Evidence of Learning Assessment #3

Date​:​ ​January 10, 2019

Subject: ​Venue Management
Citation:
“EthicsandVenueManagement.”​FacilityManager​,magazine.iavm.org/article/ethics-and-venue-manage
ment/.
Analysis:
Upon trying to look for a article it is getting increasingly harder and harder to find one in a
general sense and in the future might have to hunt down a more specific types of venue terminology
to get articles that look a lot more interesting and appealing.
This article has to do more with the rights and wrongs in what to do in this industry as well
as having a good work ethic. Which did catch my eye and is a nice change of pace compared to the
other articles where it might be just tips or explain different aspects of the industry. This article does
mention some of that but in a different sense where it’s more on the personal level with the
individual person working there with the right morals and not the wrong ones that can affect the
business in a negative way.
It’s interesting to see a article about this industry focus about the individual and how that
most of the problems or future problems can all be placed on the one person. Also reading showed
that it used to be way worse than it is today. To me it shows that people that were in the industry for
the wrong reasons or just didn’t care that much. Either way, as time grew and this industry grew,
sporting and entertainment has become the main focus to make sure that venues are running to the
best of its ability to get them sold out. This of course has another effect with this it has caused more
leagues,venue owners, and venue managers all the legal issues they can face if everything doesn’t look
legal or if they aren’t running the best of their ability. Which does defininty put things into
perspective into how much of a different this can make when running a venue either for the worse or
better.
From here this leads to different ethic lessons and such as it discusses in the article which is
interesting to say the least because it really seems nowadays it’s really hard to do anything past
violation. Of course if they do it can be a huge legal battle and it explains why it is important to have
documents they sign and remember the dates. Which I had never really thought of this side of
working in the business and possibly doing illegal things to get by or doing unethical things that can
led the venue into big trouble not only with employers but with the city of the area.
Moving on into the last parts of the article it talks about how concerts are the main concern
with these types of ethic issues from being bridded to trying to a favor for friends. Which has never
been acceptable in this industry as well other venues have had policies where they sign off of to know
what’s acceptable and what’s not.
In the 27 years since Scott Williams, CFE, began teaching ethics to venue management
professionals, he’s seen the industry consistently clean itself up more and more, in
defiance of the holdouts. The good-old-boy system of determining who gets to travel,
who gets special treatment or gifts, and who gets raises or bonuses is just about dead.

“Is it there? Sure. But it’s totally different than it used to be,” Williams said. “They don’t
want to set up rules that they’re not willing to live, and that still goes on, but not as
rampant as it used to be. I think if we have any chance of bringing about significant
change, it has to start with the individual.”

The ethical transformation, however, hasn’t been driven simply by the desire of industry
professionals to do the right thing—although that’s surely helped. Williams believes the
situation has gotten better because people are afraid. From politicians and sports
league leaders to venue owners and managers, there’s the fear of potential legal liability
and negative public perception should an ethical lapse reach the front page. As a result,
some facilities are being forced to change, or at least codify and document, their
practices.

“I think policy-making boards, city councils, mayors, university presidents, etc., have
said, ‘Hey, I’m responsible for my employees, I have to get this cleaned up or I’m going
to be pulled in.’ Because if you know what’s going on and you don’t deal with it, guess
what? You’re the problem,” Williams said.

You can see this trend in professional sports league rules, he said, noting how teams
are adding policies that reach past the athletes and into the front office.
“It’s very simple: You’ve got to walk the talk. And managers are getting better, primarily
because they’ve seen a lot of their fellow managers get in trouble.” —Scott Williams,
CFE, instructor, Venue Management School
[fm_sidebar] Get Schooled
Learn about professional ethics and dozens of other subjects relevant to venue
management professionals by attending Venue Management School and the Graduate
Institute, May 30-June 4, 2015, at the Oglebay Resort in Wheeling, West Virginia. Visit
www.iavm.org/vms/vms-home​ for complete details and to apply.[/fm_sidebar]
“I think they’re asking players and front-office managers to do better in a lot of ways
because [ethics problems] could bring down the whole league,” Williams said.

