REPORTING FROM NASHVILLE — When operations and engineering professionals gather to discuss everything venue-related, it gets very practical very quickly.
Such was the case at the third annual Venue Operations Summit here April 30-May 2, where the topic of sweating basketball floors that lead to game cancelations was top of mind for many of the arena group. It seems the National Basketball Association is stepping in, sending more extensive, mandatory surveys asking questions about building pressurization. Where it’s all leading is still a mystery to the operations directors in attendance, but learning how to better deal with condensation certainly grabbed their attention.
On March 6 of this year, unseasonably high temperatures and humidity in Minneapolis resulted in so much condensation on the playing floor at Target Center the game between the Minnesota Timberwolves and Portland Trail Blazers had to be canceled. On Nov. 30, 2016, the same thing happened at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, resulting in cancelation of a game between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Sacramento Kings.
The sheet of ice under the basketball floor coupled with too much warm air coming in and not enough going out caused the condensation, according to Kevin Minosky, HVAC and plumbing supervisor, Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, who led the Operating Under Pressure session along with Mike Rogers, Smith Seckman Reid, Hendersonville, Tenn. Minosky said doors being opened and closed with fans entering the building and equipment being moved in and out allows more air flow into the building.
“Sometimes, people think the first means to correction is to try to close off some of the outside air coming in,” he said.
But another culprit, often overlooked, is the exhaust system. Minosky said building exhaust systems are becoming less efficient with the addition of more cooking hoods and even more toilets. In an effort to increase revenues, venues are using more food portables and adding more lounge areas. These venues, he said, were originally built with a certain size exhaust system to be efficient for a certain number of cook hoods. When that is increased, it taxes the entire system.
“There is no substitute for a tight envelope around a building,” Minosky said, “but even with that, you are going to have some air leakage. You want to put more air into a building than you are taking out, about five percent is rule of thumb. The exhaust system is sometimes the forgotten part of the air systems.”
Poor indoor air quality not only results in floor condensation when ice is present but it also leads to odors and mold growth.
“Your building just becomes sick,” Minosky said.
The National Basketball Association (NBA) seems to be looking for the why of it all. The league has stepped up its game over the past several years in regards to the survey the league requires of its venues. That survey, geared toward obtaining operational information from the venues, has become more invasive and time consuming, according to VOS attendees.
The issue is just as critical to the National Hockey League, noted Joey Dennis, Infinite Energy Center, Duluth, Ga., who joined Dave Loverock of Jet Ice, on a session on maintaining the ice side of the equation. “Try to find the dew point temperature,” Dennis suggested. “Relative humidity is used too much and is misunderstood.”
The ice surface has to be perfect or the hockey player doesn’t know where the hockey puck will go, Dennis noted. “Find the dew point temperature and anything that goes below it will condense out.” If the dew point is 65 degrees on the basketball floor and the air goes below 65 degrees, it will sweat and you can’t dry that up. You have to raise the air above the dew point.
“It’s not the ice that caused the NBA floor to sweat; it’s the dew point…It’s the air/ice interface temperature. That is your product, just like McDonald’s is hamburgers.”
Shared frustrations and helpful information were bookended with job-specific inspiration from the two keynotes, Alex Diaz, Signature Operating Purveyors, and Sporty Jeralds, University of South Carolina, Columbia, both former venue managers.
Diaz started as a crowd manager in Miami and ended up running Madison Square Garden, New York City before branching into consulting. He understands that management is selling a dream and operations is servicing a nightmare. His most poignant nightmare was with the NBA All-Star Game in 2015 in New York. The game is easy operationally, but this time instead of the normal two-day load out, he had to be ready for the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show the next day. To accommodate basketball and the dogs, he did what all good ops directors do, left the chains and motors in the ceiling and continued load out in between dog events.
He also recalled the time the Pope was booked for a Mass Sept. 25, which meant Billy Joel had to be moved to Sept. 26. The Pope used Joel’s sound system.
The worst is when you just miss a technology window, Diaz said. For instance, Barclays Center, Brooklyn, which opened in 2011 did not have LED lighting. They were just a tad early for that trend. Then there was the time when AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami opened in 2001 with yellow seats. “Yellow draws the eye, but it also draws dirt,” Diaz said. “All the seats were replaced after one season.
The intentions are good, but the decisions are bad, Diaz said. “We typically don’t have a seat at that table.” But we can keep tabs on costs and replacement costs to aid the decisionmakers, he suggested. For example, he advised all ops directors to keep a tally of the cost of servicing a title sponsor, because that will change and “they will negotiate inventory before price.” Know where every logo is. Know the initial cost, the ongoing cost and the replacement cost.
Beyond measuring, know and have input in the budget process, do comparisons with other venues, keep detailed operating documents including three-line job descriptions for everyone in the department, and have a detailed and well-rehearsed emergency plan.
HELPFUL HINT
LOGOS ON THE ICE
Dave Loverock, Jet Ice, encouraged ops directors to make sure the logos were painted on the right spot on the ice. Joey Dennis, Infinite Energy Center, Duluth, Ga., said he gives the hockey team a map of the ice prior to painting and has them place the logos exactly where they want them. Then he has them date and sign off on the map. If they want them moved later, which often happens, they pay.
SECURITY TIP OF THE MONTH
Ideas and suggestions on live event safety, security and crowd management from our friends at Prevent Advisors.
Terrorist organizations and lone wolf adversaries are weaponizing vehicles with increasing frequency. In the recent past, the world witnessed multiple events where bad actors used large vehicles to generate massive casualties. ISIS encourages this tactic frequently and through multiple mediums.
Tip: Every facility has heavily trafficked areas that serve as pedestrian corridors and assembly areas during pregame activities, ingress and egress. Vehicular entry points with access to these locations must be appropriately designed and supervised with general access limited. When thinking about vehicular access to these areas - less is more. During times of heightened risk, restrict unsupervised access to only police and emergency services. Ensure temporary and movable barriers are over watched - their placement and serviceability frequently checked. Vehicles and pedestrians do not mix. Limited access points, overt vehicular barriers and a strong access control plan will deter bad actors and reduce risk.
HELPFUL HINT
STAIN THE STAGE FLOOR
Greg Poole, Smart Financial Center, Sugar Land, Texas, has found pulling up gaffer tape used on his maple stage after a show also pulls up the black paint. Jim Greer, Tennessee Performing Arts Center, Nashville, suggested staining the stage floor with a dense opaque black. Then the unsightly scar is not so noticeable and new tape can be placed without repainting after every performance by different artists.
