I don’t think there are enough words in the English language to describe how much our mentor/mentee relationship has meant to me. Enrolling in the IAVM Mentor Connector program is one of the greatest decisions I have made as a young professional in IAVM. In today’s world, there are many people that will tell you what you want to hear. To me, that is not what a mentor is. A mentor will tell you the truth, even when it isn’t pretty. A mentor will push you to pursue opportunities you didn’t think you could obtain because in reality – no one really knows when they’re ready until they take that step. A mentor will share their advice, ideas, experiences, and allow their mentee to confide in them.

Our relationship has not only allowed me to grow as a professional but as a human being. It was such a wonderful experience to have had a mentor that I could share pieces of my professional and personal life with. From our love of Bob’s Burgers, to our fondness of cute little hedgehog YouTube videos, to our passion for a good reading on women in leadership, and our discussions on what is going on in our industry – I hope our mentor/mentee relationship benefitted you as much as it did me.

Mentor, you are so appreciated and so loved – our industry is extremely lucky to have someone like you. Seeing you on the Women In Leadership panel at the IAVM VenueConnect Conference was so inspiring, I had to hold myself back from whispering to everyone at my table, “that’s my mentor!” I learned so many things from you; I sincerely hope you have also learned a few things from me. Please know that just as you have always been there for me, I will always be there for you. I love listening to you, your ideas, your dreams, and your passions. I hope to continue to follow you in your footsteps and who knows, maybe one day I will be asked to speak as a panelist in the Women in Leadership panel and perhaps you will look to the person sitting next to you and say, “that’s my mentee”.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board (L.A. Tourism) President & CEO Ernest Wooden Jr. announced Los Angeles welcomed 47.3 million visitors in 2016, surpassing mid-year forecasts and breaking visitation records for the sixth consecutive year. The new record is 1.7 million visitors higher than 2015’s total, an increase of 3.8% from the previous year.

New tourism records were set for overall domestic and international visitation. Total domestic visitation reached 40.2 million, a 3.8% increase over 2015, and 7.1 million international visitors made Los Angeles their ultimate destination, a 3.5% increase over the previous year. 

In 2016, Los Angeles also became the first ever U.S. city destination to welcome more than 1 million visitors from China, the destination’s number two international market behind Mexico. China alone accounted for 75% of the destination’s overall international growth, derived from the market’s year-over-year growth of nearly 22% – the seventh consecutive year of at least 20% visitation growth for China. L.A. Tourism will continue to invest in the market with plans to expand its footprint:  Chengdu will become L.A. Tourism’s fourth China office when it opens by the end of June 2017, joining Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

India was L.A.’s second-fastest growing international market, an increase of 10.2%. L.A. Tourism established official representation in this market in 2016 as well as the Gulf/Middle East, an important connection point for visiting Indian travelers.  

“Tourism is booming in Los Angeles, and it’s helping to drive our whole city’s economy forward,” said Mayor Garcetti. “My goal is to welcome 50 million tourists to our city by 2020, and new attractions like the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art will have even more people from around the world lining up to come to L.A.”

“Global desire for the Los Angeles experience is at an all-time high, a fact largely attributable to our city’s celebration of diversity and creativity, from which thriving culinary, cultural and lifestyle scenes have emerged,” said Ernest Wooden Jr., president & CEO of the Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board. “Fantastic new hotels are opening their doors with frequency, chefs are exploring innovative creative territories, noteworthy cultural institutions are choosing to call L.A. home and people want to be a part of the L.A. lifestyle. We are thankful for all of these individuals and entities which make Los Angeles the place that record-setting numbers of people want to visit.”

L.A. County’s average occupancy rate for 2016 reached 81.3%, surpassing 80% for the first time in County history. A record 29.2 million hotel room nights were sold countywide with ADR reaching a new high of $171.95, an increase of 8.6% over 2015. L.A. County is the only U.S. market to reach double-digit RevPar growth at nearly 11%. 

Tourism is among the largest and healthiest contributors to the Los Angeles economy, supporting an average of more than 500,000 jobs in the Leisure & Hospitality sector last year. 

For more information, visit the official visitor information website of Los Angeles at discoverLosAngeles.com, join the more than one million people who follow L.A. Tourism’s Facebook page at facebook.com/LosAngelesFan, or follow @discoverLA on Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.

StubHub Center will serve as the temporary home of the former San Diego Chargers, who have relocated to Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Chargers will play at StubHub Center, home of the five-time MLS Cup Champions LA Galaxy and based on the campus of Cal State Dominguez Hills, for the 2017 NFL season.

“We are excited to welcome the Chargers to StubHub Center,” said AEG President and CEO Dan Beckerman. “This is a world-class facility that will give fans and our community a unique and intimate experience during NFL games. We’ve had a longstanding friendship with the Chargers and the Spanos family and I would like to commend the Chargers on this bold and innovative decision to move to StubHub Center. It is truly a testament to how strongly the Chargers feel about the fan experience and their willingness to create something special for people in Southern California.”

StubHub Center is located on the campus of California State University Dominguez Hills in Carson and owned and operated by AEG. Capacity for Chargers games at StubHub Center will be 30,000 seats, with approximately 3,000 premium and field seats, 46 suites, 16 cabanas, and 10,000 on-site parking spaces. The Chargers will play on game dates that do not conflict with the LA Galaxy’s 2017 MLS schedule.