Venue management professionals are increasingly being taught business ethics, acting
in accordance with ethics policies, and training staff on the subject. This often
culminates in managers and staff signing ethics statements as evidence of their
awareness and understanding.

“That protects the employer,” Williams said, in cases of liability should an employee
violate the company’s known ethics policies and, for instance, damage property or
cause injury. “A judge may ask, ‘Did you train your people and can you show me?’ You
can say, ‘Yes, your honor, on this date, Jimmy Johnson was trained not to do these,
and he did so on his own. Here are the dates we trained him, here’s the date he signed
that he was trained. And we did what we could. We can’t live these people’s lives for
them but we can train them.’ But then managers have to live it. It’s very simple: You’ve
got to walk the talk. And managers are getting better, primarily because they’ve seen a
lot of their fellow managers get in trouble.”

Speaking in July about his recently released Ethics, Risk and Governance: a board
briefing paper, Peter Montagnon, association director of London-based Institute of
Business Ethics, made an important distinction between how ethics problems are
managed in the U.S. and how they should be approached.

“This is not a simple compliance exercise. In the U.S., the approach has been
influenced by Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which has resulted in a legalistic attempt
to control behavior,” Montagnon said. “However, values and cultures are a necessary
part of the equation—these are about the way a business operates. This is defined by
the business model, which, to be sound, needs to be based on values.”
In essence, a business can’t just skip to the bottom line in search for a
resolution—ethics must be hardwired into its culture.

Williams said that ethics problems appear to be most common at smaller venues based
in tertiary destinations where there might not be much, if any, competition.

“There seems to be more of a good-old-boy environment in those facilities than there

are the major buildings,” he said. “The big sports teams, the big concert venues, the big
convention center properties—they can’t afford to have a blemish on their record. But a
little building out in the middle of nowhere that nobody knows about, where the
good-old-boys have been doing business [a certain] way for 50 years…you just have to
wait for that to turn over.”

Despite being in a market the size and location of which could feasibly fit into the
good-old-boy system cited by Williams, the Clay County Regional Events Center in
Spencer, Iowa, runs clean. General Manager Scott Hallgren credits this to a
combination of the Midwestern work ethic and hospitality and the fact that VenuWorks,
a private management company responsible for 40 facilities nationwide, operates the
center.

“If something negative was to happen at [VenuWorks’] brand new building in Houston
and hits the national news, well, I’ve got my owner here in Spencer, Iowa, reading about
it,” Hallgren said. “And he’s asking, ‘Boy, your company really screwed up down in
Houston, what are you guys doing here in Spencer?’ So if anything breaks in our
company, whatever market, that’s a concern for my local owner.”

VenuWorks’ Founder and President Steven Peters, CFE, is keenly aware of the
potential impact on his portfolio of facilities should ethical problems manifest at even
one of them, Hallgren said. Accordingly, Peters has high expectations for his staff.

“[He] instills that morality, just being a good person, and that all ties back to doing the
right thing,” Hallgren said. “[Peters] has built a very family-oriented, solid culture. That’s
come down to me, and I’ve passed it to my staff. But that’s why I’ve enjoyed working
here for 10 years.”

As Montagnon explained in July: “Ethics is not anti-business. Senior people often get
defensive at the mention of ethics. The discussion should not be framed in terms of
individual morals…It is instead about how a collective works together, what
expectations are placed on staff as to what they should achieve, and how they should
achieve it.”

CHALLENGES AND POLICIES

A subject of great potential for abuse, throughout the history of the industry, is the
Pandora’s box that comes with event tickets.

“Tickets are a big thing,” Williams said. “People do anything for tickets—they’re a real
commodity, especially in the concert business, with backstage passes.”

In August, it was revealed that pop scrotum Justin Bieber allegedly bribed a Canada
Border Services Agency (CBSA) officer at the U.S.-Canada Niagara Falls border
crossing with CDN$10,000 worth of backstage passes in exchange for issuing two U.S.
members of his posse (both allegedly with criminal records) temporary resident permits.

