By R.V. Baugus

Ah, KeyArena. The green and gold of the Seattle SuperSonics and some of the loudest fans in the National Basketball Association who were crazy about their team. Jack Sikma, Gus Williams, Dennis Johnson, and, hey, even Kevin Durant for a year before the team relocated to Oklahoma City.

But now work continues on the old Key for a new National Hockey League arena that is ongoing in the midst of COVID-19. The development project led by Oak View Group is slated for a 2021 opening and will also serve as home to the Seattle Storm of the WNBA. The NHL awarded the franchise in December 2018 and, other than an iconic roof, fans will see a new venue inside the old venue. The original opened n 1962 for the World’s Fair and had a major renovation in 1995.

Now, 35 years later, the $930 million New Arena at Seattle Center moves along s the venue’s square footage will double to 855,999 for state-of-the-art back of house, hospitality, loading and concessions areas.

About that roof. The removal of the temporary roof support has now started and, once finished, the new roof will appear as though it is floating. On the north and west sides of the complex, foundation excavation, new foundation placement, waterproofing and shotcrete work is continuing during daytime hours only, while on the south side, lagging, tieback, foundation placement and excavation work is also going ahead. On the east side, construction work including waterproofing, shotcrete, foundation excavation and new foundation placement continues.

The roof of the former KeyArena has been designated as a historic landmark, having been a part of the Seattle skyline since the facility opened in 1962. Given its status, it was decided that the roof would remain in place during the revamp.

Other projects around the country are in various phases of construction during the pandemic. Two of the biggest and most anticipated new football stadiums are also moving forward with SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, for the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers, as well as the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas for the Raiders.

One new arena that is on hold due to the pandemic is for the NHL New York Islanders, who are building a 19,000-seat venue as part of a $1.3 billion Belmont Park redevelopment project. The team broke ground on the area last September.

By R.V. Baugus

Bobby Goldwater, CVE, Georgetown University Sports Industry Management faculty and long-time IAVM member, along with IAVM Education Manager Greg Wolfe, will launch a new series of live ZOOM question-and-answer sessions between industry executives and student members and young professionals beginning this Thursday at 4 pm Eastern Time. The sessions, titled 2020 Vision, will run for at least the next eight Thursdays.

“I put together a sub-committee and we determined that there was enough interest and there were a number of projects that deserved and could be received in some form from an academic perspective,” Goldwater said. “This was not to replace any other committee and was not to do something that someone else was doing but there were just things that frankly no one was doing. I and others thought that this would benefit the association by having this kind of a focus. We are happy it got approved.”

Goldwater well understands the challenges and quite frankly the confusion that many graduating seniors and those in his graduate program are facing when it comes simply to guessing what the future holds.

“Greg and I were talking and we certainly understood that people in venue management, whether they were still in school as undergraduates or graduate students or young professionals, might have a lot of questions, might need some guidance, and might need to hear from about the industry and what might be next,” Goldwater said.

Goldwater cited IAVM’s Upstart program that began years ago at VenueConnect and the session called Game Changers.

“It was IAVM executives, kind of like speed dating with executives,” he said. “Two executives sit at a table and students and young professionals get to go sit at a table and meet with the executives, talk to them for 15 minutes, and then move to the next table about the 15 minutes are up. I said to Greg, why don’t we just do a version of Game Changer? We’ll do it once a week and have one executive and a conversation to offer career insights and perspectives on the future of venue management for the first 20 minutes and the last 20 minutes would be Q&A from the participating audience of young people.”

Goldwater pointed out that all the executives lined up so far have participated in the Game Changer sessions, so they know exactly what this is about. “I will give them some questions and they will answer and provide their very distinctive career insights and then answer some questions,” he said. “We hope it will be both instructive and informative, and hopefully inspiring, too.”

Goldwater placed a little extra emphasis on the word inspiring, especially in light of these very uncertain times caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

“What is going on right now is a speed bump,” he said. “We are going to get over the speed bump. We are going to continue down a path where venue management is a privilege. It is a wonderful career. Whether it is a student studying it or a young professional at the beginning, it is a wonderful career, a privilege to be a part of. That needs to be reinforced.

“As we talked about this, we both recognized that we wanted to maintain engagement with the next generation of our industry and young professionals, or as I call them, the young and aspiring professionals. That’s what they are. To be able to maintain that contact, to allow executives to interact with this audience, to provide and share some guidance, some career advice, talk about some experiences that they have had, that’s what these live sessions are designed to provide.

