By R.V. Baugus

Many venues — let’s say most — are and have been working diligently to balance the need to assist in their communities with the need to plan for the many steps necessary in reopening, whenever that may be.

An article written by Aaron Wilson in the Houston Chronicle caught our eye about how the NFL Houston Texans plan to become what is thought to be the first professional sports team looking to hire a full-time hygiene coordinator to oversee that aspect of operations at the team’s practice facility and NRG Stadium. The obvious goal is to provide and protect sanitary conditions at the 72,220-seat venue to keep players, workers, and fans safe.

The venue is owned by Harris County and as a result such a hire would also handle the myriad of other major events at the stadium including the Texas Bowl and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, among others. The hire will oversee the team’s custodial staff provided by F&B provider Aramark and work in tandem with Harris County infrastructures to coordinate the cleanliness of NRG Stadium as well.

We will be reporting more on this particular situation as well as if this will become a hiring trend as more venues return to normal operations.

Photo by Visit Houston.

By McQ Olsen

ExtraMile Arena, located in the heart of Boise State University’s campus and Idaho’s capital city of Boise, is yet another venue that has stayed busy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“At ExtraMile Arena, hundreds of staff members work tirelessly to support the Arena’s mission of bringing world class creativity, competition and celebration to life,” said Lisa Cochran, executive director of the venue. “For the moment, our hallowed halls of celebration sit empty, waiting patiently as our community bands together to flatten the curve. As a way of thanking our staff and supporting community businesses, ExtraMile Arena has teamed up with ExtraMile/Jacksons, Bronco Sports Properties, Chicago Connection, Tropical Smoothie, and Dutch Bros to distribute gift cards to our staff. As these cards are used throughout the community, may our staff and businesses alike take pride in knowing that their efforts are instrumental in making Boise, and the greater Treasure Valley, a truly wonderful place to live.

“During this difficult time, we miss the smiling faces of our employees and the opportunity to work side-by-side to create extraordinary events. Until we can come together again to celebrate once-in-a-lifetime achievements, sing at the top of our lungs or cheer on our Broncos, remember that we are stronger together and we will get through this.”

McQ Olsen is associate director of marketing at ExtraMile Arena.

The International Association of Venue Managers (IAVM) is pleased to announce that they have partnered with The Global Biorisk Advisory Council (GBAC), a Division of ISSA, today to offer the GBAC STAR™ facility accreditation program on cleaning, disinfection, and infectious disease prevention to its members.

Ideal for facilities like offices, restaurants, hotels, airports, convention centers, stadiums, arenas, performing arts centers, and other public assembly venues of all sizes, the GBAC STAR program assesses a facility’s preparedness and provides staff with training for biorisk prevention and containment. The program also establishes a framework for communication and awareness best practices.

“GBAC STAR is the gold standard of safe facilities, providing third-party validation that ensures facilities implement strict protocols for biorisk situations,” said GBAC Executive Director Patricia Olinger. “Accreditation empowers facility owners and managers to assure workers, customers, and key stakeholders that they have proven systems in place to deliver clean and healthy environments that are safe for business.”

GBAC STAR is the industry’s only outbreak prevention, response, and recovery accreditation and establishes requirements to assist facilities with work practices, protocols, procedures, and systems to control risks associated with infectious agents, such as SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19.

“IAVM was searching for resources and external partners to support our members with the recovery process, and ISSA is considered one of the leading trade association for the cleaning industry worldwide,” said Brad Mayne, CVE, IAVM President & CEO. “GBAC is a third-party entity which has a government affairs and regulatory team that works with federal, state, and local regulators and policymakers to ensure that policies and regulations adopted allow the cleaning industry to be successful, while also providing their customers and the public with a cleaner and healthier environment. IAVM’s Events Industry Health & Safety Advisory Council has been working closely with GBAC and

ISSA to provide guidelines and resources regarding deep cleaning, sanitizing, team training and venue certifications to our public assembly industry so that our member venues can safely reopen and recover.”

IAVM’s Events Industry Health & Safety Advisory Council, which is comprised of representatives from all sectors and co-chaired by Frank Poe, Executive Director, Georgia World Congress Center, and Brett Mitchell, CVE, General Manager Overland Park Convention Center, support the use of the GBAC STAR portal by offering additional assistance for those member venues who sign up for certification.

GBAC STAR accreditation criteria and facility applications are now available at www.gbac.org. IAVM members who use the code IAVM2020 while registering in the portal will receive access to the Events Industry Health & Safety Advisory Council members to help guide and assist them with the process.

The announcement was made Monday, May 4^th, to students and faculty of Venue Management School that VMS 2020 will not be held, due to the current status of the COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on the ability for students and faculty to travel.  VMS will resume as planned in 2021. The final decision to not hold the school this year was difficult to make, but it was in the best interest of all students, faculty and staff. Our members are our top concern, and our priority is always to provide the best educational and networking experiences while keeping you safe and healthy.

All students currently registered have the option to either rollover their tuition, room and board to attend VMS 2021 or obtain a full refund without admin fee penalties. By rolling over these funds, you are guaranteed a spot in Year 1, Year 2, or GI for 2021 only, with no increase in pricing.

We hope to you at Saddlebrook for VMS 2021!

By R.V. Baugus

The other day I got a phone call from a long-time friend who wanted to just chat. He is one of the fortunate ones still employed who has a weekday off each week on his schedule. Early in the conversation, he threw out a line that I did not know whether to receive as a question or exclamation, so upon sharing it in the next sentence I will just close it with both punctuation marks.

“Man, you must love it not having any work to do?!”

Whatcha talkin’ bout, Willis?

I assured him that I would not be able to talk long as there were blogs to write and edit and Facility Manager articles and deadlines to assign.

I think I get where he was coming from. Because our venues are not open to the types of events they were created for, the assumption is that no one has anything to do. Silly him!

You are likely using your venue in some type of capacity to help those in your community during the coronavirus pandemic, and if you are not doing that, you are still booking events for the future, dealing with events on the foreseeable calendar that may or may not be canceling, and more.

You are likely well into a plan that you will utilize to help in your reopening. You are purchasing the materials and safeguards imperative upon your reopening. You are constantly following federal, state, and local guidelines.

You are, in essence, busier than ever in so many ways.

Hey, I am too, and to latch on to the McDonald’s slogan, I’m lovin’ it! Obviously, I wish this busyness was centered around something much more desirable than a devastating pandemic, but for me the good news is I get to share what our members are doing to help in all ways possible.

An editor’s dream is to have unsolicited valuable stories sent his or her way. I am getting those every day from venues all over the place. They are very moving stories, most often of what our members are doing to be a major resource in their community. We love these and want to share them. I know that they are NOT submitted so the member or the venue can get a pat on the back or an attaboy, but to illustrate from the heart that when we all get down to the basics, we simply need each other.

Other stories are full of tips and great suggestions about working remote, while others look ahead to what we need to know upon reopening. As a matter of fact, there are two such stories in this week’s Front Row News written by IAVM Young Professional Committee members.

Please keep those stories coming, and when you send them please include high resolution pictures to help illustrate your content.

But wait, you say! Baugus, if you just have stories falling into your lap, how does that make you busy? The answer, my friends, is that we also take the initiative to find the stories out there that do not just magically appear. I have been fortunate over the past two months to talk to many people in the venue world who are on their own front lines and with stories to tell. We will continue seeking those, and if you have any leads for stories that we might consider, please share those with me as well.

Just know that we are here for you as you are always here for us. It does not go unnoticed, and I thank you for your desire to contribute and make a difference in the world.