Further expanding its global footprint, AEG Facilities, a stand-alone division of the world’s leading sports, venue and live entertainment company AEG, has been selected by Buenos Aires Arena S.A., a company controlled by La Nación, Argentina’s leading media company, to manage and operate the Buenos Aires Arena, now under construction in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Set to open in mid-2019, the state-of-the-art indoor venue can entertain up to 16,000 guests and will host approximately 100 events annually, including concerts, family shows, festivals, corporate, and special events.

As part of the multi-year, comprehensive management agreement, AEG Facilities will be responsible for all aspects of the arena’s operations beginning with directing all pre-opening functions including overseeing the hiring and training of the venue’s full-time staff and planning and executing the arena’s grand opening activities while managing key departments such as event operations, sponsorship and premium seating sales, booking, security, ticketing, guest services, marketing, public relations, finance, human resources, and overall event management.

“Buenos Aires is one of the leading entertainment and sport markets in the world and now it will be serviced by a world-class venue,” said Chuck Steedman, Chief Operating Officer, AEG Facilities. “We look forward to working with Buenos Aires Arena and the entire Buenos Aires community to provide the most popular and highest levels of international, regional and local sports and entertainment to this beautiful new arena. La Nación has shown great vision with this project and we are very excited to welcome Buenos Aires Arena to AEG’s elite global network of venues in the world’s top cities spanning five continents.”

“We are thrilled to partner with AEG, the leading arena owner and operator in the world, in our new state of the art venue in Buenos Aires. We believe AEG is the right operator for our arena and that together we will bring outstanding quality entertainment experiences to Buenos Aires,” said Luis Saguier, Director of La Nación.

Located in the geographical heart of Buenos Aires, specifically Villa Crespo, the venue will be readily accessible by 19 bus lines, subway and two train lines.

The project will be overseen from AEG’s regional headquarters in São Paulo, Brazil, led by Venancio Castro, Executive Director, AEG LATAM, with additional resources provided by AEG Facilities’ network of offices and venues regionally and globally. This is the second multipurpose arena that AEG Facilities has added in South America recently, with Montevideo, Uruguay’s Antel Arena set to open later in 2018.

Daktronics announced the acquisition of AJT Systems, Inc.’s services and technology to expand the company’s control system features and offerings.

These new features, offerings, and services add to the entertainment for live events customers through the integration of broadcast-style graphics, including real-time live to air graphics rendering and video server systems.

“The acquisition of AJT Systems allows us to expand our offerings for sport and interactive applications,” said Daktronics President and CEO Reece Kurtenbach. “Over time, we will incorporate the technologies they have developed into Daktronics control systems. Our goal is to create a powerful platform for event producers to create a compelling ‘show’ for their fans. We are excited to see our customers take advantage of these new capabilities in future product releases as we continue to make our industry-leading offerings even stronger.”

“We’re looking forward to the new opportunities presented by joining the Daktronics team,” said AJT Systems President Ron Linares. “Being such a large and well-known company in multiple industries, Daktronics will offer new and exciting challenges for our group that we’re excited to take on. We look forward to delivering on the innovation the AJT team is known for as we integrate with Daktronics technology platforms. We would also like to thank Trafalgar Capital Partners LLC for connecting us and serving as the exclusive investment banking advisor to AJT on the transaction.”

Technology from AJT Systems is involved in more than 6,000 events every year from professional sports to high school sports and everything in between. This includes live productions at the highest levels of the broadcast business in the United States such as driving graphics for ESPN broadcasts and ESPN live productions for colleges and universities over ESPN3 and ESPN+.

Their technology is installed in 1,200 systems in stadiums and arenas as well as 700 systems in television stations throughout the country.

In advance of opening its new $200 million expansion space next month, Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) has invested in cutting-edge technologies offering the flexibility customers need.

MCEC’s new expansion space has been purpose-built to leverage the venue’s original innovative approach to integrated audio visual and ICT technologies. The new expansion will feature 4k laser projectors, LED based theatrical lighting equipment and fully integrated rigging infrastructure, creating highly customisable event spaces.

Other initiatives include: •Introducing a specialised production team within the business, MCEC’s in-house specialist technology team offer services in: audio, rigging, lighting, vision, multimedia, network systems, and production management. Building these skills in-house allows MCEC to deliver a more personalised and thorough technology offering.
•Improving Wi-Fi offering for customers with a $2 million investment, increasing wireless capacity by 400 percent and making MCEC the only convention centre in Australia to offer no data caps.
•A $1 million investment in expanding vision and projection capabilities through the implementation of Barco, Panasonic and Roland hardware, enabling the delivery of visually stunning and technically seamless events.

MCEC Chief Executive Peter King said as a venue MCEC hosts over 1,000 events annually and each of those event experiences is unique.

“At MCEC we work in partnership with our customers to deliver tech solutions with the aim to inspire and transform delegates’ experience,” he said. “Rather than simply offering whatever’s newest on the market, we understand our customers want to be able to access expert advice and a range of technology options that allows for individual customisation. By investing in our employee skill-base, we have the knowledge to deliver complex events and offer solutions focused customer service. The new expansion has allowed us to future-proof our venue, we’re able to meet the technical needs of today’s customer, and continuously adapt into the future.”
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A testament to MCEC’s technology credentials is the caliber of events choosing MCEC as their host venue.

