Publication a Result of a One-Year Collaboration Between More Than 90 Industry Leaders
After more than a year of study, data gathering, analysis, problem-solving and collaboration between over 90 industry leaders on the “Return to Work, Play, and Spectate Task Force (RTWPS),” IIFX (Innovation Institute for Fan Experience) has released a standard-setting, 96-page guide charting the course for sports and entertainment’s full return during the COVID-19 era.
The guide, titled “Principles to Guide the Return to Work, Play, and Spectate – Preparing for Full Capacity Sport and Entertainment Venue Operations” is the culmination of work defining and characterizing the ecosystem changes the industry has faced. It provides principles and communicates thought leadership across the industry. This guidebook helps the industry reopen while setting the stage for building a more resilient sports and entertainment industry, one with core operating standards and practices.
At a $300 value, the RTWPS Task Force and IIFX want to make the guide affordable and widely used, so IIFX is offering access to the 96-page guide with the purchase of a minimum $29.97, 3-month IIFX subscription by visiting THIS LINK.
Those who wish to get a preview can download an Executive Summary document at no cost on the same page of the IIFX site.
Background
In April 2020 as the pandemic was gaining traction, the Innovation Institute for Fan Experience (IIFX) and Toffler Associates invited nearly 100 diverse industry leaders, skilled practitioners, and subject matter experts across all aspects of sports and entertainment to form a “Return to Work, Play, and Spectate “(RTWPS) Task Force. Since April 2020, the RTWPS Task Force has completed three of its four stages – stabilize and preserve, reimagine and reignite, and reset, restart, and reopen. Beginning in fall 2020, the fourth stage will focus on building resilience.
“Our goal was to analyze how sports and entertainment management, operations, health, safety, and security, and service would be altered in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic,” says Jim Mercurio, executive vice president & general manager of Levi’s Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers. “We then decided to chart a practical course for how the industry could best adapt and reimagine operations moving forward.”
“Each member of the group shared their own experiences with others,” says Joe Lewis, the founder of Joe Lewis Company. “The conversations helped us find common principles that apply to sports and almost any entertainment venue, including concert halls, theaters, festivals, arenas, and stadia. There is something in this guide for almost anyone in the industry.”
“This group worked extremely hard, holding regular meetings to develop worthwhile and useful information for their industry peers,“ added Dr. Lou Marciani, director and co-founder of IIFX. “Developed from an ‘inside the industry’ vantage point, this work is designed to be both practical and helpful to anyone who operates sports and entertainment venues, produces and manages sports and entertainment events, and the executives, managers, supervisors, and their staff who create conditions for outstanding fan and spectator experience.”
The guide provides unique self-assessment tools in the form of more than 40 checklists to prompt critical thinking, inspire confidence in staff and fans and assist in a resumption of operations at full capacity as quickly as conditions permit.
Excerpt/Sample of More Than 40 Checklists Included
“We have learned that a low-probability, high consequence incident is possible and devastating,” added Chris Kinnan, co-founder and associate director of IIFX. “Just as 9/11 brought lasting changes to our society and the security landscape, so too is this pandemic fundamentally altering our perception of ‘normal’.”
The 96-page, “Principles to Guide the Return to Work, Play, and Spectate – Preparing for Full Capacity Sport and Entertainment Venue Operations,” guide is available free with the purchase of a minimum 3-month IIFX subscription at $29.97 by visiting THIS LINK.
Those who wish to get a preview can download a complimentary Executive Summary document on the same page of the IIFX site.