These are selected news articles that showed up in our inboxes on Monday morning that we want to pass along to you.
Bataclan Killings Underscore Vulnerabilities At Small Venues In Paris, Around The World (International Business Times)
“While the extreme force used Friday would have overwhelmed most small venues, the reality is that larger stadiums and arenas around the world have made substantial investments to improve the security measures in place for both event attendees and performers, while smaller venues like the Bataclan have patchwork security protocols that may involve little more than checking an ID.”
Nederlander and TAG Presents Form Venture in Austin, Launch Venue Called Skyline Theater (Billboard)
“The Skyline Theater is located on the grounds of the Long Center for the Performing Arts, situated in the heart of downtown Austin, overlooking Ladybird Lake. In a multi-year contract, Paragon Presents will be the exclusive promoter for productions at the Skyline and will present a wide range of concerts and productions.”
Washington State Convention Center to Acquire Land for Expansion (Meetings & Conventions)
“The WSCC will pay $238 million in principal and interest payments to King County Metro over the next 30 years for the site.”
The Coolest Stadium Features in the NFL (Bleacher Report)
“When fans attend a football game in person, they want a superb experience, and NFL teams are making sure they get it.”
Smart City Networks Implements IPv6 at Orange County Convention Center (Nevada Business)
“IPv6 provides expansive space for IP addresses, allowing convention center visitors with IPv6-compatible devices to access all areas of the Internet.”
Sporting Kansas City’s Stadium Will be Named Children’s Mercy Park (The Kansas City Star)
“Sporting Park has not had a naming-rights sponsorship since the club ended its agreement with the Livestrong Foundation in January 2013.”
(Image: Kmeron/Creative Commons)
As promised IAVM members, the plan is to take you all along for the journey this year as the board tackles several items that are instrumental to the future of IAVM. With that in mind, we wanted to update you on some helpful information that was shared on the October Board of Directors call so that you have as much insight into the happenings of our favorite association as the board does.
The three most pertinent items of interest:
As a board, we are representing each one of our members so it is important to us and to the future of IAVM that our members are part of the decision making process. Please check out the 2nd Vice Chair criteria and share it with others who might be perfect for the role! Continue to give feedback and ideas to any board member to bring to our January mid-year meeting, and know I am an email or phone call away.
Have a wonderful holiday season!
U.S Soccer and the confederations of CONCACAF (North America, Central America, and Caribbean) and CONMEBOL (South America) recently announced the 10 U.S. venues that will host the historic Copa America Centenario to be played June 3-26, 2016.
Copa America, CONMEBOL’s historic South American Championship, will be staged outside of South America for the first time in its 100 year history. The historic centennial edition will feature all 10 teams from CONMEBOL as well as six teams from CONCACAF, including the U.S. and Mexico.
With global soccer powers such as Brazil, Colombia, and Argentina participating, sell-out crowds are expected at nearly every match where stadium capacities are a minimum of 60,000. IAVM has active members at seven of the 10 venues where multiple games will be played, including MetLife Stadium where the final will take place June 26, 2016.
One aspect of the event that I’d assume every venue is taking into account is crowd control procedures for specific games where tensions could boil over into the stands as it did in the 2015 final between Chile and Argentina. As venue managers, how does your staffing for an event such as this compare to that of an NFL game? Would you manage a USA vs. Mexico soccer game the same way you would for a College Football Bowl game? What about Chile vs. Argentina? How do the demographics of fans, teams rivalries, and meaning of the event affect your game-day staffing and planning procedures?
(Image: Ver en vivo En Directo/Creative Commons)
The International Association of Venue Managers (IAVM) is pleased to announce that Scott McCartney will speak and lead a session on crowd management and security at the 2016 Academy for Venue Safety & Security (AVSS) and GuestX: Guest Experience & Crowd Management Conference.
“In light of the recent Paris attacks, IAVM wants to ensure our safety and security training in 2016 addresses key areas of preparedness for all venue managers,” said Mark Herrera, IAVM’s director of education. “Scott McCartney is an exceptional addition to the AVSS and GuestX 2016 programs, and the experience and expertise that he brings will be tremendous for every student and attendee.”
McCartney is the project director of the Large Stadium Initiative with the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services. The initiative is based on the premise that a majority of stadiums are owned by municipal or state governments, and therefore security varies from facility to facility. This program explores commonalities of large stadium/venue Homeland Security preparedness issues and assists in developing strategies for enhancing prevention, response, and recovery capabilities. He earned national recognition as a Master Exercise Practitioner from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
McCartney’s discussion at AVSS and GuestX will focus on all hazards pertaining to crowd management and security, broken down into three categories: Assessments (venue staff, facility, policy and procedures), Training (establishing training guidelines, staff, continuous training), and Exercises (discussion based, drills, and full scale).
“During the discussion, I will use several ‘real situations’ I have been a part of and worked through to help illustrate for attendees the importance of crowd management and security,” McCartney said.
AVSS takes place Feb. 21-25, 2016, and GuestX takes place Feb. 21-23, 2016, with both taking place at the Renaissance Dallas Hotel. Registration and more information can be found at http://iavm.org/avss and http://iavm.org/guestx.
There’s a good story on Wired.com about Levi’s Stadium testing a new entry scanner that plans to revolutionize security. It’s called the Qylatron Entry Experience Solution, and it consists of five pods.
“The process is simple, designed to improve not just security, but the entry experience,” Alex Davies wrote for Wired.com. “Hold your ticket aloft and a ticket scanner assigns you to one of five ‘pods,’ each the size of large microwave oven. Pop in your bag, close the door, and walk to the other side. By the time you get there, the machine will have scanned your stuff for any number of things, as determined by the security team. The system can handle up to 600 guests in an hour (each with one bag), and needs just four people to keep it running.”
The company that makes the product, Qylur, won’t explain exactly how it works.
“But we know it uses radiation and chemical sensors to look for explosives,” Davies wrote. “A multi-view X-ray uses machine learning to identify things like weapons, and the software can be updated to look for new threats as they’re identified. If the machine sees something it doesn’t like, it alerts a security officer and the door turns purple. If you’re good to go, the door turns green, and you use your ticket to unlock it and take your bag. You don’t have to open your bag or let anyone touch it. With five people moving through at once, you’re through security almost as quickly as you can roll your eyes.”
Depending on its success at Levi’s Stadium, the product could court other venues next year.
“We expect several more rollouts in 2016 across stadiums, amusement parks and other large public venues,” Qylur CEO Lisa Dolev told Davies.
Please visit Wired.com to learn more about the Qylatron Entry Experience Solution.
(Image: Qylur)