The Venue Management School (VMS) is the industry’s most respected career development experience for aspiring and emerging venue professionals. Delivered as a two-year residential program, VMS combines expert-led workshops, peer learning, and real-world application to strengthen capability across all venue types and career stages. From operational know-how to strategic thinking, students walk away with the tools, network, and confidence to thrive in the venue industry. Learn it today. Lead with it tomorrow.
As you progress through this structured, two-year program, you’ll form lasting connections with peers who share your commitment to excellence. These relationships become part of your professional support system — helping you grow both personally and professionally.
After an incredible first year, don’t miss the chance to reconnect with your classmates (or make new ones), complete your journey, and join the growing community of VMS alumni.
Many past graduates are among today’s industry icons — and tomorrow’s leaders are rising through the program right now.
At the heart of the VMS experience is our outstanding team of instructors, offering both domestic and international perspectives on venue management. Drawn from senior ranks across Australia, New Zealand, North America, and Asia, these respected professionals deliver a rich, immersive learning experience – covering every functional area of our industry. This is more than just a course. It’s an opportunity to learn from leaders, expand your global view, and position yourself for what’s next.
Out of sight and one of the departments that works the longest hours, BOH operations present many challenges to the modern venue manager. A well run BOH substantially contributes to customer/client satisfaction and ultimately a positive financial result and repeat business. It is essential all venue managers have a working knowledge of this vital area and are cognisant of the risks and the opportunities that exist from the loading dock to the public areas.
Booking and scheduling is a critical aspect of venue management. Achieving the right mix of events can significantly increase venue profitability. This session ensures students are aware of the many variables which have a bearing on event mix in different venue types and the role the booking scheduler plays in attempting to secure the ideal range of events. It covers terminology in this area and current examples to maximise yield.
The purpose of this session is to gain a greater understanding of the key elements of the characteristics of a fully functioning team and how to go about building one. An enhanced understanding of these elements enables students to create a significant impact within team environments.
Managers at all levels in the organisational hierarchy are responsible for researching and evaluating data and providing well written, objective reports so operational and strategic decisions can be made. This session takes students through a common approach that enables them to prepare and present a report in a well-structured, concise writing style so the conclusions or recommendations are clearly understood.
Catering in the venue industry is a fundamental for both customer experience and a significant income stream for the venue. This session is fully interactive relying on student experiences to demonstrate the application of catering principles and demonstrate current catering practices in student venues.
The purpose of this session is to gain a greater understanding of the sales process in relation to planning for and securing sponsorship. Understanding the key objectives of sponsors, the benefits provided in return, as well as clear steps to follow when securing sponsorship allows participants to approach the procurement process in a strategic way.
All venue managers are involved in preparing, negotiating and managing contracts and contract disputes with a broad range of third parties, including hirers, promoters, service providers, contractors, sponsors, ticketing companies, etc. Most venue managers have little or no formal training in the legal concepts underpinning contracts and often adopt a “bush lawyer” approach to contracts. Moreover, it is unrealistic to expect managers to constantly refer all contract issues to internal or external lawyers and it is a necessary part of their skillset to manage contracts to some degree. This session is designed to arm venue managers with the skills to understand basic contractual principles and manage contracts with some degree of confidence.
Customer relations is a broad term used to describe customer service and the general interactions between an organisation and the people or businesses it deals with as part of day to day operations. Venues have many customers with varying needs and expectations. The range of customers and how we interact with them has a significant impact on the success of our venues. In this session, students workshop the needs and expectations of their customers, identify customer pain points within their venue and identify specific strategies for reducing or eliminating pain points as well as identifying some simple customer relations strategies relevant to their organisation.
This session takes theoretical human resources models and applies them to the students’ ‘real’ experiences. Topics workshopped include culture, values and commitments, recruitment and selection, training, development and performance management, industrial relations, managing generations X & Y and work/life balance.
There is no template for the perfect event plan; in fact, it will vary considerably from one event to the next, taking into account the size and nature of the event and venue. The extent of planning for an Olympic Games will take years, while the planning of a film shoot for an advertisement may take days. A systematic approach to event management is essential. The need to be accountable to various stakeholders, legislation, rules and regulations affecting events and the financial impacts of a poor event are some of the reasons that make it mandatory to carefully plan events. The purpose of this session is for students to understand event planning methodologies. A practical activity will require students to work through an event planning task in groups.
