Edmonton’s Shaw Conference Centre has become the latest convention center to be certified to an international sustainability standard for the meetings and event industry. The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) certification is awarded to venues that achieve high standards in environmentally sustainable meetings, trade shows and conferences.

The Shaw Conference Centre is only one of five venues in Canada to currently be certified to the ASTM standard for the evaluation and selection of venues for environmentally sustainable meetings, events, trade shows, and conferences. The venue is also
BOMA BEST certified and the first conference venue in Canada to receive Green Key level five certification.

“This certification increases Edmonton’s competitiveness as a global meetings and conventions destination,” said Lisanne Lewis, general manager, Shaw Conference Centre. “We’re proud to be leading the way and building Edmonton’s brand and reputation as a leader in sustainability.”

The ASTM venues standard serves to outline the requirements for researching, evaluating and selecting a sustainable best-practices venue. It specifies performance criteria for staff management, communications, waste management, energy, air quality, water, procurement, and community partners. The standards were created in partnership with ASTM International, an American National Standards Institute (ANSI) accredited standards development organization.

Roger Simons, president, Green Meeting and Industry Council (GMIC) added, “Responsible environmental and social practices in the meeting industry is a global concern. We are delighted to see a leading Canadian facility such as the Shaw Conference Centre step up and make a commitment to sustainable meetings.”

iCompli, a division of BPA Worldwide, a non-profit international auditing organization developed the certification protocols for the ASTM standards and performed the independent third party certification of the Shaw Conference Centre’s compliance with the venues standard.

As the NCAA Official Supplier for Portable Seating since 2006 and with a family business history dating back to 1925, Rancho Dominguez, California-based Spec Seats knows a thing or two about putting player, coach and fan fannies into portable seating at the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Final Four Basketball Tournaments and many of the regional tournaments leading up to the grand finale when national champions are crowned.

Spec Seats supplied for both the 2017 Women’s Final Four at American Airlines Center in Dallas as well as the 2017 Men’s Final Four at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. The seats, as always, were a cushy hit.

“The folding chairs were provided on the first 35 rows of the deck and then also the end zones where the student sections were located,” said Jordan Hergott, sales director. “The chairs were also in the locker room and the players not only got to sit in the chairs but got to keep them after the game.”

In addition, Spec Seats provided the logoed chairs on the team benches as well as on stools that many coaches prefer to sit on to address the team during timeouts. Prior to the Final Four, the company handled portable seating for the First Four (four teams that played lead-in games to the tournament) and first and second rounds of regionals.

Fans in the first 35 rows enjoyed the comfort of the chairs while viewing the game from perfect sightlines. Hergott said that Spec Seats has met the challenge since the NCAA years ago moved the Final Four into domed professional sports stadiums.

Just the amount of chairs provided (in the huge domes),” Hergott said in discussing the biggest challenge the company faces. “They wanted to do the 20-inch wide chairs, so we actually designed and patented a spacer bracket that slides into the ganging brackets which allows them the flexibility to either have the 20-inch width but also play around with the chairs not fitted correctly. We designed the 20-inch wide chair because they wanted to have a little bit more comfort between the chairs and give patrons more flexibility and movement.”

Hergott said that Spec Seats works closely with each venue site to ensure that the seating fully meets, well, the specs of the facility.

“The way our chairs are designed is that we customize them from scratch to begin with to work within these configurations,” he said. “The feedback has all been positive. It has been used for the past nine Final Fours and has been a huge success.”

Next up is the 2018 Final Four at the Alamodome in San Antonio. Spec Seats will again be there, and visible from any camera angle on any side of the court.

The Facility Doctors is a new column in the pages of Facility Manager magazine co-edited by Dr. Kimberly Mahoney and Professor Gil Fried. The column appeared in the March/April issue and the next installment is in the May/June magazine.

But we need your help, or more specifically, your questions for The Doctors to answer.

Column Purpose:
The column is designed to serve as a bridge between the profession and academia and allow the two sides to help each other grow. Through academicians providing insight from their perspective and industry professionals highlighting real issues they face, both sides can work together to train the next generation of venue managers.

Sources for Column Content:
This column provides an easy opportunity to directly impact the content of Facility Manager. What topics would you like to see addressed? What issues have you faced recently that you think should be discussed with the membership? What trends should be explored? What concerns do you have for the future of the industry? What questions do you have regarding a current project or issue that is presenting some challenges?

