During my years as education director at IAAM, I worked continuously with Ray on many projects. We warmed up to one another, he in a mentor role to me. Am I the only person Ray mentored? I worked briefly with Bill Cunningham in the mid-90s when IAAM was collecting its history for its 75th anniversary. At lunch in Austin, Texas after visiting the IAAM archives at the University of Texas, Bill told the story of his decision to hire Ray at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum as his assistant. I believe Ray had recently finished a master’s degree at the University of California-Santa Barbara and included in his job application a reference from some sports-related agency he had interned with. Bill called the reference and received a glowing recommendation except that Ray sometimes seemed to be too much of a perfectionist. With that warning, Bill said he knew Ray was the right man and hired him. So these two perfectionistic, Type A personalities, by all accounts were masterful as facility managers and as longtime leaders of IAVM.

Editor’s Note: Don Hancock will share more about these industry legends in the July/August issue of Facility Manager magazine. We invite anyone who has a memory of Ray Ward and/or Bill Cunningham to please email your brief comments to R.V. Baugus at rv.baugus@iavm.org to be part of the tribute package that we will be paying to honor these men.

The Minneapolis Convention Center (MCC) officially announced it has rolled out a new initiative to help meeting planners understand the environmental impact of their events. Customized client sustainability reports provide detailed analysis on energy and water usage, as well as how much material was recycled by each specific conference, meeting, or tradeshow. The MCC is a leader in sustainability, achieving a recycling rate of 61% for 2017.

“Limiting our environmental impact is extremely important, and our success is interconnected with the groups that hold their events with us,” said Director of Facility and Event Services Mark Zirbel. “Waste is sorted and accounted for, so we have the data available. Sharing that detailed information with meeting planners and event coordinators arms them with valuable insights. It also allows them to see their success or how they could be more proactive in making a positive impact on the environment.”

The Midwest Poultry Federation, which held its 2018 Annual Convention at the MCC in March, was among the first to receive a tailored event sustainability report. Their report showed sustainability efforts reduced the carbon impact of the annual meeting by 50%, or the same amount of carbon offset by 30,345 trees in one year. The MCC sustainability report uses visuals, including trees, to help planners put their numbers into context.

“Our attendees are poultry farmers and they work hard every day to reduce their carbon footprint on the farm,” said Lara Durben, assistant executive director for the Midwest Poultry Federation. “They will be very interested to see how the responsible use of water and energy along with the recovery of waste from our show makes a big difference to MCC’s overall sustainability program.”

MCC numbers:

• In 2017, the Minneapolis Convention Center produced 1,037 tons of waste, equal to the weight of 259 elephants. Staff recycling efforts recovered 61% of that waste, or 158 elephants.
• MCC used enough energy in 2017 to power 790 U.S. homes for one year. Through energy conservation, the MCC has reduced energy use by 13% since 2009, or enough to power 116 U.S. homes for one year.

“The Minneapolis Convention Center is a 1.6-million square foot facility that hosted 380 events in 2017,” said Executive Director Jeff Johnson. “By using our resources responsibly, we make a positive impact on our natural environment in this beautiful state.”

Tracking of the MCC’s recycling efforts began in 2012, when its recycling rate was 41%. By posting quarterly results, employees – who are integral to the success of the recycling program – see how their efforts can significantly impact the facility’s sustainability numbers. Staff embraced the program, which has allowed the MCC to reach its goal of a 60% recycling rate.

In addition to the client sustainability reports, ongoing initiatives include a roof-top solar array, a storm water run-off system that can divert 5 million gallons of untreated run-off from the Mississippi River every year, LED digital signage, and water bottle refilling stations to discourage the use of single-use water bottles. The Minneapolis Convention Center is also LEED certified, and has earned a coveted Green Meetings Industry Council certification.

The finish line is in sight for Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre’s (MCEC) $200-million expansion site, which is under two months away from opening.

Once completed, the new space will cement MCEC’s position as the largest convention and exhibition space in Australia, with an increased total size of over 70,000 square meters. The 20,000-square-metre expansion includes 9,000 square metres of exhibition space plus additional flexible, multi-purpose event space, 1,000 seat plenary theatre, multiple meeting rooms, a banquet room, and the Goldfields Café and Bar.

MCEC Chief Executive Peter King said customer experience was front of mind when planning the design. “We want to ensure our facilities suit the needs of our customers, rather than constraining them to fit within our space. A multi-purpose area with a retractable 1,000-seat theatre and adaptable meeting rooms are just two of the many flexible features throughout the new building.”