Venue managers require a sound knowledge and understanding of financial management as it is fundamental to running a successful business. It is the process by which the financial performance is controlled and guided. This session examines the issues of financial management and its importance to the venue management industry.
This session provides students with insights on how marketing applies to the day-to-day operations of a venue. With the marketing planning process used as a framework, the session touches on how marketing permeates all aspects of a business. It provide insights into building and maintaining a consistent brand and it covers some of the latest marketing techniques and channels to engage customers.
Project management and tendering are both integral and substantial components of the venue and event management industries. This session is designed to give participants a broad overview of the critical components of project management and tendering. Although the overview of these areas is by no reason meant to be all inclusive, it gives a guide for future project management efforts.
Whilst it is easy to become pre-occupied with the primary task at hand in the sales and marketing events at venues, it is vital all opportunities are taken advantage of to maximise the bottom line financial result of the organisation. For many venues, a primary area of income is derived from purchases made by patrons whilst attending events and in some case beforehand. As well as the obvious income to be derived from food and beverages, the sale (and hire) of ‘merchandise’ can make a strong contribution to annual results. The aim of this session is for students to analyse the various aspects of successfully engaging in the sale or hire of merchandise products.
Risk management is good management. There are risks in every job in every business and every venue. They can be risks to the health, safety and security of staff and public, or threats to achieving business objectives. They can be business continuity related or event risk related. This session looks at some of the basic concepts of risk management as outlined under the Australian Standard AS/NZS ISO31000:2009 Risk Management Principles and Guidelines.
Technology is the backbone of any modern venue and reliable and well-structured information is the lifeblood of a successful venue manager. Modern managers are expected to have sound systems knowledge, develop Information Strategies (IT) appropriate to their organisation and lead teams in the specification, selection and implementation of new information systems and technology. Using a case study, this session will take students through the steps of determining an IT strategy and the approach to specifying, selecting and developing an implementation plan for a new information system.
The box office and ticketing operation of a venue is not only a major source of revenue but is also subject to legislation and codes of conduct, therefore, it is imperative it is managed in a professional manner. The aim of this session is to introduce the functions related to ticketing events at venues and the relevance of the ticketing function across all aspects of the organization including operations, sales and marketing, finance, information systems and customer service.
Following on from Risk Management Year 1, students have a basic overview of the principles of this discipline. This session builds on these principles focusing on the interrelated disciplines of business continuity and crisis management, event risk management, enterprise-wide risk management and more.
Corporate Social Responsibility is a moving feast and with changes coming at us daily, it is often hard to know where exactly to position your business. The purpose of this session is to help you stay ahead of the game. There are some exciting initiatives at play in venues and green field spaces across the country and during this session, we will closely examine some of these new ideas. We will discuss the three pillars of corporate sustainability while also addressing many of the environmental issues that surround us every day!
Many public venues are owned and/or operated by Government organisations, or organisations reporting to a Board of Directors. This course is structured to give participants an insight, understanding and some helpful hints for dealing with Boards and Government organisations. Many venues are influenced daily by decisions, reactions and political influences of elected officials or corporate Board members. Using real examples and case studies, this course is designed to enable participants to further understand the dynamics of these organisations and how to operate effectively within them.
In our digital world, marketing and marketing measurement are merging. The digital activities marketers encourage consumers to engage in also spawn a torrent of data that can become metrics of brand success. However, few venues have a comprehensive digital data insights strategy which means we are under-leveraging the largest online research panel in the world – digital humanity. This session discusses the need to create a digital data insights strategy, challenges facing digital marketers today, the keys to digital marketing success and various methods used to build social communities.
Construction is a complex and difficult operation with potential risks at every turn. Albeit, there is great personal and professional satisfaction in being part of a major venue building program. If carefully planned and executed, there is no reason why the process of programming, design, construction, occupancy and maintaining a new or remodeled facility cannot be effective and efficient so facility planners can enjoy the journey and take pride in knowing they have been part of creating history that will be around for many years to come. The aim of this session is for students to identify and understand each of the phases in planning and designing public assembly facilities.