“We will kick off with Angie Teel. If there is anybody in our industry more energetic than Angie Teel … she is a great person to kick off. We are frankly envisioning this may go on (beyond eight weeks). The first handful of dates are pretty well set up. We also have Mac Campbell, Joyce Leveston, Richard Andersen, Jimmy Earl, and Julia Slocombe. That’s the first group and others that we’re waiting to hear from.”

Goldwater said that the response from the original group of speakers has been nothing short of impressive.

“Again, all of these people have participated in previously in the Upstart Game Changer session at VenueConnect,” he said. “We know that they have a history of participating with this audience. We are very excited that this provides the opportunity for them to do that again but more importantly for the aspiring and young professionals to get the benefit of their experience.”

Goldwater also cited the support of others in launching the program, including his contacts from the university world in Jim Wynkoop and Dusty Saine, and from IAVM Brad Mayne, Mark Herrera, and Tammy Koolbeck.

Ready to register NOW? Click here.

By R.V. Baugus

The state of Florida has become one of the “hot spots” in the United States as it relates to positive coronavirus cases, deaths, and unemployment. The need for medical equipment is great throughout the Sunshine State, and with the NBA season on hold, Orlando’s Amway Center is now being utilized as a medical equipment distribution center housing supplies that AdventHealth will use to treat those with the virus.

Local officials are warning that the peak may not occur until the first two weeks of May, making the need for immediate medical equipment essential. With Amway Center serving as a staging area for supplies and equipment, we spoke with IAVM member Allen Johnson, CVE, CPM, Chief Venues Officer for Orlando Venues, to discuss the arena’s help during this time of crisis.

What is the Amway Center set up at this time to do in the assistance of the coronavirus pandemic?

Because Amway Center’s calendar of events has been cleared through at least May, we’ve been working with AdventHealth, one of our Champions of the Community partners, to serve as a distribution hub for much-needed medical supplies and equipment for their 50 units. This effort began last week and we’ve been using the arena floor and other areas of the Event Level to warehouse pallets that arrive daily. The equipment and supplies will be distributed among 50 hospitals in Central Florida and facilities in seven states.

How did this come about and when did the setup take place?

It started with a conversation between Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and Daryl Tol, President & CEO of the Central Florida Division of AdventHealth. The initial site visit for logistical and operational purposes took place early last week and the first pallets of medical supplies began arriving a few days later on the morning of Thursday, April 9.

To this point, how has everything gone as you distribute supplies and such?

It’s actually been running very smoothly. AdventHealth is overseeing the operation and deliveries are taking place routinely. Much of the inventory goes out for distribution almost as quickly as it comes in. On weekdays we have two shifts of 30 workers each from 6am – 2pm and 1pm – 9pm. We’re happy this arrangement has created paid job opportunities for part-time employees of our venue partners.

Any other of the Orlando venues under your oversight helping in any way?

We’re finalizing details with the Florida Department of Health to use Camping World Stadium as a drive-thru community test site for west side Orlando residents displaying coronavirus symptoms.

Will you be set up in this capacity for as long as you are needed?

As of now, we’re planning to house all the supplies at Amway Center as needed through the month of May. Following that, we have some contingency plans in place based upon when events might start returning to the arena.

It has to make you and your team feel good to be able to assist in some way, does it not?

Because we are City owned and Operated we are an into-woven into our community. It gives all of us a tremendous sense of pride to see how our Central Florida community always pulls together during crises. We’ve seen it in the aftermath of the Pulse tragedy with the creation of the Family Assistance Center, working with the Florida Department of Children & Families to provide “Food for Florida” and our sandbag operation during Hurricane Irma.

Photo by Kirk Wingerson

By R.V. Baugus

Many items are essential during this time of pandemic. There is the need for Protective Personal Equipment (PPE) for frontline workers. There is the need for masks and ventilators. For the unemployed, there is the need for income. For the hungry, there is the need for food.

Scott Swiger, vice president of culinary excellence with Spectra Venue Management, is part of a team that is doing its part to help feed the hungry. It is devastating to see the news images of cars lined for miles waiting for rations of food, something that tugs on the heartstrings of Swiger and his team.

