I graduated college in 2005 and was lucky enough to get a gig at Strathmore, an arts complex in Bethesda, Maryland, where I had interned the year prior. I’m certain I bombed the interview. They still poke fun at me about how I was expecting to have “more time to play video games” now that I was out of the college grind. WHAT A MORON! I guess I was lucky enough to have the other, more interview-ready competition get other job offers. I still remember the offer call. You ready for this? I accepted under the condition that I could have my already scheduled beach week one week after I was to start. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?!! If I was my boss, I not only would have laughed on the other end of the phone, I would have retracted the offer. Yet I think he was desperate. Yup. He must have been because he agreed. He never let me forget that either…but I still had a job. So far so good.

As a communications and music double major, I didn’t have the foggiest idea of what venue management entailed, and as Strathmore had just opened a new concert hall, there wasn’t a whole lot of past practice for me to learn from. I made my way…somehow…and went from a glorified paper-pusher to operations manager after about 16 months. I think at the time, my only real qualifications were that I managed to not get lost in the building and didn’t get anyone killed.

Shortly after the promotion, I was told that I was signed up for IAAM. Boy was I stoked for the new magazine subscription! When I got my first issue and started to look at the pictures (I’m not much for words), I realized what I really had been given—an opportunity to right all my previous bone-headed, immature, wrongs and actually learn how to be a venue manager. I jumped at the opportunity.

I read each FM issue from cover to cover. I remember the day I saw the ad for the Mentoring Program. I was 23 and living in my mom’s basement and it said “free” so sign me up! The experience got me in touch with a wonderful mentor, Terry Genovese, CFE, who I will never forget for the advice, the connections, and the opportunities she afforded me. She encouraged me to apply for PAFMS (now Venue Management School). She called ahead to industry pillars like John Siehl, CFE, and Adina Erwin to warn….I mean…let them know that a rookie who she was humoring as a mentee was headed their way and to try not to let me do anything stupid. They took time to seek me out, introduce themselves, and offered their support in finding my niche. After that week in Oglebay, I think I knew this was in my blood. From that moment on I was drinking the Kool-Aid and preaching the gospel to anyone who would listen.

A few years ago I heard a taskforce was being assembled to promote and add value to the Young Professionals membership; I immediately threw my hat in the ring to be a part of it. Now as the chair of the soon-to-be Young Professionals Committee (read—“HERE TO STAY!!”), I couldn’t be happier to be in the position to help younger folks to utilize what IAAM, now IAVM, has to offer to the future of this industry. I owe my livelihood to getting that first chance at employment and then working every last ounce of opportunity I could out of that “magazine subscription” called the International Association of Venue Managers.

If you’ve read this far (thanks for that btw), I ask two things, 1: If you are still early in your career in this crazy industry we love so much, reach out to me or anyone involved in the Young Professional Committee, Mentoring Program, or Universities Committee as soon as you can. We’ll find you some way to get involved, and we’ll drop what we’re doing to give you the guidance and resources that so many of us benefited from. And 2: If you have the opportunity to recognize staff or students in your organization that just might need a taste of what IAVM has to offer, get them to us. Let us speak in you classrooms, or send them to us for a shadow experience or internship. The future VMS instructors, committee chairs, and mentors of this industry need to start their journeys today!

To put a spin on a famous Jack Nicholson quote: “We want you on that wall…We need you on that wall.”

If I managed to make something of myself through IAVM, anyone can.  Help me make some more Kool-Aid, and if you’re thirsty, we’re serving!

Hope to see everyone in Baltimore!

(Image: Bre Pettis/Creative Commons)

The National Association of Collegiate Marketing Administrators (NACMA) and the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at the University of Oregon recently conducted a study to discover how to get students into stadiums and keep them there until the event is over.

“It’s definitely a huge concern to capture their attention and get them to games while they’re in school because once you lose them, it’s that much harder to increase that fandom,” lead investigator Andrew Guerra to USA Today. “You can get fans there but if they’re not engaged in the game, not only does it deplete the fan experience but it depletes the home-field advantage that these teams have.”

The report, “Student Attendance at Collegiate Sporting Events,” used survey data from 18,876 students at schools in 32 conferences and focused on attendance at football and men’s basketball games. Study participants were asked what influences them to attends games, viewing preferences, and social media habits, among others.

Some of the key findings from the USA Today story include

— Average student affinity was 7.1 out of 10, with 81 percent of students attending at least one live sporting event.

— Interest in the sport, game time, ticket price, opponent, and team record were the most influential in students’ determination whether to attend a sporting event.

— Students indicated their favorite parts of the game-day experience were watching live game action (23 percent), in-stadium atmosphere (17 percent) and tailgating (15 percent). Of overall respondents, 28 percent chose stadium and concession food as the most enjoyable part of attending home games, with that option ranking first among Power Five and FBS schools.

— Of students who follow the team on Facebook, 72 percent attended three or more home football games. Of those who didn’t, 44 percent attended three or more games. Facebook followers of teams were 63 percent more likely to attend three or more home games than students who didn’t follow the team on Facebook, and that trend held for other social media. Twitter (61 percent), Snapchat (47 percent), and Instagram (48 percent) made students more likely to attend three or more home games.

— Students who said Wi-Fi connectivity was not important in their decision to attend games did so at a higher rate than students who said it was.

— Although 67 percent of students agreed watching games is “more comfortable at home,” it scored lower than 2.5 on a scale of 5 on how likely it would be to prevent game attendance.

— Personal errands, hanging out with friends and family, and using the Internet were the biggest competing interests in deciding whether students attended three or more games.

