Fourteen venue industry professionals received their Certified Venue Executive (CVE) designation from IAVM during VenueConnect in Chicago. CVE applicants are rated on their experience and accomplishments in public venue management and must successfully complete a comprehensive written essay, written examination and oral interview that tests general knowledge of the public venue management profession. The CVE designation demonstrates that a venue executive: is a skilled manager, is committed to the industry, and is pledged to continued professional growth and development. Managers who earn the CVE designation are recognized, by those inside and outside the industry, as experts in their profession.

“Since 1976 this prestigious program has served as a distinction for those in venue management,” said Michael Marion, CVE, IAVM Chair during VenueConnect. “I would like to offer my congratulations to each of these individuals. There is no doubt that their hard work and leadership are admired in the industry.”

The elite group of 312 now includes the following newly awarded CVEs to its honor roll:

• Brent Buchanan, CVE, Berry Center (Houston, TX)
• Lynn Cannon, CVE, Grossinger Motors Arena (Bloomington, IL)
• Brendon Ellmer, CVE, Perth Concert Hall/WA Venues & Events (Perth, Western Australia)
• Bobby Goldwater, CVE, Georgetown University/The Goldwater Group (Bethesda, MD)
• Eric Granger, CVE, KFC Yum! Center (Louisville, KY)
• Kristie Haney, CVE, Resch Center (Green Bay, WI)
• Michael Junod, CVE, University Center, Mercer University (Macon, GA)
• Laura Lenhart, CVE, Marcus Center for the Performing Arts (Milwaukee, WI)
• Timothy Long, CVE, Hawkridge Entertainment Services (Dural, New South Wales)
• Brett C. Mitchell, CVE, Overland Park Convention Center (Overland Park, KS)
• Lynda Reinhart, CVE, Stephen C. O’Connell Center (Gainesville, FL)
• Wendy Riggs, CVE, Walton Arts Center/Walmart AMP (Fayetteville, AR)
• Marty D. Smith, CVE, Weber County Culture, Parks, and Recreation (Ogden, UT)
• Philip Verrastro, CVE, The Classic Center (Athens, GA)

In addition, another 25 individuals earned their Certified Venue Professional (CVP) designation.

The Certified Venue Professional (CVP) program was launched in 2015 by IAVM to recognize the competence of middle to senior level managers of public assembly venues as well as assist in creating a professional development road map.

The CVP designation says three important things about an individual: he or she is a capable professional, is committed to the industry, and is pledged to continued professional growth and development. Venue professionals who earn the CVP designation are recognized, by those inside and outside the industry, as skilled in their profession.

The basic purpose of the voluntary certification program is to provide additional incentive for professional improvement in the public assembly venue management industry, to assure recognition for those who attain certain specific standards, and can lead toward the attainment of the Certified Venue Executive (CVE) designation.

Congratulations to the following for earning the CVP designation:

Brian Polokoff, CVP
Lisa Schad, CVP
Megan Max, CVP
Ryan Kichler, CVP
Donna Gray, CVP
Amanda Horning, CVP
John McClees, CVP
Jason Anderson, CVP
Juan Carlos Mata Castillo, CVP
Laura Gutierrez Roldan, CVP
Ken Schmidt, CVP
Frank Keefer, CVP
Andrea Hitlin, CVP
Ryan Gruss, CVP
Carissa Norton, CVP
Brian Wright, CVP
Erin Jepson, CVP
Brian Manor, CVP
Christopher Moeslacher, CVP
Ashley Peacock, CVP
Steven Sanchez, CVP
Zakiya Smith-Dore, CVP
Nicholas Puddicombe, CVP
Alikie Knight, CVP
Danny Bryant, CVP

Levy, the dining and hospitality leader at convention centers, sports and entertainment venues, and cultural institutions, announced it has earned the #37 spot on Forbes’ 2019 “Best Employers for Women” list. The list honors companies that have demonstrated a deep commitment to workplace equality. It’s the latest in a line of accolades that reflect the company’s commitment to creating a more diverse and inclusive workplace, which also includes a place on the Forbes Best Employers for Diversity list and America’s Best Employers list.

Several leaders from Levy Convention Centers, a division of Levy, commented on what these accolades mean and the continued need to push for equality, diversity, and inclusion in the meetings and events industry:

Cindy van Rensburg, Division President, Levy Convention Centers: “I’m thankful to work for an organization that puts people first, embraces inclusion, and empowers our team. Our business thrives on a diversity of viewpoints and ideas, which we can only achieve by encouraging team members of all backgrounds to contribute.”

Katherine Putnam, Regional Vice President, Levy Convention Centers: “Levy’s commitment to empowering women, empowers me and the women around me for success – which is a pretty incredible position to be in.”

Cindy Thibault, General Manager, Levy Convention Centers – Boston Convention & Exhibition Center: “Not only did I want to work for this company, I knew that one day I could be a leader because I shared the same ideals and vision.”

Dominique Metcalfe, Executive Chef, Levy Convention Centers – David L. Lawrence Convention Center:
“I was one of the first women chefs on the Levy Convention Centers team when I joined in 2008. Levy believed in me and never took away my enthusiasm and drive. They were always there right beside me, supporting me through thick and thin.”

