When the expanded and renovated Kentucky International Convention Center (KICC) reopens its doors in August of 2018, it will do so with a new food and beverage partner. Kentucky Venues has named Levy Convention Centers the exclusive concessions and catering provider for KICC and its guests.

“We’ve worked with Levy at the Kentucky Exposition Center since 2015,” said Jason Rittenberry, President and CEO of Kentucky Venues. “We share a commitment to providing exceptional service and concessions to our clients and guests, and delivering the best experience possible. With this agreement, we can bring that same level of excellence to the Convention Center.”

With a focus on local sustainability and flavors, KICC will offer an in-house garden with education sessions on the importance of Kentucky farms, carbon footprint and growing your own garden. Guests will also find an in-house bakery in addition to a flexible coffee and bourbon bar featuring a local roaster, Farmers Market style menu items, and bourbon tastings in the afternoon and evenings.

The contract, awarded through competitive bidding by the Kentucky Finance and Administration Cabinet, takes effect July 1, 2018. The five-year contract includes a renewal option for two additional five-year periods.

“Curating localized food experiences and partnering with Kentucky farmers ensures every visitor enjoys the flavors of Kentucky,” said Andy Lansing, President and CEO of Levy. “Our dedicated culinary team will match the excitement behind the world-class renovations being made at KICC and bring the spirit of the region in a fun atmosphere.”

“Kentucky Venues is building the Kentucky International Convention Center into a true world-class building with these renovations, and we’re excited to match this dedication with an equally world-class hospitality experience,” Lansing said. “Along with the Kentucky Exposition Center, we look forward to continuing to work with Kentucky Venues to bring the unbridled spirit of the region to our guests.”

The Massachusetts Convention Center Authority (MCCA) issued a design and feasibility Request for Proposal (RFP) for master planning services for the 70-acre campus of the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center (BCEC) in South Boston. Proposals from bidders are due back to the Authority on September 20, 2017.

Since opening in 2004, the BCEC has earned a global reputation as one of the top venues in the industry as both planners and convention guests continue to view Boston as a prime destination to bring meetings and events which have generated billions of dollars in economic activity for the City of Boston, the Commonwealth and the region.

“It has been a dynamic and disruptive decade in our industry which has mirrored the dramatic changes that have occurred in South Boston,” said David Gibbons, executive director of the MCCA. “This is an exciting and appropriate time for the Authority to evaluate where we stand in the convention marketplace. We are asking our customers what they need and determining what we can afford in order to position the BCEC for long term success.”

The RFP will task designers to meet the needs of the BCEC’s current and future customers, better integrate the BCEC into the South Boston’s proximate neighborhoods, outline a building program that is financially self-sufficient, innovative and minimizes the impact on the environment in order to enhance the MCCA’s competitive advantage in a rapidly evolving convention marketplace.

“Boston is a premier global destination for business and tourism and the BCEC is a key catalyst to create economic activity in the city and across the region,” said John McDonnell, MCCA chairman. “The time is right to evaluate convention related growth opportunities on the BCEC campus to ensure its future success.”

Las Vegas. It’s been called the “Desert Oasis”, “City of Lights”, and the “Entertainment Capital of the World,” and it has been the star focus of many movies, songs, TV shows, newspaper articles, and more. For decades, Las Vegas has used entertainers to attract tourists, and to keep them coming back for more. Live music has been one of the biggest tourist attractions and has been instrumental in the growth of the city, as well as the venues that call it home.

IAVM member, Pat Christenson, has almost four decades in developing special events in Las Vegas, and has seen the evolution of live music there from a standpoint that very few can claim. He has taken his history in the city, stories of your own venue industry peers and others, and turned it into a book so that all can now have a valuable insight into how Las Vegas became the “Live Music Capital of the World.”

Rock Vegas: Live Music Explodes in the Neon Desert, tells the history of live entertainment in Las Vegas, but the immediate focus follows the explosion of live music in the early 90’s. Christenson, then managing the Thomas & Mack Center and Las Vegas Silver Bowl, booked every event that toured the country, averaging 175 events per year in both venues. From the front lines, he not only witnessed the opening of the floodgates that evolved Las Vegas into one of the top five live music markets in the world, but was an active participant.

