On Monday morning, students and young professionals gathered at VenueConnect for UpStart: a program that provides education and networking to individuals who are just starting their careers in venue management.

Dusty Saine began the session by reminiscing about his own IAVM conference experience.

“I sat in your seat thirteen (13) years ago,” said Saine. He encouraged the participants, giving them advice (be excited and inspired) on how to prepare for the next few days of the conference, before he introduced the audience to Dr. Brad Stinnett, Western Kentucky University (WKU) Assistant Professor.

Stinnett thanked the committee and expressed his excitement about UpStart’s growing attendance—forty-seven (47) participants and twenty-two (22) executives, an exciting turnout.

“It speaks volumes about where you want to go in your careers,” he said. “Kudos to you.”

WKU has sponsored UpStart since its inception in 2015 and has been involved in its administration and planning ever since. The collaboration between WKU and IAVM reflects the university’s “student-first” philosophy and eagerness to help young professionals get involved.

“As educators, we are in the business of providing opportunities for students to fulfill the dream of having impactful and rewarding careers,” said Stinnett. “By supporting the UpStart program, WKU is playing a vital role in the continuous development of students and young professionals of the International Association of Venue Managers.”

But the program not only benefits students and young professionals, but mentors as well!

“The UpStart program is a win-win for young professionals and mentors participating,” said Stinnett. “The young professionals are given first-hand access to some giants in the venue management industry…on the other hand, the mentors are able to visit with the next generation of leaders in the industry and share a tremendous amount of knowledge regarding the diverse aspects of their careers.”

Before the participants broke away and teamed up with executive mentors, Stinnett challenged them to get as much out of this conference, and its opportunities, as they can.

“Enjoy the ride, maximize your experience, and maximize your career.”

Like most members who came to VenueConnect on Sunday, Ross Girouard started his morning with DirectConnect.

“It’s a good time to sit down and get undisrupted face-time with a response,” said Ross Girouard, Director of Operations and Productions of Allen Event Center.

DirectConnect Hosted Buyer Program is an opportunity that connects venue professionals with vendors. Members attending the event walk into an open conference room in the Omni Nashville Hotel for ten (10) brief, one-on-one appointments with companies that are ready help venue professionals with their upcoming projects.

Sunday was Girouard’s first DirectConnect experience. He’s hoping to help the center stay competitive and create exciting opportunities for their consumers. He’s looking to make small renovations, replace inventory, and make some cosmetic changes to the venue, but also hoping to find new products that would help create more opportunities.

Girouard heard about DirectConnect while he was at Venue Management School (VMS), where he met Tori Morgensai, a Production Manger from the Englert Theatre in Iowa City, Iowa. Morgensai is looking to make “large renovations” to the Englert Theatre and came to DirectConnect to learn about renovation and restoration techniques, as well as the vendors who can help preserve the historical building.

Amanda Bakkedahl, a Marketing and Sales Manager for the Bismarck Event Center in Bismarck, North Dakota, is hoping to learn more about the industry’s standards and how to boost her venue’s overall fan experience. Being new to the program, DirectConnect was recommended to her by her supervisor, a long time attendee of IAVM conferences.

Jim Barbatti and Becky Vetter came VenueConnect to represent the Show Me Center for Southeast Missouri State University and hope to find vendors that meet their specific needs. The thirty-year old venue is needing to update its technology, so the pair came to DirectConnect to find vendors that can meet their needs. Baratti, Assistant Director of the Show Me Center, was eager to meet face-to-face with vendors and reintroduce himself to vendors the Center has worked with in the past.

“We’re looking to buy soon,” said Baratti. He’s anxious to get involved with vendors here at DirectConnect to see what options are available. For Vetter, Business Manager of the Show Me Center, this is her first time at VenueConnect and interested in seeing what the conference has to offer. She’s excited for the Trade Show, specifically focusing on “vendors who provide POS systems”.

