Give the Gift of Membership is a year-round opportunity to introduce someone to IAVM. In the season of giving, it can be even more meaningful to recipients.

Alexis Berggren, Chair of the IAVM Membership Committee states ‘Give the Gift of Membership’ is a wonderful way to help someone become a part of the venue management community and experience the value of belonging to IAVM. The educational and networking opportunities IAVM offers have been invaluable to me personally. Help a deserving person accelerate their career and experience IAVM in its 100^th year of providing incredible benefits and services to its members.”

Click this link to provide the information for your beneficiary. Member Services will reach out to your candidate to finalize the application and notify you when the dues are ready to be paid. If you have questions, contact membership@iavm.org.

Give your gift of membership today!

Momentum is building in Washington to crack down on fraud occurring in ticket sales. IAVM continues to work side-by-side with others in the live events industry, including artist groups and independent venues within the Fix the Tix Coalition to pass federal ticketing reforms.

In September, IAVM member, Dave Touhey, CVE, testified before Congress, urging passage of legislation to address ticket fraud. He advocated for Congress to require all-in pricing, a ban on deceptive URLs and websites, and a prohibition against the sale of speculative, or fake, tickets. After months of intense lobbying, on December 6, legislation was reported out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee to accomplish all three of these goals. H.R. 3950, the “TICKET Act,” a bill to require disclosure of ticket fees, was combined with H.R. 6568, the “Speculative Ticketing Oversight and Prohibition Act” or the “STOP Act,” and passed the committee on a 45 to 0 recorded vote.

The amended H.R. 3950 is cosponsored by Representatives Bilirakis (R-FL), Schakowsky (D-IL) and Armstrong (R-ND) and would:

• Require the total price of an event ticket be displayed upfront, inclusive of all fees;
• Ban the sale of a ticket that a seller does not have (“speculative ticketing”);
• Guarantee refunds for event cancelations and postponements;
• Require clear disclosures and bans deceptive URLS to protect consumers from fraudulent ticketing websites;
• Require the Federal Trade Commission to study and report on enforcement of the BOTS Act (Public Law 114-274).

Now all of us need to work to ensure that the bill is taken up by the full House of Representatives ASAP. We ask all IAVM members to contact your Representative THIS WEEK to urge him or her to cosponsor H.R. 3950, the “TICKET Act” as amended in Committee. You can download a current database of Representative contacts here.

But that’s not all…

On Thursday, the S. 3457, the Fans First Act was introduced in the Senate by Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), John Cornyn (R-TX), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM), Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Peter Welch (D-VT). This comprehensive ticketing bill was negotiated by the Fix the Tix Coalition and has been blessed by consumer groups. While it has a long way to go to passage, building the cosponsor list will help convince the Senate Commerce Committee to take it up. To date, the Commerce Committee reported out a version of the Ticket Act which required fee disclosure only. Ticketing problems will not go away until speculative tickets and deceptive URLs and websites are banned, which the Fans First Act would do. That’s why we are asking IAVM members to reach out to your Senators THIS WEEK to urge them to cosponsor the S. 3457, the Fans First Act. You can download a current database of Senate contacts here.

Please see the sample letters here. One is to send to your U.S. Senators and the other to your Representative in the House. This is the beginning stage of this process. We’ll need you to reach out to Congress again pending floor consideration in both chambers. In the meantime, it is imperative that we build the cosponsor list for both the House and Senate bills. Please add any personal stories about how your venue is affected by fraud in ticket sales.

Ticket resellers have been working hard at the state level to pass bills to protect their predatory practices. A federal solution will stop these state efforts and go a long way to protect consumers from ticket fraud. Thanks for your advocacy on this important issue.

Please welcome our newest members who joined IAVM in November 2023. Thank you for being a part of the association! Also, let us get to know you better by participating in the I Am Venue Management series. Please visit here to share your story and photo.

