We’re excited to be in Baltimore this year for VenueConnect. In addition to great educational sessions and networking opportunities, we’re happy to offer several new conference experiences for attendees. The following are new this year for VenueConnect:

UpStart: Emerging Leaders Experience| Room 339-342 | 8 AM – 2 PM
Presented by: IAVM Foundation & Western Kentucky University
FREE for students, young professionals, and faculty. US$35 for other VenueConnect attendees. Prior registration required.

Fireside chats: Located on the Trade Show floor. Fireside chats are short, informative discussions about products and ideas relevant to the venue management industry.

Tech showcase: Located on the Trade Show floor. These are 20-minute presentations by suppliers featuring their products.

Spark: Small Tables, Big Topics. These interactive round tables take place on Monday, August 3, 8:30-9:45 a.m. Attendees can move from table to table based on their interests. Here is just a sampling of the many topics to be discussed:

—Cloud Based Parking Technologies
—Dance Flooring
—Motorized Rigging—Pros and Cons
—Selling Your Alternative Space
—Measuring the Effectiveness of Your Leadership

Perhaps you’re unable to attend VenueConnect this year. No problem. Just follow the IAVM on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, where we’ll be posting content with the #VC15 hashtag. We’ll also be using Periscope to live-stream some events. Follow us on it, too!

If you’re at the conference, be sure and download our new mobile app powered by Sherpa Solutions. You’ll have access to speaker bios, receive real-time notifications, schedule updates, and be able to create a personal itinerary to remind you of the sessions, programs, and events you don’t want to miss. From your mobile device, you can download it directly from the App Store or Google Play (available July 31). Just search for IAVM.

One of the best tools on the new mobile app is the ActivLocator, a geolocation solution that uses beacons to help attendees see more, do more, and get more face time with the people who matter on the Trade Show floor. An interactive map allows users to locate themselves on the floor, see what’s happening around them, get relevant suggestions and find their next opportunity quickly. Exhibitors, too, can use this tool to reach the right people.

From Triple Bottom Line to Net Positive, Materiality Matrix to Circular Economy, the buzz words and language of sustainability can be overwhelming if you’re not living it day in and day out. As venue operators, where do we begin with developing a sustainability program? Is my current program on track? What models are other venues using that might work for me?

While we cannot answer all those questions in a single blurb, IAVM’s Sustainability Committee is here to assist you in finding answers and helping you grow your programs. With that, we invite you to stop by Booth 260, just north of the IAVM Membership Booth at VenueConnect for one of two mini-sessions on sustainability:

Saturday, August 1 @ 5:10 p.m. – Sodexo Composting Mini Session
A growing global problem of breathtaking scope, food waste is the single greatest contributor to American landfills. In this 15-minute session, we’ll explore how composting can be part of the solution to solving the food waste crisis.

Sunday, August 2 @ 12:20 p.m. – GSA’s Greener Cleaning Playbook
Have you thought about green cleaning as a way to reduce operating expenses and health risks to staff and event attendees? It’s possible, and in this 15-minute session, the Green Sports Alliance will introduce you to the Greener Cleaning Playbook, which features some take-aways any venue can implement.

(Image: Intel Free Press/Creative Commons)

This week’s spotlight of recipients in the IAVM Foundation’s inaugural class of 30|UNDER|30 are asked, “What do you look to take away from VenueConnect?”

McKell Bennett
Assistant Marketing Director
Adam Center – University of Montana
Missoula, Montana

“I hope to further my knowledge within the venue industry and build on the networks I previously made by being a student intern in 2014. I also hope to gain valuable life lessons that I can continue to pursue year after year as a professional.”

Jacquelyn Holowaty
Vice President, Ticketing
Spectra Venue Management
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

“I look to take away from VenueConnect a networking capability of people I’ve never talked to and ideas they have I’ve never even thought about and being able to share those ideas and examples in what I’m doing on a day-to-day basis. Also seeing technology I’m not aware of or haven’t been a part of, as well as management styles, such as how people my age are managing up or managing the millennials.”

