Join IAVM for the 93rd annual VenueConnect  Conference and Trade Show hosted at the Metropolitan Toronto Convention Centre in Toronto, Canada. VenueConnect hosts professionals from a spectrum of public assembly venues including arenas, convention centers, amphitheaters, fairgrounds, performing arts centers, stadiums, universities, and more. This is the only industry conference that inspires industry leaders, provides targeted education, and brings attendees together creating relationships that last a lifetime!

• This year IAVM has 100+ educational sessions available for you to choose from! VenueConnect offers tailored education developed by top industry leaders that align with your venue type.
• BootCamps are back, and with more options to choose from, they are even better than ever! These small-group sessions, held at venues across Toronto, will provide participants with an even greater understanding of venue-specific operations.
• Gain front row access to agents and promoters, and seize opportunities to bring new talent into your venue.
• Get access to the latest industry hot topics and trends.
• The Trade Show floor will feature Venue Chat education sessions, Agent Alley, Block Party, Career Center, food, drinks, & more!

• Multi-Registrant Member Discount! Register 5 or more Professional Members (Professional or Young Professional) on the same registration order and each registrant receives $100 discount…that’s a savings of at least $500!
• This year’s VenueConnect will now feature over 12 hours of Trade Show hours!
• Sector theaters have been added to provide attendees with an opportunity for additional networking with sector colleagues.
• You asked for it, and we delivered it! Not only have we increased the number of education sessions, but we have also lengthened some to allow more time for content coverage.

Don’t Delay!  Register now!!

 

An all-star panel moderated by Andy Jabbour, co-founder and managing director of The Gate 15 Company, is among the highlights at this year’s Academy for Venue Safety & Security (AVSS) taking place February 15-19 in Minneapolis. Jabbour will lead a discussion for a session titled “Current Topics in Venue & Event Safety and Security.” Panelists include Bill Flynn, president, Garda Risk Management; Doug Reynolds, security director, Mall of America; Dave Horsman, senior director of ballpark operations, Minnesota Twins Baseball Club; John Bonhage, special agent, FBI; Mike Christianson, protective security advisor, DHS; and Glenn Sanders, protective security advisor, DHS.

“We expect for this session to be as current and topical as possible,” Jabbour said. “We have folks who are really, really pros in this area. We will be getting perspectives from local to regional to national, from public to private, hometown security, physical security threats, cybersecurity at facilities, just lots of incredible and valuable information for attendees.”

Jabbour oversees team projects providing Gate 15’s threat-informed and risk based approach to analysis, preparedness and operations in support of private sector and government partners across the critical infrastructure environment, including support to the several information sharing and analysis centers. He also presently serves as a member of IAVM’s Venue Safety & Security Committee, as faculty for AVSS, as well as serving as on the InfraGardNCRBoard.

“We’ll talk about the big events that has gotten everyone’s attention, such as the tragedy in Las Vegas on the 1st of October,” Jabbour said. “It made the whole community stop and think about why this happened and how this happened. We’ll also talk a lot about some common concerns of low-tech terrorism and extremism that are more likely to be created around a facility.

“The implication is that most of the people attending won’t necessarily be dealing with a catastrophic incident like we saw in Las Vegas or the church shooting in (Sutherland Springs) Texas. It would be on a much smaller scale but still very impactful such as a deliberate vehicle ramming. Facility leaders need to look to their neighbors and related facilities to understand the importance of local coordination and to know what’s going on in the neighborhood. We’ll talk about all of that.”

Jabbour said that there is an increased integration of technology such as cybersecurity.

“You’re now blending your physical security person with a cybersecurity person,” he said. “It is important to understand this new blended environment and to try and gain an appreciation for these different disciplines that might be under your operations.”

The panel discussion will emphasis four main topics including Preparedness and Response, Hometown Security, Local Coordination, and Facility Cybersecurity. A Q&A session will follow the panel discussion.

“We want to help venues understand the threat environment, the risks to their facilities, and hopefully give them some nuggets to take away so that they can take action, whether that is a training program or some type of exercise or building a plan or reaching out to their neighborhood partners. We want them to walk out understanding the threat, appreciating the risk, and then go out and do something to get ahead of those concerns.”

After 25 years at the helm of the RBC Convention Centre, President and CEO Klaus Lahr will be retiring this spring. Following a lengthy search, Crystal Laborero, Board Chair, and Search Committee Chair Danny Akman, announced that Drew Fisher will be appointed to the position effective March 15, 2018.

Fisher will join the convention centre with over 30 years of experience in the hospitality and tourism industry. He has held leadership

positions at several Fairmont hotels and resorts across Canada, the most recent at the Fairmont Winnipeg where he has been the general manager for over four years.

“We are pleased to welcome Drew to the convention centre organization,” Laborero said. “We held an extensive and thorough search and considered over 80 local to international candidates. We are quite confident that we have selected the best person for the position.

“Drew has worked extensively with tourism organizations and in the hospitality industry. His experience in destination marketing and the hotel industry will make him a well-rounded leader to the team.”

