Is love still in the air?

Even though Valentine’s Day has passed, we may still have the reminders of those heart-shaped candy boxes lying around. Check to see if the boxes are all or partially recyclable, or consider re-using them for another gift or possible storage. America Recycles Day offers this thought, “That box could live on to ship a care package, carry a birthday cake, or conceal the perfect gift! Recycle boxes this month, and beyond!”

Go to http://americarecyclesday.org/ for more information on this or other recycling tips.

[photo credit: Love Birds Like Chocolates, So I’m Sold via photopin (license)]

IAVM’s get-a-member campaign, iCommit, is under way. We are three months in and have added more than 320 new members. Our goal is to add 600 new members by March 31, 2015. We have five weeks left before the campaign ends, and we are halfway there.

Your support may be rewarded with one of five $500 Apple Gift Cards! So what do you need to do to get your name in the drawing*? Encourage your employees, colleagues, students, and customers who are not connected with IAVM to join!

To ensure you are eligible to win, make sure the new member who joins lists your name in the Application Section titled “Who Recommended IAVM To You?” and enters “iCOMMIT” in the Promotional Code field in the payment method section of the membership applications. By entering the promo code, the $150 one-time initiation fee will be waived.

What’s In It For You?

We are getting very close to a community of 5,000 members. Be a part of history. More members means more collaboration, a bigger and more diverse network for you, and a greater pool of experts to create inspiring and motivating educational sessions at IAVM events. Encourage new ones to join our ranks, the largest non-profit organization serving the needs of the venue management industry. And possibly win a $500 Apple Gift Card (generously provided by Ungerboeck Software Intl.).

If you have questions, please contact me or Summer Beday at 972.906.7441 or membership@iavm.org. We value and appreciate your support of IAVM!

*Drawing – Win one of five-$500 Apple Gift Cards. For each new member that lists your name on their new IAVM membership application, your name will be entered in a drawing. Winners will be announced in April 2015.

(photo credit: SimpleSkye via photopin cc)

The Foundation is proud to announce the Joseph A. Floreano Scholarship + Internship Program recipients for the 2015 Academy for Venue Safety & Security (AVSS) recognizing two deserving individuals who demonstrate leadership, character, community involvement, and the potential to be future leaders in the venue management industry.

“As leaders we know there is a cause and effect from the level of preparation and quality to the results we see. How we choose to invest in people impacts our results,” said Sarah Rogers, IAVM director of development. “The Foundation provided the seed funding for AVSS over 10 years ago, and we couldn’t be more proud to further our investment in the continued development of safety & security for venue professionals.”

The Foundation also offers scholarships + internships to a variety of other IAVM conferences and schools, click here to learn more and to apply. Thanks to the support of committed donors, together we are Building Amazing Futures. Click here to learn more about the Foundation’s annual campaign. Continue Reading →

You may have been advised in the past that making a range offer during negotiations is a bad move. However, some new research from Columbia Business School proves differently and that range offers are beneficial.

“For years, we taught students to avoid making range offers in negotiations, assuming that counterparts receiving those offers would have selective attention, hearing only the end of the range that was attractive to them,” said Daniel Ames, co-author of the research and the Ting Tsung and Wei Fong Chao Professor of Business at Columbia Business School. “Our results surprised us, up-ending how we teach the topic. We can’t say that range offers work 100 percent of the time, but they definitely deserve a place in the negotiator’s toolkit.”

For the research, Ames and co-author Malia Mason, the Gantcher Associate Professor of Business at Columbia Business School, conducted a series of studies to understand people’s reactions to negotiators making a variety of different offers. Single-number point offers, such as asking for a 15 percent discount, were compared with three different kinds of range offers. Here’s what they found.

Bolstering Range Offers
These start with the point and stretch in an even more ambitious direction, like asking for a “15 percent to 20 percent” discount instead of just “15 percent.” Most negotiation experts say this strategy is doomed because the bargaining counterpart would hear only the 15 percent end of the range. Ames and Mason found that Bolstering Range Offers frequently led to better settlements for the offer-makers without harming the relationship with the other party.

Bracketing Range Offers 
These span the point, such as asking for “13 percent to 17 percent” instead of “15 percent.” Experts in the past would likely have said this strategy was sure to lose value. Ames and Mason found that negotiators using Bracketing Range Offers didn’t reach worse deals than those using point offers, but they frequently experienced relationship benefits, such as being seen as more flexible.

Backdown Range Offers
These start with the point and then offer a more accommodating value, like asking for “12 percent to 15 percent” instead of “15 percent.” In this instance, Ames and Mason’s research fell in line with prior conventional wisdom. Those using Backdown Range Offers ended up with less value than those using point offers, but didn’t see more relational benefits than Bracketing Range Offers.

“While negotiation experts have been advising against range offers for a long time, many people use them,” Mason said. “A good share of the time, people use backdown range offers, and our work suggests that’s unwise. But many people use bracketing or bolstering range offers, and our research shows that they’re onto something. Those range offers can draw out more accommodating responses from a counterpart.”

(Text and image: Columbia Business School)

The International Association of Venue Managers (IAVM)’s ConventionCalendar.com has entered into a strategic partnership with the San Francisco Travel Association to feature Moscone Center, San Francisco’s largest convention and meeting space.

The new Internet-based calendar links Moscone Center with tens of thousands of meeting planners, guiding them through the site selection process for potential new meetings and events. IAVM’s ConventionCalendar.com provides convention center partners a destination marketing and convention booking engine that raises awareness of the economic value convention facilities provide to local communities.

“We have a lot of respect for Mr. Shaff and the Moscone management team. Our unique, collaborative partnership with Moscone Center is a real competitive advantage for San Francisco,” said John Reyes, executive vice president and chief sales officer for the San Francisco Travel Association. “The new calendar program will showcase the combined efforts of the DMO and center staff.”

“Moscone Center is a tremendous economic engine for the Bay Area region and we are proud to join with IAVM to demonstrate how conventions and meetings mean big business for San Francisco,” said Dick Shaff, vice president/general manager of Moscone Center.

The three buildings – Moscone South, Moscone North, and Moscone West – cover more than 20 acres on three adjacent blocks with over two million square feet of building area. Combined, the three buildings consist of over 740,000 square feet of exhibit space, more than 100 meeting rooms, and as many as four ballrooms.

Donovan Shia, managing director of IAVM’s ConventionCalendar.com program, says “the partnership between the San Francisco Travel Association and Moscone Center is a winning model. Mr. Shaff is a long-term supporter of IAVM and a recognized leader in the venue management industry. We are very excited about the opportunity to feature Moscone Center.”