Series saw the Los Angeles Dodgers knock off the Tampa Bay Rays at — of all places –our new Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. Twist the knife!

I sit here thankful that the Dallas Mavericks delivered the city an NBA championship in 2010-11. Until the team drafted wunderkind Luka Doncic a couple of years ago, though, just see the above paragraph about how the past decade has been pretty much a rebuild for the Mavs. Note: Tampa Bay does not have an NBA basketball team but if they did they would likely win it all in a sports year that has been sizzling and scintillating for the good people and fans of Tampa pro sports.

“We are so proud of our Bolts,” said Kevin Preast, Executive Vice President of Event Management at Vinik Sports Group and the Tampa Bay Lightning, when asked to comment on the incredible run of Tampa sports. “They made the bubble (the Stanley Cup Final was held in Toronto) shine and owned the distant thunder.”

OK, Kevin, I get it, just rip my heart out more time about our Stars losing!

“When you go into a championship run, having a chip on your shoulder works on the ice and on the gridiron,” Preast added, although he could have added the diamond and maybe one day the court.

As Sales & Marketing Manager at the Tampa Convention Center, Juan Lopez, CMP, shares in Preast’s enthusiasm for the sports blessings during a pandemic.

“It has been a tremendous ride and very uplifting for our community during these difficult times that we all have been facing,” Lopez said. “Here at the Tampa Convention Center, there is an outdoor bar and restaurant on our campus called The Sail and Big Ray’s Fish Camp. It was a popular place for the public to come and cheer on the Lightning, Rays, and Bucs during their incredible playoff runs, where we held socially distanced viewing parties.

“As our venue is situated on the Riverwalk along the Hillsborough River, it was a prime viewing area for the Lightning victory boat parade and for the Bucs victory boat parade. For the Super Bowl we spent many months carefully planning as host of the Media Center, Accreditation Headquarters, and Yacht Village. The Riverwalk and neighboring parks hosted the Super Bowl Experience, and out in the Channel was the Jose Gaspar Pirate Ship with a laser and fireworks show on Friday & Saturday night before the game. The Bucs making it to the Super Bowl and winning definitely added to the buzz and excitement.”

Lest we forget, Tropicana Field (home to the Rays) has served as home to World Wrestling Entertainment’s Monday Night RAW and Friday Night Smackdown, while Raymond James Stadium (home of the Super Bowl champions) will host this year’s WrestleMania. Meanwhile, the NBA Toronto Raptors announced they will play the remainder of their 2020-21 season with their “home” games at Amalie Arena in Tampa due to the myriad travel restrictions because of the pandemic.

So, we congratulate Tampa and the many venues that have played a role as its sports teams scaled the highest mountains. To honor the occasion, enjoy the photos below courtesy of Lopez and of course above the famous Super Bowl Lombardi Trophy toss from Brady to Rob Gronkowski (shirtless, holding the trophy) from boat to boat.

Fans watch the Buccaneers deliver a Super Bowl to the city.

Fireworks from Jose Gaspar light up the Tampa sky.

Tampa Bay Lightning fans enjoyed a viewing party.

It was World Series’ watching time for fans of the Tampa Bay Rays.

Radio row for the media for the Super Bowl was set up to appropriately socially distance.

By Brian Wright, MBA, CVP

A global pandemic is not an ideal time to plan a wedding. However, my wife and I set September 26th, 2020, as our date nearly 365 days prior and made the difficult decision many couples have had to make this year. We chose to continue with the wedding, recognizing that the act of marriage was the priority, not having a huge party or a large guest list. So during the six months prior to our wedding as COVID-19 spread and longevity was being realized, we went through plans A, B, C & D on all things from scaling down the invite list, spacing out the seating chart, changing venues, ordering PPE, and altering our honeymoon plans.

I was relishing the opportunity to put on my own event as the client/event planner, after ten years of being on the facility side serving the client and guests’ needs. Katie, my wife, had a vision for the weekend, but left it largely up to me, the self-proclaimed “Groomzilla,” to see it through. We adapted as best we could in the COVID environment, requiring masks, offering a Youtube live stream for relatives, contactless meal serving, and an indoor/outdoor reception environment with fire pits and music. However, one element that was always Plan A was having a zero-waste wedding.

Seeing the amount of waste resulting from events early in my career at Finley Stadium in Chattanooga inspired me to start recycling initiatives there and that passion deepened when I moved to Mercedes-Benz Stadium, working under sustainability guru Scott Jenkins. Katie and I practice recycling, reuse projects, and energy efficiency in our own home so we wanted to use our one-day platform to send a message of how simple it is to adopt a zero-waste mindset. Here is how we did it:

▪ Waste: The average wedding produces over 400 pounds of garbage. We could not have that, so we did not source anything that would be sent to landfill or plastics that could not be regenerated in under six months.
o Reusable plates and silverware were rented and only aluminum beer cans and glass liquor bottles were sourced.
o A compost vendor was partnered with to drop off a bin which we filled with food waste and compostable cups, napkins, and appetizer trays.
▪ Decoration: One of the most wasteful elements of many events, we utilized the “reuse” method here.
o Succulents were used as table decoration/nameplates and given to guests as gifts.
o Chinese Paper lanterns were spread throughout the venue as décor, used in our sendoff, which guests then got to take home with them.
o All the signage around the venue I made from pallets and reused to build an entry table for our house.
▪ Transportation: The largest, single contributor toward Greenhouse Gases, so selecting your venues wisely can have a direct effect on the environment.
o We chose a hotel for a room block, rehearsal dinner restaurant and ceremony/reception venue all within walking distance to limit the need for guests to drive.
▪ Vendor Selection: A Greener Economy means buying from locally owned businesses and sourcing food from within a 100 miles.
o We strictly used local, family owned businesses for everything, from event coordinator, photographer, cake maker, etc.
o Our rehearsal dinner restaurant and reception caterer are local, family owned staples in Chattanooga who source all their ingredients locally and were greatly appreciative of the extra business with the COVID-19 slowdown.
Throwing our zero-waste wedding was something we were truly passionate about, so all these decisions came to us naturally and were really fun to plan and execute. The best part was our guests recognized and appreciated it! Our hope now is that our story inspires others to throw their own zero-waste wedding, event, or socially distant cookout.

P.S. Being the face of an event for once, I did not get to participate in the breakdown post-event, which was an odd feeling for me when I woke up the next morning. So, I walked down to the venue and found our bag full of compost and compostables was placed in the landfill roll-off container! I happily removed it and placed it in the compost bin for pick-up. And like a good husband I stopped to bring my new wife back a cold brew coffee, only later did I tell her the real reason for my early morning trip!

Brian Wright, MBA, CVP, is Assistant Facility Maintenance Manager at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.