Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) was named winner in the category of “Banqueting and Catering” at the 2018 Victorian Meetings and Events Australia (MEA) Industry Awards.

MCEC Chief Executive Peter King said the award was the result of years of hard work and dedication, along with an ongoing commitment to delivering an excellent customer experience through the delivery of innovative food experiences.

“We have worked hard to attract some great talent to our Food and Beverage team and we’re honored to once again be recognized with this outstanding result,” King said.

The MEA Awards are a premier accolade in the Australian meetings and events field, and provide the perfect platform for MCEC to benchmark its business against the best in the industry.

“Just like Melbourne, we take our food very seriously at MCEC and it’s something we’re extremely proud of,” King said.

MCEC Senior Manager Food and Beverage Neil Mather said it was an honor to again receive recognition for the venue’s food and beverage, which showcases Melbourne’s diverse food scene.

Mather said flexibility continued to be a consistent theme across all MCEC menus.

“Interest in the origins of food is a key trend, with customers increasingly interested in knowing where produce comes from,” Mather said. “We have a fantastic network of local suppliers, and by supporting local food producers we aim to reduce our environmental impact by leaving a lighter carbon footprint, as well as championing the incredible produce we have right here in Melbourne.”

MCEC is now a finalist in the above category in the 2018 MEA National Awards, which will be announced at the MEA National Conference in April 2019.

Daktronics has been asked by University of Central Arkansas to design, manufacture, and install a new LED video display at Estes Stadium in Conway, Arkansas. The 1,944-square-foot video scoreboard will inform and entertain Bears fans at football games in 2019.

“We are excited to partner with the leader in video production applications,” said Brad Teague, University of Central Arkansas director of athletics. “The latest video technology, coupled with the large size of the video screen, will provide a great game-day experience for our supporters. We couldn’t be more pleased with our new addition for the 2019 season.”

The new LED technology will measure 36 feet high by 54 feet wide and will feature a 15HD pixel layout to show crisp, clear imagery to every seat in the stadium. The display will feature industry-leading environmental protection from the outdoor elements and superior brightness to cut through direct sunlight on game days.

“The new video board will elevate the game-day atmosphere for University of Central Arkansas and entice more fans to make their way to the stadium for every game,” said Andrew Rice, Daktronics sales representative. “The new technology is the same as professional football teams are using in their venues to create an experience that simply can’t be replicated on television. We’re looking forward to seeing it come to life at Estes Stadium this fall.”

The display features all of today’s technological expectations including variable content zoning which allows it to show one large image or to be divided into multiple zones of content. It can show live video, instant replays, up-to-the-minute statistics, graphics and animations, sponsorship messages, and any combination thereof. Delay of game clocks and a four-input switcher were also included with the installation.

The Oak View Group announced the opening of its first international office in London. OVG International will give the company a greater presence in the United Kingdom, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East as well as other key regions.

The executive leadership team of OVG International have each worked the majority of their careers internationally and have combined business experience on five continents. Sam Piccione III has been named president while Mark Donnelly will serve as chief operating officer.

On the company’s website, it noted that “OVG International will develop a global footprint reinforcing the Arena and Stadium Alliance already successfully developed in the United States by attracting the leading and like-minded venues from Europe, Asia and the Middle-East with our common goal to Book Together, Sell Together, Buy Together, and Think Together. While investing capital in new owned & operated venues in core markets with strategic partners.”

Tim Leiweke, Oak View Group chief executive, said when the announcement was made at the International Live Music Conference in London that, “Our aim is to create a new generation of state-of-the-art entertainment facilities. The live events market has grown significantly in the United States since Oak View Group launched three years ago, and we see a huge opportunity to drive similar growth internationally by creating world-class experiences in world-class arenas.”

Oak View Group is currently leading major arena development projects in Belmont and Seattle, while last year it partnered with the University of Texas at Austin to develop an on-campus arena. The group also runs the Arena and Stadium Alliance, an invitation-only group for venues to maximize sponsorship opportunities, additional events and content.

It’s time to kick off the International Association of Venue Managers’ successful get-a-member campaign – iCommit.

Goal: We have 6,100 members. We are targeting a 10% increase with this recruitment effort which ends on June 30, 2019. If every member adds/refers just one new member, we could DOUBLE our membership!

What’s In It For You?

More members means more collaboration, a bigger and more diverse network for you, and a greater pool of experts to create inspiring and motivating educational content at schools, conferences, webinars, podcasts and blog posts.

Besides feeling good about supporting your association, for each new member you refer, your name will be entered into a raffle to win one of five, $500 Apple gift cards to apply toward the purchase of any Apple product. The more members you refer, the more chances you will have to win. *The gift cards will be sent to the winners in July 2019.

Prizes

• The grand prize will be a complimentary registration to VenueConnect2020 (value up to $1,000).
• Win one of five, $500 Apple Gift cards – receive one raffle entry for each new member you refer.
• The IAVM Region that adds the most new members will have one CVP application fee waived (the Region Director will choose the recipient within the winning region).
• The campaign ends June 30, 2019.

To ensure you are eligible to win one of the prizes, ask your new member to do the following:

• List your name in the Application Section titled, “Who Recommended IAVM To You/How Did You Hear About IAVM?”
• Enter “iCommit” in the Promotional Code field in the online membership application.
• For new Professional or Allied members only, the $150 one-time initiation fee will be waived *

*Some membership types do not have an initiation fee; the dues will not be discounted

Hurry! Start referring new members today. We will post updates throughout the contest period in the IAVM Newsletter. Contact membership@iavm.org if you have any questions.

Peter Ashwin, principal, Event Risk Management Solutions, is one of a number of expert speakers who will be presenting in San Diego at IAVM’s Academy for Venue Safety & Security (AVSS) and Severe Weather Preparedness programs March 10-15.

On March 15, Ashwin will present A Risk Based Approach to Mitigating Severe Weather Events & Enhancing Organizational Resilience
Risk Management, a class that will contribute to the achievement of resilience by identifying opportunities to build resilience into planning and resourcing to achieve risk reduction in advance of a hazard, as well as enabling the mitigation of consequences of any disasters that do occur.

The aim of this session is to introduce attendees to the fundamentals of risk management and resilience based on the international standard, ISO 31000: Risk Management – Guidelines and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) guidelines for all hazards risk management and industry best practices to “prepare, prevent, respond and recover” from severe weather events.
By the end of the session, attendees will be able to demonstrate a working knowledge of the fundamentals of risk management, the inter-dependencies between risk, hazards, threat and vulnerability and the relationship between risk controls (countermeasures) and how the level of risk for a severe weather event can be modified through reducing the likelihood and consequences of the risk event.

Ashwin took some time out of a busy schedule to chat about the upcoming class.

What should be the primary takeaway for attendees who come to the class? ​

A deeper understanding of a risk based approach to critical decision-making before, during, and after severe weather events.

How exactly does risk management play into severe weather in advance of said weather?

Adopting a risk based approach ensures that planners and key decision makers identify and implement appropriate risk mitigation controls to reduce the potential impact of severe weather events on the organization’s mission and critical success factors.

Can you provide a specific example of how effective risk management mitigated what could have been a much more problematic weather outcome?

​While I was onsite at the 2017 World Championship BBQ Cook-Off Competition hosted by Memphis in May, the Incident Management Team applied the concept of risk velocity (time to make a critical risk based decision) and initiated an evacuation of the event site to ensure all guests and competing teams could safely move to designated locations to shelter in place prior to the arrival of a thunderstorm that contained high winds and lightning.