Your Foundation Proudly Presents
The 30|UNDER|30 Class of 2020 Spotlight
Sponsored by Ungerboeck 

Rachel M. Austin
Social Media & Digital Marketing Manager at Target Center

Rachel Austin is the Social Media & Digital Marketing Manager at Target Center in Minneapolis, MN. Rachel’s favorite part of this business is telling a venue’s story and building their brand voice, as well as connecting with guests on social media and hearing their favorite event memories.

When asked what being named to the 30|UNDER|30 Class of 2020 meant to her, she replied, “When I found out I had been chosen to be part of this year’s IAVM 30|UNDER|30 class, I was shocked and honored. While this year has been challenging on multiple levels for everyone in our industry, receiving this award motivates me to work even harder to support, promote and execute the highest quality live events for our guests once our world starts to open back up again.”

Join your Foundation in congratulating Rachel on being honored as one of the 30|UNDER|30 Class of 2020! Don’t forget to check back with us each Thursday as we spotlight another honoree!

JustOne Campaign: The annual recruitment campaign gives IAVM’s volunteer leaders the opportunity to recruit one new member as the official launch begins today, September 1 through December 31, 2020. Who makes up the IAVM Leadership? The IAVM Board of Directors, Foundation Board of Trustees, Regents, Governors, Committees and Task Forces spread the word about the value of IAVM membership.

IAVM’s members believe in the networking, engagement, professional development, research and information, and mentoring resources that the Association provides. These are solid reasons to tell our story to potential new members. Let’s expand the IAVM family which now stands at 7,200+ members globally. 

Last year’s JustOne campaign ended on December 31, 2019 and resulted in 95 new members. Your leadership and commitment to IAVM’s growth is evident in the results!

GOAL: Today, we have 298 individuals involved in IAVM’s governance. If everyone just one new member it will give us 100% participation by our leadership in 2020-2021, potentially adding another 298 new members.

Why is this important? IAVM’s governance is working hard to identify the next round of leaders that will propel IAVM into the future and new heights, but more importantly, provide you with expanded connections to give you more vibrant experiences and discussions at our schools and conferences, face-to-face and virtually. By having a larger more diverse network, everyone benefits.  

REWARD: The Board, Committee, Council or Task force and individual that refers the most members will be recognized at VenueConnect 2021 in Atlanta, Georgia.

To receive credit for your new member, ask your referral to complete these fields in the online membership application*:

• How did you hear about IAVM – Enter “JustOne” and the committee you want to receive credit; important if you serve on multiple committees
  • Example: JustOne-Membership Committee
     
• If a person referred you, provide name:
  • Example: Stacey Church, Membership Committee

*The applicant will save the one-time initiation fee of $150 if they enter ‘JustOne’ in the promotion code field of the Professional or Allied Membership Applications. New members only

JustOne affords you the opportunity to help someone reach their potential and have access to resources that ensures their success. Encourage your colleague, star employee, customer, etc. to become a part of our community. Encourage them to become an IAVM member. So, get your competitive juices flowing and help us meet our goal, 298 volunteers connecting 298 new members with IAVM.

Questions, contact Member Services at 972.906.7441 and ask for Gina Brydson and Robin Covington.

By ESTA

ESTA is proud to help raise awareness of the dire need for Congress to both pass the RESTART Act (S.3814), which would extend the Paycheck Protection Program and establish SBA loan guarantees for certain businesses, and extend the Pandemic Unemployment Act. These measures will help our industry, which is on Red Alert for its very survival. That is why we need your help to spread the word about #RedAlertRESTART.

To call attention to the deep financial plight of the Live Event Industry, a nationwide event will take place on Tuesday, September 1st, 2020, from 9 pm-midnight. As of now, around 1,500 buildings across North America will be lit in red as a show of support for the Live Events Industry. We hope this message will help that number grow. The goal is create congressional pressure to act now. Once a robust $35 billion industry, the Live Events business was the first to close and will be the last to re-open, forever changing the lives of those involved.

#WeMakeEvents, #RedAlertRESTART and #ExtendPUA represent a major call to action, imploring the US Congress to pass the RESTART Act (S.3814) as quickly as possible, offering economic relief to the Live Events Industry which has been shuttered since March, 2020. Additionally, the movement is to support ExtendPUA.org in their efforts towards continuation and extension of the Pandemic Unemployment Act.

The North American event was inspired by the August 11th event #WeMakeEvents Red Alert Day Of Action, when over 700 buildings were lit in red across the UK. That event, organized by PLASA (https://www.plasa.org/we-make-events/), called attention to the same plight facing the Live Events Industry there.

As wedding halls, theaters, concert tours, festivals, opera houses, trade shows remain closed (or open on a very limited basis) and live events as well as film and television production continue to be canceled, the entire industry is impacted, from designers, technicians, programmers, and stagehands to rental shops, manufacturers, and distributors of entertainment technology.

Please share this message far and wide and join by lighting your house red and posting on social media. Attached is a graphic you may also use on your website or social media channels. This is our opportunity to show the world the scale of what it really takes to make events possible.

For information about joining the event and lighting your building red, please contact: WeMakeEventsNorthAmerica@gmail.com.

By R.V. Baugus

The fresh images are now coming in more than 24 hours after Hurricane Laura arrived on-shore in Louisiana and caused major damage to the city of Lake Charles and throughout other communities. Six people have so far died in Louisiana, while in Lake Charles four IAVM members are represented at two venues, the Burton Coliseum Complex and the Lake Charles Civic Center, whose roof collapsed from the onslaught.

