The Oak View Group announced the opening of its first international office in London. OVG International will give the company a greater presence in the United Kingdom, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East as well as other key regions.

The executive leadership team of OVG International have each worked the majority of their careers internationally and have combined business experience on five continents. Sam Piccione III has been named president while Mark Donnelly will serve as chief operating officer.

On the company’s website, it noted that “OVG International will develop a global footprint reinforcing the Arena and Stadium Alliance already successfully developed in the United States by attracting the leading and like-minded venues from Europe, Asia and the Middle-East with our common goal to Book Together, Sell Together, Buy Together, and Think Together. While investing capital in new owned & operated venues in core markets with strategic partners.”

Tim Leiweke, Oak View Group chief executive, said when the announcement was made at the International Live Music Conference in London that, “Our aim is to create a new generation of state-of-the-art entertainment facilities. The live events market has grown significantly in the United States since Oak View Group launched three years ago, and we see a huge opportunity to drive similar growth internationally by creating world-class experiences in world-class arenas.”

Oak View Group is currently leading major arena development projects in Belmont and Seattle, while last year it partnered with the University of Texas at Austin to develop an on-campus arena. The group also runs the Arena and Stadium Alliance, an invitation-only group for venues to maximize sponsorship opportunities, additional events and content.

It’s time to kick off the International Association of Venue Managers’ successful get-a-member campaign – iCommit.

Goal: We have 6,100 members. We are targeting a 10% increase with this recruitment effort which ends on June 30, 2019. If every member adds/refers just one new member, we could DOUBLE our membership!

What’s In It For You?

More members means more collaboration, a bigger and more diverse network for you, and a greater pool of experts to create inspiring and motivating educational content at schools, conferences, webinars, podcasts and blog posts.

Besides feeling good about supporting your association, for each new member you refer, your name will be entered into a raffle to win one of five, $500 Apple gift cards to apply toward the purchase of any Apple product. The more members you refer, the more chances you will have to win. *The gift cards will be sent to the winners in July 2019.

Prizes

• The grand prize will be a complimentary registration to VenueConnect2020 (value up to $1,000).
• Win one of five, $500 Apple Gift cards – receive one raffle entry for each new member you refer.
• The IAVM Region that adds the most new members will have one CVP application fee waived (the Region Director will choose the recipient within the winning region).
• The campaign ends June 30, 2019.

To ensure you are eligible to win one of the prizes, ask your new member to do the following:

• List your name in the Application Section titled, “Who Recommended IAVM To You/How Did You Hear About IAVM?”
• Enter “iCommit” in the Promotional Code field in the online membership application.
• For new Professional or Allied members only, the $150 one-time initiation fee will be waived *

*Some membership types do not have an initiation fee; the dues will not be discounted

Hurry! Start referring new members today. We will post updates throughout the contest period in the IAVM Newsletter. Contact membership@iavm.org if you have any questions.

Peter Ashwin, principal, Event Risk Management Solutions, is one of a number of expert speakers who will be presenting in San Diego at IAVM’s Academy for Venue Safety & Security (AVSS) and Severe Weather Preparedness programs March 10-15.

On March 15, Ashwin will present A Risk Based Approach to Mitigating Severe Weather Events & Enhancing Organizational Resilience
Risk Management, a class that will contribute to the achievement of resilience by identifying opportunities to build resilience into planning and resourcing to achieve risk reduction in advance of a hazard, as well as enabling the mitigation of consequences of any disasters that do occur.

The aim of this session is to introduce attendees to the fundamentals of risk management and resilience based on the international standard, ISO 31000: Risk Management – Guidelines and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) guidelines for all hazards risk management and industry best practices to “prepare, prevent, respond and recover” from severe weather events.
By the end of the session, attendees will be able to demonstrate a working knowledge of the fundamentals of risk management, the inter-dependencies between risk, hazards, threat and vulnerability and the relationship between risk controls (countermeasures) and how the level of risk for a severe weather event can be modified through reducing the likelihood and consequences of the risk event.

Ashwin took some time out of a busy schedule to chat about the upcoming class.

What should be the primary takeaway for attendees who come to the class? ​

A deeper understanding of a risk based approach to critical decision-making before, during, and after severe weather events.

How exactly does risk management play into severe weather in advance of said weather?

Adopting a risk based approach ensures that planners and key decision makers identify and implement appropriate risk mitigation controls to reduce the potential impact of severe weather events on the organization’s mission and critical success factors.

Can you provide a specific example of how effective risk management mitigated what could have been a much more problematic weather outcome?

​While I was onsite at the 2017 World Championship BBQ Cook-Off Competition hosted by Memphis in May, the Incident Management Team applied the concept of risk velocity (time to make a critical risk based decision) and initiated an evacuation of the event site to ensure all guests and competing teams could safely move to designated locations to shelter in place prior to the arrival of a thunderstorm that contained high winds and lightning.

Excitement continues building in the Bay Area as the Oakland Athletics have revealed a new-look revised design plan for a new ballpark planned to open in 2023.

The current home to the Athletics and most recently the NFL Oakland Raiders before their announced move to Las Vegas, the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum has spawned some of the public assembly venue’s most famous leaders, including Ray Ward. Opened in 1966, the stadium next to the NBA Golden State Warriors’ Oracle Arena (and on another side note that team will also be relocating) in recent years has had the misfortune of its age showing in sewage leaks, among other issues.

Now, the team not only discussed plans to develop a new stadium, but one to show some love to the team’s current home. As for the proposed new park, the waterfront Howard Terminal earned the nod and will have a capacity of 34,000 to bring a more intimate feel for guests, a trend that is moving across Major League Baseball.

Athletics’ President Dave Kaval shared some information that includes some revisions from the original plan after hearing from invested stakeholders including community members, public officials, and fans.

Most notably, fans will detect a stadium with a prevalent circular shape, a design said to enhance the fan experience by creating a more intimate feel and experience.

Kaval the new design will offer better views of the water and Oakland from inside the ballpark, along with more “seamless, efficient, and fluid” access to the stadium.

Another major goal for the project is to stimulate environmental, economic, and community benefits for the local citizenry.

The team has also agreed a partnership with the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project (WOEIP), a resident-led community based environmental justice organization to develop a shared environmental justice agenda on issues of public health, air quality, land use, and equity.

If all goes according to plan, the team expects to break ground by 2021 and open the venue two years later.

Baltimore Convention Center Senior Sales Manager Elizabeth Berry was appointed as Convention Sales Professionals International’s (CSPI) Association Board President at the 28th annual Conference held on February 12, at The Marriott Marquis in Washington, D.C.

Berry, a graduate of Loyola University Maryland, serves as senior sales manager at the Baltimore Convention Center where she has been employed since 2012. Berry is an active member of the PCMA Chesapeake and Capital Chapters. She succeeds Rosa Mendoza-Friedheim, assistant director of sales at the Seminole Hardrock Casino Hotel in Hollywood, Florida, as President. Berry’s goal is to amplify engagement within CSPI’s membership while focusing on strengthening industry partnerships through collaborative efforts, unity, and professionalism for the betterment of the convention sales industry. She will serve in this role for one year.

Photo: Elizabeth Berry, senior sales manager at the Baltimore Convention Center and incoming Association Board President for CSPI, presents outgoing President Rosa Mendoza-Friedheim with a token of gratitude for her term in office.