By R.V. Baugus

Seems like either yesterday or a year ago (depending on my frame of mind any given day) that I blogged about the unheard of move of the Ivy League canceling its 2020 spring sports schedule. That announcement in early March seemed like the most radical, extreme idea I had ever heard of until … a couple of days later when the NBA postponed its regular season, as did the NHL, and then the cancelations of NCAA spring sports, the Final Four, etc.

Looking back, the Ivy League — in what should be no surprise — was the trendsetter and the prudent home of wisdom about what was looming on the horizon with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now, the Ivy League just announced it is canceling all fall sports including football as the pandemic blazes on with no apparent end in sight. This time, I reacted to that news in all candor and honesty with a nod of approval in the league doing what just seems the right thing to do.

I awoke this morning to news that the Big 10 would play a “conference-only” football schedule, thus eliminating three non-conference games. In the conference’s official statement, even that announcement came with the caveat of “should the league be able to participate in athletic events in the face of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.”

The first domino has been somewhat toppled, and which are to follow among the other Power 5 conferences on the college landscape? What about high school sports? What about professional sports?

I view all this was a hint of sadness. There is no greater sports fan than yours truly. I have held NBA season tickets for the Dallas Mavericks since 1984-85 and NCAA football tickets for the University of Texas since 1996. I do public address for high school football for the Irving Independent School District and PA for Irving Nimitz High School basketball. I contribute a high school basketball section for Dave Campbell’s Texas Basketball magazine as a fun hobby to keep my “basketball Jones” happy.

But something strange has happened to me since sports went dark back in mid-March. I have missed it but I haven’t missed it. Don’t worry, dear venue professionals, I am not saying that I am not coming back, because I am. I need my fix! What I am saying is that I, like you, have a greater appreciation for safety first and a healthy respect for the coronavirus.

I read comments from many websites and the debates rage on from those wanting to be out and about RIGHT NOW versus those who with or without government mandate believe it best to stay at home. But, folks, we won’t get better until we … get better. If we are out, let’s be sure to adhere to the protocols set in place and designed to get us faster through the pandemic. It CAN be done.

I highly recommend for reading the most recent issue of Sports Illustrated and an article written by Tom Verducci that has to be the longest article to ever appear in the magazine. Tom writes about a relative a century ago who covered the Boston Red Sox in 1917 and 1918 at a time when World War I was claiming lives but not as many as a pandemic sweeping the United States that came to be known as the Spanish Flu. The deadly virus would take the life of the relative at the young age of 31 just mere months after his bride of less than two years died from the virus. As awful as COVID-19 is, this virus claimed three times more people than the current pandemic, as of right now.

It is difficult for us to imagine fighting an invisible enemy and just how dangerous that enemy can be. For those of you who have had or know someone who is fighting the virus or has lost their life to it, you know what I am talking about. But position a person in front of me with a weapon and I know the enemy because I can SEE the enemy. Tell me there is an enemy floating in the air and I have a much more difficult grasp of it. But to say it is not real? Numbers do not lie, friends.

So here we are today with Major League Baseball getting ready to PLAY BALL! Not far behind, 22 NBA teams are under a “bubble” in Orlando ready to finish out their regular season and move on to the playoffs. Colleges and high schools are still figuring things out for football but must do so quickly. As of right now, the NFL is still a go with a shortened exhibition — oops, pre-season — schedule. We don’t even want to get into the tricky situation of fans in or not in the stands.

Come back to me in a month and decisions will have been made and they may not be too surprising either way, depending in part of where the COVID statistics line up.

As for me, yes, I have already paid for my 2020 football tickets and my 2020-21 basketball tickets. If those seasons end up not played, I will feel for our member venues and the economic impact that seemingly never stops hitting them. At the same time, this guy who could not live without sports will continue to find out that he can until we are safe to resume such activities.

But can we please hurry it up? Asking for a friend …

By Manish Chandak

“What is EBMS?”, you may wonder while reading this article. EBMS stands for “Event Business Management Systems” and many of Ungerboeck’s long-standing customers across the globe remember it as the very first name for Ungerboeck’s event management software that was used for many years. Even today, when we meet at Unite events, whether virtually or in person, “EBMS” is still used to refer to the platform by many customers within the Ungerboeck community as it has become an essential tool in their event professionals’ careers.

35 years ago, the world’s event software provider was a small startup founded by a young Austrian couple, Catherine and Dieter Ungerboeck. Today, Ungerboeck has more than 500 employees worldwide and is at the forefront of event management technology, offering forward thinking solutions to elevate the event experience worldwide. 

Ungerboeck has become a leader in the industry, powering over 980 organizations across the globe and supporting over 50,000 event professionals in their daily job. 

Throwback on three decades of innovation and successes:  

1985 -  Ungerboeck and EBMS were born
Ungerboeck Systems Inc. was founded in 1985 in Chesterfield, Missouri. At the time, the company was building custom solutions for the process manufacturing industry. The small team was led by Dieter Ungerboeck, in charge of customer relationships, and his wife Catherine, who was leading the development of the software. 

