isn’t in a hotel,” explains Mitchell. “Our focus is really around three areas: education, advocacy, and connection.” This three-pronged approach allows IAVM to serve venue professionals at every career stage. The association provides resources for everyone from event service managers to general managers, ensuring they have the tools needed to excel. Mitchell notes that advocacy happens on multiple fronts: “We spend time focusing our efforts at the legislative level, both federal and state, but it’s just as equally important that we focus on advocating on behalf of the industry to the general membership.” Beyond formal education and advocacy, IAVM creates a vital community for venue professionals. “Like most associations, we’re creating that community of individuals, of peers,” Mitchell says. “While we provide effective practices and tips and tools to help them do their jobs, that community is there to help them navigate through the unknown—the things that we can’t teach, the things that come up in the ‘what happens if you do this’ or ‘I’m looking for a solution to this, has anybody else experienced that?’” THE IMPACT OF VENUES ON COMMUNITY ENRICHMENT The conversation about venues often misses a crucial point - the profound effect these spaces have on their surrounding communities. Mitchell illuminates this connection, highlighting how IAVM venues create lasting memories while driving economic and cultural growth. “Most people think about a performing arts theatre as just putting on plays and musicals. They don’t recognize the fact that it also does concerts and stand-up comedy and tours,” Mitchell points out. “They can do various things within their venue that creates a unique experience that wasn’t there before.” For Mitchell, this impact is personal. “I grew up on a farm in southeast Missouri. I can still remember going into the Fox Theatre in St. Louis in 1994 and seeing my very first musical performance,” he recalls. This formative experience shapes his view of how venues, particularly performing arts centers, serve as cultural gateways. 95 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 12, ISSUE 03 INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF VENUE MANAGERS (IAVM)
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