VMS: AMBASSADORS TO FRIENDS By Andrew L. Shreve
2017 VMS Ambassador Group: Lisa Schad, Resch Center; Sam Dores, Taco Bell Arena; Mario Duran, San Jose State Athletics; David Ralleigh, Gateway Center; Andrew Shreve, SMG Richmond.
“It’s not what you know, but who you know” is a phrase tossed
around a lot in the business world and holds some clout for this par- ticularly niche industry that we all love. The past two summers I have been grateful to be given an oppor- tunity to attend IAVM’s Venue Management School at Oglebay as Region 5’s scholarship recipient, and the last year the school would be in Wheeling, West Virginia. VMS has been on my radar for some time to develop professional-
ly, but also to expand my network. At that time, I hounded my senior management team to let me attend, but I was always given the ri- gamarole, “We haven’t even sent some directors … you are going to have to wait a little bit … stop bothering me on this matter (kidding but I was starting to become a nuisance).” Luckily for me, Region 5 opened a VMS Scholarship, instead of needing to wait for my management team to send me, and I did not hesitate on applying. A couple of months later after applying, I received a full scholarship through IAVM’s Foundation for Year 1 and Year 2 of VMS. Before making the quick trip from Richmond, Virginia, to Wheel-
ing, I looked at the full roster to see if there was anyone I knew outside of my facility and reached out to my “ambassador” group to see when everyone was expected to arrive. Now, to help give you a look into the author’s professional and
personal life at that time, I had served on a few volunteer committees Connect in 2015. I was happy to see some fellow committee members, previous 30|UNDER|30 recipients, and a previous supervisor were slated to attend the same year as me. Personally, I am not the type of person that keeps a large inner circle and value the friendships that I have. I was going to make the most out of this opportunity by sticking to my game plan of aggressively networking, but also keeping an open mind because one lesson I had learned so far is not to compare yourself to others.
32 Facility Manager Magazine
- ing the rest of the Year 1 students, including your ambassador group, with which we had been communicating a couple of months prior. Sam Dores, our VMS Ambassador, was diligent and kept our group in the loop as far as any questions or concerns we had prior to arrival, and our ambassador group had a strong connection. After getting through the initial networking workshop, it was smooth
sailing for the rest of the week. The same feeling that I had from my ambassador group, I had with my (1C) classmates — we bonded, shared stories, and I even organized a study session right before the - sentatives and was honored to be voted as one of six class representa- tives for the following summer. Networking is an art form, and being I was still “green” to the indus-
try, I had not a clue how to go about making the most out of my time at VMS. I was able to promote myself enough to not only get voted as one of the class representatives, but encourage my fellow indus- try peers to get involved with IAVM, whether it be going through the Mentor Connector Program, volunteering on committees, applying for scholarships through the Foundation, or even writing for Facility Manager magazine. The past two summers have been an amazing journey and sur- passed my expectations. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity I was given through Region 5 to expand my inner circles with some wonderful people I met at VMS. Lastly, one piece of advice I want to leave everyone with, especially
the Young Professionals, is that good things come to those that are patient! FM
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