In 1989, Ungerboeck Systems Inc. received a request from the St. Louis Convention and Exhibition Bureau and Los Angeles Convention Center to build a custom solution for their venues. Following the advice of their business partner at the time, IBM, Ungerboeck Systems Inc. took on the two projects and secured ownership of the code created. EBMS was created and the company kept on improving the software to answer the needs of the event industry ever since. 

Over the years, Ungerboeck Systems Inc. kept on growing organically, expanding its footprint worldwide by opening regional offices in Oceania, Europe, Middle East, and China, to better support its global customers.

In 1994, the first PC-based software of “EBMS” was released, with the widely known “Version 19” of the system launched in 2003 and welcomed by a large customer basis for many years.

Version 20 – it all began with a sketch by Dieter Ungerboeck

In 2012, Ungerboeck Systems Inc. completely revamped the user experience and look and feel of its event management software. With the release of its browser-based Version 20, Ungerboeck decided to step away from the product name EBMS and from the company name Ungerboeck Systems Inc. The company was now referred to as Ungerboeck Software International, and the software name became Ungerboeck software. The shift towards browser-based software and increased usability was an important milestone in Ungerboeck history.

Version 30 – a leap towards UX, increased speed || Ungerboeck in the New Event World

In 2019, Ungerboeck Software International finally became Ungerboeck. The company took a big leap in its strategy, working on major software releases to significantly elevate its customers’ experiences. Focusing on mobility, agility, and connectivity, Ungerboeck is envisioning the solutions needed in tomorrow’s world. 

Innovative mobile solutions allow for increased productivity in event management organizations across all departments. Real-time information gives event professionals the power to be more customer-centric and more flexible than ever.

2020 – Extending events with virtual elements

2020 certainly marks a year of change for many event organizations, with the COVID-19 crisis heavily affecting the execution of events, exhibitions, trade shows, and conferences. The international teams at Ungerboeck have been reactive and communicative towards their customer community from the beginning of the pandemic, allowing for support and guidance in every situation.

As the Unite Conferences in the APAC and EMEA regions were turned into Virtual Conferences, the company decided to open these online events to all customers for free, attracting a record number of attendees. With the sudden and forced rise of Virtual Conferences and Online Meetings, Ungerboeck quickly responded to the market’s changing needs and released a Virtual Event Extension to seamlessly manage online participants and events details as well as statistics within the Ungerboeck platform. 

This extension is a first step towards new functionalities currently being developed by the team at Ungerboeck. The company is closely collaborating with customers and industry experts to shape the future of events, bring hybrid concepts to life and develop future event technology designed to bring people together, whether onsite or online.

Ungerboeck overcame many global crises over the past 35 years and the company has always shown stability, continued to innovate, and stood strong with its customers. As the event industry recovers from the latest and keeps evolving with new concepts, Ungerboeck will stay true to its mission of empowering people that bring people together by building the solutions for tomorrow’s world.

Manish Chandak, is CEO of Ungerboeck.

By R.V. Baugus

SmartMeetings.com featured an article entitled “The New Corona Reality” that among its contributors to the story included Mark Herrera, IAVM Director of Education and Life Safety. Herrera joined expert voices from various sectors including hotels, transportation, destinations, event tech, travel, presentations, networking, health and wellness, live events in-person and virtual, and sustainability, to discuss many facets of COVID-19. Below is Herrera’s contribution to the article, which can be found in its entirety here.

The reality of the event industry is one of unrelentingly disruptive change. This change is happening at an unprecedented pace. Venues of all types must successfully adapt and operate under a set of rules and expectations that are constantly in flux based on the current health crisis. The challenge of this disruption has posed an economical and physical risk, but now we will see how resilient the industry is and embrace the growth opportunities.

It is our civic duty to assure we provide safe, secure and healthy environments within all public facilities where crowds assemble. IAVM has partnered with Global Biorisk Advisory Council, where venues can apply to a performance-based accreditation program that helps facilities demonstrate they have the work practices, procedures and protocols to prepare, respond and recover from outbreaks and pandemics as it pertains to deep cleaning and sanitization.

Topline safety considerations for all venues are to allow healthy people to enjoy the facility and event. Enhanced protective measures, such as face coverings and hand-washing stations, will be more common. Managing the crowd density to assure that physical distancing guidelines are adhered to during ingress and egress will be heavily monitored, with physical barriers strategically placed in areas where crowds can be controlled.

Prior to attending all events, messaging and communication with employees and guests—to include signage on how to prevent the spread of germs—will be a common practice. Facility design and touchless points of sale will be more common than before to avoid the transmission of any communicable disease.

Although there is no guarantee to a “zero risk” environment, we will continue to implement and measure a means to mitigate all risk associated with this health crisis, and we will do it together.

By R.V. Baugus

Be sure and save the rapidly approaching date to participate in the National Coalition of Black Meeting Professionals’ (NCBMP) July 23 Zoom panel meeting on “The State of Black Culture.” The panel session begins at 1 pm EDT.

The State of Black Culture will explore the lifestyle, development and ethnology of Black communities, families, and businesses. It presents a unique opportunity for national thought leaders to consciously educate and challenge the Black community and allies to all be their best selves.

For a full roster of panelists and to register for this important discussion that will be presented at no cost, please click here.