Lost Opportunity… (Part Two)

We couldn’t find any of them and we looked. We tried to find an event organizer or a festival program guide, but could not. We drove around town looking for signs that would point us in the rights direction. There were no directional signs to be found anywhere! We drove all around town looking for any information. The only thing we saw were a few large signs telling us to call a number for information and tickets. Even the festival information we printed off the event’s website was hard to read and incomplete. We weren’t looking for problems. We really wanted to enjoy this event! After all, we had driven several hours to get to it! So here are the basic problems with this event:

1.    No directional signage

2.    Lack of communications

3.    Poorly designed website

4.    No informational signage

5.    Cancelled or “no show” events

6.    A parade that wasn’t theme driven

These are all solvable problems (challenges). It’s just that the event organizers have to recognize and acknowledge that the challenges exist and that is where the greatest challenge likely is. Most organizers don’t like to think they have to change and correct, but they do! Good festivals, events and businesses are constantly evaluating themselves and making changes and adjustments as necessary. Hopefully the organizers of this event will recognize the need for change. Otherwise it will be an “opportunity lost”!

Lost Opportunity… (Part One)

We visited an event that had great theme and a lot of potential! Unfortunately, it fell far short of being the really special event it could have been. I know that the organizers work very hard each year, so the problem was not for lack of effort. So, what went wrong? The event has been running for many years, so perhaps it needs new direction, a re-evaluation. On the day that we visited the festival, there was a whole day of events scheduled. We arrived about noon, just in time for the start of the downtown festival parade. It was a long interesting parade and would have been perfect if it was just a town parade. However, the parade was supposed to represent the festival’s theme and it did everything but! There was very little in the parade that tied to the fun and spirit of the festival’s theme! After the parade there were a number of activities scheduled to take place in the downtown area.

(To be continued in Part Two) 

There Must Be A Reason… (Part Two)

Many event organizers believe that they need vendors to enhance their event. This, however, is only true if they have planned vendor sales as part of their festival’s program. Anything less than this is irresponsible! Most vendors are small entrepreneurial business people who “live” and “die” by their sales. Poor sales can be disastrous!  There are enough uncontrollable elements that can affect their sales. They don’t need poor planning and apathetic organizers adding to these elements! Careful planning and intelligent promotion is a must! Festival organizers should make sure that if they are going to have a vendors’ section that it is well thought out and that they attract the right mix of vendors. Vendors, on the other hand, should know as much about the festival or event as possible and then asked a lot probing questions. Only then, once they are satisfied with what they have read and heard, should they agree to participate.

On a final note to organizers, if your festival runs into weather related problems and the financial results are poor, please remember your vendors. Most festivals are run by volunteers and are non-profit. If the festival loses money, there is no financial lose to the volunteers. On the other hand, weather can ruin vendors financially, especially if they have to pay large festival fees on top of their traveling and out of pocket expenses. Try to preplan a policy that takes these vendor losses into consideration. I know you don’t have a legal responsibility to help them, but I believe you have a moral responsibility to minimize their losses. Besides, I think it’s good business in the long run. Good hard-working vendors are hard to kind and keep!

There Must Be A Reason… (Part One)

It always amazes me when we go to a festival or event and find vendors that shouldn’t be there. I don’t mean that it’s the vendors fault. They are only going where they think the money is! Most of the vendors who go to these events are novices. However, when they don’t make any money or possibly lose some, they quickly learn, the hard way, to ask more questions from event organizers before they sign on the dotted line! Frankly, I think organizers who insist on having a vendors’ section even though it has no benefit to the event are misguided and are likely novices themselves!  Without proper planning and marketing, vendor sections are doomed to failure! Vendors participate in festivals and events to sell their products and to make money! If an event is going to ask vendors to participate, the organizers need to provide the type of atmosphere that is conducive to buyers buying. 

(To be continued in Part Two)

What’s In A Name? (Part 2)

The Calgary Stampede started out as just an idea many years ago and now the whole city becomes involved. If you are not wearing a Stetson during the Stampede people will look at you strangely.  The Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest is the same. Most everyone there gets into the spirit of the event. Yes, these are larger established events, but it’s the spirit that matters and the residents of these communities have the spirit! I believe that is why they have had such great success. I can remember as a kid during Christmas, our village became totally engrossed in Christmas decorating. Doors were decorated, trees and houses were totally lite up with Christmas lights and most lawns had Christmas displays. People took pride in their homes and their community and it showed. People from all over flocked to our community just to see what the village residents had done. This tradition happened year after year and droves of people returned each year. It may seem like you have enough to do just organizing your event, but the positive benefits of having your community become “the event” will pay huge dividends in both the number of visitors and the dollars spent. The more interesting you can make your event, the better your event will become. Attention to details, large and small, is important to successful events!

What’s In A Name? (Part 1)

I like visiting festivals that have a theme. The theme gives me a better idea of what to expect. I like it even better when a whole community becomes involved in the theme! This is especially true of festivals that have a theme that can be easily embraced by the community. A pumpkin festival, for example, makes a great theme and allows residents and businesses to easily become involved. Residents can create scarecrows and put them on their lawns and in their windows. They can carve scary pumpkins and put them on their front porches. Business can decorate their buildings and business windows. They and their employees can dress up to add excitement to the theme. The festival committee can encourage participation by offering prizes for involvement. Local media can become involved by enthusiastically promoting the theme. It’s a domino effect that keeps building with momentum.

(Continued in Part 2)

Crowd Control…

A few years ago, Gary and I went to Upper Canada Village for an 1812 re-enactment battle. The battle took place on a large open field and the audience was able to watch the battle while sitting on the side of a shaded hill. It was a perfect theatre. The field was “roped off” to prevent onlookers from wandering onto the battle grounds and joining the battle. We arrived in plenty of time to get a good viewing area. Additional people arrived even after the start of the battle. As the hillside filled up and more onlookers came to watch the re-enactment, they started taking spots at the rope barrier. They stood there to watch the activities. Soon the complete barrier line was filled with people! The people who had planned their time and who had come early to get a good viewing spot had their view blocked by the late comers up front! I can’t understand the mentality of people who arrive late for an event and then think they have the right to block the view of those who came early. Frankly, I find this type of behavior rude and unacceptable! What is even worse is the most festivals and events allow this to happen and then don’t take any action to prevent or correct it! Fortunately, this was not the case at the Upper Canada Village re-enactment! As soon as the announcer noticed what was happening, he stopped describing the battle and asked the people up front to move away from the rope barrier and take places on the hill. The press who were taking photographs were allowed to stay but were asked sit down on the ground and to keep a low profile. My congratulations to the organizers of Upper Canada Village re-enactment! I can only hope that more organizers will take action against the few rude and annoying people who consider it their right to come late and then get a front seat view!