IAAM CONFERENCE
Home, home on the range…
Nashville, Tennessee, the home of country music, was the Host City for the 75th IAAM Conference and Trade Show last month, as all operational arms of the company attended what is without doubt, the biggest conference of its kind. Staged at the massive Opryland Hotel complex, just outside of the city, it was the fourth successive show Cleanevent has visited, and once again proved to be a resounding success.
The IAAM is effectively an umbrella organisation that encompasses the managers and staff of arenas, convention centres and auditoriums. Attendees numbered over 4000 while the trade show had in excess of 600 booths. As I said, big!
Cleanevent USA acted as hosts for the global company and a number of staff were in attendance including President Paul Lovett, and Director Maddie Jackson and her husband and Consultant Laurie who were starting a two month stint for the company in the USA straight after the show. Regional managers Matt Peach, George Mutter and Tim Curtis were also present as was Paul’s EA, Erin Blackledge who did a sterling organisational job. Company Chairman Craig Lovett was also in attendance and was joined by UK General Manager Bruce Smith, in his first official ‘outing’ for the company.
As already mentioned interest was high. On the opening evening some 800 plus ‘Trash Can’ beer holders were snapped up – an incredible marketing ploy – while on Day Two and Three the queue of facility managers on the stand never let up. Everyone is confident that a number of these will be ‘converted’ to the Cleanevent way!
Prior to the show, the company hosted a three day seminar which involved a total of 24 Cleanevent staff, including the afore mentioned plus a selection of venue managers. Craig Lovett outlined development plans for the coming year whist Paul Lovett and the Regional Managers spoke on a variety of topics. Keeping in line with development of the team in Australia, the USA management group were introduced to the "football team" profiling methodology as well as the absolute need to push Accountability, Authority and Responsibility down into the organisation so as to keep empowered decision makers at the coalface. The three days ended with a one-day exercise in which four pseudo-companies, formed from the group had to formalise a competitive bid for the newly named Cleanevent Arena!
Social highlight of the week though was undoubtedly the closing dinner at the Wild Horse Bar in Downtown Nashville where the IAAM staff was attired in near full Country Cowboy rigs. Check the photos!