Indiana’s new “Religious Freedom Restoration Act” has attracted a lot of attention over the last few days. Gov. Mike Pence (R) signed it into law last week, and already several organizations have either pulled their conferences out of the state or indicated they would. Now, bands are taking a stand, as well, with Wilco canceling its May 7 show in Indianapolis.

We’re canceling our 5/7 show in Indianapolis. “Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act” feels like thinly disguised legal discrimination.

— WILCO (@Wilco) March 30, 2015

The “Religious Freedom Restoration Act” allows individuals and corporations to claim religious beliefs as a defense when sued by private parties. The NCAA and the NBA have spoken out against the law, along with politicians in other cities and states.

“The mayors of both Seattle and San Francisco have said they won’t allow taxpayer money to be used for city employees’ trips to the state,” Paige Lavender reported for The Huffington Post. “On Monday, Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy (D) said he would sign an executive order banning state-funded travel to Indiana because of the law.”

Indiana is the latest state to pass a religious freedom bill, and Arkansas is on the verge of passing a similar bill. That state’s House committee on Monday, March 30, advanced an amended version of House Bill 1228, where it will go to the full House for consideration.

“I have said if this bill reaches my desk in similar form as to what has been passed in 20 other states, then I will sign it, but I am pleased that the Legislature is continuing to look at ways to assure balance and fairness in the legislation,” Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said in a statement.

While there has been much criticism about these types of laws, there has also been support for them.

“I just don’t see how this prevents conventions from coming here,” Micah Clark of the American Family Association told The Indianapolis Star. “Popular convention cities such as Chicago, Orlando, Phoenix, and New Orleans are located in states with similar (religious freedom) laws in effect, and there’s no outcry by convention organizers to pull out of those locations.”

Indiana’s religious freedom law goes into effect July 1.

UPDATE: Wilco has rescheduled its show.

We consider the changes to Indiana’s RFRA a good first step. Our May 7 show at The Murat is back on. Details: http://t.co/toWXSqCpFM

— WILCO (@Wilco) April 3, 2015

(Image: Planeta del Cangrejo/Creative Commons)

Congratulations to the following IAVM members who were named 2015 Generation Next winners by Venues Today.

• Rebecca Bolton—general manager, Las Cruces Convention Center, New Mexico
• David Farrar—general manager, Santander Arena & Performing Arts Center, Reading, Pennsylvania
• Gunnar Fox—general manager, PPL Center, Allentown, Pennsylvania
• Russell Gordon—senior director of events and venue operation, Nokia Theatre L.A. Live, Los Angeles, California
• Casey Sparks—assistant general manager, BOK Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma

The Generation Next award honors influential leaders, 35 or younger, who make a difference in sports, music, conventions, family shows, and festivals. Venues Today subscribers and staff chose the winners by votes, and the winners will be profiled in the June issue of Venues Today.

Capital improvements and renovations are happening throughout our industry and are arguably more important than ever as stadiums are constantly working to enhance guest experience. At Long Beach State, as we are finally set to break ground on a multi-phase renovation of our ballpark, I’m reminded of the past few years’ worth of ballpark designs, challenges, breakthroughs, and cost-cuttings. While these experiences weren’t unique to our project, they highlight some of the common challenges and processes that venue managers face today.

Our biggest challenge was insuring that the renovations were functional for the team and tenants and also enhanced the guest experience. With many stakeholders investing their time and money into the project, we couldn’t just make a better ballpark for the team or university or a better guest experience for our patrons while neglecting the tenants. A simple example of that balance is in phase two of our project as we plan to re-design the parking lot to include a practice infield for the team and more parking spots with better ingress/egress for guests (our No. 1 complaint). That balance between guest experience and functionality is key—the core of our business is to create entertaining experiences and lasting memories but that must be within the confines of venues that are functional, easy to navigate, and most importantly, safe.

During any renovation work, I’ve leaned on a few key questions to help guide the process:

• What is the stadium or company’s mission statement? It’s always important to remember your mission statement. Is your mission to just run a stadium, make a profit, or create the best guest experience? It’s likely a combination of all three and even more, but that mission statement will give insight as to how the owners and management would want to spend and allocate their renovation dollars.
• What is the intent of the project? Is the intent of the project to increase revenue? Increase ingress/egress? Enhance the guest experience? Improve the team’s facilities? Allow for better recruiting? Expand the stadium’s seating capacity? A project can have many purposes but at its core, what’s the goal?
• Who needs what? Leading up to and throughout the renovation process, it’s important to accumulate customer feedback from patrons, current and potential future tenants, the management team, the city, the university, the marketing team, the operations team, and as many people who have a hand in your stadium as possible. We had meeting after meeting with the city, the university, the team, the athletics department, and our fans and donors—all of whom had a different but important view on what was necessary in these renovations and helped shape the final design.
• Where can we cut the fat? Rule No. 1 of every capital project—it’s going to cost more than you think! How do you decide what to cut after you’ve already decided that you needed everything? Splitting the project into phases is one way to help spread the costs out. Consider picking the items now that will generate revenue, which can pay for future phases and enhancements. For example, does the new grass seating berm lead to selling extra seats that will drive enough revenue for future profits? Or perhaps that giant, new scoreboard creates a better guest experience and atmosphere, which leads to larger crowds and more revenue for future work.

Renovations are never simple: they may start with a plan, but, as the process unfolds, management realizes the effects on each of the stakeholders, budgets, and guest experiences. There’s no “right” path to a renovation project but the end goal is the same for all of us—a safe, fun venue that teams want to play in, promoters want to host their events in, and guests want to come back to, time and again. We all do different things as part of our in-game event management to engage our guests, but a lot of the fan and client loyalty really begins with the initial stadium design phase and continues throughout future renovations.