The public assembly venue industry has been awakened from complacency with the reality of terrorist acts that have now left their mark on public places and transportation sources with mass crowds in attendance within these places. More importantly, it is not just the extraordinary acts of terror that emergency preparedness should be planned around, rather, emergencies in general that can adversely impact life, property and event activity. Responsibility to minimise injury, damage, disruption, inconvenience, discomfort, liability, and of course, fatality, cannot be underestimated. From prior first-hand experiences in crisis management, this session has been developed to help those attending to realise they must think in advance and be well prepared to act more, as opposed to reacting so much, in true emergency and crisis situations.
Venues are more than just a place for an event to be held. Fans are coming for the experience, to be excited, included, and be part of something. Venues need to provide a complete customer service experience across every single touch point. Leveraging on a total experience in itself could become a distinctive competitive edge and advantage that may influence the buying behaviour of fans and create opportunities to attract and grow the business. It is not just about the event anymore, this session will look at a range of enhanced entertainment experiences both inside and outside of the venue, that will provide that competitive edge.
The key to conducting good and sound business comes from the foundation stone manufactured via the business planning process, a process whereby the unified resources of an organisation (both internal and external) are mustered together to format a roadmap by which the organisation can track down and monitor their progress together along the way. Throughout this session, students discuss the numerous elements that underpin the strategy for good business planning and gain insight on how these elements play a part in their everyday lives.
This session aims to provide an understanding of the current industrial relations system, how organisational processes can assist with minimising industrial relations conflict and unfair dismissal claims and other legislative considerations in the employment relationship.
It can be said traditional concepts of leadership no longer work. It may follow that transformation of an organisation may be inevitable to successfully compete and/or meet, and especially exceed, the expectations of its customers. Competition and customer demands dictate new innovative ways to operate and serve. Quality and depth of management are critical to an organisation’s effectiveness. Leaders and followers alike must share responsibility. A leader’s objective should be to build a team who feel as much responsibility for the company’s success as the leader. New leadership must have the courage to commit to a system that will be more open and more demanding on the leader as well as the followers. This session helps students realise the major challenges management must deal with regularly to assure more effective performance by the organization and better experiences for the customers.
Managing change entails thoughtful planning and sensitive implementation, and above all, consultation with and involvement of the people affected by the change. The aim of this session is to look at some modern-day principles and backed up by examples which underpin successful change.
Media relations is an essential course component for any venue manager. The ongoing challenge to be ‘seen’, ‘heard’ and ‘understood’ requires diligence and ongoing strategic planning. The success of any venue or organisation doesn’t only depend on just how well it does what it does; it also depends on how well this is communicated. Media relations is about putting some control measures into a venue’s communication plan to ensure a positive message is conveyed by the media about the organisation, venue or event. In this session, students learn about the media landscape and the specific requirements that relate to the venue/sports management industry. The session includes a mock media conference to enable students to apply skills in dealing with the media.
Negotiation is an everyday occurrence in the venue industry. Whether it be a high-level deal to secure event activity in a particular venue, negotiating contracted services to the venue, or just low-level discussion/negotiation between members of management and staff. This session is designed to cover a range of skills that can be used in any negotiation.
The purpose of this session is to gain a greater understanding of the key elements of communication and presentation skills. Understanding these basic elements will allow participants to prepare a presentation and deliver it with confidence in their workplace.
At its essence, a town hall meeting is exactly what it sounds like – members of a community coming together to discuss issues of common concern. The VMA’s town hall meetings are open to all students and they encourage participation from the audience. The session facilitators typically present and discuss the latest trends, issues and challenges which may impact specific venue sectors or discuss an emerging issue of concern.
These three concurrent sessions are specifically aimed at discussing the big issues in the very diverse venue sectors. Led and facilitated by venue sector experts, these concurrent sessions are a must for venue professionals who want to participate.
Invest in your team and foster a culture of safety and security.
Arrive
Sunday, 9 November
Depart
Friday, 14 November
Member
$4,520*
*price subject to change. Price includes GST
Non Member
$5,020*
*price subject to change. Price includes GST
INCLUSIONS
While it is difficult to outline every possible scenario that may eventuate as a result of changes to public health orders and government mandated travel restrictions, the overriding principle of the VMA is to minimise the health and financial risk for all parties, including the student, their employer, the VMA and the host venue.
In the event that the IVSS, either through the ability of the host venue to continue to host guests, or the VMA’s ability to continue to deliver the program, or a student’s ongoing participation in the IVSS is disrupted after the commencement of the IVSS, the VMA will actively work with all parties to share the risk, negotiate the best outcome for all involved and only pass on any hard costs incurred at any applicable time.
