Congratulations to the following IAVM members who successfully completed partnerships in IAVM’s Mentor Connector program from April 2014-March 2015. Experienced venue professionals were matched with individuals seeking to enhance their industry knowledge. Each team created a unique program tailored to sharpen skills, increase networking, and strengthen IAVM and its members. Well done, teams!

These members truly represent the breadth of IAVM—across venue types and geographic regions; from students, young professionals, allied members, and seasoned managers to board leaders and past-chairs. Mentees get more involved in IAVM while helping advance their careers and establish “…a relationship with someone to bounce ideas off of and get advice on tough issues.” Mentors not only “pay it forward” to the next generation (an oft’ heard comment), they reinforce their knowledge base and gain insight from another perspective. Coaches bring an industry veteran’s experience—many of them remark, “The benefits you receive in return are tenfold what you put into it.”

One of the mentees this past year—Johnny Walker, general manager of Norris-Penrose Event Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado—had this to say:

“Thank you to everyone involved for having this program! It has been a wonderful advancement of my knowledge of venue management and has benefited myself and my venue immensely…not many industries work so closely with each other like this, and I have truly been the recipient of a great culture.”

Congratulations again to these IAVM members…all leaders in the industry. Successful participants also qualified for points toward the Certified Facility Executive designation and continuing education.

As we say in the opera world: “Bravo! Encore!”

SEE YOU IN BALTIMORE! Look for us on the trade show floor at VenueConnect! Booth 244—just look for the logo!

Mentor Connector 12-month cycles begin every six months—in spring and fall. All current IAVM members are welcome to participate in this FREE member benefit—you need only to fill out a simple online application at www.iavm.org/mentor.

I know we’re all polite to our co-workers, leaders, and employees and would never say or do a rude thing toward them because we know just experiencing rudeness is harmful in the workplace.

“When you experience rudeness, it makes rudeness more noticeable,” said Trevor Foulk, a doctoral student in management at the University of Florida’s  Warrington College of Business Administration. “You’ll see more rudeness even if it’s not there.”

Foulk and colleagues recently published a study in the Journal of Applied Psychology that shows evidence of how rudeness spreads like a virus in the workplace.

“Part of the problem is that we are generally tolerant of these behaviors, but they’re actually really harmful,” Foulk said. “Rudeness has an incredibly powerful negative effect on the workplace.”

The researchers had 90 graduate students practice negotiation skills with classmates. They found that participants who rated their initial negotiation partners as rude were in turn more likely to be rated as rude by a subsequent partner. This effect held event when a week went by between the first and second negotiations.

In another study, the researchers discovered that people who witness rudeness were more likely to be rude to others, too. For example, when participants watched a video featuring a rude workplace interaction and then had to answer a customer email that was in a neutral tone, they were more likely to be rude in their responses than participants who watched a polite interaction before replying to the email.

“That tells us that rudeness will flavor the way you interpret ambiguous cues,” Foulk said.

Foulk said he hopes the study will encourage employers to take incivility more seriously, if they’re not already.

“You might go your whole career and not experience abuse or aggression in the workplace, but rudeness also has a negative effect on performance,” he said. “It isn’t something you can just turn your back on. It matters.”

(Sources: Alisson Clark/University of Florida)

David Beckham and the city of Miami have come to an agreement to build at privately funded 25,000-seat, soccer-specific stadium adjacent to Marlins Park.

“Today’s meeting with Mayor Regalado was another positive step toward bringing a world class soccer club to Miami,” a spokesperson for Beckham Miami United—an investment group backing an MLS team for the city—said. “We’re still in the early planning stages and several viable options still exist, but our preferred stadium location is the former Orange Bowl site. David, Marcelo, and Simon are thrilled by the initial outpouring of support we’ve received from our fans and we’re excited about sharing our plans with the city, county, and community soon.”

Now talks can begin with Major League Soccer to determine a start date for the franchise.

Twenty-four students are spending three weeks at Penn State practicing the full college experience, including classes, meals, and navigating a large university campus. The camp, organized by the Summer Academy for Students Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired, uses the Blind Square app, iBeacons, and a smartphone to provide custom guidance on everything from crossing streets to getting from the salad bar to the cashier in the dining hall.

The guidance provided is highly customized, and, as Frank Ready reports in the Centre Daily Times, can include significant details such as the sequence of beverages available at self-serve drink stations.

As venues continue to integrate location-based capabilities into the tech experience offered to guests, it is inspiring to see new applications emerging that continue to expand the ability to deliver a great visitor experience.

(Image: Jonathan Nalder via Wikipedia CC)

Steve Jones is one of this year’s keynote speakers at the upcoming Arena Management Conference (AMC), Sept. 20-22, in St. Louis, Missouri. Jones is a 30-year music industry veteran, one of the world’s leading radio programmers, and author of two marketing books. He has worked alongside some of the biggest names in music, and at AMC he will show you how music stars like AC/DC, U2, Madonna, Jimmy Buffett, Kiss, Fleetwood Mac, and Taylor Swift have created powerful brands, built legions of loyal followers, thrived in changing times, and turned casual customers into raving fans.

One example of an act offering great customer service is the Foo Fighters, whose lead singer, Dave Grohl, broke his leg during a concert in Sweden in June. But that didn’t stop Grohl and the band from continuing the show.

“An hour later, Dave Grohl was wheeled onto the stage in a wheelchair with his leg in a cast, and he picked up his guitar and performed the Queen/Bowie classic ‘Under Pressure’ as a duet with [Taylor] Hawkins behind the drums,” Jones wrote on his blog. “The fans who were in Gothenburg, Sweden, that night saw a performance they will never forget. Not a single fan, I guarantee you, went home unhappy.”

Jones goes on to show how we can all learn lessons in customer service from Grohl. For example, the customer matters most.

“Your personal pain and suffering don’t matter to them,” Jones wrote. “They paid for an experience, and they deserve to get that experience and then some.”

Check out Jones’ post, “Four Things Dave Grohl Can Teach You About Customer Service” to learn more lessons. And register now for AMC, where Jones will help you understand how to “brand like a rock star” and keep customers and fans coming back for years.

(Top Image: Reddit)