More than 300 events have been confirmed or are being negotiated for the new expansion space, between July 2018 and the end of 2024.

Victorian Minister for Tourism and Major Events, Hon. John Eren, said the expansion will cement Melbourne as the business events capital of Australia. “Not only will this redevelopment boost tourism, it will create more than 900 new jobs and provide a massive boost to our visitor economy by attracting more events and thousands more visitors to Victoria each year.”

The 1st Malaria World Congress will be the first event held in Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre’s expansion space, from July 1-5. Malaria is one of the world’s leading health problems, causing death and severe illness to millions each year across the world. “It’s a privilege to bring together the global community who are working to help eradicate malaria, as our inaugural event in the expansion,” King said.

Club Melbourne is owned and led by Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre with support and collaboration from Melbourne Convention Bureau and the Victorian State Government.

Daktronics has continued a long-standing relationship with Mississippi State University to provide two new LED video displays on campus in 2018. Bulldog soccer and volleyball fans will see the visual improvements at home games this fall as Mississippi State Soccer Field and Newell-Grissom Building are receiving new technology.

“The installation of new videoboards at soccer and volleyball will provide an enhanced game-day experience for our fans and student-athletes,” MSU Director of Athletics John Cohen said. “We’re thrilled to partner with Daktronics as we continue to elevate the Mississippi State brand at our venues.”

The new display at Mississippi State Soccer Field will measure 18 feet high by 32 feet wide and will feature a 15HD pixel layout with wide angle visibility to bring crisp, clear imagery to Bulldog fans at every game. It features industry-leading environmental protection to survive the elements while operating as expected.

Inside at Newell-Grissom Building, Bulldog volleyball fans will be looking at a new display measuring 10.5 feet high by 16.5 feet wide featuring an in-ward curvature to add extra appeal. It will feature 6-millimeter line spacing to provide an excellent picture with great contrast. Additionally, stat panels will be installed on each side of the main display to keep fan informed during the match.

“These installations expand the LED video technology on campus for the Mississippi State Bulldogs, their student-athletes and fans,” said Andrew Rice, Daktronics sales representative. “They will be game changers in terms of the overall fan experience at volleyball and soccer matches. We’re looking forward to seeing the impact when the displays are up and running later this year.”

Each display is capable of variable content zoning allowing them to show one large image or to be divided into multiple zones to show any combination of live video, instant replays, up-to-the-minute statistics, graphics and animations, and sponsorship messages.

In addition to the LED products being installed, the Bulldogs will also receive digital content from Daktronics Creative Services to help bring the displays to life. Content will be produced and delivered at the request of the university.

Craig Miller, chief of police for the Dallas Independent School District Police Department, had moments earlier finished addressing a crowd of 6,000 mostly students sprinkled with educators and administrators at the American Airlines Center in Dallas at a community outreach program involving the arena, school district, and IAVM, when he commented on just how essential and impressive the event was.

Then, he added, in a somber tone, “It’s kind of ironic we are doing this right after what happened last Friday.”

That day, of course, was when a student at Santa Fe High School near Houston unleashed a volley of shots into a classroom that resulted in the deaths of 10 individuals and wounded several more. The student voluntarily surrendered and is in custody.

Titled, SEE, SAY, DO SOMETHING, IAVM and Director of Education Mark Herrera brought together a diverse range of presenters from various backgrounds to share with students over the course of more than two hours the importance of boldly speaking up when anything is suspicious. It is a refrain that is common and certainly not novel, but a refrain that cannot be pushed enough at a time when data validates the troubled times that have plagued schools since Columbine on April 20, 1999. In fact, a show of hands in the crowd revealed that most were not even born when Columbine took place and know about it only by what they hear and read.

Herrera noted that the United States holds the unwanted distinction of having the most active shooter events with 21 such incidents already recorded at schools in 2018.

“Students had knowledge of 80% of the school shootings,” Herrera said. “These aren’t just sudden events. These are talked about in advance on social media, in the cafeteria. Over 90% of students planned the attack in advance.”

Whose Responsibility?

Chief Miller looked out at the sea of students that his department represents and implored their help.

“Our mission is to work with the campus administration,” he said. “Arrests are not our goal, but when we are challenged with situations we have to do often what we don’t want. Major change comes as a result of a major crisis. Columbine changed the way we respond. Then 9/11 changed forever how we do things. Sandy Hook (elementary school shooting in Connecticut on December 14, 2012, in which a shooter killed 26 people) brought about incredible changes in our schools and how we protect them.”

Chief Miller noted traveling to Parkland, Florida, 11 days after an attack on February 14 at the high school there in which 17 people were killed by a shooter. “You realize how personal this is now for people,” he said.

