The Board of Directors of IAVM exists to ensure that RESULTS are delivered to the members of the Association. On behalf of the dedicated volunteers who make up the Board, I offer this report of what we have been focused on as your representatives.

The Mission of IAVM is “to educate, advocate for and inspire public assembly venue professionals, worldwide.” On our recent member survey, many of you told us Education and opportunities for professional development comprise the No. 1 reason you join IAVM. A large percentage of you also told us that you are very happy with the opportunities currently provided. Exciting things have been happening in this area: The Academy for Venue Safety and Security (AVSS) has been co-located with “GuestX,” a customer service focused version of the former Crowd Management event. As I write this, registration is strong for both at their new home in Dallas. I just returned from a highly successful Performing Arts Managers Conference in San Francisco, where we didn’t just learn how to be better venue managers but we also learned about the city’s fascinating history as related to its arts facilities (it involved a lot of things burning down). Congratulations to the Performing Arts Program Committee for an excellent event.

We have been Advocating on your behalf in several areas. When the Ebola scare arose, Fred Peterson and his Industry Affairs Committee sprang into action and presented a webinar led by Russ Simons. Other topics under its close scrutiny include drones, Wi-Fi blocking, and food labelling. If it impacts you and your ability to successfully operate your venue, we are on it.

Inspiration abounds at IAVM thanks to the IAVM Foundation and its new focus on Building an Amazing Future. The Joseph A. Floreano Scholarship + Internship Program kicked off recently by recognizing and supporting five future leaders at PAMC. Congratulations to the first scholarship and internship recipients Annie Salamunovich, Laura Kendall, Jennifer Smart, Justin Sullivan, and Kendall Judy. The 30|UNDER|30 program is now accepting nominations – thanks to the generous support from SearchWide and Ungerboeck, this program provides 30 venue professionals with the ability to attend VenueConnect 2015 in Baltimore, year-round continuing education plus a one-year Young Professional Membership.

You can help us further inspire by showing your support though a variety of Foundation initiatives including your $100 donation to the “100 Women of IAVM”, by your volunteer service on committees, and your dedication to excellence. Please consider applying on behalf of your venue for this year’s Venue Excellence Award in your sector category.

Worldwide, we are in discussions to extend our affiliation with the Venue Management Association (Asia Pacific) in Australia. Each year, our respective venue management schools participate in an instructor exchange program, and this past November welcomed the success of the inaugural Australian Graduate Institute. We look forward to our continued partnership.

As a Board, we have been working to shift our efforts to the strategic direction of your organization, to make sure we are laser focused on ensuring you as members receive the benefits you expect from IAVM. At the mid-year board meeting in January, the Board went through a strategic evaluation, facilitated by our consultants (and board governance experts) from the Aspen Group.

Our first assignment was to create a picture that represented our current organizational structure. We identified several issues:
– Size of the current board is large (over 20 members)
– Half of the board turns over every year
– Board meets face to face only twice a year
– Board would like to be able to move with flexibility, adaptability and speed

We then asked ourselves the question, if we had the luxury of rebuilding the organizational structure from the ground up, what would it look like?

Knowing the challenges as identified above, and calling upon your vast experience dealing with boards in your own workplace, what are YOUR thoughts on how we could address the issues? How can we be more effective while being transparent and reflective of our membership? The Leadership Development and Nominating Committee is currently led by Past Chair John Bolton, and he would like to hear from you. Your Board representative will also reach out for your thoughts and suggestions.

Finally, Jason Judy, IAVM’s director of marketing, led the Board through a brand discovery exercise. He asked us to consider a couple of questions I will leave you to ponder:

– What is one enduring truth about IAVM for you?
– What is your best IAVM moment?

I hope you will join us this August in Baltimore for VenueConnect—registration is now open for the 90th annual conference and trade show, where you will be sure to add to your long list of “best IAVM moments.”

Mel Kleiman, CSP, is a man full of energy, and it was prevalent during is session, “Uncommon Common Sense: Hiring Best Practices,” at IAVM’s GuestX conference, March 1-3, in Dallas, Texas. He had attendees standing, laughing, and he punctuated his presentation with some thought-provoking ideas on how to hire the right employees for your organizations.