Responses:
Dr. Mahoney and Professor Fried both have diverse experiences within the industry over the past 20+ years and serve as co-editors of the column. As appropriate, one or both of the editors may prepare the response and will seek consultation with industry professionals as needed. On other occasions, the editors will seek responses from IAVM members, including faculty members and selected industry professionals who also teach.

How Can I Submit My Questions/Topics?
We need your ideas! Please e-mail us at thefacilitydoctors@iavm.org with your questions and/or suggested topics. We look forward to hearing from you!

After a 30-year run, Tim Dean, long-time director of the Arkansas State University Convocation Center, retired on March 31. Dean began his career as the concert coordinator for the Student Union Board while a student at the university before being hired as assistant director at the Convocation Center in February 1987. In September of 1998, Dean was named director of the facility.

“I got into this business because of my love for music,” Dean said. “I never dreamed I would spend 30 years getting to do what I loved as a career. I began this work as a student at ASU and the timing was perfect for me to move to the Convocation Center after I graduated. Over the years, I’ve had some really great people here to work with, not only my staff, but at the University. I’ve also made many life-long industry friendships in this business with who I hope to continue. I am now ready for the next adventure in my life. Cindy and I plan to travel and spend time with our children and grandchildren and give back some of the time they’ve given me to pursue my career. We’ll then take a look at what the future may hold.”

Through his career, Dean has booked such notable talent as Garth Brooks, Ray Charles, George Strait, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift, Reba, Kelly Clarkson, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson and 100’s of other acts. Additionally, he has booked national touring shows including the Harlem Globetrotters, Ringling Bros. Circus, Professional Bull Riding, Monster Jam, Sesame Street LIVE and many others, while hosting ASU’s annual Commencement exercises and ASU intercollegiate sporting events.

An unpleasant restroom experience can turn customers away, perhaps even garnering a bad review. However, clean, well-maintained restrooms can be customer magnets.

A new survey shows how businesses ultimately pay a price for having unpleasant restroom conditions—and reap the rewards of providing good ones.

More than half (56 percent) of American adults said they are unlikely to return to a business after experiencing unpleasant restrooms, according to the Healthy Hand Washing Survey by Bradley Corp., manufacturer of commercial washroom products. Other disheartened customers will complain to management, tell a friend, post a comment on social media or leave right away without completing their business.

Conversely, businesses that have pleasant, well-maintained restrooms can turn into customer magnets. Almost three-quarters (70 percent) of Americans say they have made a conscious effort to select a specific business because it has restrooms that are cleaner and better maintained. That number is even higher for millennials—77 percent of respondents aged 18 to 34 say they’ve patronized certain businesses because they have cleaner restrooms.

“Depending on their condition, public restrooms can become significant business liabilities—or ringing endorsements,” Jon Dommisse, director of global marketing and strategic development for Bradley Corp., said.

Dommisse noted that good restrooms “invite positive customer reinforcement” and “clearly give businesses a competitive edge,” likely resulting in more sales.

Moreover, expectations for a business’ restrooms are clearly tied to customers’ perceptions of the quality of the goods or services. According to the survey, 92 percent of respondents expect that a business that provides high-quality products or services would also have restrooms that deliver a high-quality experience.

Despite the high value that customers put on restroom conditions, the survey uncovered an adverse trend showing that more businesses are at an increased risk for losing customers because of messy facilities. In 2017, almost 70 percent of Americans said they recall having an unpleasant restroom experience—that number was only 60 percent in 2015.

Dommisse said keeping regular scheduled maintenance on the radar is essential, citing the following common restroom aggravations uncovered by the survey: empty or jammed toilet-paper dispensers (mentioned by 93 percent of respondents); clogged or unflushed toilets (87 percent); stall doors that do not latch (81 percent); bad smells (79 percent); and an overall appearance that is old, dirty, or unkempt (79 percent).

Further, Americans do not like touching things in public restrooms, and they use all sorts of techniques to avoid coming into contact with surfaces, such as relying on their foot to operate the toilet flusher, using a paper towel to grasp the door handle, and hovering over the toilet seat.

When asked what restroom improvements they would like to see, it is not surprising cleanliness topped the list. After that, Americans want touchless fixtures and better stocking of supplies, such as toilet paper, soap, and paper towels.