Plan to join IAVM and the Green Sports Alliance for a GSA/IAVM Huddle on Wednesday, May 30, from 1-5 pm at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.
GSA/IAVM Huddle

What: Professional development and networking event that will include sustainability tips, a panel discussion with breakout sessions, and a stadium tour!

Who Should Attend: Current and prospective GSA and IAVM members, public assembly venue managers, facility managers, sustainability professionals, and anyone open to learning more about greening your venues

Why: To increase awareness of the Green Sports Alliance and the International Association of Venue Managers organizations and missions, generate sustainability conversations to improve conditions in our state and region, and to showcase the Camden Yards Sports Complex sustainability and LEED certification efforts

When: Wednesday, May 30th, 2018; 1:00-5:00pm with optional baseball game afterwards (7:05pm vs. Nationals)

Where: M&T Bank Stadium, Club Level ~ 1101 Russell Street Baltimore, MD 21230

Cost: Complimentary admission to event; discount provided for optional Nationals/Orioles game ticket(s)

By Bill Edwards

On the night of October 1st, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada a gunman opened up with automatic weapons and over 1,500 rounds of ammunition on a sea of open air concert goers. Taking advantage of terrain, specifically high ground afforded by a 32nd-floor hotel room, the gunman was able to benefit from a mass of canalized people in a bowl environment. In a matter of minutes, the gunman was capable of bringing mass murder on an unsuspecting crowd, and once again changed the way we as a nation approach and think about security at public events and functions.

Easy access to a high-rise hotel room gave this shooter complete tactical advantage over innocent people. In a very permissive environment this shooter leveraged surprise and his plot was easily executed. However, this is not the time to point fingers, in fact, it’s an appropriate and opportune time to review how security is viewed and where it exists in our priorities. It is also a time for leaders, stakeholders, and companies that operate in the public space to actively revisit processes, procedures and stress security approaches that make sense. In essence, providing customized mitigation measures, solutions, and recommendations that will fit any type of event, venue, facility, or structure.

Overall, it is vitally important for security in all aspects to maintain a level of agility that allows for predictive and proactive postures and actions rather than mercurial and reactive end states. All too often we see large-scale efforts with regard to post-event forensics in a negative way. Time and time again we see through our media the repetitive questions of “what could we have done better and wasn’t security discussed for this event.” It’s time we turn those forensics into positive after-action reviews that show how we made adjustments to give us a better chance to predict and report results. Furthermore, as security professionals, we should take note of the complexity of this plan, but also the simplicity of its execution. It is time to collectively take a serious approach to security in all areas of public life.

So what can be done? First and foremost, security needs to be the first conversation with any endeavor. In the military, before any mission orders are executed, security is always the first order of work in every echelon of the Army structure. Customized security planning, coordination, solutions, and mitigation measures are the beginning of any security plan. In an era of advanced technologies, vast experiences with terrorism, conflict zone exposure, and a post-9/11 heightened awareness environmental landscape, there is no excuse for making security a low priority or a conversation that simply didn’t happen. There are always mitigation measures to put in place if a comprehensive Threat and Vulnerability Risk Assessment (TVRA) is conducted.

Additionally, a technology roadmap using cutting-edge surveillance solutions that are fully integrated throughout will provide an operations center indications and warnings of threat events rapidly. It is this construct that we provide the proactive posture to enable first responders to act precisely in the event of a security issue. This must be the goal for correct holistic security design.

True security professionals should deliver analysis, advice, design and implementation recommendations as a matter of simply doing business. Understanding, threat, vulnerability, risk, and mitigation is key. As a stakeholder in our public space, you need to ask yourself how I create a secure environment for my business that fits within my budget and allows me to provide the highest level of protection for my people, assets, and critical infrastructure. In the end, the investment is very important. I recommend a strategic vision, research on the competitive market and locating a security consultant that gives you a comprehensive security package emphasizing physical, operational, and technical security expertise that integrates all components without distracting from your day-to-day functions.

Remember, security must be a part of our identity in today’s tumultuous landscape. There is no greater endeavor when it comes to protecting our way of life.

Bill Edwards is Vice President of Operational/Technical Security Services at Thornton Tomasetti. He is responsible for planning, coordinating, resourcing and building operational/technical security services for a world renowned structural engineering company with a long history of successful protective design and physical security projects.

Iconic Western Australian business Bankwest was announced as the official banking partner of the Perth Stadium.

Perth Stadium CEO, Mike McKenna welcomed the Bankwest partnership. “It is only fitting that an iconic Western Australian brand is partnering with this world-class Stadium and this is yet another demonstration of the support Bankwest provides the State,” he said.

Added Bankwest Managing Director Rowan Munchenberg: “This exciting new partnership is the latest example of how Bankwest is strengthening its commitment to Western Australia. Perth Stadium will be an international sports and entertainment venue that we can all be proud of and it will make an important economic contribution to our home state for many years to come.”

