By Sara Fordham, CMP

If someone asked you what your greatest fear is, what would you say? Heights? Spiders? Clowns, maybe? (Yikes!) Or would you identify more with the fear of large crowds?

For IAVM members across the globe it is most likely NOT crowds because, after all, that’s kind of what we do best. However, hosting a mass gathering during an international pandemic with little to no playbook to go off of may be a new addition to my list of worries given the current climate of the event industry. A way to combat the nerves of reopening is to do what you do best as a venue manager — what you’ve been trained for, what you’ve prepared for and what you already love to do — get into the details and communicate.

When it comes down to opening a facility after a pandemic, every building will be slightly different. Since most states have varying regulations, the requirements to reopen will depend on where the facility is located as well as the stakeholders. At some point, the focus of each facility will need to be on the guest experience. Adapting communication and signage to fit the needs of your venue is a key component to focus on prior to reopening. The following tasks are recommendations on how to get organized and how to pay special attention to the guest experience while writing your reopening procedures.

You Are Not In This Alone: Brainstorm with multiple team members to determine the message you want to send to guests once they return to your facility. Regardless of the message you choose, be sure it is consistent.
Some questions to ask during the brainstorm period are as follows:
– What signage is needed and where?
– How will you share the CDC guidelines and social distancing information with your clients in advance as well as onsite?
– What do guests returning to your venue need to know in order to feel comfortable?

Once you have a complete list, organize and create specific wording for your reopening communication.

Dollars and Cents: Consider your budget first and foremost as you most likely did not have a “pandemic” line item that was previously approved. Perhaps there are areas in your budget that you can pull from in order to assist with the overall signage footprint and guest communication. Whether internally produced or outsourced, identify what signage is most important to your reopening message. This will help you determine what is worth outsourcing and possibly spending money on.

Use What You Have: Look at your inventory in a different light to determine how it can best be used during future socially distanced events. Examples of items that can be used to aid in your signage or attendee flow plan are easels, pipe and drape, display boards, digital signage, rope and stanchion, gaffers tape, A-frames, etc. Get creative with what you have to assist with your bottom line.

Place Signage Appropriately: Outlining the best location to display new facility requirements is an important area of focus. Placing signage at Facility Entrance/Exits (both front and back of house) as well as attendee touch points (doors, concourse areas, food and beverage kiosks, escalators, elevators, restrooms, etc.) is a great way to get messaging across once guests arrive onsite.

Welcome Back: Consider how each person will access your building. With new procedures in place to enter and exit, getting people into your facility is more complex. Items to consider and ask questions about before opening your doors are face covering ordinances, temperature check station requirements, health screenings, and capacity counts. Determine what signage or additional guest service staff is needed to facilitate these new items. The goal here is to ensure guests are returning to your venue in an efficient manner while also remaining safe.

As a reminder, this is the first time you’ve done this. Any mistakes are opportunities to learn and improve. So, don’t be afraid of events hosted during a pandemic. Stay diligent and focused on the safety of all involved. If you prepare correctly and work with a team to focus on your communication strategy beforehand, you can confidently reopen and begin welcoming folks back to your venue.

Sara Fordham, CMP, is Senior Event Manager at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center in Columbia, South Carolina.

By Stefanie Tomlin and Eboni Wilson

2020 has been a year of landmines. In February, a young Black man, Ahmaud Arbery, was murdered while jogging in Georgia. We watched him get shot over and over on the news. Next, a worldwide pandemic hit. So, in March, we braced for what some thought would be a short shutdown of our businesses and social lives due to a novel Coronavirus, COVID-19. That same month, we heard about a young Black woman who was killed in her home by police. Though, the story of Breonna Taylor’s murder was given very little credence or attention by those outside of the Black community until May when we watched the life drain from George Floyd’s body for 8 minutes and 46 seconds as he called out for his mother, who had already preceded him in death. Next, we watched strangers, friends, our companies, and other corporations nation-wide stumble through recognizing the value of Black lives publicly for the first time. We were called upon to use our Black voices as shields, as resources, as tools, and as currency. 2020 has been a year of landmines.

