The City of McAllen, Texas, has hired Yajaira Flores as its new director of the McAllen Convention Center Facilities, which includes the McAllen Convention Center, the McAllen Performing Arts, and Oval Park and Quinta Mazatlán. Flores has more than 15 years of experience in public assembly facility management, strategic event planning, and event marketing and is regarded as a driving force behind some of the Rio Grande Valley’s largest events and promotion initiatives.

“We are so excited to have Yajaira leading our Convention Center Facilities, bringing her unique perspective and professionalism back to McAllen, to continue to make our event and entertainment facilities the place to be for conferences, shows, festivals, and events,” the city said in a release.

Through the years, Flores has fostered partnerships with event promoters, city leaders, and the community to see events developed from initial planning stages to realization. She spearheaded the grand opening of the Bert Ogden Arena in her role as director of booking and marketing for Bert Ogden Arena and H-E-B Park.

She previously spent nine years working for the City of McAllen for the Convention Facilities Department which included the McAllen Convention Center, McAllen Performing Arts Center, and the old McAllen Civic Center Auditorium. In this role, she led the booking efforts for the new Performing Arts Center in its opening season. Beginning in 2014, Flores has served as Adjunct Professor for the College of Business Administration – Marketing Department where she uses her expansive network to empower and educate marketing students at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in Edinburg.

In addition to her B.B.A, Yajaira obtained a master’s degree from the University of Texas – Pan American in Business Administration and is a 2018 graduate of VMS. She is a member of several professional organizations including IAVM, Meeting Planners International (MPI), International Entertainment Buyers Association (IEBA), International Festivals and Event Association (IFEA).

A man choked to death when his shirt got caught in an escalator in a New York subway.

The 48-year-old man was found unconscious on top of the escalator with part of his shirt caught in the machine and the neckline choking him.

Officials have named him as Carlos Alvarez, according to media reports.

The authorities had been called to reports of a man behaving erratically at the Intervale Station in Longwood, southwest Bronx. They arrived at the station at around 3:45 am on Sunday, October 14.

Police were able to cut the shirt off the 48-year-old man and took him to Lincoln Hospital, but he later died.

Surveillance video captured Alvarez trying in vain to free himself, WPIX/Channel 11 reported.

The New York Post quoted an unnamed Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) worker as saying it was “an accident” and that “somebody fell and went all the way up.”

A witness, Giovanni Fernandez, told the tabloid that passers-by had tried to help the man, saying, “When I got off the train, I saw the guy stuck on the escalator. A lot of people were surrounding him [and] he was at the top. I saw the blood [near his head]. His head was split open. All you see is this guy sprawled face down.”

MTA spokesman Shams Tarek said the “tragic and unusual incident” was under investigation.

IAVM’s Academy for Venue Safety & Security is an excellent source of safety training for incidents including those on escalators. For registration information about the 2019 AVSS, click here.

Daktronics, in conjunction with SMG, was asked by the Pennsylvania Convention Center to provide seven new LED video displays to amplify the guest experience during more than 200 annual events hosted by the facility. The installation took place this summer and the displays are currently sharing messages with visitors and passersby.

“As the world becomes more digitized, our new digital displays will offer our customers a chance to bring that new technology right into their meeting spaces,” said Gregory J. Fox, Esquire, Chairman of the Pennsylvania Convention Center Authority. “This installation has heightened the presence of meetings and conventions – as well as the experience of event attendees – in our Broad Street Atrium, which was already a unique and impressive space.”

Six displays featuring 4-millimeter line-spacing are lined on each side of the main entrance in mirror fashion below each escalator to greet visitors to the convention center and to show event specific content. Further inside the entrance, a display along the rear wall features a narrow pixel pitch of 2.5-millimeters that engages guests as they pass by. These displays also show upcoming event information and other abstract content to create a welcoming atmosphere.