In the lead up to the opening of the Stadium, Bankwest unveiled a series of tangible benefits all customers can experience and enjoy.

In addition, Bankwest will have naming rights to the 1,385 exclusive membership seat area which will be known as the Bankwest Club.

The Bankwest Club is the first product of its type to be offered in Western Australia and will provide sport and entertainment fans the ultimate stadium experience.

Perth Stadium officially opened with a free community open day on January 21 while the Fremantle Dockers played Collingwood in Round 2 of the AFLW on February 10.

The iCommit member referral campaign launched four weeks ago. With your support, we have added 13 new members due to you spreading the word about IAVM.

For each new member you refer, your name will be entered in a raffle to win great prizes! The current leaderboard is shown below:

Alexis Berggren – 8 – new group member
Billy Langenstein – 1 – new young professional
Timothy Savona – 1 – new young professional
John Siehl, CVE – 1 – new professional
Kevin Spence, CVE – 1 – new student
Beth Wade, CVE – 1 – new young professional

Do you have interns, students, or young professionals working for you now? Is there a long-time employee who hasn’t gotten involved yet? Encourage them to become a part of our network.

If you know of a venue in your community that is not a part of IAVM, encourage them to consider Group Membership. As of today, 152 venues are participating as group members.

Do you have a vendor that is not an Allied Member? Urge them to join now and experience all that membership has to offer!

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

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

 
Prizes

• The grand prize will be a complimentary registration to VenueConnect2019 (value up to $1,000).
• Win one of five, $500 Apple Gift cards
• The IAVM Region that adds the most new members will have one CVP application fee waived (value $125)

 
We will continue to share monthly updates as we strive to meet our goal of adding 550 new members. It’s a lofty goal, but we can do it! The campaign ends June 30, 2018.

The San Diego skyline will never be the same.

On February 21, 2018, the San Diego Convention Center debuted its newest feature: LED colored lights that illuminate the newly renovated iconic fabric roof. The lights change colors and are visible across the downtown area: from the Gaslamp Quarter to Coronado Bay, and especially to visitors flying in on their way to the San Diego International Airport.

The light fixtures are the same as those used to light the Empire State Building in New York City.

“This is a very different space than it was when it opened in 1989,” said Executive Vice President and General Manager Karen Totaro, CVE. “I am proud of the entire team. It took hundreds of people – from our internal staff to our partners – working collaboratively in this effort including BirdAir, ProCal Lighting, Siemens and Kinsman Construction, just to name a few. Their work will serve as a legacy for both our city and our customers to live up to our award-winning title ‘Venue of Excellence’ and ‘Best of California.'”

The lights are the “icing on the cake” of the newly remodeled exhibit space, one of the most unique spaces in the conventions and meetings industry. The 90,000 square foot venue recently underwent a $16.7 million renovation, part of the largest series of upgrades in the Convention Center’s history.

Here is what’s new in the Sails Pavilion: •New Fabric Roof
•New Concrete Floor
•LED Lighting System
•New Water Cannons (part of the venue’s fire-suppression system)

“The Sails Pavilion is our Convention Center’s most distinguishing feature,” said San Diego Convention Center Corporation President & CEO Clifford “Rip” Rippetoe, CVE. “After 28 years in operation, it was time to reinvest and reimagine the space. Not only were we able to conduct necessary maintenance and upgrades without interfering with our business, but we were able to add something new that will make the Convention Center truly shine.”

All of the upgrades, except the LED lights, were funded through a $25.5 million loan from the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank (IBank). The LED lights were paid for by the Convention Center’s reserves, at a cost of $377,000.

The concrete floor replacement started in December of 2016 and was completed in March 2017. The roof replacement began in August of 2017 and wrapped up in February 2018.

“The renovation of the Sails Pavilion and the other important capital improvements taking place around the Convention Center have been a major priority for our Board of Directors,” said Gil Cabrera, Chair of the San Diego Convention Center Corporation Board of Directors. “The work being done ensures we will remain the region’s premier gathering place. Each project improves upon our role as an important economic driver that will generate an estimated $1.2 billion in regional impact this year alone and provide $27.5 million in hotel and sales tax revenue to the City of San Diego.”

San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer praised the Convention Center staff for their efforts.

“These upgrades represent an infrastructure investment in one of the greatest economic engines that we have,” said the Mayor. “This iconic Sails Pavilion is how so many people – San Diegans and visitors alike – help to identify our great city skyline.”

Rafael Castellanos, Chairman of the Port of San Diego Board of Port Commissioners, said this project is the start of an overall synergistic approach to the lighting of San Diego Bay.

“I’m especially excited because this illumination of the Sails Pavilion is the first step in what will be a bay-wide illumination,” Castellanos said. “That includes the lighting of the San Diego-Coronado Bay Bridge, lighting up what will be the new home for the San Diego Symphony (along the waterfront behind the Convention Center) and the Central Embarcadero.”