The VMA makes a commitment to act in good faith with students, and their employers, to resolve any cancellations in line with the principles and intent of the T&C’s.
The following sets out the terms and conditions attached to enrollment in the Institute of Venue Safety and Security.
All prices are quoted in Australian Dollars and inclusive of GST.
Behaviour: VMA reserves the right to prohibit entry of any person to a VMA event, or eject any person from a VMA event based on behaviour deemed inappropriate by VMA staff and/or its agents and others working under its authority.
Canvassing: Canvassing by attendees is strictly prohibited at VMA events. Promotional materials may not be distributed at the event except by VMA approved event sponsors and exhibitors. Attendees violating this policy will be asked to leave the event and VMA Members may have their membership revoked.
Credit card surcharges and other bank fees: For any payment made via credit card, a processing fee of 1.4% on Visa & Mastercard and 2.4% on American Express will apply. Our surcharge fees are not greater than our cost of acceptance. Any other unexpected costs incurred by VMA in the processing of payments will be charged back to the remitter. Such costs include, but are not limited to, bounced cheques fees and related bank charges.
Disclaimer: The VMA reserves the right to change activities, topics and presenters where necessary. The VMA shall not be liable for any loss caused by the cancellation of an event where such cancellation is due to Force Majeure. The term “Force Majeure” means any circumstance beyond the reasonable control of the organisers including but not limited to war, hostilities (whether war be declared or not), terrorism, aircraft hijacking, military operation, riot, civil war, rebellion, civil commotion or unrest, natural disasters, Acts or Regulations of government, refusal to grant visas, explosions, transport delays, transport difficulties and the insolvency of airline carriers. The organisers will use all reasonable efforts to conduct the conference despite the intervention or occurrence of any such cause.
Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT): If paying via EFT, online registration needs to be completed and an invoice will be issued. EFT payment must be received and include the invoice number quoted on the remittance advice in order for the registration to be processed by VMA. Payment by EFT will not be accepted after the registration closing date. Your registration is not confirmed until you have received a receipt and confirmation email from VMA. Invoices and confirmations will be issued to the email address used in the online registration.
Image release: In registering for VMA events and conferences, attendees grant permission to VMA, its agents and others working under its authority, to take and to have full and free use of video/photographs containing their image/likeness. It is understood these images may be used for promotional, news, online/multimedia, research and/or educational purposes by and for VMA. Attendees agree that they are not entitled to remuneration, residuals, royalties or any other payment from VMA in respect of their image/likeness or its use. Attendees release, discharge, and hold harmless, VMA and its agents from any and all claims, demands or causes of actions that they may hereafter have by reason of anything contained in the photographs or video. Should a attendee not agree to the above image release, they must advise VMA by contacting +61 (0)7 5575 9185 or admin@vma.org.au
Insurance: Students are strongly advised to secure appropriate travel and health insurance. Student enrolment fees do not provide any such insurance coverage. The IVSS Committee and VMA accept no responsibility for any loss in this regard.
Intellectual property:Some Instructors have kindly agreed to share their presentation slides, webcasts and other course information with students only. This content is not intended for wider distribution – according to Australia’s intellectual property laws, sharing, broadcasting and/or copying of this content, including for commercial purposes, is not permitted without the prior permission of the owner. Please be respectful of this intellectual property.
Invoices: When you complete the online registration form a tax invoice will be issued in compliance with ATO requirements. This can be used to make payment by Electronic Funds Transfer, Credit Card, or cheque and you can keep this completed form on file for your tax records.
Payment: To avoid disappointment, ensure you pay for your booking(s) before the registration closing date. Anyone that has not received a confirmation email will not be on the event attendance list and therefore will not be admitted to the event.
Privacy notice: VMA is concerned with the protection of your privacy. We support the privacy principles contained in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), as amended. VMA collects and stores your personal information for the purposes of providing membership services, education and training programs. Here is how your data may be used:
Program: VMA reserves the right to change the program at any time. Every effort will be made to ensure a program of equivalent standard.