It wasn’t an overnight decision to write Rock Vegas for Christenson, now the president of Las Vegas Events (LVE). “I have been involved in live music for over 35 years, and for eighteen years, at Thomas and Mack Center and Sam Boyd Stadium, I did not enjoy the show,” he admitted. “My job was to ensure fans and the bands had a good experience. At LVE, it has been working with producers to move or develop new music festivals, but I have a lot more time to go to concerts. Going to a couple dozen concerts or festivals a year gave me a fine appreciation for live music. The more I thought about it, the more it occurred to me that no one knows how live music developed in Las Vegas. I did. However, until I got into it, I did not know how many great stories went with the evolution of live music in Las Vegas.”

“Rock Vegas gives personal and heartfelt insight of the people, politics, niche environments, and genres of music that have made Las Vegas unique and successful in the live entertainment industry,” said IAVM president, Brad Mayne.  “Pat offers intriguing insights and stories of Music Icons disrupting an existing and successful business model to make way for Las Vegas to experience what other communities were already experiencing in North America.”

Rock Vegas is a book from which anyone in the venue management industry can gather many key takeaways. “I also go deeply into how crowd management, production, ticketing, social media and venues evolved,” noted Christenson. “Hopefully, they (venue managers) will get a couple of good laughs as well. A lot of their peers are in it.”

You can find and order/download Rock Vegas: Live Music Explodes in the Neon Desert online though Amazon or pick up a signed copy at VenueConnect at the MGM Resorts International at booth 156 on the Trade Show Floor!

Members who have reached the next milestone of their membership, 5, 10, 15, 20, etc. are receiving an updated lapel pin and wall certificate in the mail. The project is very large; it will take several weeks to complete. Right now, we are working on 2015-2017. The new brand is reflected in the letter and wall certificate. Recipients who reached this milestone in 2017 are listed on the website with the Member Tenure Recognition listing at http://iavm.org/membership-tenure-recognition. Each year, the list is updated as it reflects the year that the milestone is achieved. These members will be recognized at VenueConnect in Nashville. Thank you for your many years of membership and service! Contact Member Services at membership@iavm.org if you have any questions.

John Platillero, founder & CEO of EventBooking, gives a summary of his second week on the “Road to VenueConnect,” a series of workshops he and two other EventBooking staff members are hosting in 17 cities across the country. Complete with a company-branded RV, their tour of workshops will conclude at the IAVM VenueConnect conference in Nashville. There, they’ll present the insights they’ve gathered and stories from the road.

We just completed the second week of our Road To VenueConnect trip, and loving all the wonderful people we’ve met along the way. We have logged over 3,000 miles so far, and aside from a few hubcaps falling off here or there and a lack of hot showers, the RV is holding up well. What’s even better is the fact that my traveling companions, Charlie and Kalyn, have not tossed me off the bus (yet)!

One truth that solidifies with each stop is that it is SO good to meet people face-to-face; to shake hands, see their venue, or in the case of Golden 1 Center—smell their venue (they program distinct scents to be emitted in each of their luxury club rooms). It has been invaluable to meet personnel in various departments and hear how they interact with each other. It’s also fascinating to hear the discussion that unfolds between venues of different types and sizes, as they discover commonalities and concerns they all share.

One technological pain-point we’re hearing in every conversation is the fact that everyone is buried in email. It’s interesting to note that in the evolution of communication, email is what initially saved us from multiple faxes and unnecessary phone calls. In 2017, however, it’s the primary mode of business communication and can be overwhelming with multiple threads for small details. Especially in this industry, people create dozens of folders within Outlook and become experts (by necessity) at word searches to try and find what they are looking for (cue the U2 song).

Our gears are turning as a result of each discussion and we are excited to eventually return home to brainstorm ideas for how we can make everyone’s day a little better and more simple.

In the meantime, we’re making our way to Phoenix, Albuquerque, Oklahoma City, Fayetteville, Memphis and Nashville!

To join us at one of our stops, please visit here.