Levi’s Stadium unveiled the first-ever rooftop farm on a sports venue last week. Named the “Faithful Farm,” it features 40 rotational crops and herbs that will be used for meals at the stadium’s club spaces and during private events.

“We’re proud to reinforce Levi’s Stadium as an industry leader in environmental sustainability with the addition of the Faithful Farm,” said Jim Mercurio, San Francisco 49ers vice president of stadium operations & general manager, in a statement. “Our 27,000-square-foot green roof successfully helps reduce heating and cooling requirements within our suite tower, and carving out this small portion to grow crops for use in the stadium further minimizes our carbon footprint by reducing our reliance on outside food sources.”

The Faithful Farm is 4,000 square feet and is located on the NRG Solar Terrace. Some of the crops grown since July include tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants. The farm is managed organically by Farmscape, and it’s expected to yield 150 pounds of produce per week.

“The Faithful Farm represents the strongest commitment an NFL team has made to local, organic produce,” said Lara Hermanson, principal at Farmscape, in a statement. “The farm will educate the community on how many items can be grown in their own backyard while providing local jobs and great food.”

(Image: Levi’s Stadium)

The latest Hong Kong’s Economic Impact Study—conducted by KPMG Advisory (Hong Kong) Limited—reveals that the exhibition industry contributed HK$52.9 billion (US$6.8 billion) directly and indirectly to the city’s economy in terms of expenditure in 2014. That’s equivalent to 2.3 percent of Hong Kong’s total gross domestic product for the calendar year. In fact, the industry’s expenditure effects increased 29 percent from 2012.

“We welcome this study and the results because, once again, it highlights just how important our industry is for Hong Kong,” said Stuart Bailey, chairman of the Hong Kong Exhibition & Convention Industry Association, in a statement. “The study shows in great detail the many ways in which exhibitions fuel Hong Kong’s wider economy—for example by spinning off economic benefits and extensive workforce to supporting industries and attracting high-spending international business visitors to the city. The study also reveals that overseas exhibition exhibitors and visitors continue to spend more than international overnight tourists. We should put efforts in making them visit the exhibitions in Hong Kong regularly.”

According to the study, international exhibitors and exhibition visitors spend 61 percent more per visit in direct spending than an average overnight tourist visitor. The study also showed that the exhibition industry provided approximately 83,500 full-time industry jobs, a growth rate of 6.5 percent from 2012.

“To continue providing Hong Kong with benefits at this level, our exhibition industry needs to remain attractive, efficient, and competitive,” Bailey said. “We must continually be looking for ways of differentiating ourselves from regional competitors, in terms of things like providing premium exhibition space, ample capacity, and exceptional value-added services. I hope our policymakers will take the findings of this study into account as they plan for the infrastructure and facilities that Hong Kong needs in the years to come.”

(Image: Khush N/Creative Commons)

Here’s where we spotlight some of our favorite Instagram photos we’ve seen from the past week. The photos are from members and venues worldwide and lean more artistic than marketing. If you haven’t followed us on Instagram yet, now is a good time. We may just include your photos in a future post (please make sure your account allows us to embed your images).

By following us, you’re also entered into our monthly drawing where you can win such prizes as conference registrations, full-page ads in FM magazine, and textbooks. Congratulations to Bridgestone Arena, who is our recent winner. The next drawing will be in October.

Behold, this week’s top five!

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Congratulations to the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in Orlando, Florida. The venue reported attendance of more than 300,000 for 338 hosted shows during its fiscal year ending June 30.

“We originally projected 150 shows per year, so we are very proud of our operations” said Kathy Ramsberger, president and CEO, in a statement. “Memberships increased to more than 1,900, up 23 percent from last year. While most new performing arts centers rely heavily on fundraising for about 40 percent of their income, 83 percent of our income is from our operations—sales, sponsorships, and maximizing the programming of a diverse roster of shows throughout the season.”

Highlights for the past year include a 6 percent increase in ticket sales, 84,776 student participants through all Dr. Phillips Center Florida Hospital School of the Arts programming and outreach, approximately $500,000 raised through ticketed events benefiting charities responding to the Pulse tragedies, and 10,000-plus followers on Instagram.

“Running the Dr. Phillips Center like a business allowed us to accomplish much more in our first two years, with financial growth that puts us in an excellent position as we look beyond our start-up phase,” said Jim Pugh, chairman of the board, in a statement. “We not only anticipate another tremendous year three in our programming and operations, we are looking forward to completing the fund-raising for Phase 2 and adding the 1,700-seat Steinmetz Hall.”

Once again, congratulations on a great year, Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts!

(Image: Facebook)

The Princeton Review recently released its ranking of the best schools where students fill their stadiums.

“We tallied the rankings lists in the current edition, The Best 381 Colleges (published August 2016), based on the data from our surveys of 143,000 students at the 381 schools in the book,” The Princeton Review wrote in its methodology statement. “Our student survey has 80 questions in four sections. We ask students about: 1) their school’s academics/administration, 2) life at their college, 3) their fellow students and 4) themselves. Students answer by selecting one of five answer choices that range across a grid or scale. The answer choice headers might range from ‘Strongly Agree’ to ‘Strongly Disagree’ or ‘Excellent’ to ‘Poor.'”

This year’s No. 1 school in the “Students Pack the Stadium” list is Syracuse University (SU) in New York.

“Otto’s Army, an organization which represents the student fan section of SU athletics, is proud to top the ranking for students who pack the stadiums,” Johnny Oliver, president of Otto’s Army, told The Daily Orange. “We look forward to improving our already great student support this academic year.”

Congratulations SU student body and to all the other schools who made the list.

1. Syracuse University (Syracuse, New York)
2. West Virginia University (Morgantown, West Virginia)
3. University of Southern California (Los Angeles, California)
4. Gonzaga University (Spokane, Washington)
5. Clemson University (Clemson, South Carolina)
6. Pennsylvania State University – University Park (University Park, Pennsylvania)
7. Kansas State University (Manhattan, Kansas)
8. University of Oklahoma (Norman, Oklahoma)
9. Auburn University (Auburn, Alabama)
10. Xavier University (Cincinnati, Ohio)
11. University of Kansas (Lawrence, Kansas)
12. Marquette University (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
13. University of Iowa (Iowa City, Iowa)
14. United States Air Force Academy (USAF Academy, Colorado)
15. Florida State University (Tallahassee, Florida)
16. University of Wisconsin-Madison (Madison, Wisconsin)
17. University of Arizona (Tucson, Arizona)
18. University of Nebraska – Lincoln (Lincoln, Nebraska)
19. University of Connecticut (Storrs, Connecticut)
20. University of Louisville (Louisville, Kentucky)

For some great tips on getting more students in the stands, please read “How to Increase Student Attendance at Games” by IAVM member Paige Grisham.

(Image: Kai Brinker/Creative Commons)