Esme Baily, a CBSA spokesperson, confirmed to Toronto’s NOW magazine that there
was an incident with allegations including “accepting gifts, hospitality and other benefits;
acceptances of travel offer from a third party and misuse of government electronic
networks; abuse of authority; and, engaging in preferential treatment.”

The unnamed officer was terminated for her actions, as they were a direct violation of
policies detailed in Values and Ethics Code for the Public Sector and the CBSA Code of
Conduct.

“It would be fair to say that most of the ethical issues we encounter are with arena
concerts,” said Kevin J. Twohig, CFE, CEO of the Spokane Public Facilities District.
“Likely the size of the events and the amount of notoriety and money involved in arena
concerts are an influence.”

In recent years, his district has seen ethics violations including “walking friends in the
door/giving tickets away to an event for personal gain,” “hiding/changing numbers at
settlement between parties,” and “utilizing charitable contributions in order to avoid
paying taxes.” These ethics problems are always introduced to the ecosystem by third
parties—especially concert promoters, he said.

Although such actions are often counter to contract verbiage (or outright illegal), Twohig
and his staff still encounter them. How does he handle these situations?
“Carefully,” he said. “But I advise my team never to do anything that would embarrass
them or the district later, and never do anything they think is inappropriate.”

That discussion acts as a reminder for staff, supported by an eight-point “Ethical

Conduct Expectations” section in the district’s employee handbook.

Lana Cordes, CMP, manager of Bellco Theatre at the Colorado Convention Center, said
that not only does her employer have a business ethics policy, but also a philosophy,
credo, and code of conduct.

“These all go hand-in-hand. Each piece is integral and supports the others,” she said.
“In this industry there can be a lot of perks; some of which are meant to be enjoyed, and
some are meant to be politely declined. Knowing where to draw the line can be tricky.”

A challenge when it comes to effective ethics policies exists ironically because of a

beautiful component of the venue management industry—the diversity of tasks, roles,
responsibilities, and situations that vary from position-to-position and venue-to-venue.

“Relationships also run deep in this business, and it can be difficult to remain unbiased
when dealing with clients, suppliers, or employees that are more than business
acquaintances,” Cordes said. “There are an infinite number of scenarios that present
themselves in the world of entertainment, meetings, and events. It’s just not possible to
have a clear-cut policy on each of them. However, it is important to present succinct
guidelines that can help employees navigate these waters.”

She underscores that it’s critical for management to set a leading example and practice
what they preach to staff—policies and rules must apply equally to everyone.

“Is the management team in your venue absolutely on the same page when it comes to
business ethics?” she asks. “If they’re not, you should fix that. If you don’t know, you
need to find out. Nothing can muddy the waters more than a management team who
sends mixed signals; and, of course, management should be provided no exception to
the rule.”

A REPUTATION IS FOREVER
Another observation brought forth by the Institute of Business Ethics’ Montagnon in July
is a valuable reminder: “Profit is a reward for bearing risk. However, it must be fairly
derived and not achieved through exploitation.”

When in doubt, remember, it’s best to sacrifice sketchy short-term profits in order to stay
true to and protect the values and reputation of your company and yourself.

VenuWorks partnered on a venue with one company, Hallgren said, that turned out to
be less than sound ethically.

“That relationship lasted probably six months or less once some of those unethical
issues got brought up,” he said.

Not wanting to be associated with the unethical partner, VenuWorks subsequently

withdrew from the contract.

“Even though [VenuWorks] probably took a short-term financial loss, I’m fairly confident
that it’s resulted in a longer-term financial gain for company,” Hallgren said. “But it was
the right thing to do. All you have is your reputation, your own credibility. And that’s what
you need to own and that’s what you need to build. That’s who you are.”

Keep in mind the exploitation for profit Montagnon mentioned isn’t limited to direct
human-on-human actions. The environment and indirect impact on generations of
people not yet born, too, come into play.