SMG announced that its managed facilities in New Orleans have achieved a record-setting concert year. The Mercedes-Benz Superdome, the Smoothie King Center and Champions Square collectively sold over $40 million in concert tickets during the 12 months ending June 30, 2017.

Among the many highlights were performances by Beyoncé and Guns N’ Roses at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. The Smoothie King Center hosted a record number of concerts (25) including sold-out shows by Drake, Maroon 5, Dixie Chicks, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Billy Joel, Radiohead, Charlie Wilson, Tim McGraw & Faith Hill, the Weeknd, and Journey.

This year also included the first ever Bayou Country Superfest at the Superdome as well as the annual Essence Festival.

“This past year is further validation of how far New Orleans has come back from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, and the vitality of our market,” said General Manager Alan Freeman. “Our show numbers and grosses have shown sustained growth for several years. I want to thank all our promoters, with special thanks to Live Nation, Beaver Productions, and AEG.”

“Alan and our corporate staff in the SMG Live Entertainment Division did a fantastic job last year directing touring business to New Orleans,” said SMG Executive Vice President Doug Thornton while noting that the New Orleans facilities art part of a larger company network that includes five other SMG-operated NFL stadiums and 68 domestic arenas. “The unprecedented results represent yet another milestone for these three great facilities and we are pleased that our corporate resources were able to help deliver significant results.”

The Mercedes-Benz Superdome, Smoothie King Center, and Champions Square are the home venues for the New Orleans Saints and the New Orleans Pelicans, in addition to such annual attractions as the Allstate Sugar Bowl, the Bayou Classic, the R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, and the LHSAA High School Football Championships. This past February all three venues were utilized during the very successful 2017 NBA All-Star Weekend, marking the third time hosting in the past 10 years.

U.S. Bank Stadium celebrated its first year of operation with the anniversary of the facility’s ribbon cutting ceremony on July 22, 2017. In the first year, the stadium welcomed 1.6 million visitors for over 600 public and private events.

“We are impressed by the job that the SMG staff has done bringing in the community to U.S. Bank Stadium,” said Kathleen Blatz, interim chair of the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority. “The building is living up to the spirit of the stadium legislation, that it be a resource for all Minnesotans. From youth football, to high school championships, to concerts and Vikings’ games, the stadium has events for almost every interest level.”

U.S. Bank Stadium opened in July 2016 with a ribbon cutting, followed by two days of public open houses that were attended by 190,000 people. The first three major events at the stadium were the International Champions Cup soccer match between A.C. Milan vs. Chelsea F.C., Luke Bryan’s “Kill the Lights” Tour and Metallica, performing one of its three 2016 United States concerts. The Minnesota Vikings defeated the San Diego Chargers at home on August 28 in their first pre-season game, followed by a victorious home opener against the Green Bay Packers on September 18.

“U.S. Bank Stadium immediately became one of the most recognizable stadiums in the world,” said Vikings Owner/President Mark Wilf. “We are thrilled with the game experience the stadium offers to Vikings fans, the home field atmosphere it gives to our team and the positive impact the venue has already had on Minnesota. We look forward to replicating and building on that success moving forward.”

The stadium’s first consumer show, the Minneapolis Holiday Boutique, was held in November. December brought the return of Feld Entertainment’s Monster Jam for back-to-back family shows. Following the end of the Vikings’ inaugural season, U.S. Bank Stadium hosted the Minneapolis Home and Remodeling Show, Monster Jam’s third date for the year, Monster Energy AMA Supercross, the Spring RV Show and World of Wheels.

U.S. Bank Stadium hosted its first Minnesota State High School League soccer and football championships in October and November. The facility also hosted 13 youth football events August through December and welcomed the return of in-line skating and running for 17 events in the winter months. Over 140 college and high school baseball games were played at the facility in its first season, with nearly 30,000 fans in attendance across all games. The first game was played on February 24 between Minnesota’s own Century College and Iowa Central Community College. The Dairy Queen Classic, hosted by the University of Minnesota, returned the weekend of March 3-5. In May and June, U.S. Bank Stadium hosted the inaugural season of Party on the Plaza, a free outdoor concert series for the public.

