In response to recent incidents in Baltimore, Maryland, and the ongoing potential for demonstrations and civil unrest to affect the operations of public assembly facilities, IAVM presents a webinar that will share best practices, legal considerations, and actual real-time responses from member venues.

Participants:
Russ Simons (moderator), chief listening officer, managing partner, Venue Solutions Group
Allen Johnson, executive director, Orlando Venues
Adina Erwin, vice president and general manager, Fox Theatre
Robert Noonan, director of public safety, Massachusetts Convention Center Authority
Denis Braham, co-chair, Sports Business & Public Venue Industry Group, Winstead PC

Register now!

As the IAVM Foundation begins a new fiscal giving year, it gives me pleasure to work with Sarah Rogers and the Foundation Board of Trustees on a challenge grant to honor my friend, Joe Floreano. My company, VenuWorks, is pleased to announce a $5,000 lead gift as part of a matching challenge for the Joseph A. Floreano Scholarship + Internship Program to raise $50,000 from May thru September.

Joe was one of the first people I met back in the 1970s when we were known as IAAM—the International Association of Auditorium Managers. If you ask any of the old-timers from District III, they will probably tell you the most fun they have ever had at a District Meeting was when Joe hosted in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The attendee gift that year was a lacquered buffalo chip nailed to a varnished board…yes, that kind of buffalo chip. The “gift” held a unique place of honor in my garage for many years.

The Joseph A. Floreano Scholarship + Internship program was established after the passing of Joseph A. Floreano, CFE, a long-time IAVM member, Foundation Trustee, and the first-and-only Honorary Chairman of the Foundation Board of Trustees. Floreano was known for giving selflessly in both time and money to worthy industry causes. His leadership was aspirational and he took great pride in mentoring and supporting the advancement in the development of the Foundation’s Build an Amazing Future campaign but also became the inspiration as he truly resembled and embodied everything it stands for. The contributions Floreano made to the Foundation are immeasurable and he will forever leave a mark on the Foundation.

This new fundraising initiative will be a matching challenge to my industry friends and colleagues to support and honor our friend, Joe Floreano. To join me with your support, please visit www.classy.org/scholarships.

Joe was a friend and a true leader in IAVM. It just feels right to honor him with a gift to the IAVM Foundation, which was and is dear to both of us. Joe believed in the Foundation and felt it was worthwhile of his efforts. I hope you do as well.

The International Association of Venue Managers Foundation announces a US$50,000 fundraising initiative backed by Steve Peters, CFE, and VenuWorks to support the Joseph A. Floreano Scholarship + Internship Program. The initiative will help fund 38 scholarships + internships to IAVM sector meetings, schools, and VenueConnect each year.

The Foundation has been committed to programs, ideas, and initiatives that build amazing careers and a strong future for the industry for more than 32 years. It has bestowed more than 300 scholarships worth approximately $350,000.

Last July at VenueConnect in Portland, the Foundation continued this legacy by announcing its newest campaign, Build an Amazing Future. This campaign is a three-prong approach focused on students, young professionals, and mid-level management in the venue management industry.

The program was established after the passing of Joseph A. Floreano, CFE, a long-time IAVM member, Foundation Trustee, and the first-and-only Honorary Chairman of the Foundation Board of Trustees. Floreano was known for giving selflessly in both time and money to worthy industry causes. His leadership was aspirational, and he took great pride in mentoring and supporting the advancement in the development of the Foundation’s Build an Amazing Future campaign but also became the inspiration as he truly resembled and embodied everything it stands for. The contributions Floreano made to the Foundation are immeasurable, and he will forever leave a mark on the Foundation.

This new fundraising initiative will include a $5,000 matching challenge from Steve Peters, CFE, and VenuWorks as part of a fundraising matching challenge to industry peers, community partners, and friends of Joe Floreano.

“Joe was a friend and a true leader in IAVM,” said Peters, founder and president of VenuWorks. “It just feels right to honor him with a gift to the IAVM Foundation, which was and is dear to both of us. Joe believed in the Foundation and felt it was worthwhile of his efforts.”

To date, 15 recipients have been positively impacted by the Joseph A. Floreano Scholarship + Internship Program through opportunities to attend IAVM’s Performing Arts Managers Conference (PAMC), IAVM’s Academy of Safety and Security (AVSS), and IAVM’s Venue Management School at Oglebay (VMS) since the program launched in 2015.

