By R.V. Baugus
Decisions, decisions. Whether to write a gazillion blogs to recap VenueConnect 2021 in Atlanta or to go with one overarching read to try as best as possible to capture the essence of the Association’s first face-to-face VenueConnect in two years. Let’s go with the latter, and away we go with some selected highlights.
Unique ‘Nique
Oh, ye reader of assumed thoughts, your trusty editor here did not go to the first full session on Tuesday of the VC21 week to hear from Dominique Wilkins solely based on a sports angle, of which your trusty editor here is as you likely know by now a huge fan of sports.
Wilkins, a legendary talent with the Atlanta Hawks who among his accomplishments include nine all-star appearances, a 2006 Hall of Fame inductee, and two-time NBA dunking champion (“It should have been four,” ‘Nique noted), appeared via Zoom to talk some hoops and some life.
Wilkins broadcasts for the Atlanta Hawks and is Chairman of the Board for Kulture City. Drafted No. 3 overall by the Utah Jazz and traded to Atlanta (oops, Utah!), Wilkins has called Atlanta home for 42 years. “It was a match made in heaven,” he said. “It is the most diverse city in America. From entertainment to sports, Atlanta is a great place to raise a family.”
Wilkins learned after finishing his career that he had diabetes. He lost his father and grandfather to the disease, but saw it as a challenge and created a change to his lifestyle. Kulture City works with special needs, something Wilkins identifies with.
Hidden Biases of Good People
VenueConnect attendees know the difficulty of selecting to attend one education session over another taking place at the same time. Your trusty editor here appreciates the same challenge. While speaking to others who attended other sessions at the same time as the Hidden Biases of Good People session presented by Rev. Bryant Marks, Sr., founder and chief equity officer at NTIRE and a professor of psychology at Morehouse College in Atlanta, I came to understand that IAVM hit a grand slam with education sessions and presenters.
I can share that Rev. Marks, from my personal attendance at his session to not only blog to learn more about myself, not only knocked it out of the park but the ball is still probably orbiting outer space.
A major takeaway I left with was when Marks identified two key ingredients for having implicit bias: 1) we live in society; and, 2) we have a bias. Period.
Marks started the session listing some tidbits about himself, not to pat himself on the back, but to use in a following exercise when he asked the audience if they made suppositions about him based on some of his past and personality.
“It is all a matter of perspective,” he said. “Unconscious bias is not new. It goes back 50 years.”
Quoting Marks almost does not do him justice. His speech delivery while rapid-fire was riveting and engaging. The session included asking the audience to log in using their phones to provide answers to different scenarios that validate biases that people – yes, good people – have.
Marks trains on unconscious bias and said that as long as there are humans there will be hidden bias. He used his time to help accomplish identifying, managing, and reducing bias. He added that bias often occurs through the lens of disproportionate exposure.
For those who argue that bias cannot happen with children in the four- to five-year-old age, Marks offered a chilling video of young African American children being asked which of a Black doll and white doll before them was the “good doll” or the “bad doll.” Most of the children selected the white doll as the good one, a somber and numbing reminder of bias.
Show Time!
Also, for the first time in two years, we have an honest-to-goodness trade show floor that we can actually walk and visit with people we have not seen in these 730ish days. There is nothing better than watching the ribbon-cutting taking place before the march into the exhibit hall to renew friendships between Professional and Allied members and watching the industry marketplace unfold before our very eyes.
I tend to get my FitBit steps easily merely walking through a convention center (much respect and props to you in our convention center world), and those steps also add up on the trade show floor. As senior editor of Venue Professional magazine, we are grateful to those Allied members who not only support the magazine through advertising but also get their intended message out to the venue professionals who read the magazine.
We are grateful for you, and as the Association and industry emerge from the shadows of the pandemic, we look forward to serving you and helping you achieve and reach your goals when you are present at VenueConnect.
What An Honor!
After conducting an interview on the trade show floor for the cover of the November/December Venue Professional magazine (you’ll just have to wait to know who!), it was time to go see industry icon Barry Strafacci presented the Lifetime Achievement Award as presented by the Convention Centers Committee. I have always known Barry as a friendly straight-shooter, which he was during his acceptance comments, but he also got choked up (I know he won’t mind my saying that) when talking about the industry, the association, and his many, many friends. I got more than one lump in my throat as Barry’s words reminded this 20-plus year veteran of IAAM/IAVM just how special the connections are in this association family.
Major honors followed the next morning at the Awards Program as Michael Taormina (Foundation Legacy Award), Russ Simons (Joseph J. Anzivino Distinguished Allied Award), and Denny Magruder (Charles A. McElravy Award) all offered heartfelt words before a largely attended audience in the Thomas Murphy Ballroom.
Have Gavel, Will Travel
Resplendent in coat and tie that can best be described as … uh, er, um, there is still no description, Rip Rippetoe concluded the awards program by passing the gavel for the incoming IAVM Chair to Eric Hart. Rip is a long-time friend and a long-time IAVM member, so it was wonderful that he served in leading the membership, while sad at the same time that the pandemic prevented him from having many of the same travel opportunities as his predecessors.
The honor for me through all of these moments was personally knowing the recipients, many of several years as Rip and I have often noted as he gets credit for writing the first sector column in the magazine (then Facility Manager) in 1989 about performing arts.
Rip took a seat in the audience as Eric began speaking about some of his initiatives for 2021-22. I have to admit to a light chuckle when Eric said that nothing upcoming would be flashy, definitely a stark contrast to the outfit Rip was wearing!
If you were not in Atlanta, we missed you and really want to see you next year in Phoenix. If you were here, thank you for attending and we likewise want to again have you at VenueConnect in Phoenix in 2022.