As the operator of five (5) other NFL facilities, SMG was contracted by the MSFA to manage the opening and operation of U.S. Bank Stadium in 2014. Since then, the company has used its considerable resources and scale to help produce significant results for non-NFL events.

“U.S. Bank Stadium is unique because of its versatility as an NFL facility. Our operation provides opportunities to host a broad range of events, putting Minnesota on the world’s stage. The diversity and quantity of events hosted in our first year is unparalleled in the sports and entertainment industry,” said Patrick Talty, SMG General Manager at U.S. Bank Stadium. “I’m proud to be a part of this monumental project in the Twin Cities community. I take pride in all of the hard work that my team has accomplished, and I look forward to our successes for this facility in future years.”

Throughout the first year, U.S. Bank Stadium hosted 425 private events in the facility for clients ranging from weddings and mitzvahs to corporate meetings, parties and conventions. These bookings utilized the vast stadium premium areas, concourses, exterior spaces and the stadium floor. Guided U.S. Bank Stadium tours began on August 24 and through the inaugural year over 88,000 guests toured the facility on 3,850 tours.

U.S. Bank Stadium’s first year of operation concluded with the stadium’s most dynamic event to-date, the 2017 Summer X Games, held July 13-16. This four-day extreme sports competition and festival loaded into U.S. Bank Stadium over the course of two weeks, pouring temporary concrete skate parks, hauling in 8,000 yards of dirt, and constructing an 82 foot mega ramp. The multi-faceted, stadium-wide event welcomed 110,000 visitors from Thursday through Sunday, with globally broadcasted competitions and nightly concerts on The Commons.

U.S. Bank Stadium has been awarded Super Bowl LII in February 2018, the Summer X Games in July 2018, the 2019 NCAA Men’s Final Four and the 2020 NCAA Wrestling Championships. In addition to these mega-events, U.S. Bank Stadium was recently recognized internationally as the Best New Venue for the Stadium Business Awards.

By Ashley Keen, CVP

IAVM’s Arizona Chapter Meeting was held July 12 at the Arizona State University Kerr Cultural Center in Tempe. The all-day meeting included three outstanding education sessions as well as a Town Hall. Thanks to ASU Gammage (Kerr Cultural Center), Special Moments Catering and Events, and TicketForce for their meeting sponsorship.

Our New Technologies talk was given by William Irwin from Clearwing and Jim Burgin with Barco, where we learned how to spec a projector and screen that is appropriate for our venue.

We had a Mindfulness in the Workplace session presented by Jaime Valderrama and Maria Napoli from the ASU School of Social Work. Stress is increasingly gaining attention in the U.S. as well as around the world for the detrimental health effects it produces while mindfulness is gaining attention worldwide with the emergence of promising data showing how the simple act of being aware can deregulate the body’s stress response, leading to a happier and healthier life. This presentation highlighted the stress response physically and psychologically as well as applicable mindful practices to deregulate stressful triggers in our personal and professional lives.

We followed this session with an all-sector panel discussion with Sarah Schock, director of event booking and production at Talking Stick Resort Arena, JD Davenport, operations coordinator from Goodyear Ballpark, Kevin Mattingly, deputy director at the Phoenix Convention Center, and Mark Mettes, president and CEO of the Herberger Theater Center and the IAVM 2016-2017 board chair. We discussed successes and challenges throughout the last season, security concerns, the new overtime pay ruling, and new technologies.

We had some wonderful discussions and networking throughout the day as well as a catered lunch from Special Moments, a local catering company, and a 50/50 raffle to help fund future meetings and the two scholarships that Region 7 awards to Venue Management School every year. We followed the day with a networking session and a venue tour before sending an engaged group back to their respective venues and homes.

Ashley Keen, CVP, is production supervisor for the Mesa Arts Center