Evan Dunn, Transform, tries to convince attendees of the benefits of social advertising.
REPORTING FROM TACOMA, WASH.— The 2015 IAVM Region 4 Conference held at Greater Tacoma (Wash.) Convention Center, April 19-21, boasted 125 attendees with 21 partners, continuing to make it one of the best-attended IAVM region conferences on a regular basis. With venues representatives from the Pacific Northwest as well as Canada, the sessions included business updates and informative talks with interactive question and answer portions that fostered a collaborative environment.
Presiding over the festivities was Region 4 Director Adam Cook, newly-appointed GM of the Rose Quarter in Portland, Ore., who kept everything on schedule while also looking to members for feedback on how the association is servicing its members, where it is excelling, lacking or absent.
Keynote speakers like Paul Martin, challenged attendees to take on a positive attitude in their work. Martin lost a leg in a car accident at age 25 and went on to become a Paralympian and set records in the Ironman Triathlon and other international races. He purported that just like in his own life, through determination and commitment, a positive attitude is able to triumph over adversity. Keynote speaker Brian Nelson, a Major in the Washington Army National Guard, also sought to inspire attendees to focus on changing their individual behaviors to incrementally accomplish goals and increase willpower.
Tyler Borders, Tyler Borders Consulting, expanded the theme to apply to a company’s brand. To thrive, a company must have a clear vision of self, personifying their business or venue and figuring out what that personality is in order to have a deep, more authentic vision of the brand, which goes beyond a logo or image. By creating a deeper understanding of brand, venues will be able to attract authentic fans in a more sincere, emotional way.
Beyond discussing the here and now, IAVM Region 4 Conference also looked to the future. In a fast-paced session known as Pecha Kucha, eight presenters were allowed 20 slides with 20 seconds for each slide to share their predictions for what’s next for the industry. Mike Warkentin, venue manager at Rexall Place, Edmonton, summed up the mindset best when he quoted Rear Admiral Grace Hooper, saying, “The most dangerous phrase in our language is ‘we’ve always done it this way.’” From drones and technology to live streaming and unusual locales, presenters took cues from emerging trends to prepare attendees for what the business may look like in a matter of years for operations, lodging and fan experiences sides.
“Fans’ expectations change based on what they’ve experienced,” said Becca Watters of Spokane Arena. “We need to take cues from festivals such as Coachella, Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits and create engaging, unique atmospheres that act as a second event at the event itself.”
Attorney Steven Adelman presented the legal side of signage, events and operations at venues, all while jokingly reminding attendees this was not official legal advice but could become so once they paid for said advice. “Reasonably” became an oft-repeated word used to describe patrons, situations and standards.
“The duty of care is to provide reasonably safe premises for reasonably foreseeable invitees engaged in reasonably foreseeable conduct,” said Adelman, “Now, that’s a lot of reasonable, but it doesn’t actually tell you what you should do or not do. The law doesn’t give you that sort of answer, so now we have to pour in facts.”
The talk used examples from America’s favorite passtime to explain how unreasonable the seemingly reasonable can actually be, fleshing out the meaning that everyone has the duty to behave reasonably under the same or similar circumstances. During various MLB opening days this year, that duty was seemingly shirked by teams like the Chicago Cubs and Miami Marlins.
Evan Dunn of Transform led a session discussing the why and how of paid social advertising. Social media as a means of selling tickets and marketing events is no longer “on the rise” but is a present reality for the industry. And though the medium is still in its infancy compared to radio, print and TV advertising, the technology already affords a level of ease, flexibility, specificity and affordability that the more traditional forms do not.
Dunn demonstrated the efficiency of Facebook advertising by creating a targeted ad right in front of attendees' eyes in less than four minutes.
“I’m pretty sure creating a TV ad isn’t that quick or easy,” said Dunn, “not that I’ve ever done it. This social advertising works pretty well for me.”
Outside of informational sessions, the conference also included an hour of speed networking, like speed dating, but instead of walking away with dinner plans, participants hopefully gained a few new contacts and business connections and were able to reconnect with old ones.
IAVM 1, 2 and 3 Conference will take place next May 17-20 at St. Charles (Mo.) Convention Center.
Interviewed for this story: Steven Adelman, (480) 209-2426; Evan Dunn, (832) 271-0518; Tyler Borders, (509) 554-4350; Becca Watters, (509) 279-5000, Mike Warkentin, (780) 471-7210