In a statement released on August 18, 2015, the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Enforcement Bureau announced a $750,000 settlement with Smart City Holdings, LLC, for “blocking consumers’ Wi-Fi at various convention centers around the United States.”

Smart City Networks has shared the following response on its web site:

“Smart City Networks (Smart City), the largest independent provider of managed network services to the convention and trade show industry, today announced it has entered into a Consent Decree with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that resolves an investigation related to the use of enabling technologies for managing and protecting Wi-Fi networks. As part of the Consent Decree, Smart City did not admit liability, and the FCC did not find that Smart City violated any laws.”

The following is a statement issued by Mark Haley, president of Smart City:

“Our goal has always been to provide world-class services to our customers, and our company takes regulatory compliance extremely seriously. We are not gatekeepers to the Internet. As recommended by the Department of Commerce and Department of Defense, we have occasionally used technologies made available by major equipment manufacturers to prevent wireless devices from significantly interfering with and disrupting the operations of neighboring exhibitors on our convention floors. This activity resulted in significantly less than one percent (1%) of all devices being deauthenticated and these same technologies are widely used by major convention centers across the globe as well as many federal agencies.

“We have always acted in good faith, and we had no prior notice that the FCC considered the use of this standardized, ‘available-out-of-the-box’ technology to be a violation of its rules. But when we were contacted by the FCC in October 2014, we ceased using the technology in question.

“While we have strong legal arguments, we’ve determined that mounting a vigorous defense would ultimately prove too costly and too great a distraction for our leadership team. As a result, we’ve chosen to work cooperatively with the FCC, and we are pleased to have resolved this matter. We are eager to return our energies to providing leadership to our industry and delivering world-class services to our clients.”

Managing high-density Wi-Fi environments is an issue that IAVM has been watching closely. After the FCC ruling against Marriott less than a year ago, IAVM’s Industry Affairs Committee responded with the formation of a Wi-Fi Coalition—currently tasked with providing resources and education that look at the issue of Wi-Fi management from all perspectives.

As an extension of the coalition’s efforts, IAVM is publishing a series of articles in Facility Manager magazine that look closer at the realities of high-density Wi-Fi environments. “The Wi-Fi Dilemma, Part 1”, sets the stage by documenting the unprecedented surge in data usage that networks must try to keep pace with.

As mentioned by event planner Brandt Krueger in 2014 after the Marriott fine, the “pollution” of a dense Wi-Fi environment is a very real problem for everyone paying for and expecting a high-performing network.

“Wi-Fi pollution is real, and the more hotspots that are jammed into an area, the more the integrity of the signals is degraded due to natural interference. When Marriott offers high speed Wi-Fi to their meeting and convention guests, usually for what some might call exorbitant rates, their guests are going to expect it to work properly. They do indeed have an obligation to provide certain levels of service to their guests, and they can’t offer that level of service if things are all jammed up with Wi-Fi traffic.”

The recent FCC rulings are eliminating tools used to ensure that a network can survive high-density situations. This, coupled with an absence of clarity on acceptable practices—or agreed upon standards that network managers can operate against—poses a seemingly impossible challenge to everyone tasked with operating large, functional Wi-Fi networks.

IAVM and the Wi-Fi Coalition will continue to focus on a potential way forward for network operators, trade show/event organizers, and venue managers, but the viability of building consensus and implementing improved procedures or policies will be determined largely by the decisions of the FCC.

I was telling a friend of mine that the millennial generation seems to continually take a little bit of a beating. At VenueConnect, I heard some comments about work ethic, about not wanting to pay their dues, and about wanting a perfect balance with work and life. These words were generally uttered with disdain as if, “The nerve of someone just out of college looking for these things. Don’t they know it doesn’t work that way? This generation ….”

My friend suggested that when we were in our 20s we wanted everything, too. I reminded him that all I remember wanting was to be able to afford better beer in the fridge. But I admitted that my memory might not be totally clear on that. Regardless, he made me stop and realize that while I am at the back end of the baby boomer generation and have a lot of those typical boomer traits, who am I to judge what’s right or wrong? After all, I have certainly questioned whether spending 60-80 hours a week at work is too many and whether my relationships have suffered as a result. Besides, there are usually many ways to get something accomplished, and how presumptuous am I to think mine is the best one?

The other reality whether any of us curmudgeons like it or not is that this coming generation is our future. By 2025, millennials will make up 75 percent of the work force according to our VenueConnect keynote speaker, Betsy Meyers. Further, as we learned in the session on capital improvement this generation is impacting design of our venues with more craft beer (which is not really a bad thing), large open areas for socializing as opposed to great views of the game (which draws casual fans and utilizes under-performing spaces), and phone-charging stations. Great Wi-Fi is essential, and many of us are either already upgrading our systems or planning to. These are our customers now and into the future, so we only benefit from embracing this generation and its needs.

The millennials are here. In fact, as part of the Upstart Emerging Leaders program this year at VenueConnect I was able to meet many of the 30|UNDER|30 award winners. Those I met are all engaged in our industry and have the same desire to make an impact that we all had when we were young and that many of us still have. They are working on their own continuing education and growth and will be the leaders of our industry one day in the not too distant future. However, they are not willing to sacrifice everything else to accomplish that.

I don’t know. But somehow that does not seem like such a bad thing. Maybe the world could use professionals that know how to turn off work once in a while. Maybe we could all benefit from seeing people that are as passionate about their friends and families as they are about work. Balance may seem like too much to ask, but as we have all learned by now, you never get what you don’t at least ask for.

From talking to these emerging leaders, I feel like our future is in good hands and I am excited to see where it will go. The 30|UNDER|30 and the other Young Professionals in our industry have a lot to offer. They want to enjoy the journey, but that does not mean they are not serious about the job they have been asked to do. They want to do a good job, but are not afraid to question the status quo. And maybe that is our dilemma. We are the status quo. Maybe we don’t like being questioned. Hmmm. Interesting problem, but I guess we are going to have to find a way to get over that.

Change is constant. We either adapt or become extinct. The Millennial generation is bringing change. We have all had to change before, and we will be able to change again. We all love this industry, or we would not be involved with it. We will figure it out just like we have always done when faced with a challenge. I even suspect that many of us will come to love the coming generation of employees and customers as much as we have loved those that came before. Our experience with their passion should be unstoppable. Maybe we can change the world together. Maybe we can even learn how to use all our vacation time to see our friends and families.

(Image: Orange Photography)

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.