This week, IAVM announced that Peggy Daidakis, the executive director at the Baltimore Convention Center, is the 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award recipient on behalf of IAVM’s Convention Centers/Exhibit Halls Committee. The award will be presented to Peggy this October 3-5, at the 2013 International Convention Center Conference (ICCC) to be held in Charlotte, NC. The award is presented to an individual recognized by their peers for outstanding contributions to both IAVM and the convention center industry.

For almost 40 years, Peggy Daidakis has served the city of Baltimore and for 20 has served as the Executive Director for the Baltimore Convention Center. She started her career as a public servant in 1973 while working in Mayor William Donald Schafer’s office. Peggy has been a part of every major redevelopment in Baltimore’s meetings and tourism history, beginning with the restoration of Baltimore’s famed Inner Harbor. Her early roles involved representing the Mayor at community meetings and grew to the planning of festivals. Continue Reading →

In 2005, Michael Bouchard, Assistant Director/Field Operations of ATF, estimated at that time nearly 5,000 gun shows were taking place each year in the United States.

In 2009, CNN reported that that Americans owned around 300 million non-military firearms.

This past May, Trade Show News Network (TSNN) reported that the National Rifle Association’s Annual Meeting & Exhibit shattered previous attendance records, bringing in over 86,228 attendees. More than 550 exhibitors covered 400,000 square feet of exhibit hall space.

While it is certain venue managers are always excited see show traffic filling their booking sheets – the increase in gun shows, the uptick in gun ownership, and the addition of inexperienced gun owners, creates some real safety challenges for venues hosting gun shows inside their venues. Continue Reading →

Establishing an Analytics Culture in Public Safety
-Government Technology

The explosion of big data provides a vast new resource that can transform organizations, helping them build smarter systems that drive economic growth, sustainable development and societal progress.

In the world of public safety, big data comprises existing data often stored in disparate databases, including a wide range of sources, from arrest records to court documents and mug shots. Much of it is also text-based documents, police reports, and field reports to name a few. For many agencies, it can be difficult to make sense of this data in a meaningful way that can help solve and even prevent crime. Combined with the near infinite volumes of new data sources from the Web and mobile applications, this challenge is compounded further.

Electric Zoo Festival Canceled After Two Deaths
-Billboard

The third day of the Electric Zoo Festival today (September 1) has been canceled due to “serious health risks,” a statement from the New York City government announced and a posting from the festival confirmed.

The release on NYC.gov states that two fans had died and at least four became “critically ill” during the first two days of the festival (August 30-31) held on NYC’s Randall’s Island, and while “definitive causes of death have not yet been determined, both appear to have involved the drug MDMA (ecstasy, or molly).”

Cameras to Analyze Player Moves (NBA)
-ESPN

The NBA announced Thursday that it will install motion-tracking cameras in every arena this season to provide coaches, players and fans reams of data aimed at pulling back the curtain on what it takes to succeed at basketball’s highest level.

The NBA has partnered with STATS on the SportVU cameras, and the relationship has grown from a single arena during the 2009 NBA Finals into a league-wide initiative that will be up and ready for the start of this season. The technology can monitor every move a player makes on the court, gauge how tired he is and can even keep an eye on the job referees are doing.

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photo credit: tedeytan via photopin cc

Did you know that 71% of IAVM’s convention centers polled in the 2010 VenueDataSource Convention Center Operating Expense Report were at least 10 years old or more? And, over 49% of the surveyed venues said they planned to update lighting systems and 82% needed to update fixtures and furnishings.

So how does a venue manager keep up an aging building and still stay current with the industry’s next hot trends that attendees expect to see during their annual conference or business meeting? How will you integrate renovation expenses into your wish list of cool gadgets? Your best bet is to not spend blindly on products and technologies that may become obsolete and waste those precious dollars.

Convention Center managers attending this year’s International Convention Center Conference, Oct 3-5 in Charlotte, North Carolina, will have the opportunity to hear industry leaders in a 2-day/2-part session provide a “glimpse of tomorrow” that might help guide decisions on where to invest to stay ahead of the curve. Continue Reading →

Greening of Sports Venues in New York City: The Green Sports Alliance
-Huffington Post

New York City has long been a mecca for media, entertainment, culture, and, yes, sports. With two teams for each major sport — football, baseball, hockey, basketball — based in New York for close to half a century, there have been plenty of great sports memories tied to their iconic venues. But as those static arenas and grey stadiums get replaced by greener and more efficient facilities, there is an alliance that few sports fans know about, including this author, that is changing the way large sports complexes are designed, built, and maintained.

The Green Sports Alliance is one of America’s best-kept secrets. The program centers round environmental stewardship, but with a long investment horizon and cost-benefit analysis with ROI achieved through waste reduction, conservation, and efficiency.

Lightening Strikes at Sporting Events: Slideshow
-Sports Illustrated

Las Vegas Convention Center Gets $20 Million Makeover
-Trade Show News Network

Working around trade shows and events, the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority (LVCVA) has completed a $20 million renovation of the Las Vegas Convention Center. The 54-year-old facility now sports a few façade, better parking, updated interior and an improved experience for attendees and exhibitors.

10 Coolest Football Stadium Technologies
-Popular Mechanics

Whether it’s gigantic scoreboards and moving roofs or picking up turf and taking it outside to grow, football stadia go techy to facilitate passion.

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