Alyssa Arnold, Fair Park Dallas, Dallas, TX
Bianca Ashton, Events DC, Washington, DC
David Austin, Huntington Place, Detroit, MI
Abigail Bergman, The Classic Center, Athens, GA
Jennifer Berkemeier, Huntington Place, Detroit, MI
Brian Bermudez, Fair Park Dallas, Dallas, TX
Tim Bizub, Prudential Center, Newark, NJ
Carter Bondy, Niagara Falls Convention Centre, Niagara Falls, ON, Canada
Ray Booker, Fair Park Dallas, Dallas, TX
Julian Bowman, Fair Park Dallas, Dallas, TX
Fredia Brady, Wilmington North Carolina Convention Center, Wilmington, NC
William Buckley, Bon Secours Wellness Arena, Greenville, SC
Amye Bueno, Moody Center, Austin, TX
Ryan Buries, David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Pittsburgh, PA
Mary Burks, Kentucky Performing Arts, Louisville, KY
Scott Burrell, Events DC, Washington, DC
Morgan Calma, Blumenthal Performing Arts, Charlotte, NC
Veronica Cantu, Moody Center, Austin, TX
Gillis Carroll, Georgia-Pacific, Atlanta, GA
Corie Caudill, Kentucky Performing Arts, Louisville, KY
Casey Clark, Kentucky Performing Arts, Louisville, KY
Steve Clough, The Classic Center, Athens, GA
Kendra Cook, Huntington Place, Detroit, MI
Rich Dorsey, Binbox Lockers, Washington, DC
Henry Eisenman, Greater Richmond Convention Center, Richmond, VA
Rishele Ellison, Events DC, Washington, DC
Michael Erb, Georgia-Pacific, Green Bay, WI
Jamie Faris, Berglund Center, Roanoke, VA
Alicia Forbes, Patricia Reser Center for the Arts, Beaverton, OR
Paul Frushour, Fair Park Dallas, Dallas, TX
Samuel Gaddis, Fair Park Dallas, Dallas, TX
Nicole Galik, University of Central Florida, Glastonbury, CT
Joseph Garcia, David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Pittsburgh, PA
Angie Gates, Events DC, Washington, DC
Spencer Girman, David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Pittsburgh, PA
Nicole Greene, Events DC, Washington, DC
Patricia Gulledge, Fair Park Dallas, Dallas, TX
Brittany Halberstadt, Blumenthal Performing Arts, Charlotte, NC
Madison Henson, Huntington Place, Detroit, MI
Monica Hernandez, The Classic Center, Athens, GA
Mikey Hudson, Austin Theatre Alliance, Austin, TX
Clif Huebner, Fair Park Dallas, Dallas, TX
Andy Hunsaker, Blumenthal Performing Arts, Charlotte, NC
Nina Isturis-Gramly, Weber County Culture, Parks and Recreation, Ogden, UT
Cari Johansen, Greater Richmond Convention Center, Richmond, VA
Nicole Johnson, Huntington Place, Detroit, MI
Steven Johnson, Events DC, Washington, DC
Robert Jones, Greater Richmond Convention Center, Richmond, VA
Alex Katz, Moody Center, Austin, TX
Josh Kesler, Appalachian Wireless Arena, Pikeville, KY
Megan King, Kentucky Performing Arts, Louisville, KY
Paul Kingsmith, Lethbridge & District Exhibition, Lethbridge, AB, Canada
Evan Kinsley, Blumenthal Performing Arts, Charlotte, NC
Kistler, David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Pittsburgh, PA
Erin Kuhn, Kentucky Performing Arts, Louisville, KY
David Kummings, Blumenthal Performing Arts, Charlotte, NC
Matt Lancaster, Huntington Place, Detroit, MI
David Langdon, Kentucky Performing Arts, Louisville, KY
Bret Leonhardt, Metropolitan Entertainment & Convention Authority (MECA), Omaha, NE
Soya Leslie, Utah Valley Convention Center, Provo, UT
Natasha Ley, David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Pittsburgh, PA
Jacob Lish, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
Nina Lobo, Kentucky Performing Arts, Louisville, KY
Brian Luallen, Fair Park Dallas, Dallas, TX
Laura Lusk, The Classic Center, Athens, GA
Donny McCray, Blumenthal Performing Arts, Charlotte, NC
Rebecca Meckstroth, Momentus Technologies, O’Fallon, MO
Matt Meyer, The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, The Woodlands, TX
Joanna Miller, Kentucky Performing Arts, Louisville, KY
Justin Miller, University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, Belton, TX
Meredith Miller, Blumenthal Performing Arts, Charlotte, NC
Tom Mongelli, Prudential Center, Newark, NJ
Rex Moon, Georgia-Pacific, Queensbury, NY
Dan Mulder, Blumenthal Performing Arts, Charlotte, NC
Scott Norton, Fair Park Dallas, Dallas, TX
Brian O’Malley, David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Pittsburgh, PA
John Page, Pagetech Limited, Rockstar Entertainment Group, LLC and Sparc, Columbus, OH
Michael Parrella, Arup, New York, NY
Cloe Perfetti, The Classic Center, Athens, GA
Ami-Marie Perry, Lethbridge & District Exhibition, Lethbridge, AB, Canada
Skyler Pittman, Prudential Center, Newark, NJ
Janel Pleasant, Greater Richmond Convention Center, Richmond, VA
Gloria Redmond, Huntington Place, Detroit, MI
Ryan Rittenhouse, Patricia Reser Center for the Arts, Beaverton, OR
Joleen Robinson, Utah Valley Convention Center, Provo, UT
Kimberly Salas, Weber County Culture, Parks and Recreation, Ogden, UT
Adrianna Saltern, Weber County Culture, Parks and Recreation, Ogden, UT
Marc Savain, Walter E Washington Convention Center, Washington, DC
Rob Schmidlapp, Kentucky Performing Arts, Louisville, KY
Robert Schoneman, Blumenthal Performing Arts, Charlotte, NC
Shanay Shah, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
Lilly Sheridan, Austin Theatre Alliance, Austin, TX
Andrea Simons, Utah Valley Convention Center, Provo, UT
Kristi Smith, Kentucky Performing Arts, Louisville, KY
Robert Smith, Valdez Convention & Civic Center, Valdez, AK
Morgan Sthele, Fair Park Dallas, Dallas, TX
Abigail Stone-Huchko, PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh, PA
Marnie Strate, Des Moines Performing Arts, Des Moines, IA
Carter Swegman, PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh, PA
Scott Tatar, David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Pittsburgh, PA
Kristopher Taylor, Oak View Group, Philadelphia, PA
Lou Thompson, Austin Theatre Alliance, Austin, TX
Sean Thorne, Blumenthal Performing Arts, Charlotte, NC
Danielle Turner, Huntington Place, Detroit, MI
Tom Uphold, Greater Richmond Convention Center, Richmond, VA
Shannon Urbash, David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Pittsburgh, PA
Stephanie Van Dyck, The Classic Center, Athens, GA
Dan Walker, Patricia Reser Center for the Arts, Beaverton, OR
Susan Wassenberg, Huntington Place, Detroit, MI
Mary Weaver, Blumenthal Performing Arts, Charlotte, NC
Philip Webb, Huntington Place, Detroit, MI
Noel Widup, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
Danielle Wilbanks, Hancher Auditorium, Iowa City, IA
Constance Wilson, Huntington Place, Detroit, MI
Jerrold Wingfield, The Classic Center, Athens, GA

