From tsnn.com

The Dallas City Council approved a five-year contract with Spectra Venue Management to manage the day-to-day client and facility operations of the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center Dallas, effective February 13.

Spectra will implement its best practices over an initial 45-day transition period, with the goal of reducing costs, increasing revenues, and achieving measurable improvements in the KBHCCD’s financial performance, customer service, and facility quality, according to Joey Zapata, assistant city manager.

Spectra currently operates 174 facilities, including 45 convention centers and 56 arenas.

“Spectra is honored and excited to have been selected as venue manager for [KBHCCD],” said Spectra President John Wentzell. “We look forward to partnering with the city of Dallas to customize growth strategies to continue elevating the convention center as a premier destination for major meetings and conventions.”

Overall responsibility for finances, contract management, and capital improvements will remain under the leadership of Convention and Event Services Interim Director Rosa Fleming, who will lead creation of a convention center master plan designed to enhance client experience, promote public transportation, and activate the convention center campus by creating outdoor spaces and placemaking that promote walkability and connectivity.

Members that attended the Diversity Reception at IAVM VenueConnect in Toronto last year were part of an amazing and energetic evening. Members gave generously to help support diversity in leadership initiatives. The Diversity & Inclusive Leadership announced that it is making two scholarships available to Venue Management School that will cover two (2) two-year commitments to applicants that meet the following criteria:
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Applicants must be American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander, LGBTQIA, or a person with disabilities.
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Applicants must be a member of IAVM or become a member before scholarship can be awarded.
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Applications must be completed online and submitted no later than the deadline of March 1, 2019.
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Recipients must be able and willing to attend Venue Management School for the year in which the scholarship is awarded.
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Recipients must be willing to support the Foundation’s fundraising initiatives by providing testimonials, blogging about their experience and participating in speaking opportunities as an advocate for the Foundation as requested.

If staff at your venue may qualify, please encourage them to apply online at https://www.iavm.org/vms/vmsscholarships Applications must be received by Friday, March 1, 2019. Scholarship awards will be awarded by Friday, March 22, 2019.

Yonge-Dundas Square, a one-acre public square in downtown Toronto and host to hundreds of events annually, has selected Ungerboeck to help digitally transform its customer relationship management, event operations, financial accounting, and reporting needs. The City of Toronto-owned premier event space joins more than 50 other organizations across Canada that rely on Ungerboeck to ensure that their events run smoothly.

“We conducted a thorough RFP process to find a software solution that meets all of our needs,” said Taylor Raths, GM of Yonge-Dundas Square. “Ungerboeck was the clear choice to address our near term needs, and, more importantly, to meet our long-term objectives.”

Ungerboeck’s Canadian customer community consists of diverse and high-profile venues including Calgary Telus Convention Centre, Civic Theatres Toronto, York University, Canadian Museum of Nature, MaRS Discovery District, BC Place Stadium, and the Calgary Exhibition & Stampede.

“We’ve been supporting Canadian businesses since the early 1990s. Within the past few years we adapted our services to better align with Canadian cloud computing privacy laws and preferences,” said Manish Chandak, President and CEO of Ungerboeck. “Our commitment to the region includes the addition of a cloud data center in Canada to our global roster to ensure, when appropriate, we can keep data from crossing borders.”

“We are very excited to welcome Yonge-Dundas Square to the Ungerboeck community,” added Brad Nuccio, Ungerboeck’s Director of Entertainment Venues. “The events, finance, and management teams will be fully onboarded in six weeks making sure they are ready for their very busy Spring and Summer event seasons.”

Janet Hamilton will leave her role as general manager of the Darwin Convention Centre following record-breaking results for the venue during her tenure. Her last day is March 8.

The center, located at the billion-dollar Darwin Waterfront precinct, opened in 2008 and is operated by AEG Ogden, the leading venue management company in the Asia Pacific Region.

“Janet’s strong leadership, her marketing and major event background and understanding of Territory issues combined to deliver outstanding results for the Darwin Convention Centre,” said Geoff Donaghy, AEG Ogden’s group director for convention center. “She successfully led a team that has hosted over 61,000 national and international delegates who in turn spent $227 million in the Darwin economy. In the past 12 months, the Centre has seen a record number of bids in market and record delegate numbers attending conferences in Darwin.”

Hamilton has served as GM since August 2013, and during that time the venue has won the National MEA Award for Meeting Venue 500 delegates or more, Brolga Awards for NT Tourism Excellence, a Gold Plate, and has been ranked in the top 20 Convention Centres globally by the Association of International Congress Centres (AIPC) for four years running.

She has been a passionate advocate of Darwin and the business events industry sitting on the Tourism Top End Board, the Darwin Major Business Group and the NT Major Events Board.

Donaghy said that Hamilton would be promoted within the AEG Ogden ”Family of Facilities” with her next appointment to be announced soon.

BC Place Stadium in Vancouver, one of the world’s busiest venues, is set for a future new revenue stream as a naming rights sponsor is sought for the first time. PavCo, facility owner and operator, will issue the RFP to launch the process.

The stadium hosts more than one million people each years to a wide-ranging schedule of events in resident anchors BC Lions of the Canadian Football League and Vancouver Whitecaps of Major League Soccer. The 54,000-seat stadium is also home to the annual Canada Sevens, part of the World Rugby Sevens Series.

As with other naming rights deals, finding a suitable partner is huge in helping to offset the venue’s operations costs. PavCo is managing the overall consultation process along with approvals from government. A field of finalists is expected to be announced at some point in June with the eventual winner named in July.

“This naming rights sponsorship opportunity will make more funds available for government to improve the services that British Columbians count on,” said Lisa Beare, Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, in a release. “We believe this is an excellent time to look for the right corporate partner for this important facility in B.C., and through that sponsorship, generate significant benefit for British Columbians.”

BC Place Stadium opened in 1983 and through the years has had only one naming rights consideration before the latest approval to move forward.