On December 27, 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio when
Charles A. McElravy, Memphis, TN; Joseph G. Grieb, Milwaukee, WI;
Lincoln G. Dickey, Cleveland, OH; William Bugg, St. Paul, MN; Charles R.
Hall, Chicago, IL; Louis Shouse, Kansas City, MO and Charlie Franks,
Omaha, NE met together for the first time, they officially organized the
Auditorium Managers Association, which grew into the International
Association of Venue Managers (IAVM). Not unlike today, these forward
thinking facility managers dealt with the issues of their time. Relevant
topics such as new construction, contracts, admissions, revenue
generation, creating content for their facilities and sharing their
collective knowledge and experiences dominated their early discussions.
These early industry pioneers and subsequent leaders of the association
laid the foundation for the success of the IAVM we enjoy in the 21st
century. Economic conditions they had to overcome included the Great
Depression years; World War II; and the turbulent 60’s. Competitive
forces they had to adapt to included: the automobile, radio, television,
and changing musical styles. Sixty-five to seventy-five years later,
outdoor amphitheaters, computerization and promoter consolidation
changed the dynamics of public assembly venue management once again.
How can we take the experiences of our predecessors and apply them to
our industry today? As our association expands to include members
worldwide, how do we continue to uphold our founding principles of
providing sound professional management, advocacy, education and the
sharing of information among our members globally?
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The first thing to do is create a historical depository to collect and
record what we have done as managers and where we have been as an
industry. In 1975, The Professional Touring Entertainment Archive was
created. It is housed in the Center for American History on the campus
of the University of Texas in Austin, Texas. The Professional Touring
Entertainment Archive was named the “official depository for all IAVM
historical records”. IAVM agreed to establish the archive for the
safekeeping of original material, governance records, photographs, audio
recordings, books and articles on the IAVM and professional public
assembly facility management.. Establishing benchmarks and milestones
for our industry advancement will allow us to measure our progress over
time. By harnessing the internet and current technology, we can make the
information accessible to our members, media, researchers and historians
worldwide.
The History Committee for IAVM is always seeking historical content,
written papers and photographs of our association, facilities we manage
and the people who run them.
Contact the IAVM World Headquarters History Committee at 635 Fritz Drive, Suite 100, Coppell, Texas 75019;
call 972-906-7441 or email rosanee.duke@iavm.org if you have materials you would like to
contribute.
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