The 2014 Venue Industry Awards Luncheon—sponsored by Ungerboeck Software International and emceed by Chris Bigelow, founder and owner of The Bigelow Companies—took place during the 2014 VenueConnect Annual Conference & Trade Show in Portland, Oregon. The awards, hosted each year by the International Association of Venue Managers (IAVM), honored exceptional venues and professionals in several categories.

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The Green Sports Alliance (GSA) will offer a free webinar for IAVM members on Wednesday, August 27, from noon-1 p.m. (CDT) on greening efforts and fan engagement.

“From the millions who attend sports events each year to the exponentially higher number who follow sports closely on TV and the Internet to still others who are simply casual observers, sports reaches into the lives of the vast majority of citizens,”  GSA said in a description about the webinar. “And while fan engagement impacts may be harder to track than a waste diversion rate, it is difficult to argue that the potential impact of influencing the attitudes and behavior of billions of followers around the globe is far higher. On top of that, fan engagement around environmental initiatives holds significant potential to drive revenue and attract new sponsorships as well.”

The webinar agenda is as follows:

1. Dave Newport—Director, Environmental Center, University of Colorado & Board of Directors, Green Sports Alliance: Welcoming remarks and presenter introductions.

2. Steve Seiferheld—Senior Vice President, Turnkey Intelligence: Results of recent survey on sports and the environment, based on the responses of more than 1,000 self-identified sports fans.

3. Lisa Boaz—Senior Manager of Marketing & Advertising, St. Louis Rams: “Go Green” platform and other environmental fan engagement initiatives of this long-standing NFL franchise.

4. Matt Williams—Director, Office of Sustainability, University of Florida: Partnership between Gator Athletics, UF Sustainability and nonprofit Neutral Gator to offset Athletics’ CO2 footprint while helping individual fans and the local community.

5. Discussion/Q&A

Registration for this free webinar is now open.

Rick Antonson is an apostle for cathedral thinking.

“It is the one way to keep the living generation tethered to the future,” he told an audience at TEDxStanley Park.

Cathedral thinking is about the long term and shared ambitions. It’s working on something now knowing you will not be around to experience the finished project. It’s about helping create a better world for future generations.

“It’s not what we do that matters. It’s what we cause to happen,” Antonson said. “We should all be involved in unfinished work.”

The concept of cathedral thinking stretches back to medieval times, Antonson said, when architects, stonemasons, and artisans laid plans and began construction of the soaring, cavernous structures that would one day serve as places of worship, community gathering spaces, and safe havens.

“Those who began such work knew they’d never live to see their task completed,” he said. “Cathedral thinking has been applied to space exploration, city planning, corporate mandates, and other long-range goals that require decades of foresight and preparation so future generations can enjoy their full realization. Though there are many instances in which cathedral thinking can be applied, they all require the same foundation: a far-reaching vision, a well thought-out blueprint, and a shared commitment to long-term implementation.”

Antonson is the keynote speaker at the 2014 International Convention Center Conference in Vancouver, British Columbia, October 2-4, where he will ask the audience, “What is your cathedral thought?”

He was formerly the president and CEO of Tourism Vancouver. Under his leadership, Tourism Vancouver played a significant role in shaping Vancouver and British Columbia’s future. The organization launched the bid for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic & Paralympic Winter Games, where Antonson served as a Games Ambassador.

Tourism Vancouver also initiated the Vancouver Convention Centre Expansion Taskforce, which led to an expanded center that is partially funded by Tourism Vancouver’s $90-million investment.

Antonson took Vancouver through “Rethink,” a yearlong, post-Olympic look at “What’s next?” asking big questions and engaging a community of interests to focus on “10 years down the road…” Many commitments came out of that process, one of which was to prepare a Tourism Master Plan—a rare undertaking in a mature destination.

He travels extensively around the world and is the author of To Timbuktu for a Haircut: A Journey Through West Africa and Route 66 Still Kicks: Driving America’s Main Street. His forthcoming book is Full Moon Over Noah’s Ark: An Odyssey to Mount Ararat (Dundurn, September 2015).

Brad Schrock, a principal at IAVM allied member and sponsor 360 Architecture, recently spoke with the Silicon Valley Business Journal about the San Jose Earthquakes’ new stadium.

“Across the U.S., the thing that’s at the forefront is we design these stadiums to compete,” Schrock told reporter Nathan Donato-Weinstein. “And the competition is the 72-inch flat screen TV and the comfort of being there and not fighting traffic.”

Schrock said that some ways to compete against the sofa is to heighten the guest experience with items such as individual screens at every seat or immersive technology. There’s also a new trend involving capacity.

“There’s an increasing trend of driving down capacity,” Schrock said. “The goal is to create more demand. We’re seeing that a lot in the NBA. It gets to this issue of, you’d rather be in a sellout situation.”

Please check out the Silicon Valley Business Journal for the complete article, to learn more about Schrock, and if he really set out to build the longest bar in the U.S.

(Image: 360 Architecture)

A new center in the Hebei province plans to help give musical theatre a boost when it opens in China.

“With an investment of around 2 billion yuan (US$323 million) from the local government and Beijing-based production company Ovation Cultural Development, the operation covers an area of about 95,000 square meters with a musical theater and related facilities to be completed by 2017,” the China Daily reported.

The first production will be a Mandarin version of Into the Woods, which will have 100 performances in Beijing in November before going on a national tour. The show has been in development for three years, according to Li Xiaofei, general manager of Ovation Cultural Development.

Musical revenues in 2013 were 230 million yuan ($37.2 million), Li said, an increase of more than 20 percent year over year. More than one million people attended a musical theatre performance in 2013.

“The musical market in China is very promising,” said Li in the China Daily. “Unlike some other Western art forms, like opera and ballet, musicals are commercial and entertaining. It doesn’t require professional knowledge to appreciate.”

(photo credit: tenementpalm via photopin cc)