Congratulations to the group of IAVM student members from Missouri State University who worked at the 2015 Super Bowl at the University of Phoenix Stadium.

“Throughout the weekend, students worked mainly in an area called Super Bowl Central,” Melissa Price reported. “They greeted guests as they entered and provided information and directions. They also had the chance to be involved with some of the free concerts and really enjoyed the performance of the Roots from The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.”

Troy Parrott said they split up in pairs and went to different street corners.

“Some of us had to use clickers to keep track of people walking in and out of certain restaurants, because they filled up quickly,” Parrott said. “While the rest of us were handing out maps to fans and mainly directing them to the NFL Fan Experience, bathroom, convention center, etc.”

Working at the Super Bowl is an annual event for the school’s Entertainment Management Association, and Price said this year “the students worked with NFL Fan Experience, the National Football League’s official source for event experiences and hospitality, as well as the Arizona Host Committee.”

Please visit Price’s blog entry to learn more about the students’ experiences, and once again, congratulations on a job well done!

(Image: Missouri State University)

As iBeacons increase in popularity, venue managers may wonder what it’s like to install them. If so, let me point you in the direction of an informative article from the Brooklyn Museum, which is going through the process of installing 150 iBeacons in its 500,000-square-foot facility. While museums aren’t one of IAVM’s primary venue types, I believe many of you can relate and imagine your own venue when reading this article. For example, there’s the issue of different wall types:

“…we’ve had a lot of problems actually getting these to stay put on the walls. It’s no secret we have a tough production environment here; we use different types of paint (gloss, flat, semi) and our walls vary in surface (plaster, glass, sheetrock, cement). No matter what we do, we’ve found beacons are constantly falling off walls…constantly.”

Then there’s signal strength inside a building:

“Beacon signal, for instance, is disrupted by everything save air…walls, vitrines, objects, people, you name it. This problem is so bad, in fact, that I can be standing directly beside a beacon on the wall, and will find a stronger signal coming from one across the room.”

As I mentioned, “The Realities of Installing iBeacon to Scale” is an informative article and presents some first-hand experiences you should consider if you go down the iBeacon path.

(photo credit: Media Hack Days 2014 via photopin cc)

WTAE in Pittsburgh recently posted a story about DraftServ, which is product that lets fans pour their own beers. If you haven’t heard of it yet, I bet you have some questions, such as how to monitor under-age drinking. The video above answers many of those questions.

A flower designed by Andy Warhol could soon cover the Tacoma Dome. According to The News Tribune, city officials approved the plan on Tuesday.

“The unanimous blessing of the council will allow arts boosters to approach the Andy Warhol Foundation for permission to use the image on the city-owned Dome, and to start raising the funds needed to install what would be the largest Warhol in the world,” Kate Martin reported.

The project is expected to cost $5.1 million; however city officials say none of the costs will be paid by the city.

“The council’s OK allows the city to form a project committee and approach the Greater Tacoma Community Foundation for help fundraising,” IAVM chair Kim Bedier, CFE, told the publication. “There are still a lot of unknowns. We still have a lot of work to do.”

Warhol originally entered the flower design in a contest to decorate the dome’s roof in 1982. He lost the contest.

Please visit The News Tribune for more on the story.

(Image: The News Tribune)

The Foundation is now accepting nominations for the inaugural 30 | UNDER | 30 class of 2015!

Thanks to the generous support of SearchWide and Ungerboeck Software International, the 30 | UNDER | 30 program will be launching at VenueConnect, IAVM’s Annual Conference & Trade Show in Baltimore, Maryland, Aug. 1-4, 2015. This program focuses on identifying and developing the talent of venue industry professionals, 30 years of age and under, through increased access and exposure to industry networking and thought leadership. The program provides year-round continuing education for professional growth in the venue industry and helps program participants become better, more productive employees.

“Identifying and developing future leaders is an important priority, and IAVM has stepped up to the plate in a big way with this initiative. Venue management is an exciting and challenging career path, and it is crucial we prepare this group for the complexities of leading this industry forward,” said Mark Gnatovic, senior vice president of SearchWide and a Foundation Trustee. “Having access to industry education and industry leaders will create significant learning opportunities for these individuals. I’m looking forward to meeting the 2015 IAVM 30 | UNDER | 30 inaugural class.”

Selected applicants will receive one full, complimentary registration to VenueConnect, a travel stipend of US$850 to be used on travel accommodations, and a one-year complimentary Young Professional IAVM Membership. Honorees will be recognized throughout the annual meeting and formally at the Venue Industry Awards luncheon on Monday, Aug. 3, 2015. Nominees do not have to be current IAVM members; however, the person nominating must be a current IAVM member.

To learn more about the 30 | UNDER | 30 program, please click here. To nominate a young professional from your organization, please click here.