The National Football League team that will be play in Las Vegas has selected AEG Facilities as the operator of its under-construction $2 billion venue.

Under the agreement, AEG Facilities will be responsible for the stadium’s operations beginning with providing pre-opening functions including overseeing the hiring and training of the venue’s full-time staff and planning and executing the stadium’s grand opening schedule of events and activities. The firm will also manage key departments such as guest services, event operations, booking, security, ticketing, finance, and human resources.

The 65,000-capacity multi-purpose venue, set to open in August 2020 after almost three years of construction, will serve as the new home of the Raiders, who currently play at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.

Through the deal, AEG Facilities will fully integrate the Las Vegas Stadium into its global purchasing network while providing vendor venue services, such as sustainability consulting through its AEG1Earth division and event day operations, including staff training through AEG’s proprietary Encore program following the stadium’s opening.

“We are honored to have the opportunity to partner with one of sports’ most recognisable, successful, and iconic international brands and with a city known as the ‘sports and entertainment capital of the world’ in a stadium destined to set new standards for the fan experience that will be created,” said Bob Newman, AEG Facilities president. “The addition of the Las Vegas Stadium into our global stadia network will provide immediate opportunities to bring new high-profile events to Las Vegas to take advantage of the incredible new stadium and a city that knows how to deliver best in class experiences and events.”

The new Las Vegas stadium will also host the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision University of Nevada Las Vegas Rebels football team, in addition to other events including concerts, collegiate championships, international sporting events, family shows, festivals, and corporate and special events.

The Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR) announced the release of Overcoming Non-Exhibitor Objections, the third report in its newest series providing insights from marketing leadership at organizations in North America.

Exhibit sales teams regularly run into barriers when making the case for exhibiting at their events. What are the most typical barriers? How do typical objections given by a show’s prospects stack up to these industry benchmarks? How does exhibit sales staff counter these objections? How can an event’s content be adjusted to turn more “Nos” to a “Yes”?

This short report on B2B trade shows provides industry benchmarks on these issues and ideas on how to address them.

“A surprise finding from this research is that a substantial percentage of marketing leadership at organizations not using the channel are open to considering the opportunity,” said CEIR Vice President of Research Nancy Drapeau, PRC. “The challenge is to make a compelling offer they value.”

“Overcoming prospect objections is an ongoing challenge,” noted CEIR CEO Cathy Breden, CMP, CAE. “This report identifies how to minimize objections through offering the right event content and deploying other tactics. It can also serve to launch a brainstorming session on refining event content and sales pitches that maximize sales conversions.”

To learn the full listing of typical reasons for not exhibiting and offers that can help turn a “No” into a “Yes”, download the report here.

In addition to sharing survey results, this report offers a listing of suggestions on how to address each objection. This matrix is offered for B2B exhibition management and exhibit sales teams to use as a starting place for brainstorming during strategic planning for an event to help refine event content that will overcome objections and a sharpened sales approach that enhances results.

Voting will remain open through Friday of this week – July 12, 2019. The complete slate including biographical information and photos can be viewed on the IAVM web site.  Our voting process has changed with the introduction of a new nomination/application process for sector directors.  The ballot you will see this year will only include the Second Vice Chair election, and if you identified as one of the following sectors: Convention Centers, Performing Arts Centers, or Stadiums you will find the election for that Sector Director.  At most, you will be voting for two incoming positions on the 2019-2020 Board of Directors.

As you know, each regions’ members elect their slate of officers (to include Region Director) and does not require a ballot for the entire IAVM membership’s approval.

All voting members should have received an email titled “2019-2020 IAVM Board of Directors Election-login information below”. The email contains a generated user name and password to use when logging in to submit votes.  If you haven’t received the email, please contact Rosanne Duke via email or by calling 972.538.1025.

Once again, the ballot is available through Survey & Ballot Systems allowing complete confidentiality and security to our members.

The results of the voting will be posted following the closing of the ballot on July 12.  However, join us in Chicago for VenueConnect, July 21 – 24 and have the opportunity to meet the new board members in person.  Every minute of this year’s program is exceptional, offering new dynamic sessions, topic roundtables, boot camps, and the largest industry trade show and networking events only possible at VenueConnect! 

You have a game going on. You have a stadium full of people, say, oh, some 70,000 or so. Moving parts are all over the place. So how do you communicate? Glad you asked.

Sherron Washington, M.A. is a marketing and communication (marcom) professional who has imparted her wisdom and expertise for over two decades and will be presenting the Stadiums sector keynote at VenueConnect on “Your Response Matters: How to Become a more Competent Communicator. ”

She has been called “The Marketing Whisperer” by many due to her uncanny ability to assist businesses in developing an innovative, solution-driven, fusion of communication and marketing efforts that increase growth opportunities.

A sought-after international speaker, trainer, facilitator, and professor, Sherron’s energetic passion permeates the crowd and creates an unforgettable electrifying experience. She is also the author of Market Simple: The Blueprint to a One-Page Marketing Plan, and The Oops Moment: Eliminating Marketing Mistakes, Mishaps and Missteps instructional guides on how businesses can create a quick and easily executable one-page marketing plan and eliminate marketing mistakes. Her marcom business acumen, online and offline creates a distinctive and lasting presence that encourages and influences others worldwide.

