During its annual Board of Trustees meeting the International
Association of Venue Managers (IAVM) Foundation announced that it would
fund the industry’s newest data collection and reporting initiative.
IAVM’s Research and Knowledge Advancement Council (RKC) will direct the
overall project through the Foundation’s generous financial support.
“This
valuable initiative provides industry professionals access to data that
will help them assess operations and develop efficiencies, which will
in turn create value to venue owners globally” said Dean Dennis, Chair
of the IAVM Foundation. “Contributing more than $650,000 over 3 years,
makes this the largest Grant ever provided through the Foundation and
marks the significance of this project to our IAVM members” Dennis said.
This
three-year initiative will provide an integrated online portal with
quick access to the information venue managers and industry partners
need to make business decisions. For venue managers, access to
benchmarking data will allow overhead cost comparisons and marketplace
evaluation for performance measurement. As research is developed it will
give public and private owners of arenas, convention centers, stadiums,
performing arts and civic centers, theaters, racetracks, and other
facilities relevant data to effectively manage and measure venue
operation, competitiveness and value.
The research
initiative will collect policies and procedures and up-to-date
information on venues around the world. Entertainment providers and
touring groups will be able to use this one source for routing and
planning events.
A related project will be the development
of an on-line calculator that may be used to calculate the spending
impact of a given event in a community. The calculator may be used to
forecast possible new spending associated with a potential event or
estimate the spending impact generated by a completed event. The first
version of the calculator is expected to go live in 2012.
IAVM
members, like Carol Wallace, President & Chief Executive Officer,
San Diego Convention Center Corporation, are already looking forward to
the beginning of the project and are supporting it through gifts to the
Foundation. “IAVM's commitment to research is a valuable and smart
investment for our industry, one that promises a huge return.” said
Wallace.
Project development will begin immediately and be
phased in over the next three years. Based on previous survey and data
collecting efforts, IAVM will move forward with requests to collect
manageable sections of data to simplify participation and optimize
response rates. Share your ideas and keep up with development of the
project by joining the Research Initiative Discussions on VenueNet.
A
first step in our research initiative is an e-mail request sent earlier
today for your follow up responses to the 2009 Economic Conditions
Survey.
About IAVM Foundation
The
mission of the IAVM Foundation is to raise funds to support the venue
management industry in programs of research, professional development
and education. Since its inception in 1982, the IAVM Foundation has
funded over 141 programs and grants amounting to more than $3 million.
For details, visit www.iavm.org.