Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts Posts Strong Results
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 Top Universities with Student-Packed Stadiums
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.
- Syracuse University (Syracuse, New York)
- West Virginia University (Morgantown, West Virginia)
- University of Southern California (Los Angeles, California)
- Gonzaga University (Spokane, Washington)
- Clemson University (Clemson, South Carolina)
- Pennsylvania State University – University Park (University Park, Pennsylvania)
- Kansas State University (Manhattan, Kansas)
- University of Oklahoma (Norman, Oklahoma)
- Auburn University (Auburn, Alabama)
- Xavier University (Cincinnati, Ohio)
- University of Kansas (Lawrence, Kansas)
- Marquette University (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
- University of Iowa (Iowa City, Iowa)
- United States Air Force Academy (USAF Academy, Colorado)
- Florida State University (Tallahassee, Florida)
- University of Wisconsin-Madison (Madison, Wisconsin)
- University of Arizona (Tucson, Arizona)
- University of Nebraska – Lincoln (Lincoln, Nebraska)
- University of Connecticut (Storrs, Connecticut)
- 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)
Our Top Five Favorite Instagram Photos of the Week
Here’s where we spotlight some of our favorite Instagram photos we’ve seen from the past week. The photos will be 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.
Behold, this week’s top five!
The 2016 Venue Industry Award Winners
The 2016 Venue Industry Awards Luncheon—sponsored by Ungerboeck Software International, SMG, and The Expo Group and emceed by Chris Bigelow, founder and owner of The Bigelow Companies—took place during the 2016 VenueConnect Annual Conference & Trade Show in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The awards, hosted each year by IAVM, honor exceptional venues and professionals in several categories.
Our Top Five Favorite Instagram Photos of the Week
Today we begin a new series spotlighting some of our favorite Instagram photos we’ve seen from the past week. The photos will be from venues around the world and lean more artistic than marketing. And if you haven’t followed us on Instagram yet, now is a good time. We may just include your photos in a future post.
Behold, this week’s top five!