“Each of you in this crowd has a job to do,” he added. “Our job is to provide a safe learning environment for you. Your job is to supply information.”

Before addressing the crowd on the topic of Active Shooter – Making Prevention a Reality, John Skillestad, FBI Supervisory Special Agent, Office of Partner Engagement Violence Reduction Unit, Active Shooter Program, echoed much of Chief Miller’s theme.

“We cannot predict active shooters, but we can prevent them,” he said. “There are ways to prevent an active shooter. It’s not by looking at an individual and saying, ‘Oh, this person looks like an active shooter. I can tell by the way he’s dressed or she’s dressed.’ It’s all based on behavior. The behavioral aspects of what they do to share information out there that is basically a cry for help.”

It is a cry that often ends up being acted out and has dire and often deadly consequences.

“They are doing things unconsciously,” Skillestad said. “They may do it in writing, they may just go by their actions and showing that, hey, I am going down a pathway that people need to know that is not the pathway of normalcy.”

Again, Skillestad cautioned against making blanket summations of individuals, even though cues and hints get dropped along the way by the perpetrator. Such was the case at Santa Fe where the killer proudly displayed a “Born to Kill” shirt on social media.

“If this is something that he has never worn before to school or other behavior like that, then perhaps,” he said. “What we see is a lot of people will say, well, violent video games are the root cause of this. Well, how many kids play violent video games? Violent music where everybody listens to Marilyn Manson or whoever? Are they active shooters? No. It’s just part of the overall makeup of these individuals. What we believe they have is some type of deep-seeded angst for whatever reason. They were picked on, they felt slighted by not being chosen for an academic team or an athletic team. They just don’t feel like they are part of the community.

“My message is that each and every one of us, not only the students and not only the teachers but each and every member of the community, has to have the fortitude to stand up to someone who’s a bully or is picking on someone and saying that we are not going to have that. Then put it on those in positions of responsibility to make it incumbent on them to stop this. It may work in some situations and it may not, but if we don’t do anything nothing is going to change.”

Skillestad said that individuals need to be “upstanders as opposed to bystanders.”

“We don’t want people watching and saying, oh, isn’t that nice? We want people to react and respond and be a proactive force in the community.”

Addressing Vulnerabilities

Scott Breor, director, Protective Security Coordination Division with the Department of Homeland Security, leads a group that looks at the vulnerabilities within soft targets. Schools fall into that category.

“If you think about a facility or a venue where there is a large gathering of people, you often have an openness that schools have, that our churches have, vulnerabilities that can be exploited,” he said. “You could look at a school because it does have students populated, it does have open access to some extent. Newer constructed schools are better positioned to limit access with access controls, but schools typically have a vulnerability that can be exploited.”

Breor said he really had just one main message to implore the students, and that is to get involved.
“They need to assist whether it is a suspicious activity that another student might exhibit,” he said. “Think about the actions that are available to you if you were to hear a gun shot … if a gun shot went off in this room right now, where are the exits? Did you even think about that as you walked into this room?”

Breor emphasized that while students can be eyes and ears, the professionals are on the scene for a reason.

“Students don’t need to become security professionals but they need to get a level of awareness within the environment they are in,” he said.

The spectrum of speakers also included Cheryl Shannon, Dallas County District Judge, who spoke about the consequences of words, Dr. Tamara Madensen, UNLV Professor of Crowd Dynamics, who spoke on that topic, and Bob Kolasky, DHS Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Infrastructure Protection.
The school district was represented on a teen panel that included students Glenda Meyer, Molina High School, Alexandra Brooks, Woodrow Wilson High School, Reagan Ruffin, Skyline High School, and Lucky Lawhorn, Barack Obama Male Leadership Academy. The students took turns asking questions of another panel made up of some of the presenters.

In addition to the education, students got to enjoy performances by dance teams of the Dallas Mavericks and Dallas Stars, while the drum lines from Bryan Adams High School and Carter High School energized the crowd.

Dallas Maverick Dwight Powell opened things by welcoming the students. “We remember our middle school and high school days,” he said. “Take and protect your future as well as your classmates. It is exciting to see the good work you are doing for your community.”

Breor noted that this rollout at an IAVM member venue is a great start and one that has potential for future growth throughout the country.
“As this model possibly rolls out to other localities and metropolitan areas, our department wants to further along this relationship with IAVM so we can be not only supportive but also take part to show that there really are no lines where something belongs to this department, something belongs to the community, this belongs to the school district. We are all part of a community and we all need to address this for our schools.”