The Gate 15 Interview: Mark Herrera on Venues, Safety, and Security in 2021

22 February 2021

In this episode of The Gate 15 Interview, Andy Jabbour talks with Mark Herrera, Director of Education for the International Association of Venue Managers (IAVM; @IAVMWHQ). In this podcast we discuss a range of issues from the pandemic’s impact to venues, to security and preparedness with broad applicability to all organizations – from venues to places of worship, and across events and facilities of all types. We discuss a wide range of issues from the impacts of COVID on venues and events, and what lies ahead in 2021, ideas on enhancing security through conflict management and professionalism, and lot more. Mark talks about the importance of “programming the mind through mental preparation” noting that, “the body will go where the mind has been, if the mind hasn’t been there the body will not follow.” Mark is always full of great quotes. Some are shared below; listen to the conversation for more great insight and Herrera-isms! In the discussion we address:

  • Mark’s backstory
  • IAVM
  • The pandemic’s impact to venues
  • Where the venue community is going in 2021
  • Resetting security and the physical threat environment
  • Organizational and personal security best practices
  • And more!

Please enjoy this episode of The Gate 15 Interview on Anchor, Spotify, Apple, Google, as well as other locations accessible via the Anchor link or almost anywhere you listen to your favorite podcasts.

You can’t profile people, but you can profile behavior.

Mark Herrera
Mark Herrera, IAVM

Mark Herrera: Herrera is the Director of Education & Life Safety for the International Association of Venue Managers and recognized as one of the 25 most influential leaders in the meetings and event industry. As part of his duties, Mark teaches Situational Awareness-Mindset training aimed at giving venues the tools to be safer and more secure.   The training emphasizes on Exceptional Focus, Performance, and Control in Extreme Situations and Risk Mitigation through Guest Services Interjection. In addition, as the Director of Education for IAVM, Herrera represents the Department of Homeland Security Office of Infrastructure Protection through the Public Assembly Facility Sub-Sector Council. For Mark’s complete bio, see below. Twitter: @IAVM_Herrera; LinkedIn; Instagram; Facebook. 

Preparedness beats paranoia.

Mark Herrera

A few references mentioned in or relevant to our discussion include:

  • The Real Estate Information Sharing and Analysis Center (RE-ISAC). “The Real Estate Information Sharing and Analysis Center (RE-ISAC), a not-for-profit information sharing entity organized by The Real Estate Roundtable in February 2003, is a public-private partnership between the US commercial facilities sector and federal homeland security officials which serves as the primary conduit of terrorism, cyber and natural hazard warning and response information between the government and the commercial facilities sector.”
  • DHS CISA COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Physical Security Measures. Organizations involved in the development and distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine should take proactive measures to enhance their overall physical security posture.Read more. PDF.  
  • DHS SAFETY Act and Implementation.
  • DHS CISA on Convergence: The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Convergence Action Guide describes the complex threat environment created by increasingly interconnected cyber-physical systems, and the impacts that this interconnectivity has on an organization’s cybersecurity and physical security functions. It also provides information that organizations can consider to adopt a holistic cyber-physical security approach through a flexible framework. Read more. PDF.

And if you want to find out more about blended threats and convergence, check out some of our recent blog posts, including: 

We have to be ready, we have to know what to do before the incident happens because once it does, “you can’t un-ring the bell…”

Mark Herrera

The Gate 15 Interview is a monthly interview between Gate 15’s founder and Managing Director, Andy Jabbour and guests from throughout the homeland security risk management community addressing a wide range of all-hazards topics and issues. Read more about Gate 15’s full podcast menu at our Podcast page. You can subscribe and enjoy all the Gate 15 Podcasts on Anchor, Apple, Spotify, Google, as well as other locations accessible from the Anchor link. Week-to-week, you can hear and learn more about our all-hazards threats, risks, mitigation and other issues impacting homeland security risk management from our team as well as our regular and special guests. The full podcast menu includes:

  • The Risk Roundtable, is a recurring monthly discussion among our team and occasional guests as we explore the all-hazards threats and risks impacting the United States and internationally.
  • The Cybersecurity Evangelist, with Jennifer Lyn Walker, is a cybersecurity-focused discussion with Jen and invited guests.
  • Nerd Out! Security Panel Discussion, moderated by Dave Pounder, focuses on physical security topics including terrorism, extremism, hostile events, and other pertinent topics.
  • The Gate 15 Interview, is a monthly interview between Gate 15’s founder and Managing Director, Andy Jabbour and guests from throughout the homeland security risk management community addressing a wide range of all-hazards topics and issues.

We hope you’ll subscribe, listen and share your ideas and other feedback! Reach out to us on Twitter, LinkedIn or via email at: podcast@gate15.global.

Mark Herrera, complete bio: Herrera is the Director of Education & Life Safety for the International Association of Venue Managers and recognized as one of the 25 most influential leaders in the meetings and event industry.   As part of his duties, Mark teaches Situational Awareness-Mindset training aimed at giving venues the tools to be safer and more secure.   The training emphasizes on Exceptional Focus, Performance, and Control in Extreme Situations and Risk Mitigation through Guest Services Interjection. 

In addition, as the Director of Education for IAVM, Herrera represents the Department of Homeland Security Office of Infrastructure Protection through the Public Assembly Facility Sub-Sector Council.  As a representative of the Public Assemblies Facilities Sub-Sector Council he works in collaboration with the Department of Homeland Security and the Protective Security Advisor to identify capability gaps across soft target community, counter threats to the pattern of life, research technology to mitigate risk and provide information to protect our Public Facility Assemblies and all Critical Infrastructures.   Herrera, in addition, serves on the National Fire Protection Association Technical Advisory Committee for Assembly Occupancies.

Herrera is also a seasoned law enforcement officer and trainer, having spent twenty years with the Hobbs, NM, Police Department in numerous roles including Patrol Officer, Detective for the Gang and Narcotics unit, Supervisor of the Crime Prevention Division, Field Training Officer, Honor Guard Commander, and Entry Team Leader and Tactical Sergeant for a Special Operations Unit known as S.W.A.T.  During this time, his responsibilities also included the development and implementation of security policies and procedures and security awareness programs for the Community of Hobbs.

Upon retiring from the police department, he leveraged his training background to implement security policies, procedures and training programs for the oil and gas industry and later worked as an instructor for the Department Homeland Security, training 3,000 armed pilots to defend against acts of terrorism involving criminal violence or air piracy. Twitter: @IAVM_Herrera; LinkedIn; Instagram; Facebook.