Just 12 hours or so before the Category 4 hurricane arrived, I was able to reach out by email to IAVM member Jimmy Pottorff, manager of the Civic Center. As anyone who is preparing to experience a potentially traumatic event knows, it is often the anticipation and the build-up that is the hardest to deal with. In this case, everyone was fairly certain that this would be a major hurricane, and certainly Pottorff was among that group.

“Thank you for reaching out, we are staying at the facility as a staging area for emergency responders and public works. Ask me again about 3 am this morning how it’s going … lol. We have prepared as much as we can; now comes the stressful hurry up and wait.”

As we now know, by 3 am the venue did not resemble what it looked like just 12 hours earlier. To see dramatic video of the damage to the Civic Center, please click here.

Jason Barnes, Director of the Burton Coliseum Complex, shared on Thursday in the aftermath that he and his staff evacuated the day before as did his staff.

“From what I have been able to assess looking at pictures and video and talking to others, Laura was by far the worst hurricane to hit our area,” he said. “This says a lot since Hurricanes Rita and Ike both impacted Southwest Louisiana in the past 15 years. Destruction is wide-spread. Thankfully, the storm surge wasn’t nearly as bad as what was forecast, but the winds associated with this storm more than made up for it.

“Regarding our facility, I’m told that it held up well under the circumstances. I was most concerned with our coliseum, but from the outside the structure looks intact. There is damage to our other buildings, but not extensive. We’re fortunate.

“Jimmy’s facility took on considerable damage, based on what I have seen in social media. I’m trying to reach him to check in, but it’s still difficult with communications out here. We’re all thinking about him and his team over there.”

Barnes’ venue will now transition as a post-storm incident structure with the State operating the venue for search-and-rescue response and also working towards returning evacuees back to the community.

“Our electric utility provider, Entergy, has designated two of our largest parking lots to serve as the ‘home base’ for all electricians and support staff solely working to restore power to our area,” Barnes said. “They will be bringing 1,000 line trucks, too. We will also be assisting State Farm as a fueling hub for all of their adjusters to utilize.”

In closing, Barnes knows that he has friends in the IAVM family.

“Many thanks to our friends at IAVM for always being there for us in times like these.”

We will be updating on Hurricane Laura and ask at this time for the IAVM family to keep all impacted throughout the country in your thoughts.

Photo: Devastation in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

(Editor’s Note: IAVM member Tom Cornwall, CVE, shares about his work in the “bubble” during the National Hockey League playoffs. Cornwall has previously shared his story about this unique life and will be writing a concluding story following the crowning of the Stanley Cup champion.)

By Tom Cornwall, CVE

Life in the bubble is routine, especially now that we are entering Round 2 and having only one game a day instead of the three a day during Round 1. Like most of the other bubble dwellers, my morning consists of taking care of personal business including checking in with the outside world news, maybe a bit of online banking to keep the bill collectors away, some social media to stay connected with family/friends, and perhaps FaceTime with my wife, Betsy, to see how she’s holding up.

She’s having to take care of running the day to day with the house with a bit of help from some of the kids so there’s always something to chat about. Mid-morning I leave the hotel and walk 2.5 blocks through the secure bubble fence path to the arena where after getting my COVID test consisting of either a throat or nose swab depending on the day, I catch up with my colleagues and start the day’s activities. For us, it’s continuing to make sure the security protocols are being adhered to, checking to make sure all locations have enough masks, gloves, thermometers, hand sanitizer, and that the arena was properly cleaned and sanitized from the night before. If it’s a practice day, then the rest of the morning is spent at the two team hotels loading and unloading buses for the ride to the practice rink where we’ve created another bubble. Our secure and clean buses become what we refer to as the ‘rolling bubble’ linking the two bubbles.

Mid-afternoon there are a few meetings to review the game logistics and protocols and ensure everything is in order for the game. Perhaps there’s a trip down the bubble path to one of the two team hotels to check on their sanitization supplies in team lounges, meal rooms, medical support rooms, and restocking as necessary. Speaking of medical, there is a complete medical support team also housed in the bubble to deal with player injuries and the occasional staff injury. Dental and MRI services are provided off site in a clinic reserved just for the bubble occupants and accessed via another ‘rolling bubble’ vehicle ensuring that the player or staff member never leaves the security and safety of the bubble or has contact with the outside world.

Evenings are spent with hockey games, wrap-up and then the walk back to the hotel for perhaps a cold beverage in the hotel bar or the staff lounge before hitting the pillow to do it all over again the next day!

The bubble provides several opportunities for dining in the restaurants of the hotels, the restaurant of the arena, two or three food trucks in the outdoor plaza, or there is alway Skip the Dishes or Door Dash if one gets tired of restaurant food. The hotel gyms provide workout opportunities and the SCOTIA plaza area in the ICE DISTRICT outside ROGERS PLACE provides an outdoor space with picnic tables, basketball hoops, and food trucks where we can enjoy a bit of sun and fresh air while still inside the secure bubble environment.

All in all life is good in the bubble. We feel safe and secure and experiencing and making a bit of history with this NHL Hub City hockey in a bubble tournament structure.

#nhlbubble #Stanleycupplayoffs @NHL_Bubble_Life

Photo by NHL.com

To see a 45-minute video of Tom Cornwall discussing the bubble life, click here.