We venue managers share many similar issues, concerns, and goals regardless of our type of venue. The safety of our participants, ticket holders, partners, employees, and everyone else involved with our operations, as well as the security of our venue itself, are topics that concern us every day.
We worry about each and every event, regardless of size, location, and subject matter. We also worry if we are doing enough, and what the next big threat will be to our venue, or to any other venue—what happens to one of us happens to all of us.
And now, as we look forward to 2015 and beyond, we ask ourselves what’s missing from our venue management information arsenal. Safety and security specifically comes to the forefront as we look at how we can better protect our charges and further help our venue colleagues make better, more informed decisions.
What helps us make better decisions? Experience? Information? Both?
Nothing compares to experience, but that may not always be the case with safety and security issues. What happened in Boston during the marathon didn’t happen anywhere else previously. All venue managers took notice, and the people involved with that epic nightmare have shared their stories, response tactics, and more to help us all be better prepared should such a disaster repeat itself. They shared their experience so that we can all learn from them, adopt what might work for us, and improve our overall service and performance in new best practices. Mature industries share their knowledge.
It’s truly incredible what kind of information about safety and security is available online. You can Google just about anything, and in less than a second receive loads of results—however, BUYER BEWARE. How do you know if the information is reliable, accurate, or even applicable to venue management?
That’s where VenueDataSource comes in. How valuable is a mass of information that you must vet for yourself compared to information received ONLY from industry experts and professionals?
Shortly after you return to your offices after the holiday break, you will receive an opportunity to vet IAVM’s body of safety and security knowledge. You’ll receive an invitation to review the major security operating practices and issues every venue security professional faces and compare these to your own practices. Your security professional will be able to complete this survey in less than 15 minutes, and the results will give your team the ability to compare your venue’s practices with your peers and with the best in the business. And if your venue completes this brief survey, you’ll receive the report free.
This vitally important survey will help your 2015 to be your best year yet in the industry. You will be armed with the information and the tools to succeed.
And speaking of success—VenueDataSource has just released facts and findings from the 2014 venue industry Sustainability Report, available from IAVM headquarters. Just email VenueDataFrank at frank.ingoglia@iavm.org. This report is our final release for 2014, another great year for sharing industry research that helps you do your job.
As always, you can find us on this monthly blog, on Twitter @VenueDataFrank, in weekly newsletters discussing trends, facts, and asking poll questions, at the sector conference and VenueConnect—everywhere you VDS, you’ll find us. No matter where you go, there we are.
