Managing public assembly venues is a complicated business. Venue professionals are coordinating detailed logistics in order to ensure smooth event execution and working to safeguard the lives of everyone in the building, all while delivering a memorable event experience. From the client’s perspective, one of the most important things we can do is enable the client to focus on its event production. That is accomplished when venues are proactive and have an effective event planning process that allows them to be responsive to client needs.

IAVM’s new reference series, The IAVM Blueprint, provides an in-depth exploration of topics fundamental to successful venue operations and is written for industry professionals. It is the first in the series explores the topic of event management within all types of public assembly venues and is designed to assist new event managers and serve as a resource for current professionals.

If you have a new event coordinator, an intern eager to learn, or another employee seeking opportunities for professional development, the blueprint is a perfect place for him or her to start. It provides the foundation for successful event management within public assembly venues. We discuss the overall event planning process, the foundations of effective event planning, a typical planning sequence, and address event planning tools and resources. We examine the event management process from both the front-of-house and back-of-house perspectives and address issues related to parking, transportation, event personnel, crowd management, safety and security, as well as a variety of miscellaneous potential event responsibilities. After completing The IAVM Blueprint: Event Management, your staff is in a better position to then learn how to implement these strategies and processes within a particular venue.

In addition, we compiled sample industry documents from a variety of venue types across the United States and internationally. Samples include event resumes, event staff information sheets, incident reports, pre-event checklists, post-event reports, staffing estimates, event contracts, and others. Samples were graciously provided from IAVM member arenas, convention centers, stadiums, and theaters. These samples are an incredible resource for those venues creating new processes and procedures or those simply looking for ideas to update existing documents.

Effective event management requires a cooperative effort and productive communication between all units of the organization. This new publication serves as a practical tool to assist new event managers with those important responsibilities and as an ongoing resource for industry professionals.

The IAVM Blueprint: Event Management may be ordered online at www.iavm.org/iavmblueprint.

A warm welcome to our newest members who joined IAVM in July and August 2016—a total of 239 new members. Thank you for being a part of the association!

Also, let us get to know you better by participating in the I Am Venue Management series. Please visit http://www.iavm.org/i-am-venue-management-share-your-story to share your story and photo.

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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, and you also might consider not making your profile private…just saying).

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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The senior management team at the Shenyang New World EXPO.

The new Shenyang New World EXPO (EXPO) will play host to more than 7,000 delegates attending China’s Annual National Planning Conference 2016 (ANPC) September 24-26.

“To host this prestigious event as EXPO’s opening event while celebrating the 60th anniversary Urban Planning Society of China (UPSC) as a part of the event is very special for our professional management team,” said IAVM member Cliff Wallace, CFE, chairman of the EXPO’s private management and operating company.

Shenyang’s City Planning Bureau organized ANPC, and the venue welcomed the opportunity to host the major national event, which meant opening EXPO six months before its scheduled formal opening on March 1, 2017.

“We have a strong senior management team and staff in place to meet the challenges of the early opening and care for the annual event’s record attendance anticipated,” said IAVM member Diane Chen, EXPO’s general manager.

The EXPO features 24,000 square meters (258,334 square feet) of gross exhibition space and 4,000 square meters (43,056 square feet) of multifunctional meeting and event space. It is located in Shenyang on the Hunhe River and is part of a multi-use complex.

Imagine all the people walking in your venues. Can you tell which ones are angry just from their strides?

You may now, thanks to a new study—”Evidence of Big Five and Aggressive Personalities in Gait Biomechanics“—from the University of Portsmouth in England. Researchers in the Department of Psychology analysed the personalities of 29 study participants and then filmed them walking at their natural speed on a treadmill. The researchers discovered that exaggerated movement of the upper and lower body suggested aggression.

“When walking, the body naturally rotates a little; as an individual steps forward with their left foot, the left side of the pelvis will move forward with the leg, the left shoulder will move back and the right shoulder forward to maintain balance,” said Liam Satchell, the study’s lead researcher. “An aggressive walk is one where this rotation is exaggerated.”

Part of a good security plan is situational awareness, which includes sensitivity to behavioral actions.

“People are generally aware that there is a relationship between swagger and psychology,” Satchell said. “Our research provides empirical evidence to confirm that personality is indeed manifest in the way we walk.

Satchell suggested that the findings could help prevent crime.

“If CCTV observers could be trained to recognize the aggressive walk demonstrated in this research, their ability to recognize impending crimes could be improved further,” Satchell said.

(Image: Ernesto De Quesada/Creative Commons)