I published a blog post last month about a wonderful series The Guardian is running titled “How to Put on a Mega-Gig,” all told from people involved in the operation. Well, the paper has updated the series with even more great stories from the front lines.

Here are the recent highlighted jobs, along with some quotes from each one.

The Production Manager
“Now, touring is the main income, which is obviously good for my business. It’s almost snowballed, in that bands have needed to play bigger venues to generate more income. The productions have had to become bigger to catch up. This has driven an industry of companies who design massive productions and have created the means of taking them down and putting them back up again very quickly.”

The Caterer
“Coconut water is so much easier to get than a goat.”

The Sound Engineer
“You definitely get the butterflies, and if you’re not getting them, something’s wrong. It’s an amazing buzz, when the lights go down and the music starts: for the next couple of hours, that’s your life.”

The Tour Manager
“When you’re playing Wembley Arena, the bus is parked inside the venue, so you don’t get fans outside the bus, but fans can be very creative about getting near the band.”

(Image: Lee Gwyn/Creative Commons)

It’s been about a month since Caitlyn Jenner accepted the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the 2015 ESPYS. Watching her acceptance speech moved me, as it shed some light on an issue I’m still not very familiar with. After reading articles and the comments that followed, looking for more understanding, I realized the harsh reality transgender people face. In addition, the numbers Abby Wambach shared regarding the bullying, murders, and suicides in the transgender community are disheartening. In light of this recent attention to LGBT issues, I wanted to take some time to spotlight how such issues may impact our venues.

An article was recently shared around our office on venues in North Carolina and the continued pressure they were getting from the LGBT community to publicly state their policy on transgender restroom access. In this article, “Charlotte Motor Speedway, Bank of America Stadium, and BB&T Ballpark all went on record to say that transgender patrons can use the restrooms consistent with their gender identity.”

After reading the article, I found it essential to thoroughly examine how our venues address transgender restroom access. The law in Washington, D.C., (where our venues are located) requires certain public places to “allow individuals the right to use gender-specific restrooms and other gender-specific facilities … that are consistent with their gender identity or expression.” I was able to confirm that our venues operate in accordance with this requirement. Ensuring we continue to provide excellent customer service for our guests, we have reminded all of our security and guest relations supervisors of the law and have advised our staff to listen for discriminatory comments made by staff or patrons, and report.

As public and private facility managers, it’s my belief that we owe it to all of our patrons to provide a positive and safe experience at our venues. In furthering my knowledge on this subject, I have found that states have very different human/civil rights laws, some more progressive than others. I would encourage you to look into your local laws on gender identity and expression to ensure your facility is in compliance, and, in the absence of any clear legal requirements, to be fair and open-minded in developing policies and procedures on these issues.

(Image: James Willamor/Creative Commons)

Doors open in 15 minutes. Which of your staff are in position, in route, or not even in the building yet? What percentage of staff in position is acceptable to proceed with, and how would you verify this in real-time—or after your event if the need arose?

One of the goals of Big Data: How to Measure Success—a VenueConnect session sponsored by eTix and led by Gil Fried, chair and professor of the sports management department at the University of New Haven, and Russell Mucklow, chief executive at AwareManager—was to explore a framework that venue managers can use to develop a smart, data-driven approach to successful operations.

How to Think with Data
Mucklow walked session attendees through a five-step process intended to guide venue managers toward meaningful, data-driven thinking.

So, back to the doors opening in 15 minutes and staff needing to be in position. Here is how that issue might make its way through the process outlined in the presentation:

Step 1: What are you assessing?
In this case, you want to know if enough key staff are in position before doors open.

Step 2: What data do you need to support this?
To answer this question, you will need to be able to identify team members, track specific locations within the venue, and know times associated with those locations.

Step 3: How will you capture this data?
Continuing with our staffing question, what processes and tools are needed to gather the data needed? An access control/credentialing system that identifies staff members and captures check-in times at key locations established within (or outside of) your venue, and a Web-portal or mechanism for real-time visibility and reporting.

Step 4: How will the data be validated and analyzed?
As you gather the data on staff positions and check-in times, a system will need to be in place to build accurate, accessible records. With consistent information, patterns can be identified to assist with benchmarking, goals, and management strategies. If you find that at a typical event, 90 percent of your key staff are in-position five minutes before doors open, a plan to move toward 90 percent at 10 minutes before doors opening becomes realistic, measurable, and logical for your venue.

