More than 600 people participated in two webinars last week that addressed adverse situations at venues.

In the “Public Demonstrations and Civil Unrest Affecting Public Assembly Facilities” webinar, speakers offered recent examples of venue disturbances and how managers and staff prepared for and responded to the situations.

For instance, Orlando Venues Executive Director Allen Johnson, CFE, talked about a die-in protest at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida, and the how open communication throughout the day mitigated any negative outcomes. (Read more about the protest and how the venue handled it in “Safety and Security During a Protest Rally.”)

Adina Erwin, vice president and general manager of the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, also talked about a protest in her venue in December 2014. Some of her best practices recommendations include maintaining good communications with public safety agencies, monitoring websites and social media activity of protest groups, and identifying an alternate manager-on-duty.

Other speakers included Leslee Stewart, general manager and CEO of the Paramount Theatre in Oakland, California; Robert Noonan, security director for the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority (MCCA) in Boston; Matthew O’Loughlin, public safety manager for the MCCA; and Denis Braham, co-chair of the Sports Business and Public Venues Practice Group. The webinar was moderated by Russ Simons, chief listening officer and manager partner at Venue Solutions Group.

Click here to listen to the full webinar.

Earlier in the week, webinar participants heard from John Wilborn, director of the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas. Wilborn talked about the recent shooting at his venue. Takeaways from the webinar include

• Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) was an aspect of the Curtis Culwell Center’s preparedness for this incident, and that changes to the property were based on lessons learned from the Boston Marathon attack.

• Managing the external communication of attendees was challenging, and developing protocol to minimize individuals revealing their specific location during a shelter-in-place situation is an important aspect of emergency plans.

Click here to listen to the Wilborn webinar.

We announced the recipients of the IAVM Foundation’s inaugural class of 30|UNDER|30 last week and told you we’d spotlight the recipients over the next few weeks.

Our first spotlight is on Abbie Vander Bol, the event supervisor for the Show Me Center on the campus of Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.

“Seeing people smile as they came in for an event and watching them talk about how much fun they had was why I fell in love,” Vander Bol said when asked about what made her fall in love with the industry. “It has been honor to be nominated for the first class of 30|UNDER|30.”

Please watch the video above to learn more about Vander Bol and her passion for the industry. Thank you, also, to SearchWide and Ungerboeck Software International for their generous support of the IAVM Foundation’s 30|UNDER|30 program.

Ticketfly recently had Harris Poll conduct a survey to find out how U.S. adults are using their smartphones during live events. Here are the top findings, according to a release from Ticketfly.

—Thirty-one percent of 18-34 year olds are using their phones during half of an event or longer.
—Forty percent of female smartphone owners 18-34 that attend live events say they use their phones to take pictures at events, compared to only 24 percent of males their age.
—Females in the 18-34 age range are also more likely than their male counterparts to share their experiences via social media apps during the event (35 percent vs. 22 percent, respectively).
—Seventy percent of smartphone owners age 18-34 who attend live events are interested in using their phone as their ticket to enter an event.
—Two thirds (66 percent) of smartphone owners age 18-34 who attend live events are interested in using their phone to pay for food, beverages, and merchandise.

If you’ve attended a live event in the past year, these numbers shouldn’t surprise you. Fans are increasingly using their smartphones to connect with friends, the venue, and the artist or team. What’s interesting about this survey are the findings around female use, specifically single females, during live events.

“Females—especially female millennials—are using their mobile devices during live events to capture their experiences and share with friends via social media,” wrote Chris Pappas, PR manager for Ticketfly. “Singletons are also more likely to share their live-event experiences via social media apps than their married counterparts. If people aren’t using their phones to spread a bit of FOMO [fear of missing out] around, they’re using them to search for relevant info.”

Pair that with the knowledge that more than 60 percent of those surveyed are interested in getting mobile notifications about offers for merchandise, food and beverage, and VIP access during a live event, and you have a great marketing opportunity to act upon however you see fit.

Please visit Ticketfly for more stats from the survey.

(photo credit: ShutterRunner via photopin cc)

Congratulations to the following IAVM members who were recently nominated for the 2015 Women of Influence Awards from Venues Today.

Millie Dixon
Principal
Theatre Projects Consultants

Vicki Hawarden, CMP
President & CEO
IAVM

Dr. Kim Mahoney (one of the authors of our upcoming textbook)
Assistant Professor of Sport Management
University of New Haven (Conn.) College of Business

Kerry Painter, CFE, CEM
Assistant General Manager
Cox Business Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma

Carol Pollock
Executive Director
VenuWorks/Hoyt Sherman Place, Des Moines, Iowa

Robyn Schon
Global Spectrum, General Manager
Berglund Center, Roanoke, Virginia

Leslee Stewart
General Manager
Paramount Theatre, Oakland, California

Karen Totaro, CFE (in-coming IAVM chair)
General Manager
Atlantic City Convention Center

The deadline to vote is Wednesday, May 27. Visit Venues Today for more information and to cast your vote

HOK has announced a multi-year partnership with the United Soccer League (USL). HOK will lead a stadium development, design, and standards initiative supporting the league’s strategic initiative to house all USL clubs in soccer-specific stadiums across North America by the end of the decade.

“The groundbreaking partnership with HOK provides the league and its clubs a tremendous partner with extensive stadium design and development experience at the highest level,” said USL President Jake Edwards in a statement. “A critical part of our strategic growth plan is to have all USL clubs as owners or primary tenants of soccer-specific stadiums by 2020. Not only will these new and upgraded stadiums add value to the league and each club ownership group, they will establish a permanent base for the clubs within their local communities. These venues will serve as cultural hubs and bring fans together in support of the clubs while offering state-of-the-art amenities and an unparalleled game-day experience.”

HOK is the league’s official stadium design partner and will apply its venue design expertise to guide soccer-specific stadium development for expansion clubs and the renovation of current USL stadiums to increase capacities and amenities. HOK will also consult to the league and its clubs on maximizing venue revenue, developing ancillary programming, and creating operational efficiencies.

“This partnership reflects the USL’s commitment to expanding the soccer community across the country and providing fans a high-quality event experience that captures the energy and excitement of the game,” said Brad Schrock, HOK’s director of Sports + Recreation + Entertainment, in a statement. “We are passionate about soccer and excited to be a partner to the USL as the league continues to grow. This initiative will provide the framework to ensure that venues are successful for the team, the players, the fans and their communities.”

HOK’s portfolio of work includes the recently opened Avaya Stadium for Major League Soccer’s San Jose Earthquakes; a newly designed multipurpose stadium in Atlanta, which will be home to a MLS expansion franchise and the National Football League’s Atlanta Falcons; the renovation of Sun Life Stadium for the NFL’s Miami Dolphins; the proposed St. Louis NFL Stadium on the North Riverfront area of downtown St. Louis, which is designed to accommodate FIFA and MLS matches; and the renovation of the AT&T Center for the National Basketball Association’s San Antonio Spurs.

To learn more about soccer’s increasing popularity in the U.S., please read our FM feature, “Major League Soccer’s Resurgence.”

(Image: Christy Radecic)