I recently sat down with John Siehl, who will be assuming the reins as IAAM Chairman during VenueConnect in Houston next month. We did an interview for the cover story of the August/September issue of Facility Manager magazine. As those of you who know him will attest, John is as forthright and engaging as they come. As a matter of fact we were on such a roll that he was close to being late to catching his bus for an outing at a Texas Rangers' baseball game during the recent International Stadium Management Conference held in Fort Worth.
John told me about how during the very infancy of his career he went up to a venue manager and just blurted out that he wanted to manage an ice rink. He also told of a time that while he had ticket turnstile duty his look and activity must not have been professional enough because his boss came up and smacked him on the back and told him to straighten up (probably figuratively and literally!) because the public deserves the very best effort.
Now today I doubt too many who are aspiring into this business are running up to managers demanding to be named a manager, just as I doubt too many probably get smacked on the back these days by upset supervisors.
Just as John displayed an early passion for this most exciting business, today's newcomers have even more incredible opportunities to become educated before even working in their first job. Talk about some golden opportunities! And here's to hoping that the same fire and passion exists in the bellies of those about to engage in their public assembly careers after finishing their college graduations last month.
Your stories are just as exciting as John's and will be the stories of tomorrow that people read and will learn from as yet another new generation looks at this business for a meaningful and long-lasting career.