You’re going to love these festivals if you’re a country fan.

Next Memorial Day weekend (May 27-29, 2016), Daytona International Speedway will play host to the inaugural Country 500 music festival. Set to perform are Luke Bryan, Florida Georgia Line, Kid Rock, Lady Antebellum, Willie Nelson, and more. Tickets go on sale November 3.

“We’re proud to develop this new partnership with AEG Live and Festival Productions Inc. – New Orleans and bring the Country 500 music festival to Daytona International Speedway,” Track President Joie Chitwood III said. “Signature events such as the DAYTONA 500 and the Rolex 24 At Daytona have made DIS the ‘World Center of Racing’ but by securing this marquee music festival with an amazing lineup of artists, we will also be known as the ‘World Center of Entertainment.”

The acts will perform on stages specially designed and built for the festival, and the event will take place on the infield of the speedway. Fans can camp out in the infield, too. And yes, there will be meet-and-greets throughout pit road and in the garages.

The other country music festival, Dega Jam, will take place July 1-3, 2016, at  Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama. Acts will be announced on October 25. Festival fans will also be allowed to camp out in the infield and have the opportunity to meet their favorite artists.

(Image: Facebook)

You may have taken the first step in the process toward becoming a CFE by attending the “How to Become a Certified Facilities Executive (CFE)” webinar on September 24, 2015, by completing the “CFE Checklist” to ascertain if you had earned the 300 points needed to make application and start the formal process, or perhaps this is the first time you have considered pursuing certification.

Now’s the time to take the second step and join that group of your peers who have reached the pinnacle of achievement with IAVM by becoming Certified Facilities Executives. Remember – Applications and three written references are due no later than Nov. 1, 2015.

The written essay is due by February 1, 2016 – allowing you extra time to enjoy the holidays and end of the year activities.

Don’t delay, apply today. Make 2016 the year that you earn your CFE!

Serving as the operations manager at the South Towne Expo Center located in Sandy, Utah, I am continually seeking ways to learn and grow personally and professionally. This isn’t just of personal benefit, as it further extends to our professional venue and our community. As a new member—and while browsing the IAVM website—I discovered that the association offered a mentoring program. The program is geared toward members seeking to learn more about venue management or have been in the venue management business and are willing to assist those that may just be starting out in the business.

I followed up with a call to the IAVM headquarters for additional details and learned that the Mentor Connector program started in 2007. This is only one of the benefits that come with being an IAVM member. I learned that there is an application process, and a committee reviews and attempts to match you with someone who is a good fit that can help you grow professionally. Mentors volunteer their time and service to the program, assisting the mentee with networking and achieving success with mutually established goals for the partnership. Each spring and fall, mentees are paired with mentors for a 12-month cycle based on similar interests. The partnership is also paired with a coach who oversees the partnership. In 2014, 68 mentors and mentees completed the program. I was immediately intrigued and came to the conclusion that the program would help me become a better professional.

In December 2014, I was matched with my mentor, Daniel Huerta, executive general manager of Fair Park in Dallas, Texas. Jody Lake was assigned as coach for our mentoring partnership. As I perused through the Mentor Connector handbook, I learned that it contained valuable information including roles and responsibilities of the mentee and mentor. Once I completed the partnership goal statement, spelling out what I sought to accomplish, it was time to reach out to Daniel to arrange the initial introductory call and to schedule subsequent calls. IAVM recommends committing to making time to meet on a regular basis, but no less than quarterly.

Each month, Daniel and I are on a call to discuss several issues using a meeting record form that outlines the goals, documents discussion topics, identifies action items, and updates results. What I have found helpful is that during our monthly calls each of us describes what is currently happening at our respective venues, including what’s working and challenges we faced and their resolutions.

Some of the best advice that I have received is how my mentor has handled difficult situations in the past that may be similar to challenges that I may be experiencing at my venue. I appreciate his candid responses and examples that he uses to describe past situations. One of his greatest leadership qualities is acknowledgement that sometimes even your best laid out plans don’t work, but you have to break things down to find out why it didn’t work and lessons learned. He shares some of the mistakes that he has made and how he learned from them so that I don’t make the same mistakes myself. Daniel has been a great resource and mentor to me by listening to what I have say and providing me suggestions and advice. He has demonstrated genuine interest in my growth and helping me achieve my professional goals.

