By Jack Hagler

After a Sunday of golf, touring, bourbon, and beer, what better way to roll into Monday than with a history lesson? Be there for our seventh annual history lesson with Robert Long and Scott Crossfield, The History of Toronto and Its Theatres: A to ZED.

Join Scott and Robert as they, again, humorously give us a look back in time at the development, and sometimes demise, of theatre buildings in our host city of Toronto. This is a perennial favorite with attendees, and is the session that sets the stage for the performing arts track sessions. Be sure to arrive early and grab your seat for this always popular session.

Shellie Van Druten has joined IAVM as Customer Solutions Manager, where her primary focus will be on tradeshow, sponsorship, hosted buyer fulfillment, and renewals. She brings more than 15 years of experience and expertise from the trade show and association industry.

“Shellie’s extensive knowledge of delivering ROI and enhancing customer experiences will be a true asset to our entire team and membership,” said Christy Jacobs, MBA, Director of Sales.

IAVM friends of Ray Ward: Rose Mary Ward has asked that if anyone wishes to make a donation in her husband Ray’s name and memory to please do so to the Alzheimer’s Association, American Heart Association, or the Boy Scouts of America.

She also sent this very beautiful picture of the two of them that some of our veteran IAVM members will recall of this wonderful couple.

We continue to invite you to send your own brief personal story or memory of Ray and/or Bill Cunningham to rv.baugus@iavm.org for inclusion in the July/August issue of Facility Manager magazine.

First off, if you are going to a game or concert, don’t expect staff from the Enterprise Center to pick you up. That said, the Scottrade Center in St. Louis has changed its name to the Enterprise Center. The venue is home to the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League and plays host to a myriad of events.

The team announced on May 21 that its 15-year arena naming rights agreement with St. Louis-based Enterprise Holdings, which operates Rent-A-Car, Alamo Rent a Car and National Car Rental.

The arena is in the middle of a $64 million renovation but remains one of the country’s busiest. The City of St. Louis owns the venue through a 1992 public-private partnership.

Terms of the deal were not made available. The arena has been known as the Scottrade Center since 2006. The Enterprise Center name change takes effect July 1.

In May, members of the New Orleans Fire Department’s Second District toured the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center to become familiar with its fire prevention, detection, and emergency response initiatives.

NOFD members were welcomed by the President and GM of the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, Michael Sawaya, who thanked them for their service to not only the convention center, but to the entire city of New Orleans. Personnel attending the tour were then taken to the back-of-house areas of the convention center to better understand the building’s multitude of fire prevention and suppression measures. Firefighters toured the convention center’s physical plant, fire pump stations, loading docks, Public Safety Dispatch Center, and other safety-critical areas. Each stop on the tour was designed to help first responders better understand the layout of critical areas of the convention center in case of an emergency.

“We were honored to give a tour of our facilities to the New Orleans Fire Department,” said Mark Kaufman, Director of Public Safety for the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. “The safety of our guests is our number one priority, and we are always looking for new ways to assist first responders in any way we can.”

These safety-focused initiatives will continue later in 2018 when members of the NOPD, NOFD, and EMS will be invited to participate in a mock-emergency simulation at the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.