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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.

Continue Reading →

Who says that 13 is an unlucky number?

Since April 12, 2000, I have been fortunate, honored, privileged but mostly blessed to have worked at IAVM and since 2004 to have served in the capacity of editor of Facility Manager magazine. Those are 13 years in my life that I would not trade with anyone in the world and will cherish throughout the years ahead.

But I have made a decision to move along with excitement and expectation for what God has in store for me for the future. I announced my resignation and my final day at IAVM will be Friday, August 30.

Continue Reading →

Our biggest event, VenueConnect, is now behind us, and we are off to a good start for the year. Evaluations are still being analyzed, but the feedback is very positive, with of course, some areas for improvement. Congratulations to 1st Vice Chair Kim Bedier, CFE, and her
committee on a job very well done, and to Bob Johnson and his team at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center for all their support. I know our 2nd Vice Chair, Karen Totaro, CFE, has had many discussions with both of them about how we can get even better in Portland.

Significant decisions were made by IAVM’s Board of Directors at this meeting. You’ll be seeing more about this as the board chair, officers and members share these decisions with you in the coming weeks. I would like to highlight here that the board unanimously approved a new membership model, which we hope will make it more affordable for venues to extend IAVM membership to more of their staff, as well as provide access to staff at smaller, more budget-conscious venues. More work has to be done to outline the program, but a final draft is expected to go before the board for approval in October.

I am also pleased to report that IAVM successfully filed an amicus brief on behalf of the San Diego Convention Center Corp. This is an issue that the Industry Affairs Committee felt IAVM should take a stand on, as it involves the rights of venues to manage as they
see fit, and to have exclusive vendor relationships when it is in the best interests of their venue and the community they serve. For more information, please see the attached brief. It is important to note that IAVM was able to file this brief and act so quickly to defend our
venues thanks entirely to the IAVM Foundation. When this issue arose, they were asked to fund the $40,000 cost. Given the importance of the issue and the need to file within a few weeks, they unanimously voted to make these funds available. I hope this gives all of us a reason to keep supporting the Foundation, so they always have the funds available to aid and support this industry as they have so many times in the past.

Finally, please see attached the IAVM Annual Report. As you’ll see, we have much to be proud of this last year. My thanks to the 2012-13 officers who worked so hard to create  this report for our members.

Regards,

Vicki Hawarden
IAVM President & CEO

Download the complete July 2013 Leadership Report here.

photo credit: patti haskins via photopin cc

What does an arena manager dream about at night? It might involve a talking pink bunny with floppy ears, living under the desk in their office. Perhaps it’s more of a nightmare, where every door of their venue falls off the hinges when they go to open them. A really great dream might involve seeing a photo of their venue on a Venues Today cover showing their arena as presenting the “Top 50 Acts of All Time” – now that sounds like a dream that would make a venue manager happy.

While you might not be able to count on the top 50 acts clamoring to play your venue in a single season, you can get some great insight into the hottest acts and tours just by attending this year’s Arena Management Conference, September 8-10, in Toronto, Canada. If you’re looking for a group of people “in the know” about the top tours and hot new artists to make your venue stand out from the competition – AMC is the place to be. And, one of the “don’t miss” sessions to attend will be Tuesday’s “Promoter & Agent Panel: Hot Acts, Cool Cash.” Continue Reading →