(Image: LongBeachState.com)

We all have that moment—that “I was there” moment. In the 1996 Rugby World Cup final in South Africa, Joel Stansky kicks the winning goal to give South Africa the World Cup against New Zealand. Watching Nelson Mandela, the South Africa’s first black president, dressed in team colours holding the World Cup aloft and unifying a whole country. That is my moment. And it is just a moment, because we move on, and although it’s never forgotten, one never has that feeling ever again.

I have been lucky. I have seen or witnessed many moments, and when I think back on them for a split second, I get close to that feeling again and life seems worth it. There are many such moments in sports and entertainment. I watched Elton John walk on stage and open the Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin, New Zealand. For me as a venue manager, this was a special moment. I have watched Usain Bolt break the 100-meter world record, seen Lance Armstrong admit to taking drugs, and witnessed the heartbreak of Tony Romo’s botched snap against the Seattle Seahawks that cost the Dallas Cowboys the game and advancement into the next stages of the postseason.

You will have your moments as I have mine. The great thing about what we do is that although we don’t control those moments, sports will keep dishing them up in the wonderful stadiums and arenas around the world. I crave that feeling, that anticipation of what may come, and it’s why I am involved in the venues and stadium business. I know how important those moments are for me, and therefore must be for you and everyone else who attends such events. I want every event to be memorable, and memorable for the right reasons.

That is why I am always in search of “The P”—The perfect event. I know it is elusive and I know it’s impossible, but I still feel we need to search for it and strive for it. I always have an opening line for my staff as we run our event risk mitigation strategy: “Someone will do something we never thought anyone would think of doing.” Risk mitigation plays such an important role in our business, but without understanding and accepting risk, we will never deliver an event that will be memorable.

Sports and entertainment play to our emotions, and it is, after all, feelings that create actions and importation. With this in mind, we need to ensure peoples’ emotional needs are met at our events.

We need to understand the event journey, right from the connection to the team through the ticket purchasing process to leaving home and arriving safely back again. Our mission is to positively affect each part of that journey in a positive manner, understanding our audience and delivering to their needs, wants, and desires.

They say the great thing about sports is that they are formulated, exciting, emotional movies without a scripted endings. As I search for perfection, I create havoc. I insist on sending my staff to train with the ticketing company so we have a deep understanding of what they do. I don’t want to just sell a ticket. I want to ensure we sell a pleasant experience. I don’t employ ushers, I employ customer service representatives—from the person on the car park to the people at the door, I want patrons to feel welcome, at home, and in a friendly, caring environment. I want security to be engaging, helpful, and proactive in ensuring people have fun. I time queues and want my guests to be through them in under four minutes, receiving the best hot dog and fried possible, served to them by engaging, smiling, and friendly staff. I want game day to be memorable in every way I can influence, because the one thing I can’t influence is the result.

Often we get caught up in processes and procedures when planning events. We mitigate for the worst in society and not the common man. Times have changed, and we can no longer expect events to be free of serious risks, such as terrorist attacks. We are so afraid of the risk that we ensure the event is almost sterile. We are under huge pressure to deliver financial return that we forget why we are here. People don’t come to events simply for the game, they come because they have an emotional attached to the team, or are with a group of friends to connect, to network with their business colleagues or simply to have a fun, family day out. Our job is to allow them to enjoy that moment and to create that memory in a safe, fun environment without impinging on other’s fun.

I still search for the elusive “event perfection,” not yet achieved, but maybe one day I will discover “The P.” You should continue the search, too.

(Image: Sjur Stølen/Aktiv i Oslo)

When you create memories, you get people talking.

This was the launchpad for the 2015 GuestX session on memorable customer service from Jennifer Blackmon, corporate director with the Ritz-Carlton Leadership Institute. Blackmon shared amazing examples of service that have become synonymous with the Ritz-Carlton brand, and then took attendees behind the scenes to discuss building the right processes to make those remarkable acts possible.

“Being busy is the archenemy of great customer service,” Blackmon said. “If my team is busy with redundant tasks that could take less time with a better process, then we are missing opportunities to provide memorable, personal service with that extra time.”

A simple example was having water ready at the porte-cochère. Having cold water immediately accessible to hand to an arriving guest means that hotel staff is not on the phone placing an order with another staff member or disappearing into a corridor to fulfill the request. This small process of stocking water ahead of time sounds insignificant, but it protects that brief exchange between frontline staff and the guest from being consumed by a redundant task—and that is where something memorable can happen.

The challenge—detailed by Blackmon in the session—is that memorable, word-of-mouth-inducing experiences are personal, surprising, and individual. They are above and beyond the expected (cleanliness, service, ambiance), and they even transcend the requested (helpfulness, responsiveness). They are in the rare, elusive, delighted category. Experiences that will always be remembered—surprising acts that we are compelled to share with friends and family when we find ourselves to be the lucky recipients. It’s that frontline staff member casually learning that the guest actually prefers tea instead of water when she arrives back at the hotel, and having the time and support needed to anticipate that desire and meet it.

“If you do not have a process for wowing people, I guarantee it will not happen,” said Blackmon, as she went on to describe the importance of building memorable guest service one step at a time. For venue managers attending GuestX, it was a great opportunity to evaluate how to better equip frontline staff to be consistent and efficient with the expected, and to feel empowered and motivated to aim for delighted.

“Our business model at Ritz-Carlton is to work on our employees, not our customers,” Blackmon said. “If we get the employees right, we get the customers right.”