The recently announced 2018 Reimagination conference and Digital Disruptions’ Awards joins a growing list of leading technology and disruption events that have made the move to MCEC which includes C2, Cisco Live, VidCon, and the National iAwards.

Good morning! 

Monday, July 9th, is the day that the 2018 IAVM Foundation Silent Auction officially goes LIVE online!  Interested bidders can now login to Bidding for Good, create an account, and begin bidding on scores of really wonderful items!  All of the items listed in the online auction will also be on the Trade Show Floor for bidding during VenueConnect.  There will be approximately 20 items that will be exclusively on the trade show floor and are not part of the online auction.

To place bids online, create an account on Bidding for Good and begin placing bids.  During the Trade Show, we will be continuously updating real-time bid-sheets to reflect online bids.  The online bidding will close at approximately 2:00 on the second day of the Trade Show, which is Tuesday, July 24.

To place bids in person at the trade show, come to the IAVM Foundation booth, register for a number, and begin bidding.  Be sure to keep an eye on your bids, in case someone outbids you!  The trade show auction will close at approximately 3:00 on the second day of the Trade show (one hour later than the online auction).

At this time payments will be received, and paperwork for each item will be exchanged.  As we have noted in previous messages, the items will not be at the trade show, but remain either at the IAVM offices or with the donors.  After the close of bidding, arrangements will be made to ship items to the winners.

Payment methods accepted are credit cards and checks.  Some invoicing will be available if winning bidder is not present.

We will see you in a few weeks in the Foundation booth at VenueConnect 2018!  Be sure to stop by to place your bids!

Click Here to see the list of Auction Items.

Enjoy!

Earlier this year, I became CEO of the Spokane Public Facilities District, the organization where my career in the venue management industry was born.  Five months into my new position, and as my term as Chair of the IAVM Foundation Board of Trustees comes to an end, I have been reflecting on how my career path led me to become CEO and how much the Foundation played a role in my professional achievements and success–even though in the early days, I didn’t even know the Foundation existed.

The mission of our Foundation is to increase the positive impact and vitality of the venue management industry by funding research, education and resource development.  We were conceived in 1982 after “The Who” concert tragedy in 1979.  Our industry was in need of crowd management safety standards so the other venues could learn from, and most importantly prevent, a similar tragedy.  Over the last 35 years, because of our member contributed resources, our Foundation made possible.

Venue Management School (VMS)

Academy for Venue Safety and Security (AVSS)

Senior Executive Symposium at Cornell (SES)

The Certified Venue Executive Designation (CVE formally CFE)

Certified Venue Professional Certification (CVP)

VenueDataSource

Public Assembly Facility Management College Textbook

30 Under 30 Program

Joseph A. Floreano Scholarship and Internship Program

UpStart Program

100+ Women Campaign

VenueConnect Golf Tournament

VenueConnect Legacy Project

As I look at this list, I realize how much of my success I owe to those who came before me and invested in the Foundation so I could benefit from so many programs.  I am a graduate of VMS, VMS GI, SES, and last year received my CVE and read the textbook cover to cover.  I have participated in the Golf Tournament, the Legacy Project and the UpStart Program, have sent employees to AVSS, as well as having one of my employees become a 30|Under|30 last year.  VenueDataSource has provided a wealth of knowledge and connections. It’s amazing to have the resource of other venue managers’ experience literally at our fingertips and how much we can solve together.

Like all good organizations, the IAVM Foundation took some time this year to evaluate what our vision and mission are and if the Foundation is still relevant today.  We determined our core values to be:

• Partnership Development
• Member Engagement and Satisfaction
• Marketing and Communication
• Financial Management
• Future Initiatives

As our Association evolves with the changing needs of our industry, we are focused on continuing a strong Foundation in anticipation of what the “next thing” might be. There is no end to what IAVM is willing to do to innovate, advocate, and inspire. To keep up with the mission of our Association, the Foundation Board of Trustees gathered together a few months ago and hired an expert to help us create a 3 Year Strategic Plan for the Foundation.  We are hard at work and will meet again with our consultant at Venue Connect to set the course for the upcoming year.

I am proud of the work our Foundation Board of Trustees has done over the years.  There have certainly been ups and downs, but we have persevered and continued to forge ahead with new resolve because we know what we do matters and we are inspired by each of you to continue to keep our Foundation strong, relevant and working for you. While my time as Chair is coming to an end, my term as a Trustee is not, and I look forward to participating in the continuing forward motion of the IAVM Foundation.

And one final thing… I wouldn’t be a very good Trustee if I didn’t take this moment to ask you to look at the list of initiatives the Foundation has supported and ask yourself how many of these initiatives have you or your venue benefited from? Isn’t it at least worth paying it forward by investing back into the Foundation?

Invest in your Foundation to invest in the future of our industry.

IAVM Foundation

Chair, Board of Trustees