— Nearly a quarter of respondents reported leaving before a game is 75 percent complete. Potential incentives for them to stay for the entire game included free T-shirts, a sponsored post-game party, loyalty points, and concession discounts, in that order. Loyalty points and meet and greets with players yielded the strongest results.

Check out our article, “How to Increase Student Attendance at Games” for more ideas on this subject.

(Image: Erik Drost/Creative Commons)

The mobile app VenueNext has raised $9 million in Series A financing from Causeway Media Partners with participation from Live Nation Entertainment, Twitter, Aruba Networks, and others.

The technology made its debut during the San Francisco 49ers season this past year at Levi’s Stadium. The platform, according to a release from the company, has the ability to tie together isolated venue systems such as location services, ticketing, points of sale and concessionaire services to help venue operators make real-time, data-driven decisions, and then seamlessly surface these through a context-aware mobile app.

“The investment in VenueNext seems to imply Twitter may want to get involved with other aspects of live events, too, like ticket sales or concessions or merchandise,” Kurt Wagner wrote on Re/code. “Imagine getting an exclusive offer on Twitter for a T-shirt, which is then delivered to your seat. Or tweeting somebody a beer at an NFL game. Twitter is starting to expand its commerce offerings beyond the occasional ‘buy’ button that appears in your feed, and this is another way it might do that.”

There were some impressive results with the app at Levi’s Stadium in 2014. For example, the venue reduced its food and beverage costs by 5 percent through better inventory management; it sold more than $1.25 million in mobile in-app purchases of food, beverage, merchandise, and parking; and it expanded its unique visitor database from 17,000 to more than 200,000.

“It has been an exciting run since September, where we have received unprecedented interest from all types of venues globally, from live sporting and entertainment event locations, to hotels, transit centers and theme parks,” said John Paul, CEO and founder at VenueNext, in a statement. “The market is ready for what we are offering, and we will use the funds to expand the team and deploy our proven approach to unifying systems at over 30 different types of venues alone in 2015.”

(Image: VenueNext)

We’re back for another edition of The Venue, IVAM’s monthly call-in show about the issues you face every day. The show will take place at 2 p.m. (CST).

Follow this link to register: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/50090377894186342

Joe Durr, director of event services for PORTLAND’5 Centers for the Arts, was supposed to be our special guest on the first episode. However, he unable to appear, but we’re happy to say he’ll be the special guest for this edition.

Durr, Greg Wolfe, and I will be talking about a few subjects that have popped up on VenueNet, such as ideal outdoor row and aisle spacing, theatre houselights LED retrofits, staff plans for concerts (security, admissions, medical), service animals, volunteer recruitment materials, fountain drinks vs. bottles/cans, and Palcohol.

We hope you join us on Friday by calling in or listening.

We also recorded a special show at Venue Management School, and we’ll post it soon. And if you want, you can still listen to the first episode online.

Super Bowl XLIX, the 2015 Pro Bowl, and related events produced a gross economic impact of $719.4 million in the region, according to a study by the L. William Seidman Research Institute at the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. The 2015 Super Bowl and Pro Bowl were held at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

“This is tremendous news for our economy and a strong testament to the exceptional work of everyone involved,” said Arizona Governor Doug Ducey. “The eyes of the world were on Arizona, and we delivered in a big way. I look forward to our state hosting many more successful championship games and major events in the future.”

The study focused nine days (Jan. 24-Feb. 1, 2015) and measured the direct amount of spending by visitors and organizations from out of state, including indirect and induced impacts from the spending. Resident and local business spending was not included.

Here are some of the findings from the study:

• An estimated 121,775 visitors came to Arizona for Super Bowl XLIX and/or the 2015 Pro Bowl; those visitors stayed an average of 3.99 nights.
• An estimated 5,033 out-of-town media members came to Arizona and stayed an average of 7.1 nights (up from 4.1 nights for Super Bowl XLII in 2008).
• The $719.4 million economic impact for Super Bowl XLIX represents an increase of 30.8 percent over Super Bowl XLII in Arizona (adjusted using the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index, or BLS CPI, inflation calculator which expressed that the 2008 economic impact dollars have the same buying power as $550.1 million in 2015).

Previously released data relative to the success of the events include

• Broadcast by NBC, Super Bowl XLIX was the most-watched program in the history of U.S. TV and averaged 114.4 million viewers.
• More than one million people visited Verizon Super Bowl Central in downtown Phoenix and 500,000 people enjoyed events in downtown Scottsdale during the week.
• Verizon Super Bowl Central was the first reduced waste event of its size at a Super Bowl; the Kick the Waste Initiative resulted in 73 percent diversion rate from landfill to recycling.
• 177,000 people attended the NFL Experience, a record attendance at the Phoenix Convention Center.
• On the day before Super Bowl XLIX, 126,000 people rode Valley Metro Light Rail, doubling the previous single-day high. Throughout the week, Light Rail ridership totaled 389,500 (also a record).
• Sky Harbor Airport served 175,000 passengers the day after Super Bowl, a single day record for Sky Harbor.
• Super Bowl XLIX was televised live in more than 170 countries and territories. More than 23 countries provided onsite coverage from Arizona and the game was broadcast in nine languages from University of Phoenix Stadium (Mandarin Chinese, Danish, English, French, German, Hungarian, Japanese, Portuguese, and Spanish).
• Arizona was the first host community to offer a website and social media in Spanish and to create cross-border partnerships with Mexico business and tourism entities.
• More than 100 stations broadcast live from Radio Row at the Super Bowl Media Center in downtown Phoenix.
• Legacy Grant Funds in excess of $2 million were awarded to 27 Arizona non-profits to benefit over 400,000 kids; this was made possible by sponsors of the Super Bowl Host Committee, the Arizona Cardinals and the NFL.

(Image: Super Bowl 50/Creative Commons)