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.

By Max Rettig

Fans at this year’s Super Bowl will be able to take home more than just the ticket and a very memorable experience. Perhaps they’ll be able to stump their friends with trivia, too.

SportsMEDIA Technology announced it is debuting a system, called 1st & Ten, that will integrate real-time statistics with the graphics shown on the screens at Minneapolis’ U.S. Bank Stadium. 1st & Ten is the system that presents in-game graphics such as the line of scrimmage, first-down line, and yards-to-go arrows.

According to the announcement, Next Gen Stats will be presented, along with the graphics productions, on U.S. Bank Stadium’s two end zone HD video screens—measuring 120 x 68 feet and 88 x 51 feet— and 2,000 HD displays throughout the stadium’s concourses. SMT uses DualChannel SportsCG, a graphics publishing system that allows a single on-site operator to take in-game data and present it on screen.

“As an organization, the Minnesota Vikings constantly look for innovative strategies that provide the best fan experience possible, and SMT’s in-stadium solution is the perfect complement to our new video boards,” Allen Wertheimer, Senior Manager of Production for the Minnesota Vikings, said in a statement.

“For years, we’ve heard from fans that they want the same innovative technology in-stadium that they get at home. Now, with SMT’s Next Gen Stats and virtual 1st and Ten system on the video boards, we can offer them in-game stats they wouldn’t get watching from home,” Wertheimer added.

Those stats could include anything from who ran the fastest to which zones the quarterback has thrown to most, the announcement revealed. With broadcast technologies improving and offering fans more information than ever on their TVs or mobile devices, SMT’s in-stadium production, similar in concept to MLB’s StatCast, is a reason for football fans to come out to the stadium.

“With SMT’s Dual-Channel SportsCG combined with the new version of the NFL’s Next-Gen Stats data feed—a feed packaged specifically for NFL teams’ in-stadium production needs—operators have the freedom to produce the shows that give fans a unique ‘wow’ factor they can’t get when watching on their 60-inch flat screens,” Ben Mark, SMT’s product manager, said in a statement.

SMT’s 1st & Ten service has won 31 Emmy awards and has been featured most prominently on Monday Night Football with ABC and ESPN, the announcement said. It has also been seen in many Super Bowl broadcasts and on NBC’s Sunday Night Football.

Marks added: “Our video board production provides the ultimate Game Day experience for fans, who will happily return to stadiums for the thrill of the live game combined with in-game analysis from Next Gen Stats along with the yellow first down line they’ve come to depend on.”

Max Rettig writes for SportsTechie.