One item in particular that he focused on was the concept of turkeys and eagles, offering four things you need to know about them. (A turkey is someone hired who turns out to not be a good fit for your company, while an eagle is a great fit.)

1. Turkeys have all learned how to dress up and look like eagles.

2. Eagles don’t always look like eagles.

3. The turkeys are all on the endangered species list.

4. All the eagles are working.

“Don’t look for people who are looking for a job,” Kleiman said when addressing point No. 4. “Start looking for people are looking for a better job.”

Kleiman suggested that attendees make a list of 10 reasons why someone should work at their venues.

“Go to your best people to compile the list,” he said.

Finally, he offered this takeaway on how to reduce turnover.

“Hire bad people,” he said. “They never leave!”

The Sydney Opera House and Walsh Bay are set to receive major upgrades, according to New South Wales (NSW) Premier Mike Baird and Deputy Premier Troy Grant. Baird said that a re-elected Baird government would create a AUS$600 million Arts and Cultural Infrastructure Fund as part of its Rebuilding NSW Plan.

“We’ll invest $202 million to upgrade Australia’s most recognizable asset, the Sydney Opera House, to a world-class performance standard that will enrich the experience for the eight million tourists who visit the global icon each year,” Baird said in a statement. “The Opera House’s largest and most popular venue, the Concert Hall, will be modernized to improve acoustic quality, theatre machinery, and access. Stage dimensions will be increased and rehearsal spaces will be upgraded.

“The existing temporary function marquee will be replaced with a new function centre overlooking some of the world’s best views of Sydney Harbour,” he continued. “We’ll also set aside $139 million of the new Arts and Cultural Infrastructure Fund to further develop the Walsh Bay Arts Precinct.”

Baird said he wants to create new performance venues in Pier 2/3 and refurbish facilities in Wharf 4/5.

“We’ll unite the two wharves with a new public square on the waterfront,” he said. “These two major upgrades will encourage more people to access the arts, and will hopefully cement the state as a world-class tourism destination.”

The NSW state election takes place on March 28, 2015.

(Image: Jason Rowe/Creative Commons)

Pointing out problems at work, without suggesting improvements, can cause employees to become mentally fatigued and defensive. According to a study from Michigan State University (MSU) researchers, it’s important to find a balance between finding problems and coming up with improvements.

“The moral of this story is not that we want people to stop raising concerns within the company, because that can be extremely beneficial,” said Russell Johnson, a faculty member in MSU’s Broad College of Business and co-author of the study. “But constantly focusing on the negative can have a detrimental effect on the individual.”

Johnson said that employees who constantly point out problems may be mentally fatigued because this often means they’re focusing on other workers’ shortcomings, which causes tension in these relationships.

“The irony of that is, when people are mentally fatigued they’re less likely to point out problems anymore,” Johnson said. “In addition, their own work performance suffers, they’re less likely to be cooperative and helpful, and they even exhibit deviant behaviors such as being verbally abusive and stealing from the employer.”

Johnson suggests that employers consider rewarding workers who point out problems that lead to improvements.

“In that case, maybe other employees would be more accepting of someone pointing out errors if they know this is what the company wants them to do—that the person isn’t acting outside the norm,” he said.

(Image: Hoodsie DeQuincey/Creative Commons)

Whether it’s (yet another) new venue, festival, or gladiator 5k chipping away at entertainment spend, venue managers continue to face the fierce challenge of filling seats and calendar dates. IAVM’s Pollstar session, moderated by Kim Bedier, CFE, IAVM chair and director of public assembly facilities for the City of Tacoma, dove straight into some of the creative ways venue managers are evolving their buildings (and operations) to thrive in an ultra-competitive environment.

Resch Center, Green Bay, Wisconsin 
Ken Wachter, president with PMI Entertainment Group, shared several examples of projects at the Resch Center that are working in their market. Neighbors to Green Bay’s Lambeau Field (they share the parking lot), Wachter and team found ways to capitalize on the fact that—for at least eight Sundays a year—the equivalent of 25 percent of the entire city’s population gathers to hang out, tailgate, and be Cheeseheads in support of the Packers. PMI shares 400 part-time staff with Lambeau Field to assist in game-day operations, but they also have developed their own opportunities.

