Theatre critic Maddy Costa wrote an editorial The Guardian this week that I find fascinating, probably because it’s new concept for me. She raises the question: “What might the theatre landscape look like if it were more relaxed, not occasionally, but all the time?”

“For an art form so dedicated to thinking about human behaviour and interactions, theatre is remarkably bad at allowing its audiences to be human beings once they take their seats,” Costa wrote. “You might have bought your ticket weeks before, but if you’ve had the bad luck to catch a cold in the interim and enter the auditorium with a cough, you can expect to be pretty much despised. And disability is much more stigmatised.”

Costa offers an example of a theatre patron who has Tourette’s syndrome, which makes her tics impossible for her to be silent during a performance.

“As a result, she has been made to feel unwelcome by other audience members, and for many years stopped going to the theatre altogether,” Costa wrote. “The gradual introduction of one-off ‘relaxed’ performances, aimed at people with disabilities and their carers, have given her greater access, but these are still few and far between.”

Why is that?

“At the root of the problem is the expectation that people in an auditorium should be homogeneous, conforming, and undifferentiated, so as not to distract either the performers or each other,” Costa wrote. “But the whole point of theatre is that disruption should be possible: that’s what it means to be live.”

A recurring conversation at the 2015 Performing Arts Managers Conference was about how to engage communities and find new audiences in an era of declining attendance. Perhaps one solution (and I’m not saying it’s the best solution) would be to offer “relaxed” performances, ones where you can rustle a loud candy wrapper or send text messages to your friends without being told to put away your phone.

Maybe some of our performing arts centers are already offering these types of shows. If so, please speak up. I’d love to know how they work for you.

(Image: David Gilmore/Creative Commons)

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)