Event Development (continued)

 “The following is a continuation of my Event Development Series. Several months ago, I started the series with the first section, “Initial Development”. The second section is entitled “Research and Preliminary Planning”. Now that you and your team have decided to proceed with the event, it’s time to get serious! As suggested previously, any thoughts and idea are more then welcome!”

Research and Preliminary Planning

You’ve determined that you “financially” want to proceed with your festival or event and you and your committee have completed plenty of “research”. Now it’s time to start your “Preliminary Planning”.

 

Preliminary Planning – Considerations (Continued)

7. Are There Any Groups That Could Adversely Affect Your Event? – Perhaps the most obvious group that could affect your event are your local politicians. If you are not offering something that the majority wants and you hope to use town property or services, you will likely reach a “dead-end” before you begin! Knowing this is a good policy to pass your plans by some of the councilors before you present your formal proposal! There are other groups that need to be considered very carefully, here are a few of them:

RESIDENTS – If you plan on holding your event in a residential area, you must consider the residents. Believe it or not the residents might object to your event! Their objections could range anywhere from noise to traffic to vandalism. Don’t under estimate the power of this group. If they band together, they can become very formable opponents. It’s best to get them on your side right from the start. Find out what their objections are and find out ways to eliminate or minimize the objections. If you can get some of them on your committee or offer free tickets or other incentives that might also help.

Event Development (continued)

 “The following is a continuation of my Event Development Series. Several months ago, I started the series with the first section, “Initial Development”. The second section is entitled “Research and Preliminary Planning”. Now that you and your team have decided to proceed with the event, it’s time to get serious! As suggested previously, any thoughts and idea are more then welcome!”

Research and Preliminary Planning

You’ve determined that you “financially” want to proceed with your festival or event and you and your committee have completed plenty of “research”. Now it’s time to start your “Preliminary Planning”.

 

Preliminary Planning – Considerations (Continued)

6. Are There Any Conflicting Events? – This is an important question because the success of your event will likely be defined in terms of the number of visitors to your event and how much they spend! If there is a conflicting event, it could drastically affect your numbers, visitors and revenue. “Conflicting events” don’t necessarily mean conflicting dates or locations. They could also include types of participants and visitors. For example, suppose you are planning on holding a major art show on a particular date, but there is another one being held some distance away. Because they don’t conflict location wise, your might think it’s okay to go ahead with the event. This could be a fatal error in judgment because you might not be able to attract the best artists, artists who would attract visitors. Conflicting art shows would likely split the visitor base and both events might suffer, especially if yours is the newer event. Many groups have associations which help organizers coordinate dates, participants and marketing. If this is the case for your event, contacting the appropriate association may save a lot of grief! The internet is a great way to search for these associations. On the other side of the coin are events that may initially seem to be in conflict with your event. However, they may be complimentary to your event. Research will help determine this. When this happens, cooperation is the name of the game! By cooperating with one another you can play on each others strengths! You might event find that together you can offer a lot more and even draw more people to your event! If you really find that you can work together, you might even be able to reduce your costs in areas such as advertising, transportation, parking and security (etc). Being aware of what is happening around you can work to your advantage in many ways! (To be continued)

Event Development (continued)

“The following is a continuation of my Event Development Series. Several months ago, I started the series with the first section, “Initial Development”. The second section is entitled “Research and Preliminary Planning”. Now that you and your team have decided to proceed with the event, it’s time to get serious! As suggested previously, any thoughts and idea are more then welcome!”

Research and Preliminary Planning

You’ve determined that you “financially” want to proceed with your festival or event and you and your committee have completed plenty of “research”. Now it’s time to start your “Preliminary Planning”.

Preliminary Planning – Considerations (Continued)

5. Is This Event In Keeping With Why You Are Holding It? – Why are you holding this event? Is it because you want to promote your community? Is it because you want to promote your organization or cause? Or, is it because your want to raise money, celebrate a special occasion, etc? Whatever your “why” is, it really doesn’t matter as long as it fits with your group or your community. However, once you have set your “why”, it is important that you stay true to it! Too many festivals and events forget why they are holding their event when they start planning the minute details. They lose sight of their original purpose. This can lead to all kinds of challenges, especially if it’s a new event! Both event visitors and volunteers will become confused. They won’t understand why you are holding the event. They will not understand its purpose. Because of this confusion your event will likely start to fall apart! You may get past the first year, but future years will be doubtful! Make sure when you are planning your event that you keep your focus on the “why” and stay true to it! It may be after a few years of holding the event that the “why” will need to be changed. It is always a good policy to review your purpose at the beginning of each year. Confirm or redefine that “purpose” and then start your planning process and then make sure all your “stakeholders” are aware of what your “purpose” is. With this knowledge everyone involved will be able to help you and your committee reach your goals and objectives. (To be continued) 

Top Ten Festival Challenges (Part Two)

 Over the years, I have visited about 250 Ontario festivals and events. Although I have found them have been interesting and enjoyable to visit, I have also seen many challenges.  In this article I will describe 5 of the Top Ten Challenges I have experienced.

10. THEME – In order to attract visitors to their event, most festivals develop a “theme”. The “theme” dictates how the event is organized, what attractions are offered and how it is promoted. It identifies the uniqueness of the event. That is why it is important to choose the theme carefully, making sure that it makes sense for you and your community. You likely would not want to hold a “rock concert” in a retirement community! Once a “theme” has been set, every effort should be made to keep to the spirit of the theme. This includes activities, ground set-up and marketing. Having a great theme without enthusiastically promoting it is like having a “birthday cake without candles, all show and no glow”! The Canadian Redneck Games in Minto is a great example using and promoting a theme to its maximum. The amount of press and awards that this event has received is amazing and a true testament to its catchy theme!