I was fortunate to begin my first internship in September 2013 with a public assembly facility management consulting firm called Venue Solutions Group. The company is made up of three professionals: managing partner Russ Simons, partner Mike Wooley and partner Tom Williams who created the firm in 2011. Although they each worked with interns during their time in the industry, I was the first intern that they had with VSG so it was a learning experience for both. I was interested in the internship with my goal of becoming an event management professional for a professional sports team and realized the benefit I would gain by learning about venue management. Their specialties include facility condition analyses, guest experience benchmarking, pre and grand opening consulting, business consulting and guest experience training and I had the opportunity to learn about all of them. Although they are a small company, they have more than 60 years of experience combined and their projects include work with some of the top facilities in the country including American Airlines Arena, Amway Center, Kyle Field, PETCO Park, Heinz Field and many, many more.
I was in the office on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and day to day tasks included managing vendor files, editing guest experience benchmarking and facility condition analysis reports and researching best practices in the industry. In the beginning, a lot of the internship involved reading and learning in order to immerse myself in the public assembly facility world. As part of my interview for the internship, I was asked to provide feedback on some ways that they could improve their website. During the semester, I was able to see those ideas come to fruition and I assisted in coordinating with a website designer on the creation of VSG’s new website. It is a cleaner, more visually pleasing representation of the work that they do.
http://www.venuesolutionsgroup.com/
Following the spring semester, I decided to stay with VSG for my internship and was given more responsibilities. Some of my research during this semester included calling MLB teams for some turnstile research. Some clients were interested in different types of turnstiles provided for facilities, and new turnstiles in the industry can scan tickets. This eliminates the need for ticket takers, which in turn reduces staffing costs for games, however, arenas and stadiums still want to provide a positive customer experience. For the MLB teams that I spoke with that had begun the implementation of these turnstiles, they were still staffing the same number of part time employees as when they had actual ticket scanners but planned to cut back on some assuming that the season went well.
Not only did I learn how to speak turnstile lingo, but I also learned walkie talkie lingo. As a venue manager, arguably the most important aspect of the job is risk management and having a risk management plan. Many venues utilize walkie talkie technology, but there is a new product on the market that allows managers to access the walkie feed remotely. This was a big conversation among the partners, and whether or not it would be necessary for a manager to listen in on conversations during a game or event if they are not in the building. My research including pricing and learning the technicality of how the feed is set up, and although it’s an expensive project it is one that they are able to communicate with their clients about in the future.
During this semester, as I became more comfortable with the types of reports they were doing I began to assist with the guest experience benchmarking reports. During these, the consultants are hired by a team or venue to essentially mystery shop the experience that a guest would have with their facility. It involves them traveling to the facility, being given tickets for the game or event, and experiencing the event just as any other guest would. Oftentimes, this includes the premium seating area. They benchmark the entire experience from parking, building security, ticket takers, concessionaires, guest relations, ushers and additional fan experience initiatives. Prior to physically attending a game or event, they benchmark the receptionist and website. With the receptionist, key factors to look for include tone, professionalism ability to answer questions, helpfulness and accuracy. With the website, ease of use, functionality, appeal and amount of information regarding specific topics are benchmarked including accessibility, premium seating, ticket purchasing, event information and search tools. I began by calling the receptionists and evaluating them and eventually began to evaluate the websites. As I continue to do work for VSG, I’ve been told I write a great website review!
A lof of learning with the company involved sitting in on phone calls and watching the experience from the office, however, it wasn’t until the summer when I decided to stay with the company again and I was able to accompany the consultants on their trips that the work truly came full circle for me. I had the opportunity to see facility condition analyses and guest experience benchmarking in action in venues in Louisville and Memphis. Here I was able to meet venue managers as well as the contractors that VSG commonly works with. It’s amazing the number of experts that are involved to have a fully functioning facility and they work with electrical, mechanical and structural engineers along with audio/visual engineers and architects.