Lahr will leave the convention centre with big shoes to fill. He has been recognized as being a visionary and a leader with an understanding of the big picture. He has seen many changes during his time at the convention centre and played an integral part in the recent successful expansion. He championed the project for over 16 years and was influential in bringing it to fruition and instrumental in the project opening on schedule and within budget.

“We appreciate Klaus and thank him for his dedication and commitment and we wish him well as he enters this new chapter of his life,” added Laborero.

Lahr will remain at the convention centre until early May as he works with Fisher during a transition period.

By Todd Fariss

As the owner of a convention center or other event venue, vying for the next big booking is a highly competitive undertaking. While a number of factors go into why a customer chooses a particular venue for their event, in this day and age, cellular connectivity is certainly high on that list. Still, more often than not, it seems event spaces are fraught with connectivity issues that plague owners and frustrate attendees.

Case in point: the city of Seattle had to ask attendees of the Seahawks 2014 home opener at CenturyLink field to limit their use of social media for fear that they would overload the available signals and create a potential hazard in case of an emergency. And the San Diego Convention Center this year completed a major cellular structure improvement project just in time for Comic-Con.

Of course, it isn’t just comic and sports fanatics that are demanding better cellular coverage at events. Indeed, attendees to business conferences and conventions are sucking up more cellular signal than ever before as they find Instagrammable and Tweetable moments at every business event. Not only do these attendees expect to be able to use their devices to work, check email, and make calls home to their spouses and children, they want to stay constantly connected. After all, social networking takes place at just about every event these days (yes, even the American Society of Plumbing Engineers Convention and Expo).

Improving your signal — and your space

Poor cell signals in these spaces can be largely blamed on the materials used to construct them, including tons upon tons of concrete and steel. Couple that with the large amount of people using the networks and you have a recipe for disaster.

So, as an event space owner, how can you fix subpar, or downright awful cellular coverage within your facility to make your space more appealing to those who will potentially book it for their events?

In the case of the San Diego Convention Center, its project entailed installing hundreds of miniature antennas throughout the 200,000-plus-square-foot center to connect to the networks of different cellular carriers, including AT&T and T-Mobile. This option, known as a distributed antenna system, is expensive (between $2-$4 per square foot) and therefore not a feasible option for most expo space owners. They are also time-consuming to install.

A Better, More Affordable Option

Luckily, a far less-expensive option is available and it’s just as effective. Passive distributed antenna systems, or passive DAS systems, allow event space owners to boost cellular signals within their spaces without complex fiber optics and antenna systems. Passive DAS works by effectively “boosting” the cellular signal in these spaces up to 32x. Passive DAS captures an existing cellular signal with an antenna, amplifies the signal, and redistributes it. These boosters can be configured to cover areas up to 100,000 square feet or more.

And it does so at a fraction of the cost of traditional active DAS systems. In comparison to active DAS, passive DAS cell phone signal booster systems can be easily added to your event space and up and running within a matter of weeks. The average cost is less than half of active DAS, at between 30 and 70 cents per square foot. Passive DAS cell phone signal booster systems are also carrier agnostic. That means superior coverage for event attendees no matter which major network or regional carrier they use.

To remain competitive in the events industry, strong cellular coverage is no longer optional. Implementing cell signal boosting solutions is an easy and cost-effective way to improve the quality of your space. By doing so, you’ll improve the attendee experience and remain competitive as the go-to events venue in your market.

Todd Fariss is director of WilsonPro Product Line at Wilson Electronics. Visit www.wilsonelectronics.com.

When U.S. Bank Stadium welcomes the pinnacle game of football this Sunday, more than 31,000 square feet of LED displays manufactured and installed by Daktronics will create the ultimate game-day experience for fans. Daktronics employees will provide services and support during the game as the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles fight for the championship in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

U.S. Bank Stadium is the only professional football venue to feature LED displays manufactured in the same state as Daktronics location in Redwood Falls, Minnesota, handled the entire production for these displays. A total of 23 displays featuring 13HD pixel layouts were installed prior to the stadium opening in 2016. Positioned close to the fans and the field, the main end zone displays create one of the most intimate experiences in the league.

“This year marks 14 straight football championship games with our equipment being used at the host venue, a mark that we’re extremely proud of as it shows our commitment to the sports industry and enhancing their biggest moments,” said Jay Parker, Daktronics vice president of live events. “This year is a little bit special as the game is close to home, essentially in our own backyard. We’re looking forward to equipment being on display at the game and showcasing our company as a trusted source for sports’ largest events.”

Unique displays outside the stadium welcome fans to the venue. The legacy ship out front features a sail-shaped display curving from top to bottom and the prow display on the side of the stadium is trapezoid-shaped creating interest and catching eyes.

Ensuring everything is operational for the game, Daktronics services group will be on site before the game to run pre-event checks. Services personnel will be watching the system closely during the game to maintain peak equipment performance. The team will also be supporting events prior to the game and until the fans have left the stadium after the game.

“Providing support for live sporting events is what we do; it’s in our DNA,” said Daktronics Vice President of Services Sarah Rose. “We’ve been working with U.S. Bank Stadium for over a year to plan for this week’s events leading up to the main event on Sunday. We will have teams in place verifying everything is operating as expected leading up to the game as well as at the game itself to support and offer peace-of-mind for our customer.”