Sherron communicated with us in advance of VenueConnect about some of her subject matter that you will not want to miss in Chicago.

Communication so often gets tossed around as some kind of generic word. How would you as an expert in this field provide a working definition of communication?

Communication can be simply described as a way to exchange meaning. Effective communication on the other hand is something I define very differently; it is when you have the ability to convey your intended message efficiently.

How did “The Marketing Whisperer” become your identification?

A colleague began calling me that because I helped her with some marketing anxiety she was experiencing and began to share the name with others. She said it was due to my uncanny ability to simplify marketing issues for her. It caught on so much that many potential clients would call me and ask for the marketing whisperer.

By the presentation title, we are guessing that response is a very important part of communication. Can you share more on that?

Communication is often taken for granted. People rarely assess how their response or interaction is vital to the demise or the enhancing of an interaction. Being mindful of our responses (whether non-verbal or verbal) allows us to be more keen in skillfully communicating in order to enhance our engagement with others and resolve conflicts quickly and successfully.

Another interesting word in the title is competent. How potentially damaging is it for someone to not have the necessary competencies to appropriately communicate?

Theorists often describe the term communication competence as “communicating in ways that are effective and appropriate.” Lacking this level of competence can be extremely damaging to if you are unable to do, causing things like poor conflict resolution and making it difficult for you to communicate with others or others to communicate with you.

Our members work in public assembly venues such as arenas, stadiums, convention centers, and performing arts theaters. They obviously have a great deal of interaction both internally with their staff and also with the guests who come to their venues. Is there anything that stands out unique about our particular membership and your presentation audience when it comes to communication?

I like to think of communication as a universal skill that all can benefit from. However, what stands out most to me for your specific audience, is that you all have the ability to have a consistent flow of communication practice both externally and internally. Remember “practice makes perfect” and communication is a learned skill that needs to be actively exercised in order to develop effective competencies required for excellent interactions.

What takeaway would you like attendees to have when they return home to their venues?

I want VenueConnect attendees to walk away with an increased ability to help them accurately respond in various situations and provide them with tactics to teach them open communication styles that lead to more successful outcomes.
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By Jennifer Norris, CVE

On June 27, more than 100 venue professionals and allied colleagues gathered at the SAP Center at San Jose for an IAVM Northern California Chapter meeting. We met at the arena in their BMW Lounge, which is also home to a fish tank containing tropical fish and three live sharks.

The meeting began midday with a delicious lunch provided by Aramark. There were three educational sessions. The first entitled: Security Gaps in Spectator for Sports Environments, featured Don Lapham, Director, Domestic Preparedness Support Initiative, Department of Defense, and Joshua B. Hill, Phd, an Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice at The University of Southern Mississippi. Don and Joshua spoke about a current collaboration focusing on safety and security vulnerabilities pre/during/post events, and how to use technology to strike a balance between ensuring everyone is safe and scaring the bejeezus out of attendees.

The second session was a presentation by Steve Clark, CRC (Certified Realtime Captioner), Manager of Home Team Captions (HTC), a Washington, D.C., based real-time captioning company. Steve shared information about ways to prove onsite and remote captioning for individuals and large groups in a variety of settings, including one-on-one settings and conferences, online webinars, civic settings, including live theater performances and commencement ceremonies, and onsite and remote stadium captioning for professional sports teams and universities.

The final presentation of the day was lead by the dynamic duo of Jessica Huang and Aubri Bryan from Expert Quote. Jessica and Aubri led an interactive discussion about the ins and outs of contractual risk transfer and reviewed in detail how to read an insurance certificate and more importantly why all this matters in today’s litigious world.

Jason Blackwell, Assistant General Manager at the Paramount Theatre Oakland, led a town hall meeting where attendees discussed the latest trends in clear bag policies expanding beyond large venues, creating dance space in fixed seating venues, multi-day power outages caused by intentional power shutdown to prevent fires, and cyber-security. At the end of the day participants partook of the wonderful hospitality of meeting hosts Steve Kirsner and Derek Michelson, who had arranged a wonderful happy hour and venue tour, but also a chance to stand on the ice.

This chapter meeting was made possible by a wonderful committed group of volunteers including Jennifer Norris, CVE, San Francisco War Memorial; Steve Kirsner and Derek Michelson, SAP Center San Jose; Courtney Egg, Lesher Center for the Arts; Mario Duran, Event Center at San Jose State University; Leticia Pena, San Jose Theaters; Andrew Shreve, The Cow Palace; Heather McAvoy, Schuler Shook; Leslee Stewart, Paramount Theatre; and Jenn Poret, Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts.

Also essential to our successful meeting was the generous sponsorship of Aramark, SAP Center at San Jose, The Shalleck Collaborative, Auerbach Pollock Friedlander, Schuler Shook, SmartCity, Clos LaChance Vineyards, Fanatics, and accesso – ShoWare.

Photo by Brandon Magnus-Ledesma

Jennifer Norris, CVE, is Assistant Managing Director, San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center.