Well, football season is well under way and my beloved Dallas Cowboys are off to another start of predicted mediocrity. Since it’s what expected, I’m not stressed out. But maybe you have high hopes for teams and they’re not playing up to par. That might cause you a little anxious eating or drinking.

“Some people are stress eaters, and others tend to eat more when watching TV,” said Jody Gilchrist, a nurse practitioner at the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Heart and Vascular Clinic at the Kirklin Clinic at Acton Road. “They are distracted by the entertainment and don’t realize how much they’re eating, and they don’t listen to their brains telling them they are full.”

Stress from overeating, drinking, and being on the edge of your seat can lead to increased heart rates and high blood pressure, too.

“The body doesn’t distinguish between ‘bad’ stress from life or work and ‘good’ stress caused by game-day excitement,” Gilchrist said. “It impacts your health either way.”

There are some things you can do, though, to help mitigate stress, and they’re illustrated below.

“Even the smallest choices can have a positive impact on your health, so make a point to incorporate many small changes rather than setting unrealistic goals, such as staying away from fun foods altogether,” Gilchrist said.

(top photo credit: davidsteltz via photopin cc)

(infographic: University of Alabama at Birmingham)

There was a lot of news this past week. Here are some stories that caught our eyes.

The War for Our Digital Future: Virtual Reality vs. Integral Reality
—Wired
“With digital components embedded and invisible within objects, Integral Reality won’t separate us from the real world but instead promises to create emotionally engaging experiences with it.”

The Sports-Related Jobs With the Strongest Growth
—Forbes
“The report breaks down growth by sports-related industries, which include Sports Teams and Clubs; Racetracks; and various denominations of promoters, agents, and managers; and also by occupations within sports-related industries, such as Meeting, Convention, and Event Planners; Public Address System and Other Announcers; and Ushers, Lobby Attendants, and Ticket Takers.”

Stroke of Genius: Adding Art to Meeting Places and Spaces
—Associations Now
“Convention centers and hotels are commissioning original artwork for their spaces, not only as a way to highlight the local art community but also to immerse attendees and guests in the local culture.”

New Stadium Deal for Raiders Gives Team Land, Pays Off Debt
—San Francisco Chronicle
“The idea is that the public wouldn’t be on the hook for construction costs – those would be paid for by revenue generated by the project, the NFL and other private sources – but taxpayers would contribute the land and infrastructure improvements.”

College Training Facilities Marry Functionality, Experience
—Athletic Business
“Investment in a new training facility or renovations to an existing one is largely seen as a necessity for premier football programs.”

(image: Sergey Galyonkin/CC)

Evidence is growing that volunteering in good for your health, especially for older adults.

Dr. Nicole Anderson, a senior scientist at Toronto’s Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest Health Sciences, led a team that examined 73 studies published over the last 45 years that focused on adults age 50-plus who held formal volunteering roles.

“Our goal was to obtain a more comprehensive view of the current state of knowledge on the benefits of volunteering among older adults,” said Anderson, who is also an associate professor at the University of Toronto. “We discovered a number of trends in the results that paint a compelling picture of volunteering as an important lifestyle component for maintaining health and well-being in later years.”

The team found that volunteering helps reduce symptoms of depression, enhances better overall health, accounts for fewer functional limitations, and increases longevity. They discovered that health benefits may depend on a moderate level of volunteering, with the optimal time being about 100 annual hours, or two-to-three hours per week. People with chronic health conditions may benefit the most from volunteering, and feeling appreciated and needed helps a volunteer’s psycho-social well-being.

“Taken together, these results suggest that volunteering is associated with health improvements and increased physical activity—changes that one would expect to offer protection against a variety of health conditions,” Anderson said.

(photo credit: SimpleSkye via photopin cc)

Please welcome our newest members who joined IAVM in May, June, and July—a total of 187 new members. Our network of professionals is growing and we are reaching record numbers. Thank you for being a part of the association! Continue Reading →

Congratulations to two of our member venues for being named on Convene‘s “2014 Best in Show” list.

The San Jose Convention Center (pictured above) was named as one of the best high-tech venues.

“The San Jose Convention Center, which is currently building out 169,957 square feet of new, flexible convention space, is notable both for its facility-wide high-speed Wi-Fi and for its in-house support for webcasting satellite and video streaming,” the Convene editors wrote.

The David L. Lawrence Convention Center was named as a venue with some of the best food and beverage.

“In Pittsburgh, space comes at a premium—so the kitchen team at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center (DLCC), whose food service is managed by Levy Restaurants, uses the rooftop for its on-site garden,” the editors wrote. “‘I have held many social events at the DLCC, and their food has always been spectacular,’ said Craig A. Hendrick, global account director for ConferenceDirect. ‘I love how they utilize herbs and vegetables grown on their own rooftop. And they have a focus on locally grown/raised across their menu. Not something you’d expect at a one-thousand-person dinner!'”

Convene readers and editors chose all the winners in the different categories. Check out the rest of the list.

And while we’re talking convention centers, consider attending the 2014 International Convention Center Conference (ICCC), Oct. 2-4, in Vancouver, British Columbia. We have a lot of informative and interesting sessions lined up, such as “Bring Your Own Device: User Experience and Your Venue” and “5 x 8 x the Future.” Visit the ICCC website for more details and to register.

(photo credit: bubbletea1 via photopin cc)