The International Association of Venue Managers (IAVM), a member of the Fix the Tix Coalition, announced that they are pleased the House Energy and Commerce Committee voted today to unanimously report out The Ticket Act, H.R. 3950, which will now head to the floor of the House of Representatives for a vote.

“We applaud the Committee for recognizing that significant problems exist in ticketing and working with IAVM to help fix them,” stated Brad Mayne, CVE, IAVM President and CEO. “Venues are on the front line of the ticketing debate and deal directly with consumers harmed by a reckless secondary ticketing system driven solely by profits. Addressing these problems would get at the root cause of escalating ticket prices and allow more consumers to experience the joy of live entertainment at a fair price point per the artist’s request.”

In September, David Touhey, CVE, represented IAVM while testifying at the Innovation, Data and Commerce subcommittee hearing on ticketing legislation. He urged the subcommittee to pass a single bill that requires disclosure of ticketing fees, a ban on speculative or fake tickets, and a ban on the use of deceptive URLs and websites by ticket resellers. The Ticket Act, H.R. 3950, as amended by the House Energy and Commerce Committee achieves these goals.

“I’m so happy to see that the items that I proposed during my testimony on behalf of IAVM and Fix the Tix Coalition to protect our fans in the ticket purchasing process were incorporated into the bill approved by the House Energy and Commerce Committee,” said Touhey. “During my testimony, I emphasized the need for a ban on speculative tickets and deceptive websites. It’s incredible to see the Energy and Commerce committee add those items to The Ticket Act. This will help protect our fans and ticket buyers.”

“IAVM congratulates the Committee for this accomplishment and pledges to work tirelessly for its members and member venues until The Ticket Act, H.R. 3950, is enacted into law,” emphasized Mayne.