To join this fundraising initiative, you can make your donation by visiting www.classy.org/scholarships.

iCommit, IAVM’s annual member referral campaign ended March 31. We especially thank all of our members who encouraged their peers to become connected to our community. With the generous support of Ungerboeck Software International Inc., who has funded this program for three years, we are happy to announce the winners of five, $500 Apple Gift Cards:

Jan Addison, CFE—Orange County Convention Center
David Angeles—Allen Event Center
Russell Read, CFE—AT&T Performing Arts Center
Tom Richter, CFE—Swiftel Center
Jeremy Tipton—Artis-Naples

(photo credit: SimpleSkye via photopin cc)

Last week, saw a first for Major League Baseball and to my knowledge, major league sports in the U.S. The Baltimore Orioles played host to the Chicago White Sox at Camden Yards in front of a record crowd of zero fans due to the protests and rioting over Freddie Gray’s tragic death. As I read the articles online and watched the reports on TV, the stadium manager in me sparked what seemed like an endless list of questions.

I first want to admit that I’m not reporting on what actually took place between the City of Baltimore, the Orioles, and Camden Yards. The point of my post today is to use this scenario as a case study to start generating awareness of what you would do if this happened in your city and not to critique the execution of plans at Camden Yards. I’d encourage feedback from the community to help get the rest of us thinking.

Let’s start with the timeline of events. On Wednesday, the team met with local police and officials to determine the game that evening could not be played.  Messaging was sent out for ticket holders via social media (and I’m guessing email) to retain their tickets and parking until more information is available. The same message was sent out regarding the game on Thursday, followed by a press release stating that Friday’s game would be played at 2:05 p.m. and be closed to the public. With a series of messages like these being picked up and reported by every national media agency, I tried to put myself in the shoes of the stadium manager at Camden Yards. Here are some the questions that came to my mind:

• Does the Sports Information Director (SID)/Communications Department have all the information to report out to the media to control the messaging? We don’t want them reporting on items that aren’t true.
• Do we have enough staff here to answer the phones, and have we armed them with consistent messaging to give to our customers?
• Can we put our security staff on 12-hour shifts to secure the ball park? Keeping in mind that some staff may rely on public transportation, and there is a 10 p.m. curfew.
• What kind of resources will we be able to get from local law enforcement, and is there a possibility that they’ll leave their post if something were to happen elsewhere?
• Who are the essential staff that need to be at the ballpark to effectively manage a game played in front of empty seats, and possibly, a very full press box?
• Should we staff the full complement of external ballpark positions to be prepared for guests arriving for the game?

I then began to ask myself, are these questions answered in my emergency operations plan (EOP)? While I know our EOP’s cannot speak to every incident that may occur, these are real questions that I better be able to answer. After going back through my EOP, I realized that they aren’t answered but it generated a whole new set of questions based on what was in there.

• If something were to happen in the stadium while the 2:05 p.m. game was going on (in front of limited media, scouts, etc.), would we have enough staff in the building to properly manage an emergency situation?
• Would we have set-up Incident Command (part of the ICS structure) in advance to be prepared?
• Have we done enough up until this point to train the staff on how to handle items like talking to the press, being observant of suspicious packages, and what to do if you answer the phone to a bomb threat? All items that are possible when your event is under a microscope.

It turns out that the game in Baltimore went off, and there were no major incidents reported. There were some great interviews by the players on their experience. Great job to Camden Yards and the Baltimore Orioles organization for managing the threat and still being able to host the game.

Once the game was over, I did wonder if there were opportunities to reward the essential staff that were able to make it to work. Not saying that Baltimore didn’t do any of these things, but I had some thoughts on what I would do if faced with these issues. Who knows, it could be relevant to other scenarios.

• Could there have been a special autograph session after the game for the essential staff? I can’t imagine it would have taken any more than an hour, understanding that the team wanted to get back to their families during this time of turmoil.
• Should we make a commemorative t-shirt to give them once things get back to normal? I can see it now, a shirt that reads, “I worked the only game in history played in front of a crowd of zero.”
• Host a thank-you dinner where senior level leaders thank the team for its commitment.

It never seems like there are enough opportunities to thank your staff, and it really makes an impact when events like these take place.

As stated above, the intent of this post was not to play “Monday Morning Quarterback” and criticize Camden Yards. It was merely to get you thinking on what you would have done so you are prepared if it ever happens in your city. I hope that all of you look at what Camden Yards went through and ask yourself what you would do if the roles were reversed. I know I’m taking this as an opportunity during my off season to review my Emergency Operations Plan, make updates, and reinforce them to the staff in training. What will you be doing?

(Image: Baltimore Orioles’ Facebook page)