These are selected news articles that showed up in our inboxes on Monday morning that we want to pass along to you.

A Hungry Person’s Guide to the Washington Convention Center’s Restaurant Makeover (The Washington Post)
“The four concepts will join an existing Sbarro outpost, but unlike the chain pizzeria, these additions come from notable local figures, such as Top Chef alum Spike Mendelsohn and future contestant Marjorie Meek-Bradley.”

Chicago Bears May Offer Suite Life at Ground Level (Chicago Sun-Times)
“The Bears are exploring the possibility of using a dramatic influx in Soldier Field advertising to bankroll construction of ‘bunker suites’ that allow high rollers and corporate clients to watch NFL games from ground level.”

Freedom Hill Amphitheatre to be Managed by Palace Team (Detroit Free Press)
“With PS&E’s [Palace Sports & Entertaniment] existing management of DTE Energy Music Theatre and Meadow Brook Music Festival, the company now has purview over metro Detroit’s three busiest summer amphitheaters.”

Mayor Pushes $25 Million Wilmington Arena (The News Journal)
“Mayor Dennis P. Williams is seeking funding to build a $25 million, 4,000-seat arena attached to the Chase Center that would feature basketball games and concerts as part of an effort to expand entertainment in Wilmington’s Riverfront District.”

Responsible Fans Rewarded at Homestead-Miami Speedway (GlobeNewswire)
“Before the race, 98 fans made the pledge to be a Good Sport – the designated driver for their group. All of them had the opportunity to receive a free souvenir photo, instant prizes, and a chance to be selected as the Designated Driver for the Race.”

(Image: Events DC)

Wired.com recently published an interview with architect Dan Meis about the future of stadium design. His company, MEIS Architects, designed Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His best known work is the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California.

The STAPLES Center is part of a larger entertainment area, and that idea influenced his design of Stadio della Roma, the new home of the A.S. Roma, that will open in 2016. Another, older venue also inspired him: the Colosseum in Rome because of its lasting quality as a viable building.

In the video above, Meis talks about the Colosseum, his design plans for the Stadio della Roma, and the future of sports architecture, which will always be important to live events.

“The amazing experience of being together with 70,000 people and watching something happen, I think that will always be compelling to people,” he said.

After watching the video, please read Wired.com’s interview with Meis.

There are a few new stadium projects in the works with even more stadiums planning upgrades to their existing facilities. These projects are extremely costly, so withstanding the test of time, being relevant for next 30-plus years should be goal No. 1 for any upgrade or new stadium venture. This article highlights certain best practices and ideal stadium designs that we, the promoter of stadium events, have found very helpful throughout our 20-plus years of producing stadium events.

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Monica Lee-Müller, managing director of HML, announces at the HKCEC’s 27th anniversary cocktail reception that the HKCEC has become the first organisation in Hong Kong to attain the ISO 20121 Event Sustainability Management System certificate.

Congratulations to the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) on becoming the first organisation in Hong Kong to achieve the ISO 20121 Event Sustainability Management System recognition. Also, the renovated restaurant, Congress Plus, became the first restaurant in the city to receive LEED Gold Certification for Interior Design and Construction V2009 by the U.S. Green Building Council, and Silver rating of BEAM Plus Interiors V1.0 by the Hong Kong Green Building Council.

Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (Management) Limited (HML) is the professional management company responsible for the HKCEC’s day-to-day operation, and it has set a clear event sustainability policy. For example, in the fiscal year ending June 2015 HML received 6.4 million visitors to HKCEC’s restaurants and staged 1,113 successful events at the center. More than 400,000 kilograms of food and other waste materials were collected for recycling. Approximately 3,000 kilograms of uneaten food was donated to charity, also, and the staff participated in 62 community projects during the fiscal year.

“HML well deserves the ISO 20121 recognition,” said Wilfred Chan, operations director of British Standards Institution Hong Kong, in a statement. “Our auditors are very impressed by HML’s dedication in sustainability and continuous improvements. The whole team on all levels demonstrated total commitment, from policy, planning to delivery.”

Monica Lee-Müller, HML’s managing director, said that the organization takes pride in committing continuous efforts and resources in attaining these significant achievements.

“We hope these benchmark achievements do not only motivate our staff members to continue to strive for improvements and support the company’s sustainability initiatives, but also influence our customers, event organizers, contractors, suppliers and stakeholders, and other event industry players to join hands for a greener future for the industry,” Lee-Müller said in a statement.

You know, if you’ve been following this blog closely, that I’m fascinated with virtual reality (VR) technology. Let’s be clear, though. I don’t believe it will kill the live event business. Humans are social animals, and we’ll always want to surrounded by friends, families, or complete strangers during an event where our energies mingle.

VR, however, can be used as a great marketing tool or an additional revenue stream for sold-out events. Case in point, Disney recently shot VR footage of a performance of “Circle of Life” from the musical The Lion King.

“It seemed like a really perfect marriage: A universally known song like ‘Circle of Life’ being distributed and displayed through a completely new technology that we hope will open up The Lion King to a new generation of theater-goers,” Andrew Flatt, senior vice president for marketing at Disney Theatrical Group, told the Associated Press.

VR users get a 360-degree experience of the performance, along with some extra visuals.

“Viewers can follow one performer, or look out into the aisles to see elephants arriving, see the conductor and audience faces, or peer backstage to find out what’s coming next,” Mark Kennedy reported. “It is a thrilling, heady experience.”

Lately, the sports and concert worlds have experimented with VR; however, this is the first time it has been done in a Broadway theater. I’m sure more will be on the way, and proponents hope this drives more people to productions.

“Nothing will replace the actual theatrical experience,” Flatt said. “We’re well aware of that. But I think the way that consumers are trending at the moment is they want to know more. They want to go beyond the surface of something, and that includes the Broadway experience. That’s why the virtual reality platform is groundbreaking.”

(Image: Twitter)