So, when we reached out to our IAVM family in May, we were overwhelmed and looking for community and support as we navigated through the minefield. We were looking for information and different perspectives on shared experiences. We were looking for solutions. We were looking for a safe harbor. At a time when we were being asked to be a resource, we were looking for resources at IAVM, and there were none that were tailored for us. So, we did what we always do, we made one for ourselves.

Community matters. We know that because we feel it at every conference, on every zoom call, at every VMS. We say to ourselves, “These are my people. My venue people. My Ops people. My (insert industry sector) people!” We celebrate when we get together. We feel understood. But, underrepresented populations within IAVM have to put in an extra layer of effort in these rooms. Sometimes, that effort is working to offset conscious or unconscious biases that we experience or that we have with non-BIPOC counterparts. Sometimes, it’s dealing with micro-aggressions. Sometimes, it’s navigating patriarchy and sexism. Sometimes it’s the simple fact that our traumas are not taken into account in the workplace. To that end, there’s a lack of formalized communities within which we can commiserate with people who have had proximity to things we’ve been through. Beyond representation, it’s about having a group of people that understand what it’s like to be on the outskirts. It’s important to have a space where you don’t have to code-switch, you can let your guard down, you can be raw and not feel judged. It’s a space where you can talk about your specific intersectionality. We are building a space where we can lay our armor down at the door and get to the business of how we show up as our best selves and do our best work.

Right now, it’s more important than ever to perform at a high level professionally. Community helps to facilitate that effort. To that end, reached out to the Diversity and Inclusive Leadership Committee regarding the creation of a Resource Group. Today we are speaking as Black women and venue professionals, so we started with the Black Resource Group. We know that there are other communities that are underserved in IAVM for whom we cannot speak, so we thought it prudent to expand our scope and co-found the Minority Resources Group as an umbrella for any group that self-identifies as underserved. Some cannot choose how they show up in the world, and that is why it’s important to empower people to find community themselves within the IAVM ecosystem.

The purpose of this group is to be a catalyst within IAVM and the industry at large. Our goal is to replace barriers with bridges and break glass ceilings by gathering and discussing the ways in which we can empower the underrepresented groups within the industry. We will utilize the insights from this group to become change agents for ourselves and create needed change throughout our industry. It is also our sincere desire to create a safe space for these groups and create a community that will lend its voice within the entertainment industry. This Friday, July 31 at 4:30 pm eastern, we will be holding our first-ever Black Resource Group meeting via Zoom. If you identify as BIPOC, we hope you will join us. If you have any questions, we hope you will reach out to us directly. We love questions.

We’re very grateful for all of the support we’ve received so far from our allies within IAVM. We hope that others are inspired to let their voices be heard and will consider joining the Minority Resources Group to found a safe space of your own. We’ll be here to let you know what we learn as we navigate this new venture.

Stefanie Tomlin is General Manager of Kings Theatre, an Ambassador Theatre Group venue, in Brooklyn, New York, and Eboni Wilson is Director, Guest Services, MGM Resorts, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

From ISSA and R.V. Baugus

The Global Biorisk Advisory Council® (GBAC), a Division of ISSA, on Thursday announced a new round of facilities that have achieved GBAC STAR™ facility accreditation. As the industry’s only outbreak prevention, response, and recovery accreditation, GBAC STAR validates a facility’s preparedness for biorisk situations like the novel coronavirus. To date, facilities of all sizes in more than 64 countries are working toward formal accreditation.

