ELIGIBILITY
Any venue, publicly or privately owned and operated, that has demonstrated excellence within the last calendar year and has at least one current employee who is an IAVM member in good standing may apply. Venues are eligible to win multiple VEAs; however, previous winners are eligible to apply in the third year following their most recent award. As an example, a venue that wins in 2024 may apply for the 2027 award.
Each application submitted will be eligible for consideration for a three-year period. As an example, an application submitted for the 2024 award will remain in the application pool for 2025 and 2026, unless that venue wins. No further action by the venue is required. However, applicants may update or modify their application prior to the annual submission deadline for 2025 & 2026. Please contact Angela Coleman, if you’d like to update or modify your past submission.
DEADLINE TO APPLY
March 24, 2025 – All materials must be received, via this online form.
APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS
WORD DOCUMENT FORMAT
Applications are to be submitted in a MS WORD document. It must include a header and a word count at the top of each section. Applications may include the pictures submitted below within body of each section.
CRITERIA & SCORING
Criteria and scoring of the IAVM Venue Excellence Awards reflects IAVM’s six Value Statements: integrity, service, safety, education, advocacy and people first. Scoring of the Venue Excellence Award applications is performed by the Awards & Recognition Committee, with final approval by the IAVM Board of Directors.
Successful applications will succinctly illustrate specific examples of ways in which the venue excels in the criteria outlined below. The four criteria are a framework to help demonstrate the ways in which the venue has demonstrated excellence in venue management and operations. The venue must satisfy each of the four criteria to be considered for nomination.
Note that the quality of the application, including writing style, clarity of narrative and use of relevant statistics, will be taken into consideration by jurors when scoring:
The Awards & Recognition Committee is responsible for selecting the awarded venues using the following weighted criteria:
40% Operational Excellence which includes the following sub-categories: Customer Satisfaction, Sales and Marketing, Sustainability and Financial Integrity, Innovations Post COVID (1200 words max, each subcategory does not have be a specific length; however, all must add up to 1200 words)
20% Team building/Professional Development (600 words max)
20% Safety & Security (600 words max)
20% Service to the Community (600 words max)
See detailed descriptions below.
CONCLUDING SUMMARY
Applicants must also provide a 300-word concluding summary as to why their venue should be awarded the Venue Excellence Award. Since applications will only be scored on the above four criteria, please do not base your summary on any information outside of what you already provided.
PHOTOGRAPHS
Applications may include up to nine (9) photographs. One photo must be an exterior photo of the venue, and the other eight (8) are left up to the applicant’s discretion (e.g. a photo can highlight a new program or renovation). Photos need to be at least 300 dpi (print resolution), less than 30MB in size, jpg format, and should have an accompanying signed photo release form giving IAVM permission to use the photos for marketing the award.
Finalists may be asked to submit additional documentation, examples or images.
EXAMPLES OF THE FOUR CRITERIA
OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE
(40% total score and 1200 words max, each subcategory does not have be a specific length; however, all must add up to 1200 words)
Statement: To operate public assembly venues effectively and enhance the overall quality of life of citizens of their communities, venues should value operational excellence in its many attributes.
Goals: To establish and maintain reliable operations and good standing within their communities, public assembly venues should be both visionary and strategic in the following areas:
Metrics/Examples: How does your venue meet the following attributes? (Please note the below list is not exhaustive. If you have any additional attributes you wish to include in your application, please include them.)
- Customer Satisfaction, to shape the organization’s reputation.
- Sales and marketing, to encourage clients to host events and/or attract patrons to the venue.
- Sustainability, to become increasingly environmentally responsible.
- Financial integrity, to demonstrate commitment to ethical standards and honesty in working with the varied customers your venue serves.
- How does your venue engage the customer base to service their needs and build relationships?
- What is your organization’s process for obtaining customer feedback?
- How has your organization initiated innovative concepts based upon feedback received?
- How does your venue tie customer service to the performance management system?
- Sales and Marketing
- Describe the sales and marketing strategies your venue has implemented to increase attendance and/or client rentals and utilization and the measurable results associated with them.
