IAVM is honored to have Chris Bryant, Chief Experience Officer and Business Performance Expert of the Bryant Group in Los Angeles, to serve as the featured speaker at the 2018 GuestX from February 20-22 in Minneapolis.

In speaking on the subject of Energizing the Guest Experience, Bryant is beyond qualified with a background that includes serving as Training Director with the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company and NBA award-winner in the fine art of premium service. Bryant has inspired more than 35 professional sports franchises and venues by providing unique tools on how to provide the ultimate guest experience.

Bryant was gracious to take some time out of a busy schedule to talk about his skill set and how he expects attendees to benefit from attending his presentation at GuestX.

I have to ask first what is the definition of a Business Performance Expert?

A Business Performance Expert specializes in elevating the performance of an individual or organization in a specific area of focus to gain a competitive advantage. My passion and expertise relates to the delivery of a superior guest experience to improve retention, relationships, referrals, and revenue.

How does your work with a premier customer service organization like the Ritz-Carlton transfer to the public assembly venue industry to which you will be speaking?

There are many similarities with the luxury hotel industry and public venues as it relates to delivering a high-quality guest experience at every touch-point. In the hotel business, you are constantly striving to hire the right people, then train and keep them motivated; when many are part-time employees and only work a certain number of events. The similar challenge is to foster total buy-in and ensure every staff member is a brand ambassador that embodies the service commitment with every guest.

What are your thoughts or keys to customer retention and fan loyalty, two areas that are shown on your website and very important to any business. How do the successful ones do it and, conversely, what might be a couple of no-no’s for any industry in this area?

I strongly believe that customer retention and fan loyalty are absolutely critical to remaining relevant and ensuring sustainable success. Best-in-class organizations and venues understand that people become loyal to memorable experiences that evoke positive emotion and not just a transaction. You cannot control what happens on the stage, court or field, but you can and must control how guests are engaged and the bonds that are built. I think the biggest opportunity and mistake today in most industries is inconsistency. It is nearly impossible to create loyalty when the experience varies from one staff member to the next, and when the customer experience feels like a roller coaster ride. Mixed messages will always get mixed results.

How have expectations changed over the years, not only from guests who stay at premier hotels but for our industry those individuals who come to a game, a concert, a trade show, a ballet, a convention, etc.?

Both high-end hotels and elite venues play host to an increasingly sophisticated and savvy consumer. As options increase and ticket prices rise, so does the expectation of guests, fans, members, and clients. It has never been more important for providers of premium services to offer experiences that are more personalized, anticipatory, distinctive, consistent, and memorable.

What message or takeaway do you hope to provide our attendees when your session wraps up?

I know that running a venue or overseeing the guest experience can sometimes be a challenging responsibility with long hours and little credit for the enormous work done. My goal is to celebrate these amazing professionals and gift them with some helpful tips, tools, and techniques to lighten their load and lift their efforts. I hope to equip, inspire, and keep the magic flowing at every venue and with every event, game, or meeting.

The Kentucky State Fair Board, operator of the downtown Kentucky International Convention Center in Louisville, announced the appointment of Stacey Church as the venue’s new general manager.

Church most recently served as assistant director of the Fort Worth (TX) Convention Center and Will Rogers Memorial Center. She is a native of Elkhart, IN and a 1997 graduate of the University of Kentucky. Her experience in venue management includes executive positions with Spectra Venue Management facilities in Springfield, MA and South Bend, IN. Church will be responsible for day-to-day operations of the convention center.

“Stacey’s management experience, skill set in finance, and commitment to innovation are tremendous assets to Kentucky’s tourism industry as the center prepares to reopen in August 2018,” said Don Parkinson, Secretary of Kentucky’s Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet.

“This is an exciting time for the meeting and convention industry for this community and especially the Kentucky International Convention Center,” said Dr. Mark Lynn, Kentucky State Fair Board Chairman and Interim CEO. “Our new general manager brings exceptional experience to provide leadership and develop new business for the new center.”

The convention center is slated to re-open August, 2018 following a $207 million expansion and renovation project.

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.