The benefits of operations consultants during the development of a project are becoming increasingly apparent.

n October 1996 the Van Andel Arena opened in the city of Grand Rapids. Its patrons were deeply impressed by the quality of the facilities offered at the new arena.  

A large part of this grand opening's success can be contributed to the municipal government's insight in assembling an excellent team of architects, engineers and consultants. A key player on the team was SMG, the world's leading company in the management of public assembly facilities. With the ever increasing expense of developing, expanding and operating venues, owners are seeking consultants who can enhance the finished product.  

Why did Grand Rapids solicit the presence of SMG's operations consulting and development division on the planning team? Anyone who wishes to build a public assembly facility recognises the importance of hiring an architect to make the concept a reality. Not everyone recognises the importance or the need to solicit the input of an operator in the preliminary phases of design. Nobody realises this more than SMG.  

The 12,000 seat 
Van Andel Arena 
in Grand Rapids, 
Michigan. 



"The value of an operator's perspective in the design of a facility is often overlooked," according to Bob Johnson, SMG's vice-president of operations consulting and development. "While managing facilities we have found many design features, which increased the cost of a conversion or a clean-up. Therefore, these added hours increased expenses which often made the difference between a successful or unsuccessful event. Typically, the design feature could have been modified in the design or programming phase with little or no cost impact."  

The inclusion of an operations consultant should not cause conflict with the architects, because they simply do not have the benefit that operators do of seeing the building function day in and day out. Johnson continued, "We are finding more and more often, that architects and construction managers are encouraging facility owners to solicit an operator's input, because they want to eliminate these issues and provide owners with the best facilities possible for their money."  

That is why SMG, who manage over 60 facilities worldwide, including arenas, stadia, convention centres and theatres, recognised the need to take advantage of the resources that they had within their own organisation. The result was a department which focussed exclusively on providing consulting services for new construction, expansions or renovations.  

That raises the question of during which phase of construction should an owner include the operations consultant on the design team? The obvious answer is as soon as possible. The City of Grand Rapids recognised the value of an operator's perspective when it hired SMG, in the early stages of the design and development of the Van Andel Arena.  

Since the facility opened in October 1996, ahead of schedule and on budget, it has received rave reviews from patrons and users alike. Several touring shows have commented that their experiences had been among the best on their tours and that they are looking forward to returning year after year. According to Neil Diamond's tour manager, Patrick Stansfield of Arc Angel Music Concerts Inc, "During the Grand Opening - featuring Neil Diamond - the facility functioned as if it had been in operation for years."  

Johnson indicated that the city, the architect and general contractor all deserve credit. Jim Gray, the owner's representative for the project agreed. "SMG was very involved in a variety of aspects of the construction including design review, systems review, and FF&E procurement. Their professionalism and insight throughout the project helped the facility to be completed ahead of schedule and on budget, often under difficult circumstances. Further, the tremendous success the facility has experienced in its first three months of operations is a tribute to SMG and all the professionals involved."  


Record of Success  
SMG also acted as operations consultant for the construction of the Rhode Island Convention Center. SMG worked closely with the architects reviewing the design and functional systems and procuring the FF&E. At completion, SMG had saved the state $580,000 on a $2.8 million dollar FF&E budget. The Rhode Island Convention Center opened in December in 1994 and has featured such premier events as the touring Smithsonian Exhibition, British Antique Show and a speaking engagement by President Bill Clinton.  

Numerous meeting and show planners have commented on the functionality of the facility, especially noting how smoothly 'the move-in and move-out' ran in relation to accessibility. Before the opening of the new convention centre, the city of Providence was regarded as a costly market by exhibitors.  

Because of input on the design by those who were to operate the facility, that negative image has been erased. The Rhode Island Convention Center is now among the most active and successful in the northeast. "The RICC is an incredible facility," according to Phylis Bors of the Histotechnology Symposium. "I sincerely feel that it's going to be difficult to book space there in a few years. I've been in this business for a while and it's clear this city has a vision."  

The success resulting from the partnership of architect and operations consultant is reflected in areas such as enhanced patron experience, greater operating cost effectiveness and time efficiencies with regards to multi-use of the venue. The benefits to the patrons' experience is the consideration given to more open and spacious public areas, with special attention paid to the placement of concessions, novelties, restrooms and so on. The result is a reduction of congestion which encourages patron usage. Labour costs can often be reduced by the inclusion, at the design stage, of strategically placed accesses to the event floor in relation to the load in, staging and storage. Attention paid to such detail results in shorter load-in times and maximises the usage of the venue. "What we saw," states Johnson, "is that the interactive relationship between an architect and an operator significantly enhances an owner's design team. We have the same goals in terms of creating efficient and cost effective facilities that are patron friendly, but our perspectives are typically very different. We created this division and have found a niche because owners are realising that the whole is greater than the parts and the team was often not whole because it lacked an operator's insight."  

It is precisely this combination of an excellent architectural engineering team working with an operations consulting team that creates success.  

  
Mobile Convention Centre in Alabama. 
SMG was able to save the 
city 36% on the 
project. 





Today's Market  
In today's market, facility clients demand higher levels of service every day. Facilities are facing increasing competition and so must provide a positive environment throughout the sales and event production process. Through proper facility planning and operational evaluation, SMG assists in positioning service levels as a sales tool. SMG has experienced similar successes with their consulting group at other noteworthy facilities including the Tampa Ice Palace, the Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center in California and the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City to name but a few.  

SMG is currently involved in a number of consulting projects in the United States, including the renovation of the historic Atlantic City Convention Center, the Georgia International Maritime Center and facilities in Australia, Puerto Rico and Canada. "As a company we are constantly growing and we are fortunate that our consulting division is becoming recognised as a leader nationally and internationally."  

There are numerous factors which need to be addressed during the design phase of a project. With architects, engineers and operations consultants working together, owners can be assured that the appropriate venue designs are developed within the project program, budget and time frame guaranteeing the venue's future success.