Newly accredited facilities include:

California Theatre in San Jose, Calif.
Center for the Performing Arts in San Jose, Calif.
Duke Energy Convention Center in Cincinnati
The Hay Adams Hotel in Washington, D.C.
Hobby Center for the Performing Arts in Houston
Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland in Cleveland
The Lowell Hotel in New York City
Mercury Chophouse Arlington in Arlington, Texas
Montgomery Theater in San Jose, Calif.
Music City Center in Nashville, Tenn.
San Jose Civic in San Jose, Calif.
San Jose McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, Calif.
The Sheraton San Diego Hotel in San Diego

“By becoming accredited through GBAC STAR, these facilities are demonstrating that they have third-party validation for a performance-based system for cleaning, disinfection, and infection prevention and that they are dedicated to maintaining and carrying out these processes each and every day,” said GBAC Executive Director Patricia Olinger.

GBAC’s team of international leaders in microbial-pathogenic threat analysis and biohazard mitigation have hundreds of years of combined industry experience. While some program participants hire consultants or engage with internal experts to complete their applications, others rely on insights and guidance from GBAC to submit a cleaning, disinfection, and infection prevention program for accreditation that suits their facility and fulfills local, state, and other key guidelines. GBAC STAR is designed for facilities of all types, from hotels to stadiums to restaurants to schools and more.

“Organizations must be able to clearly explain to the public the steps they are taking to provide a safe and healthy environment,” said ISSA Executive Director John Barrett. “GBAC STAR accreditation elevates credibility and GBAC’s experts also work closely with accredited facilities to help them communicate the ‘what, how, when, and why’ behind cleaning, disinfection, and infectious disease prevention.”

To review a full list of GBAC STAR accredited facilities, committed facilities, and industry supporters, click here.

To apply for GBAC STAR facility accreditation, visit www.gbac.org.

By R.V. Baugus

Time to fess up. I am not into Comic-Con (picture me now cowering and covering my head as rotten tomatoes are thrown my way). I would say that I am not the demographic, but that wouldn’t exactly fly as I do know people in the general vicinity of my unshared age who would beg to differ.

The differences in our DNA is what makes the world go round, right? I can’t watch any type of horror movie. I know it is a MOVIE, but my stomach just can’t take it. Guess that’s why a list of Mel Brooks’ movies stands tall in my group of favorites.

But back to Comic-Con. It did not take place this year at the San Diego Convention Center, the first time since 1991 for that to happen — or not happen. When I received an email from Maren Dougherty, the venue’s director of marketing and communications, sharing a brief video posted to Twitter and entitled “You Are Comic-Con,” it felt as though she was indeed talking to me. I clicked to watch the 1:13 message from the Center to the Comic-Con fans around the world that in essence said that we miss you but we will see you next year.

Comic-Con 2020 was slated for April 10-12, but obviously COVID-19 canceled this year’s event. Next year the venue will host Comic-Con March 26-28.

“The volume and content of the replies and retweets demonstrate the incredible communities that form around live events,” Dougherty wrote. No kidding! I scrolled down to read the comments, many of which contained emojis dominated by tears due to the powerful and emotional message. In all, to date there have been almost 1,000 retweets and comments from the July 21 posting.

And when it comes to numbers, these do not lie. A visit to the venue’s website reveals that the 2019 Comic-Con was to bring in an estimated 135,000 attendees from over 80 countries and more than 2,500 media personnel from over 30 countries, with guests generating an estimated $149 million in regional impact to San Diego. Enough said!

The website goes on to share fascinating and impressive statistics when it comes to the super-sized appetites of attendees with Centerplate answering the call to feed guests. Sustainability is another area of remarkable statistics.

But you are here because we really want you to enjoy this video, so without further ado, please click here.

Just bring Kleenex with you.

By R.V. Baugus

When Zane Collings, Assistant General Manager of the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla., managed by ASM Global, thought back to the last event held in 2020 at his venue, he had to pause before answering. After a few seconds, Collings recalled that it was an East Coast Hockey League game involving venue tenant Jacksonville Icemen in a March contest.

