CHAIRMAN’S COLUMN By Michael Marion, CVE
Instructors Russ Simons, Michael Marion, CVE, and Richard Andersen, CVE, have enjoyed many memorable VMS experiences through the years.
who has been there, I got the Wheeling Feeling. I realized there was a whole world of people in my position, people I would come to count on throughout my career. In the meantime, I got a good taste of all the I never forgot how meaningful that experience was. Fast forward to 2008 when I applied to be an instructor at VMS. I had to do a classroom presentation to Adina Erwin, CVE, Russ Simons, and Kim Bedier, CVE. What an audience! They asked me to join, and my eval- uation scores have been good enough for me to continue teaching for the past 10 years. In going through the chairs of the Regents, I was always amazed
REFLECTING ON VMS HISTORY, LOOKING FORWARD TO ITS FUTURE
Ch-Ch-Ch Changes – David Bowie There’s nothing permanent except change- Heraclitus Recently, we all received a letter from Todd Hunt, CVE, chair of
the Venue Management School (VMS) Board of Regents, with some rather startling news. After 31 years at the Oglebay Resort in Wheel- ing, WV, the school would be moving to Saddlebrook Resort in Tam- pa, FL. Special thanks to Todd and the Regents for some thorough and exhaustive work. (For the record, I serve on the Regents as an Doug Booher, CVE, and his meetings folk at Indiana University assisted in providing a RFP that was well crafted and solicited many responses. The selection committee, chaired by Chris Bigelow, plowed through RFP responses and made site visits to make sure the success of VMS would continue. Brad Mayne, CVE, our IAVM president Popp did yeoman’s work helping the Regents sort through the contin- gencies. The process was open and transparent. The Site Selection committee --1st Vice Chair Tammy Koolbeck is a member -- had a lengthy debate before coming forward with a recommendation. The Regents, led by Todd, had a spirited debate, but came to a solid con- clusion. We hope future generations will be talking about the Saddle- brook “whatever,” like we all talk about the “Wheeling Feeling.”
Tupelo Coliseum (now the BancorpSouth Arena) after working in Los Angeles as an agent for six years. While I knew about booking and operations, there were many pieces of building management that I in Wheeling, and it seemed like what I needed. Like everyone else
6 Facility Manager Magazine
at the commitment to excellence all the instructors shared. These vol- a week in June of teaching. Each instructor annually evaluates their monograph and class presentation to make sure it’s current and rel- evant. Over the years, the Regents have brought in experts to help with teaching methods to keep students engaged. This hard work has list. With that kind of demand, the Regents prove that their work is exemplary.
a great assist. VMS wouldn’t be what it is today without the work of Greg Wolfe, education manager. Oh yeah, Brad Mayne helped, too. Over the years, I’ve heard the criticism that the Regents are a good old boys club. That’s an old tape playing … or maybe I should say stream- ing. I don’t think Regents Adina Erwin, Kim Bedier, Cheryl Swanson, CVE, or Chris Kibler, CPA, qualify as old or boys, but they certainly are good folks. While some of us will wax nostalgic over our experience -- I can’t
tell you how many times I wrote Oglebay in this column, instead of VMS -- we will see a new group of industry professionals make new memories and friends based on the events at Saddlebrook. The Re- gents, instructors, and students are VMS. It’s not just a location. Heraclitus might have also been talking about the VenueConnect
conference as well. After more than 20 years of separate sector confer- ences, we’ve all come together. That change is a work in progress. After two conferences, we are still working to make sure each sector gets as much as they did from the individual sector meetings. The notion that look forward to Chicago next July, you can count on new ideas and programs, while continuing to build on what worked in Nashville and Toronto. What’s our next change? Who knows? Your board, executive com-
react to the ones this crazy world brings to us.
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