“We decided to rent out as much available space as possible to tailgaters,” Wachter said during the panel discussion. “We have a $35 all-you-can-drink beer pass and club areas for VIP groups. We’re now averaging about 3,000 fans on our property every game day.” 

PMI also fulfills concession orders (and handles clean up) for tailgaters in the parking lot, a profitable extension of their game-day efforts since their food and beverage is handled in-house.

In addition to the tailgating, PMI found another game day opportunity.

“Lambeau’s seating is primarily benches, so we rent out about 8,000 seat-backs to fans each game day,” Wachter said. “They sell out every time.”

One word of advice from Wachter on renting seat-backs is to not brand them to the team.

“Keep them ugly … otherwise you’ll never get them back.”

Beyond Packers game days, PMI has a mix of tenants and in-house events that help keep the venue busy. They are the owners of the Green Bay Gamblers hockey team, and with two of the venues on the property able to house the games, they have great flexibility in booking shows that overlap with the hockey season. Add into the mix college basketball and arena football, and PMI is handling around 50 sports dates on the calendar each year.

With in-house food and beverage and ticketing, PMI produces 15 events a year that bring in an additional $1 million in revenue on previously dark days. In addition to the Wedding Show, a Taxidermy Show, and the Halloween Sweet Street, PMI  also produces the Tall Ship Festival, an off-site riverfront event that brings tens of thousands of visitors to Green Bay.

BancorpSouth Arena, Tupelo, Mississippi
He left a packed house of Jason Aldean fans the night before for an early morning, nine-seater into Nashville. Todd Hunt, director of the BancorpSouth Arena, joined the panel to offer his perspective on the challenges venues face.

Unlike the Resch Center, Hunt shared that sports tenants do not work as well in their market. Tupelo is only 35,000 people, so too many blocked dates (and the challenge of sustained ticket sales) keep the venue less flexible in bringing in relevant content.

However, where a hockey team wasn’t ideal, being the only ice rink in a 90-mile radius is. Skating events have proven to be a more relevant use of the ice and are now bringing more than $100k in profit to the arena.

Selling the arena as rehearsal space was also mentioned, as Hunt remarked that, “It’s good for our crew to get practice, and it tends to be good for local bars.”

Other successes mentioned by Hunt were in capacity conversions—using floor-to-ceiling curtains to take the 9,000-seat bowl down to 7,000, 5,000, or 3,000. This makes the arena—originally converted from a shopping mall—ready to handle concerts, theater, and other events that thrive in smaller configurations.

For Hunt, it is about knowing what his market can sustain.

“The worst thing is for a show to come and fail, and what that then says about Tupelo, Mississippi,” he said.

Venue Coalition
Representing a network of more than 60 arenas, Andrew Prince, executive vice president with Venue Coalition, shared that venue reinvention is relevant for the local community and for agents deciding where to book shows.

Knowing what will motivate a particular act matters. Having a venue that feels accessible to the community, supports charities, and is welcoming helps a venue stand out.

The Forum, Inglewood, California
A $100 million-dollar renovation can also help usher in reinvention. Geni Lincoln with the Madison Square Garden Co. detailed the recent rebirth of the “Fabulous” Forum in Inglewood, California.

Beginning with the back of house, Lincoln described redesigned dressing rooms that connect to meet-and-greet areas, an artist gym, and a new production area for crews that includes its own showers. Combined with new seating and improvements to the acoustics in the arena, the new experience at the Forum is noticed by guests.

“When acts like it, they talk about it,” Lincoln said.

Tacoma Dome, Washington
Renovations and improvements to the venue are relevant for the Tacoma Dome, as well. Tom Alexander, booking manager at the Dome, described the process of  “putting yourself in your guest’s shoes, then building a priority list of improvements that will matter most to them.”

For the Tacoma Dome, what matters to more than a few members of its community is a piece of art designed for their roof back in 1983. Bedier mentioned that a mural design for the Dome, submitted by Andy Warhol, has received approval by the city council and is now awaiting the $5 million in funding required to make it a reality.

At the airport later that day, I ran into a fellow Pollstar attendee. I asked if they had by chance attended the IAVM session that morning. The reply was the perfect summary of all of the examples shared by the panel.

“It was the most practical session of the entire conference.”