Deadline To Submit Nominations For The 2018 IAVM Foundation Legacy Award Is November 17, 2017.

The IAVM Foundation Legacy Award may be awarded annually by the Board of Trustees to an individual or organization who, in the opinion of the IAVM Foundation has made a significant financial and/or non-financial contribution to benefit the mission and objectives of the IAVM Foundation. The Foundation Chief Executive Officer will provide evidence the nominee meets the criteria.

The following criteria are established for the Legacy Award nominees:

1. The nominee may be from any membership category of IAVM or from outside of the Association in a related field.
2. Any current or past contributor to the IAVM Foundation may make a nomination, which must provide, in writing, specific examples of the nominee’s outstanding contributions to the IAVM Foundation.
3. At least three letters of recommendation must accompany the nomination.
4. No Chair of IAVM or Chair of the IAVM Foundation is eligible for consideration until the third VenueConnect following his/her term of office.
5. Previous recipients are ineligible (and may be found on our website under Awards).
6. Nominations must be submitted to the Director of Governance & Operations no later than November 17, 2017.
7. The award may be given posthumously.

The nominations and letters of recommendation should be written to Brad Mayne, CFE, IAVM Foundation CEO and submitted to Rosanne Duke electronically. The nomination letter and all letters of recommendation must be received by close of business November 17, 2017. If you have any questions, please contact Rosanne Duke at 972.538.1025.

Deadline to submit nominations for the 2018 Charles A. McElravy Award is November 17, 2017.

The Charles A. McElravy Award may be awarded annually to a Professional, Honorary, or Retired member of IAVM who, in the opinion of the Board of Directors has made the greatest lifetime achievement to the welfare of the Association or profession.

The following criteria are established for the McElravy Award nominees:

1. The nominee must have been a Professional, Honorary, or Retired Member of the IAVM in good standing for at least fifteen (15) years total (though not necessarily consecutively).
2. The nominee needs to meet the minimum service to IAVM requirements for Honorary Membership, but is not required to be retired. The following criteria must be met for a member to be eligible for consideration for Honorary Membership: 1) Attendance at no fewer than 10 Annual Conferences (VenueConnect) during the past 15 years; 2) Attendance at no fewer than 5 Region Meetings during the past 15 years; 3) Service as chair of at least three international or two Region committees during the past 15 years; 4) Service as: Director of IAVM or officer in a Region at least once during the member’s tenure with IAVM or b) Program chair for an IAVM venue-specific or specialty meeting during the member’s tenure with IAVM or c) Member of Board of Regents, Board of Trustees, or Board of Governors during member’s tenure with IAVM.
3. Any member in good standing may make a nomination, which must provide, in writing, a minimum of three examples of the nominee’s outstanding contributions to IAVM and/or the industry (for example: leadership, accomplishments, professional service/activities, projects/results).
4. At least three letters of recommendation must accompany the nomination letter.
5. No Chairman of the Board (or Past President) of IAVM is eligible for consideration until the third Annual Conference (VenueConnect) following his/her term of office.
6. Previous recipients are ineligible (and may be found on our website under Awards).

The nominations and letters of recommendation should be written to Brad Mayne, CFE, President & CEO and submitted to Rosanne Duke electronically. The nomination letter and all letters of recommendation must be received by close of business November 17, 2017. If you have any questions, please contact Rosanne Duke at 972.538.1025.

The International Association of Venue Managers is heartbroken by the act of terror in Las Vegas, Nevada last night. According to news sources, a gunman rapid-fired bullets on a large outside music festival on the Las Vegas Strip, packed with over 22,000 fans. Country music artist Jason Aldean was performing when the attack occurred shortly before 10:08 p.m. At this time, reports show over 50 lives were lost and more than 400 were taken to local hospitals for injuries.

IAVM is closely monitoring the situation and working with our venue professionals and the Department of Homeland Security to provide support and assistance as needed. At this time, we have no information to indicate a specific credible threat involving any other public venues or events in the country. However, increased security in and around public places and gathering may be experienced as officials take additional precautions to ensure the safety of patrons.