“We wanted to really make sure that we could get food in communities that could benefit from that and that it didn’t just sit around or in a dumpster somewhere,” Swiger said by phone from Philadelphia. “It got to people in need and we were able to help some folks.”

Swiger said when it became apparent weeks ago that there would be a shutdown of life as Americans knew it, it was time to spring into action.

“We saw in many cases venues that had product in and production started,” he said. “We were ready to go whether it was a soccer game or a convention or gala or whatever it was.”

Those events, of course, would not happen.

“One of the things I always say working on the culinary side and the food side is we like to feed people and we don’t like to see things go to waste,” Swiger said. “It became clear wee were going to have a lot of product that we couldn’t do anything with.”

Spectra, in tandem with its convention centers across North America, began identifying opportunities for food recovery, donating into the local community or among part-time staff. In many instances, Spectra is collaborating with Food Recovery Network (FRN), a national nonprofit that fights food waste, to locate the most appropriate place for the food donation.

“FRN has been a big help with this,” Swiager said. “Oftentimes our chefs and managers at our venues and just by the nature of working in a convention center that are public buildings have strong ties with the community and maybe working with a local shelter or existing charities. But this was more in terms of volume of food. It’s one thing if you’re a shelter that has a standing double-door refrigerator and how now you got thousands of pounds worth of food. You send it over to them it’s not going to do any good because they can’t even store it.

“So Food Recovery Network was able to quickly find a point of contact and has a national reach and knew partners and the capabilities of all the different organizations that are feeding people across the country. They can help connect the dots when we weren’t sure what to do with product. Where’s the best place for it?”

Swiger said FRN identifies those places and often help transport the food. He added that FRN initially started in the university space and is a volunteer network of cities and universities across the country.

There are also many part-time staffers at venues who are now no longer working. These are often individuals working one or more jobs and they too have a need to have food on their table. Swiger noted that on a recent weekend Philadelphia-based national distributor US Foods worked with local restaurants to identify people in need who are currently unemployed. “They are putting together grocery bags and distributing to folks,” he said. ”
It’s a big impact and there are certainly a lot of people right now who need the help.”

Spectra participated in the weekend event and cited the need to feed people at Spectra venues that have been converted to field medical sites and such.

No one, of course, can predict the future and the inherent needs, but Swiger and Spectra are ready to help.

“In the first week or two anything that was perishable was donated,” he said. “We knew this was going to be more than a week or two. There were a couple of locations where we had product in for specific events and as we see those events did not happen. The bulk of it really happened at first. I am not sure 100 percent what continued engagement will look like and it may vary some by market and needs.

“There are so many variables. For patient feeding you get a very specialized diet. A stadium is not necessarily typically set up to handle that. It’s kind of a mix that’s being approached. It’s resources and capabilities needing it whether it’s the Army or FEMA. We’re working through those types of questions.”

Swiger shared a story concerning George Fisher, the executive chef at Spectra-managed Atlantic City Convention Center, that shines a bright light on the industry.

“George is always involved with the local community and did the same thing as our weekend event,” Swiger said. “He went through his product and his stuff and got it donated into local shelters. He actually started reaching out to chefs at other places like casinos and properties throughout the city and helping them do the same.

“He identified there was going to be this waste and there was a need. It was for local shelters and community groups and food banks that were providing resources. As casinos started to close he reached out and basically helped them figure out what to do with their product. This wasn’t Spectra involved, but it met a need.

“Sometimes this is overwhelming and it’s nice to see bright spots out there and people who go above and beyond. When you’ve got something you need to help somebody else. I’m in the business of feeding people and also reducing waste is something I am personally passionate about. There would be potentially a huge amount of waste if we didn’t move quick.”

Photo: Food preparation at the Atlantic City Convention Center.

By Kerry Painter, CVE

In the December 2006 issue of Facility Manager magazine, I wrote the following:

“The story here is not about buildings, moldy carpets, insurance issues or structural integrity. What I’ve come to learn after endless weeks is that the story is about change, adaption, flexibility, human kindness and just plain doing what it takes to keep moving forward.

“It’s the intimate knowledge that your employees are really a part of your family and they have families of their own to consider and nurture. Take turns supporting each other and let everyone be involved in leading the way when necessary. No one always has to be in charge.”

That story was about Hurricane Katrina and how we managed our way through recovery, hosted a shelter for 600 refugees and, day-by-day, figured it out.