Step 5: Have you been successful?
With a process in place, you are now equipped to measure this aspect of your operations with consistent, accurate data that supports your criteria for success. Staff expectations are clear to everyone, goals are attainable and measurable, and everyone understands what success looks like.

During the session, Fried and Mucklow applied this step-by-step process to a spectrum of areas within venue management, showing that everything from truck deliveries to the maintenance of a playing surface can be aligned to specific, data-driven measurements. This is critical, not only for accurately defining success, but also for defending consistent, validated operations as an extension of your risk management strategy.

Five Steps, Not So Simple
Defining success with data sounded tidy and objective, but part of what makes data reliable is its ability to withstand the nuances and variables that must be accounted for when measuring. As Mucklow outlined in the session introduction, variables such as your venue type, attendee demographics, event duration, weather, and a particularly high-profile event (like a rivalry) inevitably affect the data you’re capturing, and accounting for this is an essential aspect of ensuring that your correlations and predictions are informed and reasonable. Did an ice storm hit on that day when only 60 percent of staff members made it to their positions on time? How should that be factored into your analysis of overall patterns and trends for this objective?

Sufficiently Overwhelming
Gathering data—and getting reliable, actionable information out of it—is a massive mountain to climb, and one attendee at the end of the session spoke for most everyone in the room when they shared that they were “now sufficiently overwhelmed.” There is no question that the future of facility management will move deeper into the world of big data, and the challenge for everyone is to effectively navigate through the swarm of data-points streaming into your venue.

One step forward would be to contact our session presenters for more information and guidance on building a data-driven approach to your operations.

Another way forward is to keep an eye on VenueConnect 2016 (July 23-25, Minneapolis, Minnesota), where future sessions on using big data will continue to provide venue managers with a view into the swarm, and connections to the experts and thinkers that will help us get through it.

A Trained Crowd Manager (TCM) Live session was held this year the day after VenueConnect in Baltimore concluded. There were several participants, including Jason Poppe—director of events and operations for Georgetown Athletics and McDonough Arena in Washington, D.C.—whom we spoke with about his experience.

Please explain the value TCM would bring to our industry and how the knowledge received from this training would be applicable to your job.

Jason Poppe: As the director of events for 29 intercollegiate athletics sports in a major metropolitan area, I am constantly concerned about the safety and security of not only the student athletes and university I represent, but those that are visiting for perhaps the first time, or for regulars who are here at every event. The TCM program allows me to provide the confidence to my staff and superiors that in the instance something were to happen where there is an emergency, there are individuals such as myself, police, our Department of Emergency Management on Campus that would be able to see all involved through safely as best as we possibly can with a plan and purpose.

What percentage of your total work times requires the knowledge and skills presented in this training (zero percent to 100 percent)? Also, what do you feel the deliverables obtained were during the TCM Training in Baltimore and your recommendation for those that have not attended TCM?

JP: I would say as the primary individual in charge of event planning in my current role, that approximately 20 percent of my total work is devoted to ensuring safety and proper planning. There are dedicated individuals on campus who focus much more on the prevention of emergencies alongside our facilities staff and other university personnel, but having been through the training and being a Trained Crowd Manager, certainly puts me in many of the conversations with these groups when they’re looking for information. As far as deliverables go, I can go back to my supervisor and director of athletics and let them know that in any situation they will have someone on staff who is trained to manage several emergency situations, even if it is in a management role directing the various emergency groups we have at events. At this time, I believe I am the only individual at my institution with this certification. I have been a Emergency Response Team member for about six months now here on campus, and working with that group, I plan on introducing them to the TCM program and IAVM as a whole for the fantastic educational offerings.

I personally feel more confident as a manager that if there were ever an issue that needed to be handled as an emergency situation, I would be more able to manage those situations because of this training.

The IAVM Foundation is proud to announce the Joseph A. Floreano Scholarship + Internship Program recipients for the 2015 Arena Management Conference (AMC), recognizing five, deserving individuals who demonstrate leadership, character, community involvement, and the potential to be future leaders in the venue management industry. The Foundation also offers scholarships + internships to a variety of other IAVM conferences and schools, click here to learn more and to apply. Thanks to the support of committed donors, together we are Building Amazing Futures. Click here to learn more about the Foundation’s annual campaign.

