Mayor Karl Dean; Jules White, an assistant professor at Vanderbilt and developer of the Music City Center wayfinding app; and IAVM member Charles Starks, president and CEO of the Music City Center, use the Music City Center wayfinding app.

Getting lost is a thing of the past for visitors in Nashville’s Music City Center (MCC) thanks to its new wayfinding app.

“This new technology will change the way visitors experience this building,” Nashville Mayor Karl Dean said. “It’s a big building, and getting turn-by-turn directions on a phone will make it easier for visitors to get where they need to go. This wayfinding app also highlights Nashville’s emergence as a tech city and a place where entrepreneurs and Web developers feel empowered to come up with tools to make life easier and better.”

The app uses beacons installed in the building’s walls to direct users from point A to point B in the venue. At 1.2 million square feet, the MCC is the largest building in the country with an indoor wayfinding system that uses beacon technology. It is available as a free app for iPhone and Android users.

The app was created by Jules White, an assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science at Vanderbilt University—along with a team of Vanderbilt students as a part of a class project. The public/private partnership between the MCC and Vanderbilt’s Institute for Software Integrated Systems led to the development of the wayfinding technology and the launch of White’s new Nashville-based startup company, Ziiio.

The MCC wayfinding system functions like indoor GPS and is the first of its kind to clearly show users turn-by-turn how to find where they want to go inside a building using 500 photos. The machine-learning approach that Ziiio uses allows the MCC to rely on fewer beacons. Currently, 62 beacons have been deployed in the convention center. These beacons were donated by BKON, a local manufacturer of the iBeacon hardware.

A video demonstration is at: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_HZ5vVmyi8kZ1ZIRjkxQl9WeEE/view?usp=sharing.

Congratulations to IAVM member Kim Stone, executive vice president and general manager of the AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami, Florida. She was recently inducted into the University of North Carolina’s Hall of Fame in Journalism.

Stone has been with the Miami Heat organization since the mid-1990s and has worked in several capacities, from media relations to director of operations to her current role as general manager.

Prior to joining the Heat, Stone was the sports publicity director for the University of Texas Women’s Athletics Department from 1992-94. Before that, she was an assistant in the University of Miami’s sports information office.

Stone received the 2013 Women of Influence award from Venues Today magazine, and she was honored in 2009 by the South Florida Business Journal in its inaugural class of Influential Business Women.

Stone graduated with a degree in journalism and public relations from the University of North Carolina, where she assisted in the sports information office. In 2003, she graduated with honors from the University of Miami with a master’s degree in international business administration. She is formerly an adjunct professor in the St. Thomas University Masters of Sports Administration program and serves as a board member of the University of Miami’s President’s Council, Miami Downtown Development Authority, and is currently president of the Florida Facility Manager’s Association.

Congratulations, Kim!

(Image: NBA.com)

Welcome to the first quarterly of IAVM’s Business Barometer, a new product from VenueDataSource.

Launched in April 2013, Business Barometer is a tool to help IAVM members monitor current and future business conditions and provide early identification of trends that can create opportunities or provide advance warning of an impending storm. IAVM recruited a panel of 250 venue managers to take part in this initiative. All panel members agreed to participate in short, quarterly surveys that ask questions related to current business conditions compared to last year, and their professional outlook for next year. IAVM developed the survey questions with input from its Research Advisory Council, the IAVM research manager, and other internal management staff.

In this first quarterly, venues across the industry are seeing increases in attendance and revenue over the year prior—and the outlook for the coming year is even better. More than two-thirds of professionals across sectors (64 percent) say that overall business conditions are better than 2013. Next year? Eighty percent see a healthier future.

Anecdotally, for those citing the greatest influx of business, touring acts and the types of events may have improved since last year, which means better ticket and merchandise sales—and higher prices—for some and more exhibit hall space booked for others.

Consider this when looking at the marketplace environment overall: 18 percent of venues report worse business conditions than last year—but only 5 percent see that continuing into the next.

Please read the Business Barometer to learn more about venue industry business conditions.

Two years have passed since I had the opportunity to participate as a student volunteer at the Venue Management School in Oglebay and VenueConnect 2012 through the IAVM Foundation. As I reflect on these two experiences, I’m flooded with only positive memories. I find it incredible that the Foundation could bring along people from different parts of the country with different interests, personalities, and lifestyles representing various universities while expecting them to work together for a week. Even with all of these contrasts, great things always come to pass.

I believe “Without a vision, the people perish.” The opportunities through the IAVM Foundation will help any aspiring venue manager fulfill his or her vision. Through networking and seminars within various conferences, friendships are built, knowledge is gained, and a sense of community is felt among those in our industry.

Those friendships built not only stay within that week but progress as we develop in our careers. The encouragement and camaraderie from these friendships are still felt to this day and becomes infectious. The knowledge gained becomes a useful tool in broadening our growth within the industry and gives us the opportunity to make a positive impact within our venues. There’s a sense of community in our industry where you can put strangers together with the same goals and see success. It’s that same sense of community, where members are willing to assist other members selflessly. If it be for another member’s expertise on a certain subject or to brainstorm an outcome of a situation, our members are there. Try it out yourself, and see the floodgates of benefits and success open.

Hence, I feel a connection to all IAVM Foundation student volunteers. Now as a Young Professional, I admire those students who have a vision of where they want to go in their careers. The ambition of others is what fuels me even more to take steps to fulfill my own vision. Taking action and initiative, such as participating in the IAVM Foundation, is enlightening. As a student volunteer, I loved hearing where other students wanted to go in their lives, and based off of working with them, I could see each person attaining his or her vision.

I believe any person who has any interest in the venue management industry must take advantage of the opportunities the Foundation has to offer. There is no other opportunity within our industry where you could meet some of the most talented and respected venue managers from throughout the world. This includes the most talented and respected allied members. Their experiences and knowledge is beneficial to anyone’s growth within the industry and in your own personal life. As I look forward to the many new opportunities the Foundation is going to present in the upcoming months, I do look forward to meeting with the student volunteers. I know what it was like to be in their situation. Most importantly, I know what the Foundation has done for me, and I would like to help them take those steps so they could fulfill their visions, as well.

I would like to invite all students to start researching and applying to the various internships the IAVM Foundation provides. I have much gratitude to our members who encouraged me to these internships. You are the next generation, and the IAVM Foundation will prepare you for continual success in your careers.

From David Leon Moore’s “Las Vegas makes plays to lure pro sports teams” in USA Today:

The most pressing prospect is a potential Major League Soccer franchise, but the deal will probably only happen if the Las Vegas city council agrees in December to include public funding in the construction of a $200 million soccer-only stadium in the downtown area.

“We’re the perfect place for people to come and enjoy all the amenities we have, and we’re certainly ready for major league sports. We’ve made so many advances in the medical community and in cultural offerings. Pro sports is the one little piece we haven’t quite gotten the hook around.”

– Carolyn Goodman, mayor, Las Vegas

(Image: Justin Brown)