JustOne: This leadership recruitment campaign was launched at VenueConnect in Baltimore this year. The goal is to have every IAVM volunteer recruit one new member. The IAVM Membership Committee feels we can achieve our goal of 100 percent volunteer participation by March 31, 2016. Of our 231 volunteers, 14 committee members have recruited 57 new members that equal 8 percent participation. The Membership Committee is leading with 17 new members.

Committee members leading the JustOne campaign effort through today are:

If your name isn’t listed above, please encourage someone to join. We are confident we can reach 100 percent participation by our leadership. The member and committee who brings in the most members will be recognized at VenueConnect in Minneapolis, Minnesota. We will continue to send updates each month.

We are thrilled with our progress thus far. We sincerely appreciate your efforts in helping your association grow and add more diverse and talented individuals to our membership. If you have any questions or perhaps your referral did not list your name, please let me know. Thank you!

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

Star Wars Premiere: Fans, Security to Bring the Force (Variety)
“Security and crowd control will also be at Academy Award levels, with 50 uniformed officers patrolling the four-block stretch and the surrounding area, according to an LAPD official. By comparison, the premiere of “The Hateful Eight” a week prior at the Hollywood’s Arclight Cinerama Dome drew just four uniformed L.A. officers.”

Philadelphia City Council Approves Zoning for $450M Casino Complex Near Stadiums (6abc.com)
“According to the plan, the existing Holiday Inn on the 900 block of Packer Avenue will be renovated into a luxury hotel with more than 200 rooms, a spa and conference center. The yet-to-be built casino will have 2000 slot machines, more than 100 table games and live entertainment venues.”

Virginia Beach City Council Approves Arena Deal: What’s Next? (13newsnow.com)
“United States Management offered to pay for the project up front, and the city would funnel tax revenues from the arena to pay off the USM’s debt.”

Anaheim Convention Center Serves Sustainable Fare from New Garden (Successful Meetings)
“Designed by the convention center’s food and beverage partner, Aramark, the garden is irrigated with residual water and valuable nutrients that are redirected from the convention center’s EcoVim composting machines.”

ISU Arts Center Ranks High on National List (Idaho State Journal)
“The L.E. and Thelma E. Stephens Performing Arts Center at Idaho State University ranks fourth on tripping.com’s list of ‘The Best College Performing Arts Centers: Top 10 to Experience in the U.S.'”

Major League Baseball (MLB) issued recommendations on December 9 to all clubs concerning fan safety, specifically relating to netting.

“Major League Baseball prides itself on providing fans in our ballparks with unparalleled proximity and access to our players and the game taking place on the field,” said Commissioner Robert D. Manfred in a statement. “At the same time, it is important that fans have the option to sit behind protective netting or in other areas of the ballpark where foul balls and bats are less likely to enter. This recommendation attempts to balance the need for an adequate number of seating options with our desire to preserve the interactive pre-game and in-game fan experience that often centers around the dugouts, where fans can catch foul balls, see their favorite players up close and, if they are lucky, catch a tossed ball or other souvenir. I am confident that this recommendation will result not only in additional netting at Major League ballparks but also draw additional attention to the need for fans who make the choice not to sit behind netting to be prepared for the possibility of foul balls and bats entering the stands.”

The recommendations include implementing or maintaining “netting (or another effective protective screen or barrier of their choosing) that shields from line-drive foul balls [at] all field-level seats that are located between the near ends of both dugouts (i.e., the ends of the dugouts located closest to home plate, inclusive of any adjacent camera wells) and within 70 feet of home plate.” The Commissioner’s Office hired a consultant specializing in stadium architecture and protective netting to assist clubs with this recommendation.

The Commissioner’s Office will also work with clubs and “online ticketing sellers to identify ways to provide customers with additional information at the point of sale about which seats are (and are not) behind netting.”

For more about this subject, please read “The Protective Netting Dilemma” by IAVM member Sam Dores.

(Image: wBKRw/Creative Commons)

Here’s a good way to boost productivity: Eat with your co-workers.

According to Cornell University study of firefighters, people who dine together have better group performance compared to those who dine alone.

“Eating together is a more intimate act than looking over an Excel spreadsheet together. That intimacy spills back over into work,” said the study’s author, Kevin Kniffin, a visiting assistant professor in the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, in a statement. “From an evolutionary anthropology perspective, eating together has a long, primal tradition as a kind of social glue. That seems to continue in today’s workplaces.”

Kniffin studied more than 50 firehouses for his research and spoke with 395 supervisors, who provided insight on a platoon’s productivity after eating either together or alone.

Based on the results, Kniffen suggests that organizations should give more consideration for expenditures on cafeterias as an investment in employee performance.

(Image: Cornell University)

The Wolf and the Hen are expanding their venue talk domain to include special episodes focusing on individual sectors. The first special “Coffee Break” will feature convention centers and be co-hosted by Stacey Church, general manager of the MassMutual Center/Spectra Venue Management in Springfield, Massachusetts.

This is an opportunity for teams to talk to each other during a short break in the day to discuss issues related to convention center operations. The episode airs live on Tuesday, December 15, at noon (EST).

Please register at this link: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7657587585649094914.

(Image: Nick Lee/Creative Commons)