Spectra by Comcast Spectacor is selling the naming rights and commercial sponsorships for the London Convention Centre (LCC) in Ontario, Canada.

“Spectra has an outstanding reputation in London for their many successes at the Budweiser Gardens,” said Lori Da Silva, general manager and CEO of the London Convention Centre Corp., in a statement. “With their incredible resources, their knowledge of London and the Province, and their ability to identify the best sponsors for the right situations, this is a win-win situation for the LCC and Spectra. The naming rights partner will be integral in the economic growth and subsequent improvement in the physical property.

“We are always exploring new strategies that will help us generate revenue for the London Convention Centre,” Da Silva continued. “Spectra’s Corporate Partnership Services is a leader in valuing, soliciting, and negotiating naming rights for an assortment of clients worldwide. Their experience and expertise in this field will assist us in developing potential additional revenue for the convention centre.”

The LCC plays host of up to 400 annual events, contributing up to CAN$20 million to the local economy each year. The center is an internationally certified AIPC Gold Standard venue offering more than 63,000 square feet of meeting and exhibit space.

“The naming rights to the London Convention Centre presents a significant opportunity for a business partner to integrate their brand into a venue that has become so important to the people of southwestern Ontario,” said Spectra’s Liam Weseloh, regional vice president for the company who will lead the team’s efforts in securing the naming rights in London, in a statement. “Not only will the naming rights partner receive millions of unique impressions from the local community, but will also have the ability to showcase their products and services in front of hundreds of organizations from around the world who will visit and use the centre.”

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The IAVM Foundation is proud to announce the Joseph A. Floreano Scholarship + Internship Program recipients for the 2016 Performing Arts Managers Conference (PAMC). The awards recognize deserving individuals who demonstrate leadership, character, community involvement, and the potential to be future leaders in the venue management industry.

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Between IAVM’s Academy for Venue Safety and Security (AVSS), GuestX, and SevereWeather Preparedness (currently underway), and the safety and security session at Pollstar, venue managers and security professionals have recently shared a tremendous amount of insight and resources with one another.

The Pollstar panel, moderated by Eric Colby (AVSS faculty), featuring Lee Zeidman (STAPLES Center, Microsoft Theater, L.A. Live); Jim Mercurio (Levi’s Stadium); Captain Phil Cooke (Super Bowl 50, Santa Clara Police Department); and Cory Meredith (Staff Pro), explored lessons learned and smart practices shaped by recent incidents affecting the safety and security landscape.

Fresh off of Super Bowl 50, Mercurio and Cooke described an operation of massive proportions, including 15,000-plus credentialed staff and crew, 200 magnetometers, and more than 1,000 calls for service (janitorial, medical, etc.) during the game. To supplement the onsite operations, a situation room monitored everything from area traffic to social media content and global events (social media tracking led to preventing a few attempts by guests to access the field).

The relationship between visible and invisible security was a significant point of discussion during the session, and monitoring social media content associated with an event is one example that was shared of the emerging ways that venue teams are supplementing traditional frontline security. Having visible police with a sidearm remains an important deterrent, but as the panel discussed, an invisible layer of security and support behind them is an important aspect of modern security.

Three Ways to Improve Your Venue Safety and Security

During the session, Zeidman shared three very accessible ways that every venue manager can improve their safety and security.

1. Foster Great Relationships With Law Enforcement

“We host training sessions in our venues, have weekly meetings to cover upcoming events, and share extra tickets to games and events with the police and fire departments whenever we can,” Zeidman said.

2. Table Top Exercises

At Zeidman’s venues, issues such as earthquakes, bomb threats, and active attacker scenarios are worked into staff exercises that engage all staff positions—with Zeidman emphasizing all staff.

Similarly, at AVSS and GuestX this week, all attendees participated in IAVM’s American Airlines Center Experience. Developed by Paul Turner, CFE, CSSP (AT&T Stadium) and Ed Klima (Dover International Speedway), the event included a table top exercise for more than 200 attendees—immersing several small groups into focused discussions on managing various aspects of a large rigging accident occurring during a concert.

“The exercise enabled the entire group to collaborate on multiple aspects of a very plausible scenario,” Turner said, “And it equipped everyone with a great example of how to coordinate training exercises with their own teams back home.”

3. Improving Visibility

Following the Paris attacks, Zeidman shared that he expanded the use of K9 Units to include public areas around the venue instead of primarily focusing on vehicle searches in private areas. Improving visibility, and doing so consistently, is very important to Zeidman, regardless of the type of event or the makeup of the crowd attending.

“People want to see a show of force because they want to feel comfortable and safe,” Zeidman said. “And it shouldn’t change because the event changes. I’m not going to be the one who allowed something to happen at a certain event because we downplayed a security plan.”

As both the session at Pollstar, and the sellout crowd at AVSS show, venue safety and security is demanding more attention and training than ever, and will undoubtedly continue to draw us together for new thinking and ongoing collaboration to ensure a vibrant, safe, and secure future.

For event attendees no longer amused by dinner conversation, there’s a new development that may attract their attention: the musical tablecloth.

“The tablecloth is woven with conductive fibers and embedded with sensors. The on/off switch? Human touch,” Rob Gruber reported for Reuters Video.

Please watch the video above to learn more. Do you think this is something that attendees would like at events in your venues? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.

The San Diego Chargers organization wants to locate its new stadium in downtown San Diego as part of a multi-use facility and convention center expansion plan.

“The multi-use facility, when combined with Petco Park, the existing convention center, the Gaslamp Quarter, and a revitalized East Village, would create an unparalleled entertainment and sports district that will host Super Bowls and will ideally be a permanent home for Comic-Con and a Comic-Con museum,” the organization said in a statement. “All of our research demonstrates that voters are more likely to approve a multi-use facility that would generate economic activity on hundreds of days per year, including by attracting major sporting and convention events that San Diego cannot now host. The downtown multi-use facility would also free up the existing Mission Valley site for potential use by educational institutions such as San Diego State and UCSD, as well as for a large riverfront park.”

The next step is a collaboration with a citizen’s coalition and voter approval in November 2016.

“We believe that a downtown multi-use facility will attract broad support from throughout our entire community,” the Chargers said in a statement. “And we hope that, as our downtown proposal is developed and as the campaign for passage begins, those who have supported the Mission Valley site will keep an open mind and consider supporting what we believe is the best way to secure a permanent home for the Chargers in San Diego.”

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