Two of my SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely) goals we established were to attend IAVM VenueConnect and to fly down to Texas to meet Daniel. IAVM recommends meeting your mentor, if at all possible. Both were accomplished, as I was fortunate to tour and experience his venue and operations, a 277-acre complex with exhibit halls, the historic Cotton Bowl Stadium, museums, a concert amphitheater, and other attractions. In addition to visiting Fair Park, which draws an impressive 5.2 million people a year, Daniel made arrangements with IAVM members Dave Brown and Paul Turner to tour their respective venues of American Airlines Center, home to the Dallas Mavericks and Dallas Stars, and AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys. I quickly realized that they, too, valued the goals of the IAVM Mentor Connector Program and committed to my professional interest and growth.

My participation in the Mentor Connector program has proven to be beneficial, uplifting, and rewarding. Similar to anything in life, you get out of the program what you decide to put into it (time, dedication, commitment, willingness to learn, etc.). I sought to learn from someone who has been in the industry several years and actively involved with IAVM. Daniel has achieved professional success in his career and has given many hours of volunteer service by serving on numerous IAVM committees. Always willing to listen and to provide sound advice, he is a wonderful and encouraging coach by motivating me to strive to achieve my full potential.

Experiencing firsthand the benefits the program has brought me in my career, I highly recommend the Mentor Connector program to anyone who is interested in furthering their career, increasing their knowledge, and seeking to grow personally and professionally.

Mid-year conditions for most venue managers are steady compared to last quarter and the average of 2014. Sixty-five percent of industry professionals say that overall current business conditions are positive, comparable to 62 percent last quarter and 64 percent for all of 2014. This indicates a stable marketplace overall, except for arenas, which report a bit of positive news. Arena professionals seeing positive business conditions have increased by 17 percent since the first quarter—from 49 percent to 66 percent—and those indicating negative current conditions dropped from 23 percent to 16 percent. Compare this also to the 2014 averages of 56 percent positive conditions and 17 percent negative.

For the overall industry, business outlooks are also stable to positive, with a slight increase in those predicting net increases in business conditions for the coming year from 70 percent in Q1 to 77 percent in Q2—consistent with the 2014 average of 77 percent. And few (11 percent) are currently forecasting net decreases in the marketplace in general.

In the Seats
General attendance across venues reflects these steady business conditions, with half (51 percent) of professionals currently reporting increases in attendance, compared with the 2014 average of 54 percent. However, for this quarter, the trend seems to be toward flat attendance, with 30 percent of managers reporting level attendance compared to 18 percent in Q1. That said, outlooks are rosier for attendance than what current conditions show. More than two-thirds (70 percent) of venue professionals foresee increasing attendance in the months ahead, and this number has been consistent for months and is level with the average of expectations for all of 2014.

Money, Money, Money
Revenue dollars tell a similar story. Currently, 65 percent of venue managers say they are seeing a positive increase in net revenue, 21 percent say revenue is flat, and just 15 percent say numbers are down year-on-year. There includes a slight movement up to level quarter on quarter; in Q1 a full quarter of industry professionals reported decreases in revenue over 2014 numbers. For the next year, 70 percent of venue managers expect net increases in revenue, and only 15 percent predict that their numbers will fall.

The Analysis?
Business is steady, and that’s good for business. There aren’t many variances in the marketplace at this time, nor have there been for the last year or so. For most industry venues this is positive news (especially for arenas). And outlooks for the next year continue to be optimistic, as the majority of industry leaders predict better business conditions, more revenue, and higher attendance for the next 12 months.

For sector specific information, please download the April-June 2015 Business Barometer, provided by VenueDataSource for free.

If you have any questions, contact Frank Ingoglia. If your organization does not allow you to use Dropbox, send an email and we’ll attach the report for you.

Why not use your association’s expertise and resources to survey your customers, staff, or stakeholders for a fraction of the cost you would pay anywhere else? You have access to a research professional with 35 years of experience to design your questions. Why pay more for someone with less experience? How could your organization benefit? Here are just three examples:

1) When trying to decide which events to host, your customer base could quickly be surveyed to determine which event is most preferred.

2) How satisfied are your patrons? What type of experience did attendees have at your last event?

3) How is your product rated by current and potential customers? Is your target market aware of your company?

Email Frank Ingoglia, IAVM’s research manager, to discuss how low-cost online surveys could improve your organization’s decision-making.

Not a member of IAVM? That’s OK, feel free to contact Frank to discuss.