“The underlying principles of ethical dilemmas, for the most part, remain unchanged.
They simply present themselves under a variety of circumstances that transform with
the times,” Cordes said. “One such dilemma that has always existed but has only
recently come to the forefront is the ethics of our environmental impact. We’re seeing a
lot of change in certain types of venues, such as convention centers, because some of
our clients are demanding it. However, the vast majority of entertainment venues are
still far behind in their sustainability efforts. It’s not always favorable to the bottom line,
especially the initial investment. But don’t we have an ethical responsibility to our
communities, to our planet, to our great grandkids?”

WHY DO THESE PROBLEMS PERSIST?

“Because people won’t talk about them,” Williams said. “I really believe that if you can
get it out and talk about it, you can solve it. Sometimes management doesn’t want to
talk about it because they’re part of the problem.”

It’s important, Cordes contends, that management encourages a policy of open

discussion.

“We are fortunate to have great resources in our industry to help gather and
disseminate information,” she said. “IAVM, for example, does a great job of bringing all
pertinent topics to the attention of its members to encourage honest discussion. Ethics,
albeit a potentially touchy subject, should be no different.”

Considering how ethics education and action have advanced in the industry, it’s certain
no one is ignoring the topic, even if they aren’t talking about it as much as many would
hope.

Despite most prominent business schools mandating ethics education as part of their
MBA programs, the efforts don’t always contribute to an ethical business climate,
according to author and educator Deborrah Himsel.

In an August ​Bloomberg Businessweek​ column titled “Business Schools Aren’t

Producing Ethical Graduates,” Himsel wrote: “In the classroom, teachers implore
students to resist improprieties or even to blow the whistle when they spot corrupt
practices. Try repeating this admonition to an MBA who has just landed a job after
months of searching, to an experienced manager struggling to make numbers, or to
professionals who have learned to do as they’re told in a hierarchical culture. Good
luck.”

Williams recognizes this battle between business education and business reality.

“This generation has been through some training, but [the ethics displayed by] the older
generation aren’t what they read in a textbook,” he said. “And they’re still going to take
the job that’s best for them even though they don’t know what’s going on ethically in the
company until they start working.”

Yet, it’s clear that education and awareness on ethics in the venue management
industry is aiding the future—even if only preparing new entrants into the field—and
must continue. And perhaps the next major advancement in ethics won’t occur until the
remaining good old boys exit the workforce.

“It’s nowhere near as bad as it used to be,” Williams said. “And I’m glad it’s getting
better, but I think if we don’t keep talking about it, training it, and asking, ‘What is
ethical? What isn’t ethical?’ it’ll go back. It’s just human nature.” FM
[fm_sidebar]IAVM’s Code of Ethics
IAVM’s objectives are to promote and develop the use of public assembly venues along
definite lines of entertainment and public advancement; to use every effort to acquaint
and circulate information of interest and value to the public and managers pertaining to
the successful use of such buildings; to cultivate acquaintances among the managers of
public assembly venues; to increase their ability in promoting more frequent use of such
buildings by the public; and to standardize practices and ethics of management and
relationship to the public.

To further the objectives of IAVM, the association believes that certain ethical principles
should govern the conduct of every professional manager in the association.

The manager should: Strive for continued improvement in the proficiency and
usefulness of service; maintain the highest ideals of honor and integrity in all public and
personal relationships; emphasize friendly and courteous service to the public and
recognize that the function of the building is at all times to serve the best interest of the
public; exercise fair and impartial judgment in all association and professional business
dealings; maintain the principle of fairness to all; have a firm belief in the dignity and
worth of service rendered by the building and have a constructive, creative, and
practical attitude; and refrain from any activity that may be in conflict with the interest of
the employer.

Note: Ethical behavior doesn’t begin and end at your venue—it can impact your ability
to participate in and grow professionally through industry associations. Article III of the
IAVM bylaws states, “A member may be disciplined by the Board of Directors for
violating the code of ethics, IAVM policy, these bylaws, or acting in a way not in the