David Ax is an Event Manager for the Memphis Grizzlies in Memphis, Tennessee. David started his career in the venue management industry with the unique opportunity to manage multiple venues and contribute to the success of many different types of events. Since joining the Memphis Grizzlies, he has driven the growth of private and corporate event bookings as well as developing and serving as chair of the Safety Committee.

“Winning this award gave me the opportunity to pull away from the intense mindset I was in with the pandemic and be excited that I was now part of a group that was going to help lead us out of it.”

Join your Foundation in congratulating David on being honored as one of the 30|UNDER|30 Class of 2020 and come back each Thursday as we spotlight another honoree!

By R.V. Baugus

Venue Professional magazine will publish in a digital format only through the end of IAVM’s fiscal year of March 31, 2021. The decision comes as the Association — like most of its members — faces challenges in producing events, a key component in IAVM revenues. A decision will be made at that time as to when the magazine can resume publishing in print.

The magazine has published digitally for years as a companion to the print magazine. Several new columns have been added to the magazine since the July/August issue, in addition to the name change from Facility Manager to Venue Professional.

The publication remains dedicated to providing IAVM members the news, information, and entertainment they want to help guide them professionally and even personally.

Please know that the goal is to resume printing the magazine as soon as fiscally possible. Print is quite costly and as not only stewards of your membership dues but in an effort to help maintain a staff to be able to meet your needs, the decision is sensible and logical during these difficult and challenging time of COVID-19 and as our industry tries to move towards reopening.

We will continue to remain in communication with you should there be further developments to announced regarding Venue Professional and its publishing situation. In the meantime, please know we will NOT sacrifice any of the coverage of the people and news in our fantastic industry.

After several months of closely following key indicators including travel trends and consumer sentiment, the Let’s Go There campaign officially launches on Tuesday, September 8, when the collective travel industry will encourage Americans to do what is safe and productive: make plans to travel.

IAVM members are also encouraged to use your collective voices by using available toolkit resources from the U.S. Travel Association that can be accessed here.

By R.V. Baugus

On September 1, venues were awash in red to symbolically unite and raise public and media awareness in support of the live events sector that has suffered so greatly during the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown. Under #WeMakeEvents, a coalition of trade bodies, business, unions, and live events workers, venues, and even homes and cities took on a distinct red to raise awareness for many of the following daunting numbers:

Live events employ over 12 million people.
Live events contributes over $1 trillion annually to the US economy.
95% of live events have been cancelled due to COVID-19.
96% of companies have cut staff and/or wages.
77% of people in the live events industry have lost 100% of their income, including 97% of 1099 workers.

IAVM is a supporter of the initiative, and many member venues splashed on red on September 1.

In all, more than 5,000 buildings across North America were illuminated in red, or the “red alert” code for survival as well as extending Federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA).

From the top: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, ExtraMile Arena Bridgestone Arena, London’s Royal Albert Hall, Thomas & Mack Center

The Illinois Quad City Civic Center Authority dba The TaxSlayer Center has qualified for eligibility to receive up to $484,622 through the Local Coronavirus Urgent Remediation Emergency (CURE) Support Program. The local CURE program is funded from financial assistance the State of Illinois received through the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Coronavirus Relief Fund.

Up to this point the TaxSlayer Center along with numerous other authorities/venues throughout the country had been excluded from any COVID-19 related government assistance because they are independently owned by a quasi-governmental entity. Many lawmakers mistakenly assume these types of buildings are owned by a City or a State and included in local or state budgets within those entities but that is not the case.

“We have been working diligently along with IAVM and local officials to gain the support of our congressional representatives to be included in relief bills”, said Scott Mullen, CVE, TaxSlayer Center Executive Director. “We happened to come across the local CURE program thanks to a tip from one of our Board Members who noticed Navy Pier and some Chicago museums were qualifying for relief and we got our application in to the IL Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity immediately just one day before the application window closed.

“You have to actively search for any and all available funding options because they move fast and nobody is going to go out of their way to call you up and hand you this money.”

The TaxSlayer Center will be using these reimbursement funds to underwrite some of the COVID-19 related projects they are undertaking in the coming months during the shutdown. The venue is spending approximately $1.4 Million on projects that will make it a safer place for customers once it re-opens. Among the upgrades will be a retrofit to automatic flush valves and faucets in all public restrooms, bacteria killing UV lights will be installed to disinfect escalator handrails, WIFI upgrades to support mobile concession ordering platforms for contactless payment, installation of hand sanitizing dispensers throughout the facility, the purchase of electrostatic sprayers to disinfect seats and armrests, along with new PPE inventory and several other COVID-19 remediation measures.

The deadline for project completing and submittal for reimbursement is December 30, 2020. “Our goal is to have all projects completed by mid November”, Mullen said. “When the time comes to re-open for events, we want to make sure that our guests and employees have the safest possible environment and feel comfortable coming back to the building.”