Industry Advocacy
IAVM has worked to ease the burden on venue managers by making sure Congress included venues in federal relief and recovery packages that were enacted late in 2020 and implemented in 2021. That would include:
- The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP): IAVM secured under the PPP a new covered category under Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs) for nonprofit venues that are quasi-governmental and derive much of their operations budgets from revenues derived from live events.
- Shuttered Venues Operator Grant (SVOG) Program: In that same legislation, we sought and won eligibility for a wider range of venues and venue operators, including government-owned venues in this $16+ billion grant program created for shuttered venues, independent movie theaters and cultural institutions. IAVM Members were awarded almost a $1 billion SVOG funds
- SVOG Implementation: The work didn’t stop once it was signed into law. During SVOG’s implementation in the spring and summer, IAVM stayed in close contact with the congressional SBA oversight committees to ensure that our venues didn’t fall through the cracks from grant application reviewers. SBA also included IAVM in its weekly stakeholder organization updates and discussions on SVOG implementation.
IAVM ADVOCACY:
| Emails sent regarding advocacy | 57 |
| VenueNet posts regarding advocacy | 69 |
| TLS Calls | 44 |
| VenueConnect Session | 1 |
| Industry Affairs Committee Monthly Call | 11 |
| Advocacy webinars | 5 |
| Calls for letters | 1 |
| Collaborations with other Associations | ECA, APAP, NIVA, Iowa Arts Council, ESCA, IAEE |
| SVOG Stakeholder Calls | 30 |
| SVOG Emails for specific venues | 20 |
| Emails/Calls with individual venues/venue managers for SVOG criteria and implementation | 800 |
| Emails/Calls with Universities group of venue managers, finance officers and government relations staff for SVOG criteria | 60 |
| Strategy calls with TLS | 50 |
| Federal/State Calls without TLS | 5 |
| Emails/Calls for ticketing legislation | 30 |
| Emails/Calls for State Legislation/Funding | 40 |
| Group Emails/Calls with members for various other advocacy – NIACS code, SOS Extension, Convention Center attempts at funding | 100 |
| MIC Coalition | IAVM members contributed to the creation of new Congressional education |
Congressional Contact Information
House of Representatives Contacts
