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.”

AEG Presents, the live music division of global entertainment company AEG, announced the opening of their first office in France. The creation of an AEG Presents office in the country builds on their already impressive track record in the UK and marks a key expansion into one of Europe’s most important and vibrant markets for live music. Operating out of Paris, the team will be led by leading promoting executive Arnaud Meersseman, who will report directly to the CEOs of AEG Presents London, Steve Homer and Toby Leighton-Pope.

Meersseman’s career in live music promotion began in 2004 and has seen him work with some of the leading music promoters in France,

staging shows for the likes of Kendrick Lamar, Lana Del Ray, Major Lazer and A$AP Rocky. In 2016 he became Managing Director of the MIALA/Fimalac group. He begins leading AEG Presents France effective immediately with a remit to develop and grow a promotions business centred on the thriving French music scene, while at the same time actively supporting AEG’s international roster of touring artists.

Since entering the UK market more than a decade ago, AEG Presents have built a strong presence across concert touring, festivals and venues. In 2017 alone, AEG promoted over 800 live events in the UK. Through festivals such as Barclaycard Presents British Summer Time Hyde Park, AEG has brought a new level of world-class talent and outstanding customer experience to this world-renowned central London location. The venue portfolio for AEG Presents includes the iconic Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith (jointly owned with partner, CTS Eventim). Through a multi-million pound refurbishment completed last year, AEG Presents continues to proudly deliver a level of excellence across the live event space in the UK to meet, and often exceed, the needs of today’s music fans.

The creation of AEG Presents France follows AEG’s significant investment in the Accors Hotel Arena in Paris, as well as the recent acquisition of the highly regarded Rock En Seine festival (jointly acquired with French media investment group, LNEI).

Steve Homer and Toby Leighton-Pope, joint CEO’s AEG Presents, said The live music scene in France is incredibly vibrant and one “we very much admire and it’s a real privilege to be able to set up our Paris office. In Arnaud we have a highly experienced leader and look forward to achieving great things together.”

“I’ve worked with Toby and Steve since they became involved in Rock en Seine and I’m very proud and excited to become part of the AEG Presents team with this new venture,” Meersseman said. “I have always considered AEG to be best in class in developing venues and festivals that both meet the needs of today’s consumers and in the development of the Hyde Park festival build something truly befitting of the London Park, I am looking forward to taking this passion for excellence into the French market and I’m confident we can do some excellent work with both international and French artists as the new office gets underway.”

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