Jan Bonhomme
Executive Director
St. Lawrence 1812 Bicentennial Alliance
Ms. Bonhomme is experienced, to say the least, when is comes to creating “problem solving techniques” used during a special event! (For example … weather conditions, volunteers/re-enactors/staff being absent due to unforeseen emergencies, etc.) The story she shares with us now sums it up well! … “When our event site went down in a “microburst” just hours before thousands of visitors were expected, it was a nightmare that we had to turn around quickly. Cleaning up the site and salvaging what we could became the priority – forget having tents and pretty decorations etc. However the shock and learning point that came forward a few hours later, was that our visitor was very flexible. They still came in droves, had a good time and liked our new “open air site”. Go figure after spending thousands of dollars on large tents that we learned that we didn’t have to put everything under cover which had limited the number of visitors who could see the activity. Events are meant to be outside – it’s part of the Canadian experience. Give your visitor credit that he will dress accordingly and not criticize you if the weather isn’t perfect! Learn to go with the flow and remember to keep things fun!” This is great advice! For visitors, it is right in keeping with my TIPS that I have written about over the years for festival/event goers. (You can check out my refreshed issue about the TOP 10 TIPS at http://www.ontariofestivalsvisited.ca/top10_festivaltips.html ).
(To Be Continued)
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