Jena Schaafsma
Assistant Director, Event Booking and Marketing
MetLife Stadium
East Rutherford, New Jersey

“I look forward to networking with people from the industry and other venues. There’s actually a limited amount of people who do what we do, so to be in a room full of others and converse with them and share best practices, new ideas, and the latest trends would be pretty beneficial.”

Caitlin Volpe
Event Coordinator
AT&T Performing Arts Center
Dallas, Texas

“VenueConnect for me is always an exciting experience not only because of the knowledge you gain through the different sessions but also through the networking of professionals that goes on throughout the conference and trade show. There are always ways for your venue to improve, so I hope I take some insight back to Dallas with me that I can apply to my venue. Another thing I love about attending VenueConnect is the interactions the students have with the professionals. Being a past student volunteer, I hope I can enlighten or give advice to those student volunteers attending the conference this year.”

We aired our third episode of The Venue last Friday, but if you missed it, no problem. We recorded it, and you can listen to the above audio of it.

On this episode, we were joined by our guest host, IAVM Chair Kim Bedier, CFE, and we discussed a variety of topics, such as SMART goals for part-time/front-of-house employees, John Oliver’s editorial on publicly funded stadiums and arenas,VenueConnect, and bacon-flavored seaweed.

Thank you for listening, and thank you to Kathy Summerlin with the Saenger Theatre in Pensacola, Florida, for joining, too, on the live broadcast.  We broadcast The Venue every fourth Friday of the month, and you can still listen to the first episode and the second episode.

Miah Moore (right) and the 2015 VMS interns.

When I applied for the VMS internship, I didn’t realize what a great opportunity IAVM was offering student members. I have been to other conferences that focus on my interests in the business and had always walked away feeling like I didn’t make a good impact on the people who were in attendance or felt that I wasn’t worth talking to. Even before arriving in Wheeling, I had a few individuals reach out through social media and via email congratulating me on the award and welcoming me to IAVM as a member. This really caught me off guard in a good way.

I had no idea what a great opportunity being a part of VMS was going to be or how willing the students and board members would be to talk to us interns. We were all greeted with smiles and friendly conversation about what they have done in the industry and what we interns hoped and dreamed to do with our careers. We were given plenty of opportunities to meet board members and teachers through luncheons, dinning out in Wheeling, and a dinner as well as breakfast with the board of regents. With over 300 in attendance at VMS, the networking opportunities were endless and allowed us interns to maximize our networking opportunities and meet people where our interests lie in the entertainment industry. Not only that, but we were able to sit through all the classes offered and learn about different and important aspects that drive the industry to positive outcomes. I myself learned about architecture; food service management; enhancing the experience with live events; marketing, advertising, and PR; making and delivering the deal; creativity in the workplace; event management; controlling costs; media relations; leadership and image; tort law; and seven elements of formulation.

I’ve had a particular interest in festivals and had this dream of working in this part of the industry for the last few years. I was able to meet a few individuals who play a big part in this area of the industry. Not only did they educate and share their stories but they also met with me in hopes of helping connect me with the right individuals so that I may get experience and even land a job after graduation. Individuals who aren’t even a part of the festival business reached out and said if I ever need anything or if I think they could help me in any way, that I could get in contact with them and they would help me in any way possible. Hearing this from people I had never met before that week was the best feeling in the world. It made me feel appreciated and helped me believe that people are starting to see that we are the future. Applying for the VMS internship is the best time I’ve ever spent and the best decision I’ve ever made. I want to encourage any students reading this to apply. Take the time and apply for all of the opportunities because I promise you that you WILL take something away from your experience. You won’t regret it.

I want to send a special thanks to Greg Wolfe, Jason LoRusso, Jason Rittenberry, and Mark Herrera for making us interns feel welcome and giving us the experience of a lifetime!

Please visit the IAVM Foundation page for more information on upcoming scholarship and internship opportunities.