Registration Notice: VMA Member registration rates are not transferable to non-VMA Members, except as agreed by the VMA and this may incur an additional payment to reflect the non-member rate. By selecting a member registration rate, it is agreed that the registrant is a current financial member of VMA and that the registration is made in the VMA Member’s name only. A breach of this may result in a cancellation of an event registration and/or VMA membership.
Registration and Payment: Payment in full is required by the event date in order to attend.
Sharing registrations: One registration may not be utilised by several individuals.
Smoking: Smoking of all kind, including vaporized tobacco, is prohibited in any event space.
Substitutions: Should a registrant be unable to attend, they may send one substitute in their place. VMA must agree to all substitutions prior to the event. Refer to ‘Registration Notice’ above.
It is the expectation of the IVSS Committee that all students will abide by a Code of Conduct that encourages respect and dignity of each individual and will allow students to learn in a supportive and stimulating environment. We believe that students, Instructors, staff and volunteers have the right to attend the school which is free from harassment, bullying and intimidation.
The following types of conduct are prohibited at the IVSS and may lead to disciplinary action, including the possible removal from the school.
Harassment may involve inappropriate actions, behaviour, comments or physical contact that is objectionable or causes offence. It is behaviour which makes people feel:
Sexual harassment includes but is not limited to unwelcome sexual flirtations, advances or propositions, verbal abuse of a sexual nature, verbal comments about an individual’s body, sexually degrading words used to describe an individual; or the display/use of sexually suggestive objects, pictures and/or jokes.
If an incident does occur please refer to the following VMA Policy and Procedure:
The following types of conduct are also prohibited at the IVSS and may lead to disciplinary action, including the possible removal from the IVSS.
Commitment to Learning
The IVSS provides an adult learning environment. It is your responsibility to act in a way that does not interfere, directly or indirectly, with the learning of other students or obstruct staff from carrying out their duties.
Students are expected to:
Respect for Others
All students have a right to expect a safe and enjoyable learning environment so that they can perform to the best of their ability. This means:
Unacceptable Behaviour
Unacceptable behavior is any conduct which disrupts others and hinders Instructors and Staff from delivering education, training and other services in an orderly manner. Any individual or group behavior which is abusive, indecent, violent, unruly, disorderly, dangerous, offensive, or which unreasonably disturbs others may be considered unacceptable and result in disciplinary action. This applies not only in classrooms, but in all VMA organised activities.
Attendance
It is a requirement that all students stay at the nominated location of the IVSS for the entire week. It is not acceptable to leave at any time except under exceptional circumstances (work commitments are not an exceptional circumstance). A 100% classroom attendance is a prerequisite for students to be awarded with the Graduation Certificate. Students must attend all classes and discussion groups, pass the exam and complete in-class activities.
Partners and families
Students are not permitted to have partners or family members staying with them during the course of the IVSS.
Classroom Sessions
The curriculum consists of a number of classroom sessions from Sunday to Thursday of the nominated week. It is essential each session commences and finishes on time. Please make sure you arrive on time for classes.
Dress
It is your responsibility, as a mature student, to attend class appropriately attired. Dress for classroom activities is casual. The weather will be cool/mild, with temperatures ranging from around 8 – 18 degrees. The classroom is air-conditioned and we recommend bringing coat/jacket. Hats are not to be worn in class. On Thursday night at the Graduation Dinner, men are to wear a jacket and tie, and women cocktail attire.
Smoking
Classrooms, restaurants, meeting places and bedrooms are all smoke free zones.
Mobile Phones
Mobile phones are not to be used in the classrooms unless relevant to that session.
Additional Costs
If you have selected with Accommodation, the registration fee covers accommodation for 5 nights (Sunday to Thursday) and includes breakfast, lunch, dinner and morning and afternoon teas. Telephone calls, use of hotel activities, mini-bar, purchases at the bar, flights, transfers and any other incidental costs are your own responsibility.
Student Support
Any queries please contact Suzie Crawford, our Education Manager. You can reach her at education@vma.org.au or 0437 827 228.
Policy Statement
IVSS is sensitive to the needs of students who wish to breastfeed their child whilst studying at IVSS. In this context, the IVSS acknowledges the importance of breastfeeding for both mother and baby, and supports women who wish to combine breastfeeding whilst studying at IVSS.
Application of Policy
Please note: Applying for our scholarships is separate from registering or applying for any of our education programs.
Applications are now closed
Successful applicants will be contacted by the VMA office by the end of September.
