The San Diego Symphony plans to build a $25 million, 10,000-seat waterfront concert venue on San Diego Bay, and this week the San Diego Unified Port District board unanimously approved the project. The symphony can now work on negotiations for a 66-year lease on 3.6 acres on Embarcadero Marina Park South.

“First and foremost, we want to create a venue with superb acoustics that will be stunning … a postcard for San Diego,” San Diego Symphony CEO Martha Gilmer told The San Diego Union-Tribune. “The location on the bay is a premium and we need to create a premium that matches.”

The venue will be permanent, include a 4,800-square-foot stage, and covered by an acoustic bandshell with material similar to the San Diego Convention Center Sail Pavilion. Tucker Sadler Architects designed the complex. Capacity will range from 2,700 to 10,000 seats. The venue plans to open by June 2017.

Please read Roger Showley’s article in The San Diego Union-Tribune for more on the development.

(Image: San Diego Symplony/Tucker Sadler Architects)

The Bristol Old Vic in the U.K. is one of the world’s oldest theatres and in it is a contraption called a “thunder run.” It’s been restored to mark the venue’s 250th anniversary for a production of King Lear later this year. Check out the BBC video above to learn more and to hear the “thunder run” along with a few other sounds.

We’ve written about the Sacramento Kings and the team’s upcoming new arena a couple of times. Now for the hat trick with a third blog post about them. This one, too, is interesting.

The Kings are collecting used athletic shoes from former and current players and fans to use for construction of the Golden 1 Center court. The organization is partnering with Connor Sports to manufacture the court, which will include several recycled materials. The shoes themselves will be transformed into rubber grind that will be combined with Nike Grind and incorporated into the court’s foam layer.

“Golden 1 Center will set a new standard for how we think about our environment and sustainability,” said Kings President Chris Granger in a statement. “This program represents yet another unique opportunity to demonstrate our commitment to conservation while also engaging our fans by giving them an opportunity to be a part of our court’s DNA.”

(Image: Sacramento Kings)

Guests. Fans. Attendees. Whatever you choose to call them, they’re all the same: humans. And a human’s experience during an event is paramount to your venue’s success. We want to help you be successful, and that is why we focus on people so much at our annual GuestX conference.

“IAVM is pleased to announce a conference built on ‘smart practices’ regarding the guest/fan experience,” said Mark Herrera, IAVM’s director of education. “We are honored to have a session that will highlight what our guests from the professional leagues are doing to monitor the fan experience and ensure consistency across their organizations.”

The session Herrera mentions will feature representatives from the National Football League (NFL), Major League Baseball, and Major League Soccer (MLS) who will discuss the most important element of any event day: the human element. When the unpredictable happens, your people, your team members, are the ones who will respond based on your proper, and prior, planning and training. During this panel session, attendees will hear about and discuss incidents from all types of venues related to guest service recovery from the perspective of those having to deliver it.

Larry Bowman, vice president of stadium operations and security for the Atlanta Braves, will moderate a panel that includes Robert Gallo, vice president, club business development, NFL; Paul LaVeau, stadium director, stadium operations, Oakland Athletics; and Jeff Stonebreaker, security advisor, MLS. More panelists will be named later.

“League representatives attending our past GuestX Conference were able to also take back ideas from the venue industry that were incorporated into their respective business plans,” Herrera said. “Again, the focus from this session will be on fan/guest interaction and also how to plan for the unpredictable and assess options in the moment to create an immediate recovery when issues arise. The session is focused on creating a winning fan experience.”

Other GuestX content includes a session on creating successful front line supervisors, excellent customer service the Ritz-Carlton way, and an off-site exercise for attendees at American Airlines Center. Check out the GuestX for the full schedule and to register to attend.

Please welcome our newest members who joined IAVM in November and December 2015—a total of 221 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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