The entire IAVM family sends our thoughts and prayers to all of those affected by the tragedy, as well as to all of the dedicated first responders, event and venue professionals working tirelessly to continue to aid those in need.

Brad Gessner is senior vice president, general manager of the AEG Facilities-managed Los Angeles Convention Center. He provides the following update on fellow AEG Facilities-managed Puerto Rico Convention Center in the wake of Hurricane Maria and its devastation.

I finally was able to connect with (Puerto Rico Convention Center General Manager) Jorge Perez via cell phone this morning (Wednesday). He got me current with all that is going on in Puerto Rico, and the PRCC.

Jorge and his family, as well as Omar, Noelia and their families, are all staying at the Sheraton next to the PRCC as many of the roads in Puerto Rico are inaccessible and there is a 6 pm curfew in effect.

The PRCC sustained very little damage and is largely back to normal. FEMA has contracted the PRCC as their Command Center and will be paying full rent for at least the next 30 days. They are housing 600 FEMA workers and contractors at the PRCC.

In addition, there are close to 200 evacuees/victims of Hurricane Irma from the other islands that the Puerto Rican Government welcomed and are housing at the PRCC.

Our AEG Facilities team under Jorge’s leadership was ready for this and made sure the three generators (Cummins) were serviced and operational as well as all diesel fuel tanks were full. The PRCC generators are capable of providing generator power for close to 30 days with the full tanks.

We also had Levy Restaurants purchase maximum food & beverage supplies prior to Hurricane Maria in anticipation of the PRCC housing large numbers of people, be it FEMA staff, evacuees, etc.

The PRCC, with approval from the PRCCDA, has entered into an agreement with FEMA to house the FEMA staff and feed them, with all costs and fees being paid by the Federal Government.

This past Sunday the AEG 1-Source team and others assisted in arranging for Cummins technicians to assist with maintenance of the power generators at the PRCC. The local Cummins technicians are on site providing needed oversight and maintenance to ensure they remain operational. This morning one of the generators was down and they were conducting repairs. This was the generator providing air conditioning. Jorge thought it would be brought back online later today.

I asked Jorge if there was anything we could do at this point to support their work and efforts, and he indicated they were fine at this point. He did indicate the island was devastated, and there was looting and general lawlessness in many parts of Puerto Rico, but that the PRCC District was protected by police and other law enforcement.

The Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR) announced the release of Part Seven: Exhibition Floor Learning Activities Outside Exhibit Booths, the seventh report in its newest series on attendee floor engagement.

CEIR’s earlier study, the Attendee Retention Insight Study, revealed that a driver of repeat attendance is the chance for learning engagement opportunities on an exhibition floor. Learning activities on an exhibition floor are a driver for repeat attendance, especially for smaller exhibitions.

Many business-to-business exhibitions offer conference programs that take place in meeting rooms away from the trade show floor. This study reveals that 85 percent of organizers provide learning opportunities on the show floor as well.

When it comes to exhibition floor learning activities, interactive formats are more likely to enjoy the highest level of attendee use.

“Offering attendees learning opportunities on a show floor is a powerful way to enrich the attendee experience,” said CEIR CEO Cathy Breden, CMP, CAE. “It offers additional ways to help them achieve their learning objectives. This is a win-win for attendees that participate and for exhibitors that sponsor these activities.”

This 14-page report inventories the availability and performance of 11 learning activities organizers can make available on an exhibition floor in common areas. It identifies which activities are most popular, which enjoy the highest rate of exhibitor sponsorships and most importantly, which enjoy the highest rate of attendee use, according to organizers and exhibitors that sponsor them.

In addition to total results, this report identifies unique differences by exhibitor, by industry sector, the extent of exhibition activity and other key demographics. By exhibition organizer, differences are reported by an event’s size.

To download Part Seven: Exhibition Floor Learning Activities Outside Exhibit Booths, click here.