“The experience for our fans at StubHub Center will be fun and entertaining, and every seat will feel close to the action,” said A.G. Spanos, President – Business Operations for the Chargers. “This is a unique opportunity to see NFL action in such an intimate setting.”

The team launched www.FightforLA.com, a website that allows fans to place a fully refundable $100 deposit on season tickets for the 2017 season. Current Chargers Season Ticket Members will maintain their priority status and are not required to make a deposit.

The fully-refundable $100 deposit allows fans to reserve up to four seats at StubHub Center, ensures priority status for 2017 Chargers season tickets, and grants priority status for seats at the new Los Angeles Stadium at Hollywood Park, the future home of the Chargers.

The Chargers also revealed a new advertising mark borne out of the team’s iconic lightning bolt and historic shield introduced in the 1960’s. This new mark and fresh take on “LA” is part of a larger identity campaign called “Fight for LA” intended to convey the commitment of the Spanos family and entire Chargers organization to earn the respect and loyalty of Los Angeles football fans. The new mark can be found on www.Chargers.com.

Overland Park (KS) Convention Center (OPCC) customers can now experience fully immersive, visual and sound environment of beautifully decorated event rooms, delivered through a special headset device utilizing the latest Samsung Galaxy 7 phone and Beats headphones to produce a stunning audio visual experience.

“This investment is one of the first immersive sales tools in the convention center industry, using the latest in dynamic VR software and the creative productions of one of Hollywood’s most respected visual entertainment producers, V Squared Labs,” Brett C. Mitchell, general manager of OPCC, said. “The sound track deepens and expands the illusion of actually being in the decorated rooms. The experience of the high-definition images is dynamic in that one moves through the facility simply by looking in a specific direction.”

With a major investment recently completed in upgrading to one of the world’s fastest, free Wi-Fi systems for convention centers, this is one of the newest technologies just released by OPCC to enhance event sales. This innovative system is delivered through its technology partnership with Neil Reid and Associates, and visual entertainment producers, V Squared Labs.

To generate this experience, V Squared Labs spent three days on-site with an HD, 3D camera digitally filming fully decorated event areas at OPCC. The 3D images were then “stitched” together so while wearing the headset, customers can virtually move through the decorated spaces by moving their head or body and can enjoy every cubic foot of the event space in any direction. The digital headset layers with a custom digital soundtrack which deepens and expands the immersive experience. 

To further expand availability of this experience, OPCC customers can also virtually see and hear the decorated facility from any tablet, phone or laptop computer through a browser interface. OPCC believes this investment is one of the first immersive sales tools in the convention center industry, using the latest in dynamic VR software.

“The effect is so compelling and immersive that the experience can be enjoyed while sitting in a chair—the illusion of being in the room is powerful enough that one forgets where they are actually located,” Neil Reid of Neil Reid and Associates, said. “OPCC is one of the finest convention centers in the world, and the latest technology investment by their team demonstrates clear leadership in harnessing one of the most powerful internet experiences available.”

OPCC has released this technology to their sales department. To experience this immersive technology and learn more about what OPCC can offer, please call (913) 339-3000. For a sneak peek of this technology, visit https://opconventioncenter.com/upcoming-news/virtualtour/.

The soft voice on the other end of the telephone line apologized for being tardy in response to a voice mail I had left a few days earlier. She had been quite busy, she said, and besides that was finding it difficult to talk.

I understood.

Elaine Thompson’s husband, Lynn, was an industry veteran who had amassed not only great professional credentials but even more importantly a greater number of friends in a storied career before his retirement in 2007 and eventually his passing on January 4 after surviving cancer for a number of years.

I shared with Ms. Thompson that an apology was not necessary. January 30 is rapidly approaching as the two-year marker since I lost my own wife, Tanya, when she suffered a coronary dissection during an otherwise normal angiogram day surgery procedure. I knew well the fresh pain that Elaine Thompson was feeling.

I further shared that many in the industry have been asking IAVM about any memorial service that might be planned for Lynn. She told me that he was cremated and that there was not a funeral service, but would like to have a memorial service to honor her husband, most likely in early February.

She seemed truly overwhelmed and at times composed herself in order to continue our conversation. It was good to hear that she has already located and wishes to be involved in a grief support group. Such a gathering has been incredibly instrumental in my own personal walk and journey these past two years, and I shared that with her.

Before a memorial service is planned, she indicated that she would like to have a sense of how many might come. To that end, whether you are able to attend a memorial service or not, she covets your calls and emails and asked that we share that information with all of Lynn’s IAVM friends.

Contact Elaine Thompson by email at bitsy29@sbcglobal.net or at her landline number in Florida at 772-266-8757 or her cell phone at 775-250-5219. The 775 area code is correct as it is a Nevada prefix.

Just before we finished our conversation, I urged Elaine to feel free to contact me at any time to talk about life, healing, or just to cry and let me be an ear to listen to her. This is what the people in our fantastic industry are truly about, and this is what makes it the most special industry and association to be a part of.