- Sustainability
- Describe a sustainable practice (standard, application of technology, process) currently in place to ensure that your venue is being environmentally responsible.
- Financial Integrity
- What innovative program has your venue introduced to improve your fiscal operations?
- Innovations Post COVID
- What innovative programs were implemented during or after COVID shutdown have remained and enhance the overall operations and experiences? Example(s) could be used throughout the four criteria (as applicable).
TEAM BUILDING/PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
(20% total score and 600 words max)
Statement: The performance of a public assembly venue depends on the employees that work for that venue. As the IAVM Value Statements of Education and Service suggest, venue excellence is achieved by staff members who work well together, strive towards continuous education, stay current on industry trends and can motivate themselves and each other to work towards the greater good of their venue, community and industry.
Goals: What new, sustained, or improved tools is your organization implementing to develop the careers of current employees, employee morale, buy-in and ownership of the venue and events and recruit new employees into the industry? Please include numbers and/or percentages as quantifiers when applicable.
Metrics/Examples: How does your venue meet the following attributes? (Please note the below list is not exhaustive. If you have any additional attributes you wish to include in your application, please include them.)
- Mentoring programs.
- Sending employees to IAVM or other professional education programs.
- Internal professional development and team-building programs.
- Communication tools utilized to inspire and motivate employees.
- Connections with schools through internship, volunteer, or outreach programming.
- New formats/approaches to event staff training.
- New recognition or incentive programs for event staff performance.
SAFETY & SECURITY
(20% total score and 600 words max)
Statement: As public assembly venue managers, your first and foremost responsibility is to provide a safe and secure environment for the public and employees. To achieve this, it is the responsibility of each venue to have an active and ongoing life safety program. By providing a safe and secure venue, you gain the public’s trust and infuse your venue into the fabric of our communities.
Goals: To provide safe and secure venues, management should have a life safety plan that covers a range of topics, including but not limited to:
Metrics/Examples: How does your venue meet the following attributes? (Please note the below list is not exhaustive. If you have any additional attributes you wish to include in your application, please include them.)
- Training for in-house staff and community partners such as the Academy for Venue Safety & Security (AVSS), Guest Experience & Crowd Management (GuestX), Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), National Incident Management System (NIMS), etc.
- Continuity of operations plans.
- Risk management plans.
- Emergency plans including incident, medical and security operations.
- Severe weather/disaster relief plans which could include risk/host sheltering, shelter in place or mega sheltering plans.
These plans must be living and breathing documents with regular and routine updates to ensure information is current and addresses new issues as they arrive. In-house training should also be conducted annually (at minimum) to keep procedures fresh.
- An event or activity that successfully tested existing plans or led to the implementation of new plans to ensure proper execution of the event.
- Innovative concepts in your venue’s in-house training plan.
- Innovative concepts in how your venue partners with local emergency responders.
- How your venue has reached out in a time of need to play the role of a mega shelter.
- How your venue’s risk management plan is implemented and grown to mitigate potential concerns.
- Testimonials (as applicable) from local law enforcement, emergency responders, OSHA, etc.
Documentation, when possible, that the above stated goals have been met can be emailed to Greg Wolfe at greg.wolfe@iavm.org. This documentation does not count towards the 600-word limit.
SERVICE TO THE COMMUNITY
(20% total score and 600 words max)
Statement: Public assembly venues are most effective and successful when they serve identified community needs. Venue excellence is achieved by being instrumentally involved in the local community through special programs, projects or initiatives that raise the visibility and influence of the venue in the community.
Goals: How does your venue serve the communities (international, national, regional and local)? How is your venue valued by them?
A. Support of non-profit and community service organizations. Either in the venue itself, by participation of staff individually or as a group in community projects and efforts.
B. Other community needs addressed.
Metrics/Examples: How does your venue meet the following attributes? (Please note the below list is not exhaustive. If you have any additional attributes you wish to include in your application, please include them.)
- Public/private partnerships for community action projects.
- Number/type of projects.
- Percentage of staff participation.
- Recognition received by community.
