This summer brings an extraordinary opportunity for the members of IAVM and The National Association of Concessionaires (NAC). In July, both trade associations will be holding their showcase events back-to-back in the city of Minneapolis. NAC will host the Concession & Hospitality Expo on July 19-22 at the Depot Renaissance in Minneapolis. IAVM will host its VenueConnect just a few days later on July 23-26 at the Minneapolis Convention Center.

As part of the Alliance Partnership Agreement entered by the groups in May 2016, members of each association can attend the Trade Show portion of both shows for free. In addition, the agreement provides for mutual membership rates to exhibit or attend the full conferences.

This unique convergence in the Twin Cities allows for members of each association, who share many common opportunities and challenges, to maximize their travel and trade show budgets by attending both events.

More information and registration for the NAC Concession & Hospitality Expo can be found at naconline.org. You can also email info@naconline.org or call 312-236-3858.

About the NAC Concession & Hospitality Expo

The National Association of Concessionaires will bring together the top food and beverage concession leaders in the recreation and leisure-time industry at The Concession & Hospitality Expo on July 19-22 at the Depot Renaissance in Minneapolis.

Formerly known as the NAC Annual Convention & Trade Show, the event is an educational conference in its 34th year covering a wide range of concessions and foodservice topics. The business sessions are practical and focused on the concessions industry and provide interaction between all types of operations. In addition, exciting social functions allow for attendees to network in a less formal setting. Your full convention registration fee includes all educational sessions, food functions, social events, venue tours, and the trade show.

As part of the Expo, NAC will host its own trade show specifically for the recreation and leisure-time foodservice industry. The trade show will feature companies that provide products and services to all types of recreation, leisure-time, and public assembly facilities. The 2016 Trade Show will be held on Wednesday, July 20 (1-4 p.m.) and Thursday, July 21 (2-4 p.m.) and is open to full and tabletop displays.

Dear IAVM Friends,

Once again, our hearts break for so many touched by the act of terror in Orlando, Florida, this past weekend. The Pulse nightclub attack is so very terrifying due to the seeming randomness of how the attacker selected the venue. We all have venues we work in and sometimes live in, and it is hard to imagine the horror of something like this happening in our own spaces with the people we care about. What happened to the young artist Christina Grimmie also touched our hearts as she was just starting her career and simply signing autographs for her young fans when her life was taken. Please join me in remembering the families of all those touched by these acts of violence.

Mark Herrera, IAVM’s director of education, met over the weekend with the DHS Council regarding these recent shootings. He will be posting information on VenueNet regarding enhanced awareness for our venues and reminds us to always remain aware of our surroundings.

Our venues continue to be places that bring so much joy, a refuge to all the craziness in the world. We must stay strong and diligent for the communities we serve and ensure our teams have the training they need to help them feel prepared. The resources available to IAVM members are numerous and can be found on the IAVM website. In addition, I encourage all of you to consider sending your safety managers to the Academy for Venue Safety & Security in the future where they can collect the tools and resources that will help your teams focus on safety and preparedness in a much broader sense than ever before.

Thank you all for what you do every day.

(Image: Enrique Jiménez/Creative Commons)

VenuWorks of Dodge City and Boot Hill Casino & Resort have partnered on the naming rights to the Conference Center at United Wireless Arena, a 7,000-square-foot meeting and entertainment venue.

“This new partnership between VenuWorks of Dodge City and Boot Hill Casino & Resort will open up opportunities for the rest of the community to develop and grow as a tourist destination for southwest Kansas,” said Chris Ragland, executive director of VenuWorks of Dodge City, in a statement. “We are excited about combining our existing partnership and efforts with United Wireless with that of the Boot Hill Casino & Resort to continue to bring first-class entertainment options to our region.”

The multi-year partnership will be celebrated at a future reception at the venue.

“The City of Dodge City is thrilled about the unlimited opportunities the partnership with Boot Hill Casino & Resort and VenuWorks will provide our community,” said City of Dodge City Mayor Joyce Warshaw in a statement. “The approval of the naming rights agreement demonstrates the Casino’s long-term commitment to Dodge City, Ford County, and our region. In addition, this collaboration meets the City’s core values of ongoing improvement, as together we value progress, growth and new possibilities for our future.”

(Image: Facebook)

Please welcome our newest members who joined IAVM in May 2016—a total of 73 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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In short, more lines increase worker speed.

Researchers at Syracuse University’s Martin J. Whitman School of Management found that employees worked slower when customers waited in one long line than when the employees each had their own line. The reason being because clearing out the line is a shared task, with each employee contributing to the end goal.

“When workers have clear feedback on the number of customers in line and how quickly they are moving, it can affect motivation in different ways,” said Julie Niederhoff, assistant professor of supply chain management at Whitman. “It also helps if managers provide pay-per-customer or other financial incentives.”

The researchers tested their theories using simulations in the Whiteman Behavioral Lab. Employee performance was determined over a 10-minute work period, and the researchers manipulated customer arrival rate, payment structure, line visibility, and line structure.

“The results of our study indicate that the physical layout of the service environment can influence worker effort and, hence, the system’s overall performance,” the researchers wrote in “Humans are not machines: The behavioral impact of queueing design on service time.” “Specifically, we show that the median service time is higher in single-queue structures than in parallel queues. From a managerial standpoint, when choosing to transition to single-queue structures, one has to be aware of the potential slowdown of servers; otherwise, the managers can overestimate the increase in performance after the move and fail to meet service goals.”

Niederhoff notes that speed doesn’t always mean worse customer service.

“Slower workers might not always lead to lower customer satisfaction,” Niederhoff said. “For example, in settings where customers are not concerned about speed but, rather, prefer a slower and more personalized service, a server slowdown may lead to an increase in customer satisfaction. This is something for a manager to consider.”

(Image: Maarten/Creative Commons)