In early March, the Foundation Trustees issued a challenge to all 29 of the IAVM committees to achieve 100% participation in Foundation giving by committee members by March 31.  With the help of the committee chairs and IAVM staff liaisons, we were successful in raising the percentage of committee giving for the fiscal year 2019 with 4 committees hitting the magical 100% participation!  The first committee to reach 100% was the Governance Committee, followed closely by the Executive VenuConnect Program Committee, the Board of Regents, and the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors.  See the end- of-challenge percentages below.

Challenge %        Committee
30%.                      Allied
57%                       Amphitheaters & Fairgrounds
31%                       Arenas
85%                       Audit
33%                       AVSS Faculty
71%                       Board of Directors
44%                       Board of Governors
100%                     Board of Regents
94%                       Board of Trustees
55%                       Certification Board
29%                       Convention Centers
70%                       Diversity
50%                       Editorial Advisory
100%                     Executive Committee
100%                     Executive VC Program Committee
100%                     Governance
18%                       Guest X
71%                       Industry Affairs
71%                       Leadership Development
42%                       Membership
66%                       Mentoring
60%                       Performing Arts
28%                       Research
35%                       Stadiums
69%                       Strategic Leadership & Resources
72%                       Universities
62%                       VenueConnect Program Committee
53%                       Venue Safety & Security
 

Whether you’re a member of a committee or not, it’s not too late to make a donation to the Foundation today.

Thank you to everyone who invested and all who worked to make this challenge a success.

By typing the word Golf Tournament, a dozen people just stopped scrolling and mentally putted that dimpled white ball across a green oasis towards the tinking sound at the bottom of the cup…happy place found.  So when I tell those golf enthusiasts that we are golfing in Chicago this year, they pencil in the date, click on the REGISTER link, and it’s a done deal.   

But what about You? 

That twice a year golfer who likes the camaraderie of a tournament but hesitates to commit to time away from the conference you’ll have taken time out of your busy schedule to attend.  Well… here’s why you should make time to join us.  

• It’s for a good cause:  this event is a significant IAVM Foundation fundraiser that allows us to fund Foundation programs such as the Joseph A. Floreano Scholarship & Internship Program and the 30 UNDER 30 Program and bring professional development opportunities to the IAVM members.
• Facility Managers you need to meet and get to know better will be there.  Industry professionals who are the backbone of what make our facilities great will be playing or sponsoring holes and give-always.  This is a relaxed setting to make new acquaintances and it’s geared towards making new industry contacts.  
• It’s going to be an epic day…with a view of the Chicago skyline in the distance, we will be making the Harborside International Golf Center an extension of the city with Chicago Dogs, Capone-a-ritas, great food and of course, lots of chances to win golf fame and fortune with our contests.  

So go ahead, stop right now and click the link to sign up to join us on sun day, July 21^st for a morning round of golf with plenty of time to get back to the conferences evening events.  

Join the fun, help the cause, and find your happy place with us in Chicago!  Fore!!!!

Jenifer Johnson
The Golf Committee 

*****Early Bird Registration Special – Register to play golf by May 15 and be entered in a drawing for a Scott Cameron Putter.  Drawing to take place at the tournament.

By Maria Talbert, CVE

All of us know how important connections outside our own organizations are — you wouldn’t be on the IAVM.org website reading this blog if you didn’t believe in the importance of learning from others outside your venue.

There are a number of ways that our amazing association facilitates connections, but the Mentor Connector program offers something truly special: the structure and support it provides mentors and mentees helps to appropriately match individuals and provides them with tools to ensure that their discussions are as beneficial as possible.

The Mentor Connector program creates the opportunity for an industry professional to provide guidance and encouragement to a member who has an identified professional development need. Together, the mentor and mentee create a one-on-one, tailored 12-month program that focuses on improving the skill set of the mentee, enhancing the mentor’s contribution to the industry, and provides a forum for an exchange of ideas between both participants.

Indeed, we ALL have wisdom we can impart and things we can learn from each other, and it is important to know that you are never too young or too old to be EITHER a mentor or mentee.

The next round of mentor/mentee pairings will be completed by Wednesday, May 15, so the application deadline for the spring cycle is in just a few months: Tuesday, April 30.

For more information about this incredible program, visit here or feel free to reach out to me at mtalbert@indiana.edu.

Maria Talbert, CVE, serves as Managing Director at Indiana University Auditorium, a 3,200-seat theatre that has been a model of campus and community programming and engagement since it was built in 1941. She holds a master’s in Arts Administration from IU and has over 20 years of marketing, event, and venue management experience. When she’s not at the Auditorium, you can find her at Vibe Yoga, McCormick’s Creek State Park, or at home with her spouse, Brian, and their daughter, Emily.

Just as many IAVM members enter through the doors of World Headquarters and get a sense of how IAVM staff works for them, the favor is often returned when members serve as hosts to provide tours to IAVM staff to show how venues operate.

Staff was fortunate to receive such a tour on March 25 when Dave Brown, American Airlines Center/Center Operating Company Chief Operating Officer & General Manager, greeted the team from headquarters to provide a tour of the arena in Dallas that serves as home to the NBA Dallas Mavericks and NHL Dallas Stars.

Brown answered a series of questions as he led a tour that moved from the concourse level to suites to locker rooms and finally to indoor loading docks. Along the way, Brown recounted his own introduction to the venue that opened in 2001 at a cost of $420 million.

“Today, it would clearly cost more than $1 billion to build this,” Brown said.

Brown shared his career path working at nearby Reunion Arena as the sparkling American Airlines Center was being built under the auspices of Brad Mayne, CVE, now the IAVM president and CEO.

“I was fortunate to work with Brad for 16 years,” Brown said. “It was an interesting time because Brad and the finance team were officing nearby on Stemmons Freeway and I was in the bowels of Reunion Arena. We were scrambling and eventually got everybody under one roof.”

Brown shared some strategies for sponsor branding throughout the building, how over the years suites have evolved into smaller spaces, and even how the locker rooms for the hockey and basketball tenants differ.

“The hockey guys are seated at lockers so they all face in to each other,” Brown said. “They bleed and sweat together and that arrangement works for them.”

A few paces away is the showcase locker room for the Mavericks, complete with all the bells and whistles that owner Mark Cuban employs to give his team first-class treatment, complete with an under water treadmill.

Standing inside one of the arena’s signature dining areas, Brown was asked about his own favorite memory at the arena.

“It had to be getting the Eagles to open the building,” Brown said. “I was put in charge of finding someone to open the building and kept coming back to the Eagles. They had just gotten back together and I knew they would be the ‘wow” act.

“I contacted John Meglen (now co-CEO of Concerts West), who was tight with (band rep) Irving Azoff. They were touring in Europe. I gave John the date and he sent a note to Irving, who sent a fax back that simply said, ‘$5 million – Irving.’

“I was like, really? It might as well have been a billion. So I sent back an offer and we settled. I said that we could fly them back from Europe, so they cut some of their dates.

“I called (Mavs owner) Mark’s (Cuban) aviation guy, who told me the plane was not sea-worthy for a year. I called a contact at American Airlines. They said they didn’t have plans sitting around waiting to pick up bands.

“Finally, Irving said he would help, that they would fly commercial, but ‘You’ll have to (upon which Brown rubs his fingers together to make the money sign)’ …”

The afternoon’s education session complete, staffers left with a greater appreciation for IAVM members and the role they play at their venues. Call it an afternoon well spent.