The New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center conducted a Fire Drill on August 8 in cooperation with the New Orleans Fire Department and New Orleans Emergency Medical Services. The 350 staff members of the Convention Center participated in the exercise in order to demonstrate their understanding of emergency evacuation procedures. The outcome of the exercise was to enhance communication systems, strengthening intra- and inter-agency coordination and continue to create and maintain a safe environment for internal and external customers.

The New Orleans Fire Department rated the drill Excellent.

The emergency scenario simulated a fire due to malfunctioning equipment near the second floor meeting rooms. The alarm was sounded at 9 a.m., the building was evacuated, and the drill was ended just over 5 minutes later. This exercise demonstrated how Convention Center staff will be prepared to assist the nearly one million visitors attending events annually in the event of an emergency evacuation.

“We are very pleased with the results of this drill. The evacuation was swift and handled in a safe and orderly manner,” said Adam Straight, Vice President of Operations for the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. “This exercise is just one of the many precautions we take in order to make sure emergency situations are managed with resolve and the professionalism that our guests deserve.”

Last year, the New Orleans Fire Department toured safety-critical areas of the Convention Center to become familiar with its fire prevention, detection, and emergency response initiatives. This fire drill is yet another step in the Convention Center’s long-standing initiative to keep its guests and staff safe.

Photo: Exhibit Services Coordinator Austin Deeks evaluates the response to the fire drill at the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center’s Public Safety Base at Julia Street.

Johnson Controls has announced Tyco Cloud, a new cloud-based security suite developed to help customers move costly and complex security infrastructure for access control and video surveillance to the cloud. With Tyco Cloud, organizations can reduce costs, improve enterprise security management and scale security operations on demand, providing unlimited possibilities to deliver security services over the internet.

Tyco Cloud allows users to protect lives, assets and facilities through management of access control, video surveillance and other security operations using secure cloud services and connected devices such as cloud cameras and controllers. Cloud solutions from Tyco run on an open and modern microservices architecture to ensure fast, scalable and secure services.

“Our customers worldwide are embracing and accelerating digital transformation to make their businesses more intelligent, agile and cost effective,” said Martin Renkis, general manager of Cloud Solutions, Global Security Products at Johnson Controls. “Tyco Cloud empowers this digital transformation with on-demand security management that enables organizations to securely and cost-effectively customize their video surveillance and access control solutions based on site-specific and enterprise-wide requirements.”

For video surveillance, organizations can enable Tyco Cloud with any Illustra Cloud Camera or leverage existing camera systems using Tyco Cloud Gateways, which will automatically locate existing cameras from dozens of different manufacturers on a network and enable secure cloud management of those cameras.

Tyco Cloud enables video storage in camera, in gateway, in low latency cloud, in high latency cloud or a hybrid combination to support unlimited flexibility and cost effectiveness. The intuitive interface allows users to customize multiple recording parameters, such as which cameras to record and for how long, video resolution, as well as create unique upload schedules to minimize bandwidth consumption. The service also offers Cold Cloud video storage for cost effective, high latency online archiving. The new Hyper View feature enables users to search through 24 hours of recorded video from up to 100 cameras within 60 seconds. Tyco Cloud surveillance also supports powerful analytics such as heat mapping, object detection and crowd formation to name a few.

For access control, the new ioSmart solutions from Tyco Cloud empower smartphone based mobile credentials and smart key managed access control for companies to securely allow personnel to conveniently access facilities using their smartphones without the security risk of lost, stolen, or cloning of legacy card technologies. Tyco Cloud ioSmart was cloud first designed to deliver convenience, cost savings and advanced security for access control.

The Tyco Cloud Enterprise Manager portal provides users with a comprehensive view of their entire security solution through a single interface. It provides real-time status and management of every connected device on a clickable global map. This simple dashboard also enables tracking and management of users, bandwidth utilization, cloud storage and device firmware.

Additionally, Tyco Cloud secures all data from any device to the cloud and to the end user. Every connected device as well as the cloud platform are supported by the Johnson Controls Cyber Solutions Product Security Program, which delivers enhanced safeguards against cyber attacks, including additional controls for proper password management and end to end encrypted communications.

iCommit 2019 Results:  iCommit, IAVM’s annual member referral campaign, ran this year from February-June 30, 2019. The objective of the campaign is for every current member to recruit one or more individuals to join our community of venue professionals.
We are happy to announce that 122 members were entered in the raffle to win prizes for each new member they referred. With their support, we added 308 new members!

• Grand Prize Winner – VenueConnect 2020 Free Registration goes to Steve Schwartz, Walter E Washington Convention Center

• Raffle Winners – Five, $500 Apple Gift Cards
  • Leonard Emery – tvs Design – Atlanta, GA
  • Lana Ramirez – BBVA Compass Stadium – Houston, TX
  • Sarah Feiger Robertson, CVP – Greenville, SCAndryn Arithson, MBA, The Robert & Judi Newman Center for the Performing Arts – Denver, CO
  • David Pike – Purdue University – West Lafayette, IN

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• Region 5 added the most new members with a total of 77 members. The Region Director will select one recipient to have his/her CVP application fee waived (value $125) through July 2020.

We thank Ungerboeck Software International for their continuous support of this membership initiative and to all of our members who consistently respond to the call to help us continue to be the largest association serving the venue management industry in the world. If you have any questions, contact IAVM’s Director of Membership, Gina Brydson.