David Angeles, Outstanding Leadership Scholarship
General Manager, Allen Event Center

Favorite team? The Michigan State Spartans.

If you could be any animal, what would you be and why? Monkey, four hands and a tail that acts like a fifth. Talk about the opportunity to be an ultimate multi-tasker!

If you could be any superhero, who would you be and why? Inspector Gadget, he is a super hero right? Surround yourself with a good team and even when you aren’t perfect you can still get the desired results! Plus, I want the helicopter hat!

If you could switch places with someone for one day, who would it be and why? I would like to get inside the mind of the GM at a Super Bowl venue or managing director of an Olympic Stadium…one month after the event/closing ceremony. I would love the reflection and knowledge, but skip the gray hair! Seriously, the entire world is watching.

Favorite quote? Life is like riding a bicycle, in order to keep your balance, you must keep moving”—Albert Einstein

Do you have previous experience working with IAVM? I currently serve on the IAVM Membership Committee, part of the Mentor/Mentee Program, and have worked on various IAVM projects over the past few years. I recently found out I am considered a VenueDataSource “Super User.” That made me smile.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pub/dave-angeles/77/58a/58b

Jeremy Huelsing, Young Professional Scholarship
Director of Finance, Chaifetz Arena

Favorite team? The St. Louis Cardinals.

Favorite sports or entertainment memory? My favorite sports memory is when the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Texas Rangers in Game 6 of the 2011 World Series on a walk off home run by David Freese. They went on to win game 7 of the World Series the following night.

If you could be any animal, what would you be and why? I would be an Alaskan Husky. They work well in a team environment, they have an inspiring work ethic, they are athletic, and they love the outdoors.

If you could be any superhero, who would you be and why? I would be Leonardo of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. He always led by example, and the other turtles looked up to him. He was always willing to work and train. And they always seemed to be eating pizza, so that’s a plus.

What is your ultimate dream job in the industry? The general manager of an NBA arena.

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/pub/jeremy-huelsing/8a/382/518

Daniel Salamone, Young Professional Scholarship
Booking and Scheduling Manager, Taco Bell Arena

Favorite team? The Chicago Blackhawks.

Favorite sports or entertainment memory? My most memorable concert moment was standing on the 30-yard line in Soldier Field and having Kenny Chesney swing in on the QB camera cables and stop right above us. I think it was his sunshine stadium tour.

If you could switch places with someone for one day, who would it be and why? I would switch places with Warren Buffett’s assistant and spend the day with him to learn as much as I could from him and his team so I could come back and make the most out of my investments.

What is your ultimate dream job in the industry? I am still trying to decide, but I would say either a GM of a building or marketing director for one of the large promoters.

Favorite quote? “It is easier to beg for forgiveness than ask for permission.”

@Twitter handle: @Salamone01

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielsalamone

Brooke Ginther, Industry Women Scholarship
Event Coordinator, Prairie Capital Convention Center

Favorite team? The St. Louis Cardinals.

Your favorite sports or entertainment memory? My first Chicago Bears football game at Soldier Field.

If you could be any superhero, who would you be and why? I would be The Flash so I could accomplish more tasks in a short amount of time.

What is your ultimate dream job in the industry? My ultimate dream job is to own and operate a small venue of my own.

Favorite quote? “Choose being kind over being right, and you’ll be right every time.”—Richard Carlson

Gregory Conroy, Student Intern
Master’s Degree in Sport and Leisure Commerce from the University of Memphis
Bachelor’s Degree in Recreation, Park and Tourism Management from Penn State University

Favorite Team? The Pittsburgh Penguins.

Your favorite sports or entertainment memory? Working a Bruce Springsteen show shortly after Hurricane Sandy his his hometown. He put on an incredible show that lasted about 4.5 hours.

What is your ultimate dream job in the industry? My ultimate dream job would be the general manager of a major arena.

Favorite quote? “Life is never easy for those who dream.”—Robert James Waller

Do you have previous experience working with IAVM? Yes, I interned at Venue Management School (VMS) in 2014. Just to be in the same place as some of the major people in the industry was an experience in itself. I was also very grateful to sit in on the classes even though I wasn’t going to be tested at the end of the week. Winning the golf tournament on activity day was a pretty big plus!

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=AAIAAA4egqwBamFOibnmxv4BCk2dB45M5HyRysg&trk=nav_responsive_tab_profile