Today, we are in similar unknown territory. Until events postponed or canceled, we were walking the line between when and how to encourage the preservation of daily life and believing the show must go on versus cancelling the show altogether to preserve our way of life. This time has certainly been unprecedented for all of us and, once again, there is no best practices or handbook to rely on. It is our job now to create the best practices and write the handbook for those who will come after us in real time. Hindsight is 20/20 and soon, we’ll be able to recognize what we did well and what we should have seen sooner. That wisdom will come later, but for now we must learn to inch our way to better leadership. Just as we are so much better now at setting up a recovery shelter to house and feed people or incident command structures after active shooter emergencies, we will now be better at health, safety and business recovery in times of a pandemic.

What can we control? Our continuous leadership development and response to each day. Remember that what was the best decision yesterday may not work for today, and being unwilling to take in various diverse pieces of input, to admit a change in direction may be necessary or to realize someone else may just have a better plan will cause you to hold on to a decision that becomes a block to the right decisions for today. Be willing to consider information and concerns from diverse sources. Admit that a change in direction may be necessary. Accept that someone else may have a better plan. And, most importantly, don’t surrender yourself to your decisions. If you make a choice and it becomes clear that another path was the better fit, change your course.

Don’t forget that we have been training for this! IAVM’s promotion of inclusion and diversity has put us in a far better place to handle these unknown challenges. According to Diversity + Inclusion = Better Decision Making At Work, posted by Erik Larson on Sep 19, 2017 on CleverPop, decision making drives 95% of business performance and is the most important thing managers do in the execution of their day. Teams make better decisions than individuals 66% of the time and diverse teams make better decisions 87% of the time.

This brings me back to 2006, when I learned by experience that not everyone can see the best solutions all the time. From that experience, I now understand that it’s okay to rotate leadership in times of stress as people’s capacities become taxed and overloaded. Remember that we are all still human with our own personal stories, biases, relationships, and complexities that need to be considered. Everyone in the room is working and seeing the world through their own lens. This is why diversity gives strengths to answers.

All through March, my venues worked hard to help convention planners and theater performances save their events. We explored everything from streaming speakers to China, streaming plays to ticket holders, lessening expenses from the venue, being as flexible as possible with contracts, moving events to other days etc. On Thursday March 12th, after weeks of these efforts, I woke up knowing in my gut that it was time to pivot. Were we really doing our resident performing companies and meetings planners a service by not shutting down and not enacting Force Majeure to allow them to explore insurance targeted at cancellations or business interruption? Were we doing what was best for our guests putting them in crowded rooms together?

This is when leading a business becomes tough; the delicate complexity of a decision between one that helps our venue sustain its budget or helping your clients and partners remain viable for the future of your relationship and their survival is not something anyone is prepared to make lightly. These are hard economic decisions coupled with hard ethical choices. Every expert guide to decision-making will tell you to gather all of the information you have access to so you can make better, informed decisions. On Thursday, March 12th, I made that my task for the day. I pushed myself to ask questions of my clients, promoters and teams, knowing that I might not like what they had to say.

By the end of that day however, the decision was out of my hands. Like many of you, our governor decreed that, beginning on the following day, all events and gatherings of over 100 people must be shut down. I watched this progression happen city-by-city through all of our industry blogs, webinars and social media. Know there were others with you going through the same decisions, but don’t let that stop you from sharing your insight — even if it is only insight from five hours ago. Use the tools in place and at our fingertips to share the load and help others in similar positions, whether now or five years from now.

Throughout this event, our mantra has become “This is what leadership looks like.” Our city manager relayed this to our top-level and we were charged with filtering it down. Remind all of your people that they are leaders in all moments and times throughout every day. Help them say, “This is what leadership looks like” as they go forward. If nothing else, it will give the benefit of a pause as they relate leadership with the potential ramifications of whichever action they are about to take, and how they communicate that action. At the very least, our team has bonded through this experience as we learned to utilize our various strengths, share insights, collaborate, and listen to diversified perspectives.

We will all tell this story for many years to come and I will likely quote this article in the future for some new, unprecedented challenge I have yet to foresee. Our venue, meetings, or sports and the decisions we make in leading them are political and publicly seen in very broad ways. This is leadership: flexible, changing, imperfect, and messy. Be kind in judging your decisions and use the best available knowledge to make them. Leadership in a crisis is what makes us all better.