It’s a sad day here in the Dallas-Fort Worth area if you’re a Texas Rangers fan. Last night, the team lost out of advancing to the playoffs, and trips to Rangers Ballpark in Arlington are no more.

Come next spring, though, excitement of a new season and its possibilities will percolate. And besides the pleasures of sitting in the outfield and eating unlimited hot dogs, fans will have a greater chance of interacting with the stadium itself.

Last week, Major League Baseball introduced a partnership with Apple’s iBeacon technology to offer location-based information and offers for At the Ballpark app users.

“A little-known piece of technology baked into Apple’s iOS 7 lets app developers place physical touchstones called iBeacons around specific locations,” wrote Caitlin McGarry for Macworld. “Those beacons can prompt users to take an action or provide information when they are within the beacon’s radius. iBeacons use BLTE (Bluetooth low energy) technology for micro-location information.”

For example, the app will send notification discounts about food and merchandise based on an user’s location in the stadium.

“Once you start seeing what MLB (and plenty of other organizations like it) can do with iBeacons, it makes sense why Bluetooth Low Energy is suddenly so in vogue,” wrote Chris Valazco for TechCrunch. “The level of targeting and reach that a smartly assembled array of Bluetooth beacons provides could profoundly change how companies try to interact with us for better or worse. It certainly doesn’t hurt that support for Bluetooth LE is something both Apple and Google have committed to either—iDevices as old as the 4S can take advantage of these features if they’re running iOS 7, and Google confirmed that Bluetooth LE support would be one of the main additions to Android 4.3. That means a huge swath of the devices out there and in the pipeline will be ready to, well, play ball with this newfangled approach to interaction.”

What other tools are stadiums using to keep the fans coming out to events? Register for the 2013 Stadiums Hybrid Meeting to find out. Presented by industry veterans, this hybrid meeting will explore these challenges and highlight some of the innovative approaches sports teams, event promoters, and stadium operators are taking to make the in-stadium experience something fans do not want to miss.

(Image via Flickr: Steven Martin/Creative Commons)

7 Architectural Sins Committed Around the World
-Huffington Post

With the recent news that Rafael Viñoly Architects’ 20 Fenchurch Street (or the “Walkie Talkie“) in London has been producing an unusually hot solar reflection, dubbed the “Death Ray,” we’ve put together a list of seven architectural blunders around the world — from the worrying to the downright absurd.

See also: Towering New Skyscraper in London Blamed for Melting Cars, Setting Fires

New California Law Targets Massive Online Ticket-scalping Scheme
-The Christian Science Monitor

A new California law makes it illegal to use software to trick online ticket-sellers into selling huge numbers of tickets to scalpers, who then resell them at a higher price.

The Best Arenas and Stadiums in America
-Rolling Stone

For the last installment in a five-part series on great music venues, Rolling Stone polled 26 insiders and musicians – from top managers to Miranda Lambert – and came up with a list of the nation’s coolest arenas and stadiums. Read on for our expert panel’s picks, and visit our Venues that Rock page for an interactive map and much more. Continue Reading →

Last week, IAVM celebrated Dana Stoehr’s promotion as General Manager at the Craneway Pavilion. Dana felt her newly acquired CFE designation gave her a leg up when being considered for the position.

Have you taken the first step in the process toward becoming a CFE by reviewing the “One Minute Guide” to ascertain if you have earned the 300 points needed to apply and start the formal process? Or perhaps this is the first time you have considered pursuing certification. If you still have questions and aren’t sure where to look for answers, join us for our upcoming How to Become a CFE Webinar.

The webinar will be held October 17, 2013 at 4pm ET and should last approximately 45 minutes. A panel of Certification Board members will walk you through the process and answer any questions you may have.

It’s time to step up and see what it takes to join your peers who have reached the pinnacle of achievement within the venue management industry by becoming Certified Facilities Executives. Applications for the 2014 Certified Facilities Executives must be completed by February 1, 2014, and the timing is right so don’t delay.

Both the One Minute Guide and 2014 Information and Application for CFE are available online.  Take a look today, and join us on October 17^th. Register here for the webinar and learn more.

photo credit: Arya Ziai via photopin cc

Our industry attracts some dedicated, talented and visionary leaders. If you work with one of them, take the time to nominate your superstar colleague for one of IAVM’s top awards. The deadline to submit nominations for the awards is November 1, 2013. You never know, someday soon you may be the winner on the other side of the podium!

The Charles A. McElravy Award
The Charles A. McElravy Award may be awarded annually to a Professional, Honorary, or Retired member of IAVM who, in the opinion of the Board of Directors has made the greatest lifetime achievement to the welfare of the Association or profession. Download the complete award overview and nomination details here. Continue Reading →

Photo: Ben Torres/Special Contributor

Video boards might be growing faster than college tuition, and Texas will soon be home to three of the biggest. The Texas Motor Speedway announced plans for a new video board that will be waterproof, resist winds of 120mph, sit 125 feet above the track and span over 200 feet. The price tag is not known, but its electric bill is. $300, each hour.

See size comparisons and more details here.