That is, until the venue scored a major draw back on May 9 when Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 249 was

JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA – MAY 09: Fabricio Werdum prepares to fight Aleksei Oleinik of Russia in their heavyweight fight during the UFC 249 event at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena on May 09, 2020 in Jacksonville, Florida. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

held on May 9 with no fans but with a television audience of more than 700,000 shown on ESPN+. As we all know, this was firmly inside a time frame when COVID-19 was all the news and concern, much as it still is today.

It marked the venue’s first hosting of UFC since the arena doors opened in 2003, but it is safe to say the sport will be coming back to Jacksonville and the venue after a successful visit. Collings shared everything involved in putting together the event on an IAVM Arenas Town Hall, and more recently took some time to chat some more about the experience.

We have to ask off the bat how the venue came to host UFC 249?

It took a number of folks involved. First, it took a progressive governor in Ron DeSantis and a progressive mayor in Lenny Curry to want to be open to sports events in the state of Florida. We have them to thank for that. It started with a conversation from the president of ASM Global, Bob Newman, and Peter Dropick (Executive Vice President, Event Development & Operations) at UFC. They were looking to start some live TV events, because at that point they had been shut down in the state of Nevada at their training facility. Bob Newman said, “How about Jacksonville?” Between the folks in the city working their part with the athletic commission and my boss, Bob, and Bill McConnell, working with UFC, we were able to put things together.

How much lead time did you have to get everything organized and ready for UFC to come to town?

We had about three weeks lead time. The short lead time is a challenge that you have to overcome in the industry we are in. You plan as best you can and then you have to overcome what you don’t know. The challenge here was trying to figure out how to do it safely. That was the main goal. How do we open back up even though there are no fans? How do we open back up and do it safely? The challenge was using all the information from ASM, developing protocols here locally, working with UFC because they have their own set of protocols and melding them together and then having the local and state authorities approve it. It was a teamwork approach and we couldn’t do it with anyone better than UFC. They are a real button-up organization in having their stuff together.

And the last event you held before UFC?

You would think I had that etched in memory. The last four months have been a blur. It was the Jacksonville Icemen in ECHL hockey.

Talk some about protocols from your needs and applications.

We had to go through the daily health questionnaire and temperature screening, but also short-term and long-term antibody testing before they worked the first run of shows. These included mandatory masking, blood tests and nasal swabs.

You shared quite a bit of valuable information for attendees at the Arenas Town Hall, including cleaning, catering, social distancing, and much more. What were some of the questions that attendees asked?

I had a lot of questions in regards to where do we get the testing, where do we get the electro-static disinfecting gun and how much it cost, what kind of chemical is in there. Is the test required or do we just do it? It was probably a combination of both. When we work through the process, we required of ourselves because the ultimate goal was doing this safely. We put our own protocols into place, because no one ever said we require you to do this. So, the goal was to do this really safely and that costs money. There were also questions about catering. You don’t do buffets and you’re not gathering people. The meals were for fighters and staff, too, provided by our caterer SAVOR. The best way to explain it is a to-go order from a restaurant.

What feedback did you receive from UFC after the event?

Dana White (UFC president) said we’re coming back to Jacksonville when we can max the place out. I’m glad we could work together and we can get back to work and they can get back to work and we’ll be very excited when we get UFC back in here. When we get fans back in the arena that will really be cool.

What is it like in an arena with no fans as far as any noise goes?

I learned that the guys who work the corners talk a lot. It can still be loud when there is no crowd. You hear every cuss word. You hear every hit. When you hear flesh on flesh and you see the dude get knocked out, it’s just different.

Finally, what takeaways can you offer your colleagues after having successfully hosted a major event like UFC in such a time of uncertainty?

Do your research because there’s a lot of information that’s out there now, and do what’s right to produce a safe event, because that’s what we do.

To Collings’ point about UFC wanting to return and their experience at the venue, please enjoy this brief video by clicking here.