“We are pleased to work with Daktronics, the world’s premier digital signage company, in bringing a premier amenity to our customers,” said Kelvin D. Moore, CMP, Regional General Manager for SMG, the nation’s leading public facility manager which oversees the day-to-day operations of the Pennsylvania Convention Center. “We are very pleased with the response we are receiving from our customers.”

Two displays along the bottom of the atrium’s staircases measure 2 feet high by 34 feet wide. The next two displays above that area measure 2 feet high by 28 feet wide, while the top two displays measure 2 feet high by 16.5 feet wide. The narrow pixel pitch display in the rear of the atrium measures approximately 8 feet high by 14 feet wide. The combination of displays provides crisp, clear imagery to wow visitors to every event and to passersby.

“SMG, the venue management group for the convention center, presented Daktronics with a challenge of how to attract greater awareness of the building’s Broad Street entrance from the significant outdoor audience,” said Peter Dunkle, Daktronics sales representative. “The challenge was to attract interest through design, display brightness and content, yet also blend in and keep in style with the iconic architecture of the building’s interior. Working together with SMG, we believe that we’ve accomplished these goals while also incorporating additional effects that Daktronics can achieve through our master Show Control System.”

Daktronics Creative Services, an in-house, award-winning creative team, worked closely with the convention center to produce event-specific content as well as Philadelphia-specific content for the new system. The content produced includes a welcome message and template, upcoming events template, a logo treatment, artistic elements and treated footage of the Pennsylvania area in an ink reveal fashion.

“We really wanted to create content that showcased a more artistic interpretation for this project,” said Ethan Sevilla, Creative Services account manager. “We are able to use the displays as seven different canvases or we can use multiple displays as larger canvases by accounting for the space between the displays and creating content as if they were whole. It leads to some cool effects with all the displays working together when an individual is standing near the entryway.”

Association Convention & Facilities magazine recently ran a cover feature on The Pacific Northwest which featured Jeff Blosser, president and CEO of the Washington State Convention Center, and Tom Norwalk, president and CEO of Visit Seattle. Both are integral in IAVM’s City-Pairs Task Force.

The magazine feature spotlighted several areas in the Pacific Northwest as destinations and hubs for meetings.

The Miami Beach Convention Center (MBCC) announced an extended contract with its decade-long venue management partner, Spectra. The extension comes as the MBCC reopens after a $620 million renovation.

Jimmy Morales, city manager for the City of Miami Beach, said, “I feel confident that this partnership with Spectra, along with the investment we have made in reimaging the MBCC, will bring Miami Beach into the international spotlight as an elite destination for large-scale events of all kinds. I’m excited for what’s to come.”

The MBCC renovation includes the addition of a 60,000 square foot Grand Ballroom, 20,000 square foot roof top sunset view ballroom, 125,000 square feet of meeting space, along with roof top parking. In 2019, the six-acre parking lot right across the street will be converted into a public park, adding 1,287 trees to the city’s landscape. The renovated building is also LEED-certified by the U.S. Green Building Council.

“We are very proud to carry on our partnership with the City of Miami Beach as we reopen one of the top convention centers in the world,” said Dave Anderson, Spectra’s senior vice president of convention centers. “The investment that the City of Miami Beach has made in the MBCC will set the standard from an operational standpoint, but also treat attendees to one of the most beautiful convention center facilities you will ever see.”

The convention center hosted the American Health Information Management Association as its first citywide event on September 26 and the first major consumer show on October 5 with the Miami International Auto Show. Other upcoming highlight events include the International Society of Plastic Surgeons in October and the world-renowned Art Basel Miami Beach, which attracts more than 90,000 attendees from around the world in early December.

“Over the past 10 years in Miami Beach, Spectra has developed strong working relationships with the community and local stakeholders, the industry’s top event organizers, and this renovation gives us the ability to host high-profile events from around the globe. It’s a world-class facility in a first-class, international destination,” said Freddie Peterson, general manager of the MBCC. “Our Spectra team is committed to excellence in customer service and exceeding expectations at the MBCC.”