Upon completion of my internship in the summer of 2014, I told VSG that I still wanted to be involved with their work but needed to gain experience in other aspects of sport. I have been fortunate to continue my work with them and have traveled for a few guest experience benchmarking projects as an independent contractor, complete website review for projects and assisted with a conference that was held in April 2015 with Venues Today called the Venue Operations Summit. The amount of experience that I have learned from them is hard to sum up in so few words, but I feel very fortunate to continue to work for them!
I was in the office on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and day to day tasks included managing vendor files, editing guest experience benchmarking and facility condition analysis reports and researching best practices in the industry. In the beginning, a lot of the internship involved reading and learning in order to immerse myself in the public assembly facility world. As part of my interview for the internship, I was asked to provide feedback on some ways that they could improve their website. During the semester, I was able to see those ideas come to fruition and I assisted in coordinating with a website designer on the creation of VSG’s new website. It is a cleaner, more visually pleasing representation of the work that they do.
http://www.venuesolutionsgroup.com/
Following the spring semester, I decided to stay with VSG for my internship and was given more responsibilities. Some of my research during this semester included calling MLB teams for some turnstile research. Some clients were interested in different types of turnstiles provided for facilities, and new turnstiles in the industry can scan tickets. This eliminates the need for ticket takers, which in turn reduces staffing costs for games, however, arenas and stadiums still want to provide a positive customer experience. For the MLB teams that I spoke with that had begun the implementation of these turnstiles, they were still staffing the same number of part time employees as when they had actual ticket scanners but planned to cut back on some assuming that the season went well.
Not only did I learn how to speak turnstile lingo, but I also learned walkie talkie lingo. As a venue manager, arguably the most important aspect of the job is risk management and having a risk management plan. Many venues utilize walkie talkie technology, but there is a new product on the market that allows managers to access the walkie feed remotely. This was a big conversation among the partners, and whether or not it would be necessary for a manager to listen in on conversations during a game or event if they are not in the building. My research including pricing and learning the technicality of how the feed is set up, and although it’s an expensive project it is one that they are able to communicate with their clients about in the future.
During this semester, as I became more comfortable with the types of reports they were doing I began to assist with the guest experience benchmarking reports. During these, the consultants are hired by a team or venue to essentially mystery shop the experience that a guest would have with their facility. It involves them traveling to the facility, being given tickets for the game or event, and experiencing the event just as any other guest would. Oftentimes, this includes the premium seating area. They benchmark the entire experience from parking, building security, ticket takers, concessionaires, guest relations, ushers and additional fan experience initiatives. Prior to physically attending a game or event, they benchmark the receptionist and website. With the receptionist, key factors to look for include tone, professionalism ability to answer questions, helpfulness and accuracy. With the website, ease of use, functionality, appeal and amount of information regarding specific topics are benchmarked including accessibility, premium seating, ticket purchasing, event information and search tools. I began by calling the receptionists and evaluating them and eventually began to evaluate the websites. As I continue to do work for VSG, I’ve been told I write a great website review!
A lof of learning with the company involved sitting in on phone calls and watching the experience from the office, however, it wasn’t until the summer when I decided to stay with the company again and I was able to accompany the consultants on their trips that the work truly came full circle for me. I had the opportunity to see facility condition analyses and guest experience benchmarking in action in venues in Louisville and Memphis. Here I was able to meet venue managers as well as the contractors that VSG commonly works with. It’s amazing the number of experts that are involved to have a fully functioning facility and they work with electrical, mechanical and structural engineers along with audio/visual engineers and architects.
Upon completion of my internship in the summer of 2014, I told VSG that I still wanted to be involved with their work but needed to gain experience in other aspects of sport. I have been fortunate to continue my work with them and have traveled for a few guest experience benchmarking projects as an independent contractor, complete website review for projects and assisted with a conference that was held in April 2015 with Venues Today called the Venue Operations Summit. The amount of experience that I have learned from them is hard to sum up in so few words, but I feel very fortunate to continue to work for them!