I’m happy to introduce our newest IAVM members—a total of 171 members in March and April. Our network is growing, and our membership now totals 4,332 members. Once again, a huge thank you to those of you that referred new members to our ranks!

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Okay, the video is a couple of years old, but it’s still cool. Also, football season can’t get here soon enough for me.

Host Wendy Bounds speaks with several MetLife Stadium employees, including IAVM member Alan Kashian, about the process of changing from the Giants to the Jets (or if you prefer, Jets to Giants). For example, 1,100 manual elements need to be changed when transitioning from one team to the other.

Go ahead and watch the video above, and also check out our Super Bowl success stories feature from the February/March issue in FM magazine.

Richard Branson, chairman and founder of Virgin Group Ltd., recently invested $30 million in BitPay, a software program that processes Bitcoin payments.

“Bitpay has proven itself to process Bitcoin safely and reliably, growing the market and increasing adoption, which continues to build trust, legitimacy and momentum in this exciting currency revolution,” Branson told Business Insider.

Branson has always been a visionary, and he’s not the only one. Many venues and universities accept Bitcoin for payments, and event though the value has fluctuated over the past year, the digital currency appears to be growing in popularity. According to CoinDesk survey, approximately 60,000 businesses now accept Bitcoin, and by the end of 2014, there will be 7.3 million Bitcoin wallets (a service that holds your coins for you).

One of our features in the April/May issue of FM magazine is about Bitcoin and how some organizations, such as the Sacramento Kings, are using it to keep on the cutting edge in their industries.

“In the short time since announcing its Bitcoin program, the Kings organization has been approached by other professional sports teams as well as local businesses that are now interested in accepting the virtual currency…,” Michael Pinchera wrote. “Beyond the value of sales attributable to Bitcoins, the organization is reaping other benefits as a result of its bold move: It’s seen as an industry innovator while simultaneously gaining valuable experience transacting with the future of currency.”

Please read the story, and let us know your thoughts in the comments section about Bitcoin.

(Image: Flickr CC/Antana)

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

Michael Jackson Hologram Rocks Billboard Music Awards: Watch & Go Behind the Scenes
—Billboard
“The Michael Jackson performance on the 2014 Billboard Music Awards was the result of nearly half a year of planning, choreography and filming, not to mention the development of new technology. Producers of the Billboard Music Awards did not see even a portion of the film until eight days before the broadcast.”

Some NFL Teams Are Going Green
—The Wall Street Journal
“The NFL is part of a general effort among U.S. professional and collegiate sports leagues to embrace cleaner energy, led in part by a group launched in 2011 calling itself the Green Sports Alliance, co-founded by the Natural Resources Defense Council and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s Vulcan Inc.”

NT and ATG to Trial New Technology for Deaf Audiences
—The Stage
“Ambassador Theatre Group and the National Theatre will be among the first organisations that will trial new technology, aimed at increasing access for deaf and hard of hearing audiences and providing more accurate automated captioning.”

Is Work Your Happy Place?
—The New York Times
“While work is widely viewed as the major source of stress for Americans, new research shows that people have significantly lower stress levels when they are at the office compared to their time at home.”

No Time
—The New Yorker
“How did we get so busy?”

(photo credit: PhotosByDavid via photopin cc)

I don’t remember the last time someone asked me to play a game of flag football. In fact, the last team sport I played was sandlot kickball about five years ago. Today, if I’m asked to do something sporty, it’s usually along the lines of kayaking on White Rock Lake or running away from zombies in an open field.

It appears that we Americans are no longer in love with team sports. We’d rather bike, backpack, or kickbox.

Consider a recently released survey from the Sport & Fitness Industry Association that showed physical activity last year was flat. That’s actually good, because it’s been in decline for a long time.

“Individual sports and activities, though, showed bigger changes, some of them dramatic,” Carl Bialik wrote on FiveThirtyEight.com. “The number of people who participated at least once in adventure racing or a traditional triathlon increased by more than 25 percent last year compared with the year before.”

Speaking of adventure racing, in the April/May issue of FM magazine, the “Up Close” profile features The Great Bull Run that took place April 5 at Texas Motorplex. The picture above is from the race, which had 36 bulls chasing hundreds of participants.

“We had suite holders with premier seating avoid their suites completely just to get down on the fence and see the action closer,” said IAVM member Gabrielle Stevenson, president and general manager of Texas Motorplex. “We have heart-pounding action at the track often, but this takes the win for the most Go-Pros, selfies, and tomatoes I’ve ever seen.”

Oh yes, there was a tomato fight, too, which could be considered another individual sport. Well, I guess there could be tomato teams, but that would be crazy. Okay, not as crazy as being chased by bulls.

Below is a video from the bull run.

(Image: Ted Marek)