UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, has launched a new education programme in China. The inaugural UFI-VMA Venue Management School kicked off on November 20.

The three-day program was hosted by the Shanghai New International Exhibition Centre (SNIEC), a long-time UFI member and strong supporter of UFI’s activities in China. The program was oversubscribed with 34 students from 15 different venues across China.

The program offered participants an unmatched learning environment. The curriculum included three days of lectures delivered in Mandarin by experienced senior-level managers from leading venues in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Shenyang, to name just a few.

Kai Hattendorf, UFI’s Managing Director/CEO, commented: “In recent years, additional venue space has become available in almost all regions of the world, especially in the Asia-Pacific region. Venue investments are long-term investments – they require the necessary infrastructure as well as qualified staff. UFI’s new Venue Management School offers programm aimed at qualifying venue managers to handle the needs of the international exhibition organisers that are bringing business to these venues.”

The lectures included group work, case studies, best practices, and more. The program covered core areas of venue management including customer care, safety & security, back of house operations, venue marketing, leadership skills, human resources management, and many others. The program was delivered under the terms of a partnership between UFI and the Venue Management Association (Asia and Pacific) Limited based in Australia.

Nancy Wang, from Shenyang New World Expo, was the top performing student at this year’s program. “It is a great honor for me to attend the inaugural education program launched by UFI-VMA Venue Management School in China and I am very happy to be awarded as the outstanding student,” she said. “My sincere thanks to UFI and VMA for preparing this comprehensive and practical arrangements and curriculums and inviting the great venue management experts as instructors to share their knowledge and experiences. As Chinese venue managers, we are very inspired by our industry peers and instructors of this program, and will apply the knowledge we learned to our daily work and enhance our professionalism.”

The program also included a mandatory final exam, a gala dinner, and a city tour for students from outside Shanghai. This program was supported by the generous sponsorship of Ungerboeck Software. Following the success of this year’s program, UFI will announce the dates and location of the 2018 edition of the program early next year.

The lack of qualified staff managing exhibition venues internationally is based on massive growth of exhibition space available. UFI’s recently published “World Map of Exhibition Venues” shows that in recent years, additional venue space has become available in all regions of the world. Some 1,221 exhibition venues currently serve the industry. Venue investments are long-term investments – so these trends underline the positive outlook for the exhibition industry mid- to long-term.

The exhibition market in Asia continues to grow at an impressive pace and over the past decade, Asia’s venue infrastructure has also rapidly expanded. Asia now offers more exhibition venue space than North America.

Congratulations to our latest Certified Venue Professional: Jake Whitcomb, CVP, Manager, Event Operations at San Francisco Giants.

View all of our current CVP’s here.

Thanks to the generous funding and support from the IAVM Foundation, the CVP program was launched in August 2015 at VenueConnect in Baltimore. It recognizes the competence of middle-to-senior-level managers of public assembly venues as well as assisting the managers in creating a professional roadmap in the venue industry.

The CVP designation says three important things about an individual: he or she is a capable professional, is committed to the industry, and is pledged to continued professional growth and development. Venue professionals who earn the CVP designation are recognized, by those inside and outside the industry, as skilled in their profession.

Mark Haley, president of Smart City – Corporate, spoke Tuesday morning at a Tech Huddle session as part of the International Association of Exhibitions and Events’ (IAEE) EXPO! EXPO! 2017 in San Antonio. Prior to leaving for San Antonio, Haley talked some about just exactly what he would be talking about. Later this week, IAVM President and CEO Brad Mayne, CFE, will be a panelist at an EXPO! EXPO! session entitled “Protect Our $280+ Billion Exhibitions, Meetings and Events Industry” with a special nod to the Exhibitions and Meetings Safety and Security Initiative (EMSSI).

What will be some of the highlights in your presentation?

Key highlights will be the benefits to all mobile device users at high density events including show managers, exhibitors, and attendees.

Who will most benefit by attending the session and why?

I think event planners will benefit most in understanding that this is not an attempt to restrict them or their exhibitors, but rather how well educated attendees and exhibitors of an event can contribute to an excellent wireless experience in a high density situation. While the rules are guidelines on how to ensure better connectivity in a high density environment, by including them as part of the venue and exhibitor license agreement, it provides an avenue to correct any situations in which a rogue device is disrupting other exhibitors or attendees.

Where do things stand right now with regards to Common Sense Rules?

The FCC has accepted the recommendation from IAVM’s WiFi Coalition to employ the Wireless common sense rules. This was after the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau had created confusion a few years back with its enforcement activity in hotels and convention centers. Venues can employ and enforce the Common Sense Rules without fear of being cited by the FCC.

What are just some of the industries/associations this impacts?

These rules were crafted mainly to assist the convention and meetings industry and the venues that those events are held in.

What was the genesis behind this situation?

In 2014 the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau had decided to interpret part of the 1929 Communications Act regarding radio station jamming as applying to wireless network security protocols built into all manufacturers wireless equipment. While the Enforcement Bureau was very clear that convention centers and hotels could NOT utilize these automatic security protocols, they did provide any guidance on how we in the industry could manage wireless traffic in events in our venues. No one wanted to take any action for fear of getting cited and/or fined by the FCC.

Later this week, IAVM President and CEO Brad Mayne, CFE, will be a panelist at an EXPO! EXPO! session entitled “Protect Our $280+ Billion Exhibitions, Meetings and Events Industry” with a special nod to the Exhibitions and Meetings Safety and Security Initiative (EMSSI).

The Exhibitions and Meetings Safety and Security Initiative (EMSSI) is supported by more than 60 industry organizations. As noted in the session description, a top priority of meetings and conventions industry is the safety and security of attendees, members, exhibitors, and employees. U.S. convention centers are aligning with the only nationally recognized security guidelines and best practices through the U.S. Federal Government and the Department of Homeland Security and Safety Act Office.

Mayne will speak in part to how the EMSSI program developed as an industry initiated effort to enhance safety and security at U. S. convention centers; guidelines that would need to be supported and implemented in order to become a U.S. Department of Homeland Security Safety Act Office accredited center; and why EMSSI is important to all exhibitions industry stakeholders including general service contractors, center management, show organizers, and more.

You, as an IAVM member, are our most important asset. Without your commitment to the association and to the venue management industry, we wouldn’t be here. Because of your support, we are featuring member profiles in our I Am Venue Management series. If you are interested in participating in the I Am Venue Management series, please visit http://www.iavm.org/i-am-venue-management-share-your-story.

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Robbins Sports Surfaces announced the promotions of two strong contributors and developing leaders in the organization.

John Puening has been promoted to the position of Product Manager for Recreational Wood. Puening will manage the Rec Wood segment that includes Portables and Performing Arts and

will work closely with Marketing, Sales, Technical Service and Operations. Hehn will also continue to oversee Wood R&D. During his 18 years with Robbins, Puening has always shown initiative in the performance of his duties, regularly going above and beyond to ensure that Robbins delivers innovative products to the market and quality customer service. Puening will deliver the same level of dedication and commitment in his new position.

Kevin Price has been promoted to the position of Sales Team Leader. Price celebrates five years with Robbins this month but his experience in the industry is extensive including eight years managing the Indianapolis office of Cincinnati Floor Co., managing the sports surface division of Jack Laurie Floors and he also worked as a Regional Sales Manager for Polytan USA. In this newly created position, Price will work closely with Marketing and Product Management and will serve as a leadership representative for the Sales Organization. Price has been a successful Regional Sales Manager and brings a strong sales and business acumen to the team.