There are a few new stadium projects in the works with even more stadiums planning upgrades to their existing facilities. These projects are extremely costly, so withstanding the test of time, being relevant for next 30-plus years should be goal No. 1 for any upgrade or new stadium venture. This article highlights certain best practices and ideal stadium designs that we, the promoter of stadium events, have found very helpful throughout our 20-plus years of producing stadium events.

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Monica Lee-Müller, managing director of HML, announces at the HKCEC’s 27th anniversary cocktail reception that the HKCEC has become the first organisation in Hong Kong to attain the ISO 20121 Event Sustainability Management System certificate.

Congratulations to the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) on becoming the first organisation in Hong Kong to achieve the ISO 20121 Event Sustainability Management System recognition. Also, the renovated restaurant, Congress Plus, became the first restaurant in the city to receive LEED Gold Certification for Interior Design and Construction V2009 by the U.S. Green Building Council, and Silver rating of BEAM Plus Interiors V1.0 by the Hong Kong Green Building Council.

Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (Management) Limited (HML) is the professional management company responsible for the HKCEC’s day-to-day operation, and it has set a clear event sustainability policy. For example, in the fiscal year ending June 2015 HML received 6.4 million visitors to HKCEC’s restaurants and staged 1,113 successful events at the center. More than 400,000 kilograms of food and other waste materials were collected for recycling. Approximately 3,000 kilograms of uneaten food was donated to charity, also, and the staff participated in 62 community projects during the fiscal year.

“HML well deserves the ISO 20121 recognition,” said Wilfred Chan, operations director of British Standards Institution Hong Kong, in a statement. “Our auditors are very impressed by HML’s dedication in sustainability and continuous improvements. The whole team on all levels demonstrated total commitment, from policy, planning to delivery.”

Monica Lee-Müller, HML’s managing director, said that the organization takes pride in committing continuous efforts and resources in attaining these significant achievements.

“We hope these benchmark achievements do not only motivate our staff members to continue to strive for improvements and support the company’s sustainability initiatives, but also influence our customers, event organizers, contractors, suppliers and stakeholders, and other event industry players to join hands for a greener future for the industry,” Lee-Müller said in a statement.

You know, if you’ve been following this blog closely, that I’m fascinated with virtual reality (VR) technology. Let’s be clear, though. I don’t believe it will kill the live event business. Humans are social animals, and we’ll always want to surrounded by friends, families, or complete strangers during an event where our energies mingle.

VR, however, can be used as a great marketing tool or an additional revenue stream for sold-out events. Case in point, Disney recently shot VR footage of a performance of “Circle of Life” from the musical The Lion King.

“It seemed like a really perfect marriage: A universally known song like ‘Circle of Life’ being distributed and displayed through a completely new technology that we hope will open up The Lion King to a new generation of theater-goers,” Andrew Flatt, senior vice president for marketing at Disney Theatrical Group, told the Associated Press.

VR users get a 360-degree experience of the performance, along with some extra visuals.

“Viewers can follow one performer, or look out into the aisles to see elephants arriving, see the conductor and audience faces, or peer backstage to find out what’s coming next,” Mark Kennedy reported. “It is a thrilling, heady experience.”

Lately, the sports and concert worlds have experimented with VR; however, this is the first time it has been done in a Broadway theater. I’m sure more will be on the way, and proponents hope this drives more people to productions.

“Nothing will replace the actual theatrical experience,” Flatt said. “We’re well aware of that. But I think the way that consumers are trending at the moment is they want to know more. They want to go beyond the surface of something, and that includes the Broadway experience. That’s why the virtual reality platform is groundbreaking.”

(Image: Twitter)

Some of you may be celebrating a certain U.S. holiday this week and will find yourselves with some free time on your hands. If that’s the case, consider applying for a Certified Venue Professional (CVP) designation. Also, we’ve extended the deadline from Dec. 1, 2015, to Jan. 1, 2016, so you have more time to complete your application.

If you haven’t yet reviewed the materials on our website, please take a moment to complete the “CVP Checklist” to ascertain if you have earned the 100 points needed to apply and start the formal process. And if you’re seeking some article writing points, consider writing some blog posts for us. Those count toward your needed points, too.

The CVP designation says three important things about an individual: he or she is a capable professional, is committed to the industry, and is pledged to continued professional growth and development. Venue professionals who earn the CVP designation are recognized, by those inside and outside the industry, as skilled in their profession.

We look forward to receiving your applications, and please let us know if you have any questions.

The New York Times published a great article last week about Feld Entertainment, specifically about Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus. The story by Stephanie Sinclair and Taffy Brodesser-Akner shows how the business adapts to change in order to stay relevant and entertaining to audiences.

“The circus has changed over the years,” Feld Entertainment CEO and Chairman Kenneth Feld told the reporters. “There’s no other entertainment that’s been around for this long that you could name. We’re older than baseball. We’re older than Coca-Cola. I don’t know how many times it’s been reimagined, reinvented, but I know we’ve probably done it six, eight times. We’re going to do it again without the elephants in a whole different way. Then we’re going to do it again and we’re going to do it again and we’re going to do it again.”

Even though the circus isn’t Feld’s most popular entertainment offering, the company considers itself “stewards of an important legacy” and it is an “inspiration for everything they do,” because technology is making it harder for live events to amaze people.

“Somehow, over the past few decades, we’ve forgotten how to be impressed by physical achievements, incredible feats that no normal person can do,” the reporters wrote. “Nowadays, you go to Times Square, and you don’t see people juggling and eating fire and doing delightful busking; you see people in superhero and Elmo costumes doing nothing but existing off versions of something that appears in movies, on TVs and in toy stores.

“The circus is the last bulwark against all that,” the reporters conclude. “Which is why the Felds are driven to demonstrate, once again, what is magical and singular about it.”

For more about Feld, the circus, and its performers, please read “Running Away With the Circus” in The New York Times.

(Image: Darrell Miller/Creative Commons)