This year, the International Association of Venue Managers (IAVM) leadership made three distinct decisions that have changed the associations’ course that has its members excited.

The first decision was the hiring of a new president and CEO—the long-standing, forward-thinking industry leader Brad Mayne, CFE.

The other two, critical decisions are the interwoven “Re-Brand” and “Conference Strategy” initiatives, both of which have been a year in the making.

“It was essential that the new IAVM brand have many fingerprints on it—and it does. Hundreds of members provided input along the way, and months of collaboration with the staff and leadership of the association ensured that the final outcome would embody the passion, commitment, and contributions of the great collective of people at the heart of IAVM,” said Lauren Wanski, design manager with Gensler’s brand and analytics studio in Chicago.

“While our ‘Re-Brand’ highlights who IAVM is and where we are going, it resulted in the driving promise of ‘inspiring leaders, building expertise and CREATING CONNECTIONS FOR LIFE’—what an impactful way to truly share what IAVM is all about,” said Karen Totaro, CFE, 2015-016 IAVM chair.

In turn, the “conference strategy” is focused on just that statement as it builds on some very key goals:  Protect the intimacy and focus of the sector conferences, preserve the cross-sector networking and knowledge sharing enabled by VenueConnect, secure the IAVM marketplace as a thriving hub for Allied and Professional connections, grow the relevance and value of the overall conference experience and, finally, provide the opportunity to integrate private meetings into the design of the conference in future years.

“I’m most looking forward to the strong focus on sector tracks. This structure will make it easier for me to justify in my budget attending the conference or sending my team members to the conference,” said Erin Jepson, CMP, 2016-2017 chair of the VenueConnect Program Committee. “The opportunity to participate in an event that brings the incredible minds that plan each of the sector conferences to the VenueConnect planning table is an opportunity not to be missed next year in Nashville.”

All three decisions had very inclusive processes to ensure IAVM members’ voices were heard.

“The results are better for it,” Totaro said.

IAVM’s 92nd annual VenueConnect will be held at the Music City Center in Nashville, Tennessee, Aug. 7-9, 2017.

VenueConnect 2016 attendees volunteered to help clean up local Minneapolis parks on Friday morning, July 22, before the conference began. The volunteers pruned rose bushes, pulled weeds, and cleared undergrowth at Lyndale Park and its four gardens.

Landmark Event Staffing Services and PROjection Presentation Technology sponsored the project. Please check out some photos below of the day’s activities.

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(Photos: Rob Price)

iCommit, IAVM’s member referral campaign, is in full swing now. Goal: If every member strives to add just one new member, we could DOUBLE our membership; currently, we have 5,083 members. Realistically, we are targeting a minimum of 300 new professional members by December 31, 2016. With the addition of the Group Membership program, these numbers are very attainable—all new members will count towards your referral total. If you know of a venue in your community that is not a part of IAVM, encourage them to consider Group Membership. As of today, 113 active venues participating as group members. Do you have interns, students or young professionals working for you now? Encourage them to become a part of our network.

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. 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, sponsored by Ungerboeck Software International. The more members you refer, the more chances you will have to win. *The gift cards will be mailed to the winners in January 2017.

Prizes

• The grand prize will be a complimentary registration to VenueConnect 2017 in Nashville (value $895).
• 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 that region.
• The campaign ends December 31, 2016.

• 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 Professional/ Allied Membership Application.
• For new members only, the $150 one-time initiation fee will be waived, if applicable*

Hurry! Start referring new members today. Contact me or Summer Beday, member care manager, at 972.906.7441 for a copy of the recruitment tool, “Why be a member of IAVM?” – for speaking points to encourage prospects to join.

We value and appreciate your support of IAVM!

(photo credit: SimpleSkye via photopin cc)

Here’s an intriguing statistic: 50 percent of the buildings included in the VenueDataSource “Firearms in the Venue Study” had to take some action in response to state or local open carry laws. To be the first to know what they needed to do, come to a workshop and fireside chat at VenueConnect in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

VenueDataSource representatives will contribute to the workshop, “The Impact on New Gun Laws on Public Venues” (Saturday, July 22, 9-11 a.m.) along with panelists Andy Jabbour (founder and president of Gate 15), Russell Read, CFE (vice president of operations at the AT&T Performing Arts Center), and Marcus Travis (guest and security services manager for the Minneapolis Convention Center). Attendees will learn about recent gun laws and how venues are complying with them. This will surely be a highly engaging workshop.

VenueConnect attendees can also be the first to obtain the results from the “Firearms in the Venue Study” at a fireside chat presented by the Research Committee on Sunday in Booth #1347 from 1:10-1:30 pm on the trade show floor.

Be sure and visit VenueDataSource anytime during the trade show at IAVM Booth #1435 and talk to the members that help provide valuable information for the association.

Please welcome our newest members who joined IAVM in June 2016—a total of 73 new members. 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 http://www.iavm.org/i-am-venue-management-share-your-story to share your story and photo.

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