Fifty-two VenueConnect 2015 attendees visited Matthew A. Henson Elementary School in Baltimore on Friday, July 31, to participate in the IAVM Foundation’s Legacy Project.

There, they made more than 200 casserole dishes that created 1,600 individual servings, feeding up to 125 families. The event overall was a success, with many volunteers happy they signed up for the project.

“I enjoyed spending time helping making a small difference in someone’s life,” said Jason Blackwell, director of operations for the Portland’5 Centers for the Arts. “We attendees come from all across the country and to band together to help a city is an amazing experience. We brought four-star energy to the community, and I’m proud that Portland’5 is one of the sponsors of this great event.”

Jabari Earl, with the University of Texas San Antonio, echoed Blackwell’s sentiments.

“I wanted to give back to the community and help out,” Earl said. “It was a really great experience. It was good to get everyone together, making food for people who need it.”

Peggy Daidakis, executive director of the Baltimore Convention Center, said that she appreciated the hard work and effort the volunteers displayed.

“Personally, an event like this solidifies and validates that there’s so much more good that’s happening in our community,” Daidakis said. “To be able to give back to the people who need it most is very heart warming and rewarding.”

Thank you to Sodexo, Aramark, Spectra by Comcast Spectacor, Centerplate, and Portland’5 Centers for the Arts for helping fund the IAVM Foundation’s Legacy Project. Below are some select photos from the project.

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(All images: Orange Photography)

We’re excited to be in Baltimore this year for VenueConnect. In addition to great educational sessions and networking opportunities, we’re happy to offer several new conference experiences for attendees. The following are new this year for VenueConnect:

UpStart: Emerging Leaders Experience| Room 339-342 | 8 AM – 2 PM
Presented by: IAVM Foundation & Western Kentucky University
FREE for students, young professionals, and faculty. US$35 for other VenueConnect attendees. Prior registration required.

Fireside chats: Located on the Trade Show floor. Fireside chats are short, informative discussions about products and ideas relevant to the venue management industry.

Tech showcase: Located on the Trade Show floor. These are 20-minute presentations by suppliers featuring their products.

Spark: Small Tables, Big Topics. These interactive round tables take place on Monday, August 3, 8:30-9:45 a.m. Attendees can move from table to table based on their interests. Here is just a sampling of the many topics to be discussed:

—Cloud Based Parking Technologies
—Dance Flooring
—Motorized Rigging—Pros and Cons
—Selling Your Alternative Space
—Measuring the Effectiveness of Your Leadership

Perhaps you’re unable to attend VenueConnect this year. No problem. Just follow the IAVM on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, where we’ll be posting content with the #VC15 hashtag. We’ll also be using Periscope to live-stream some events. Follow us on it, too!

If you’re at the conference, be sure and download our new mobile app powered by Sherpa Solutions. You’ll have access to speaker bios, receive real-time notifications, schedule updates, and be able to create a personal itinerary to remind you of the sessions, programs, and events you don’t want to miss. From your mobile device, you can download it directly from the App Store or Google Play (available July 31). Just search for IAVM.

One of the best tools on the new mobile app is the ActivLocator, a geolocation solution that uses beacons to help attendees see more, do more, and get more face time with the people who matter on the Trade Show floor. An interactive map allows users to locate themselves on the floor, see what’s happening around them, get relevant suggestions and find their next opportunity quickly. Exhibitors, too, can use this tool to reach the right people.

From Triple Bottom Line to Net Positive, Materiality Matrix to Circular Economy, the buzz words and language of sustainability can be overwhelming if you’re not living it day in and day out. As venue operators, where do we begin with developing a sustainability program? Is my current program on track? What models are other venues using that might work for me?

While we cannot answer all those questions in a single blurb, IAVM’s Sustainability Committee is here to assist you in finding answers and helping you grow your programs. With that, we invite you to stop by Booth 260, just north of the IAVM Membership Booth at VenueConnect for one of two mini-sessions on sustainability:

Saturday, August 1 @ 5:10 p.m. – Sodexo Composting Mini Session
A growing global problem of breathtaking scope, food waste is the single greatest contributor to American landfills. In this 15-minute session, we’ll explore how composting can be part of the solution to solving the food waste crisis.

Sunday, August 2 @ 12:20 p.m. – GSA’s Greener Cleaning Playbook
Have you thought about green cleaning as a way to reduce operating expenses and health risks to staff and event attendees? It’s possible, and in this 15-minute session, the Green Sports Alliance will introduce you to the Greener Cleaning Playbook, which features some take-aways any venue can implement.

(Image: Intel Free Press/Creative Commons)

This week’s spotlight of recipients in the IAVM Foundation’s inaugural class of 30|UNDER|30 are asked, “What do you look to take away from VenueConnect?”

McKell Bennett
Assistant Marketing Director
Adam Center – University of Montana
Missoula, Montana

“I hope to further my knowledge within the venue industry and build on the networks I previously made by being a student intern in 2014. I also hope to gain valuable life lessons that I can continue to pursue year after year as a professional.”

Jacquelyn Holowaty
Vice President, Ticketing
Spectra Venue Management
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

“I look to take away from VenueConnect a networking capability of people I’ve never talked to and ideas they have I’ve never even thought about and being able to share those ideas and examples in what I’m doing on a day-to-day basis. Also seeing technology I’m not aware of or haven’t been a part of, as well as management styles, such as how people my age are managing up or managing the millennials.”

Jena Schaafsma
Assistant Director, Event Booking and Marketing
MetLife Stadium
East Rutherford, New Jersey

“I look forward to networking with people from the industry and other venues. There’s actually a limited amount of people who do what we do, so to be in a room full of others and converse with them and share best practices, new ideas, and the latest trends would be pretty beneficial.”

Caitlin Volpe
Event Coordinator
AT&T Performing Arts Center
Dallas, Texas

“VenueConnect for me is always an exciting experience not only because of the knowledge you gain through the different sessions but also through the networking of professionals that goes on throughout the conference and trade show. There are always ways for your venue to improve, so I hope I take some insight back to Dallas with me that I can apply to my venue. Another thing I love about attending VenueConnect is the interactions the students have with the professionals. Being a past student volunteer, I hope I can enlighten or give advice to those student volunteers attending the conference this year.”

We aired our third episode of The Venue last Friday, but if you missed it, no problem. We recorded it, and you can listen to the above audio of it.

On this episode, we were joined by our guest host, IAVM Chair Kim Bedier, CFE, and we discussed a variety of topics, such as SMART goals for part-time/front-of-house employees, John Oliver’s editorial on publicly funded stadiums and arenas,VenueConnect, and bacon-flavored seaweed.

Thank you for listening, and thank you to Kathy Summerlin with the Saenger Theatre in Pensacola, Florida, for joining, too, on the live broadcast.  We broadcast The Venue every fourth Friday of the month, and you can still listen to the first episode and the second episode.