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

Why the Summer Music Festival Bubble is About to Burst
—Wondering Sound
“Let me see here. For just North America, we have a list of 847 different festivals.”

5 Simple Office Policies That Make Danish Workers Way More Happy Than Americans
—Fast Company
“Americans think it’s normal to hate their jobs. Let us introduce you to the Danish concept of arbejdsglæde. It means happiness at work. Here’s how Danish offices make sure it’s happening.”

The Story of Live Nation Labs: How the Event Giant Got Its Very Own Startup to Prep for Music’s Future
—Gigaom
“Live Nation bought BigChampange for its media consumption data smarts, which allowed the company to get new insights into where people like what kind of music, and which concerts they’d be wanting to go to.”

A Case Against Name Tags
—BizBash
“Name tags are the perfect symbol of what’s wrong with ‘networking’ events—those people who work the room, scanning people’s badges for a company they want to work for, or sell to, or both.”

Could Red Bull Become the New ESPN?
—Contently
“Red Bull owns the conversation about action sports, and that conversation is now happening on both mobile and on TV screens, with Red Bull TV’s Chromecast integration, the RedBull.com app’s Apple AirPlay integration, and a Red Bull channel available on Apple TV.”

(photo credit: jordangordon via photopin cc)

The recent Meeting Professionals International World Education Congress featured a session about contract issues, and Sue Pelletier at MeetingsNet offers a great recap. In the article are some related story links, and one of them is “11 Lessons on Negotiating with Convention Centers” that MeetingsNet published last year. It’s a good inside take on how planners view working with convention centers, and No. 8 (Exclusivity: Never Assume) on the list mentions IAVM.

“Two years ago, the International Association of Venue Mangers Inc. released its ‘Exclusive Services Convention Centers/Exhibit Halls White Paper,'”  Dave Kovaleski wrote. “While the organization that represents the country’s major centers underscored that ‘exclusive service and third-party vendor contracts are the decision of each facility manager based on the operating needs and political mandates,’ it also called for those facilities that do have exclusives to freely disclose them early in discussions with clients.”

Because of the first, recap article, people are seeing the second article and wanting to read the white paper. Now you can do that. Just click here to read or download it.

(Image: Orange Photography)

IAVM member Roy Sommerhof made the news this week when he spoke with WBAL in Baltimore (home of VenueConnect 2015) about M&T Bank Stadium’s $35 million improvement project.

“Most notably, all the concession stands have been renovated,” said Sommerhof, vice president of stadium operations for the Baltimore Ravens. “All the equipment inside of them has been replaced. We have more points of sale and more variety on the upper level for fans, and so we think the service will be better.”

You can listen to the full interview below, and if you’re a member who has made the news, please email us at editor@iavm.org so we can feature you on the blog.

(photo credit: Kevin H. via photopin cc)

Sure, free Wi-Fi is nice, but it’s useless if your phone’s battery dies. This is where uBeam comes in, and this week the company received some great press on its announcement of a working prototype that will be built for consumers.

In the simplest terms, uBeam is a wireless charging system. It charges your phone via ultrasound, which is converted from electricity through a charging station. The charging station is thin (no larger than five millimeters thick) and can be attached to a wall. Yes, your venue could become one large phone charger.

“This is the only wireless power system that allows you to be on your phone and moving around a room freely while you’re device is charging,” uBeam CEO and Founder Meredith Perry told The New York Times. “It allows for a Wi-Fi-like experience of charging; with everything else you have to be in close range of a transmitter.”

The goal is to have uBeam available to consumers within the next two years with two different charging stations—one for small spaces, such as homes and offices, and the other for larger venues, such as stadiums, conference centers, and music halls.

“We’re going to sell directly to consumers, and we’ll sell them to restaurant chains and hotels—we are going to saturate the market with uBeam transmitters,” Perry said in the Times article. “In addition to your local coffee shop saying it has free Wi-Fi, it will also say it has free uBeam.”

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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