Following the Crowd… Part 1

Story as told to me by The Festival Nomad (aka Gary McWilliams)

"I can remember as a young man working at the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) and being amazed at the crowds that came to visit. Back then I never felt threatened by the crowds. In fact, I loved them! I used to make a game of walking through the crowds to see how quickly I could maneuver my way through them! I was never rude, but I did say a lot of “excuse me’s”. Back then I could move quite quickly and was very agile! Now, of course, it’s different. I’m a lot older and not quite as quick or agile as I use to be! I still love walking through crowds! For Judi, it’s a completely opposite story. She hates crowds! This “love/hate” is the challenge that all successful festivals and events organizers have to face, because success brings bigger crowds. So how does a festival prepare for this type of success? First of all, traffic control, vehicle and people, has to become an intricate part of the planning process. If your traffic control is poor or non-existent, your success will be short lived! Festival and event visitors will only stand for so much inconvenience. I have talked before about parking and shuttle services, so I won’t talk about them in this blog. Rather, I want to talk about pedestrian traffic flow."

To be Continued in Part 2...

A Helping Hand…

Over the years Gary and I have been involved, both as organizers and participants, of many festivals and events, and of course, we have visited many more. As vendors, we always appreciated when we were treated well and were disappointed when we weren’t. Festivals that treat their vendors and participants well, will always be the event of choice for the better vendors. If your festival or event’s revenue is based upon the success of your vendors, treating them well just makes sense! It should play a major part in your event’s vendor marketing program. 

One festival that I know of, has taken this treatment to heart and offer their vendors a variety of amenities. Some of them include special vendor parking, booth sitting services and s vendor relaxation area with refreshments. Tenting and electricity are also included as part of their booth fee. By providing these, their Craft Show and Sale has a waiting list and they have the “cream” of the crafters participating in their show! 

Another event, offers their vendors a lunch service. While we were visiting this show, we saw volunteers go to each vendor and ask for their lunch order. We found out that the volunteer then went back to the in-show café, put up the order and then brought it back to the exhibitor. On a short show, where selling time is precious, this is a great benefit! 

I can tell you from experience that these services are really appreciated and good vendors seek out festivals and events that go the extra mile when it come to the treatment of their vendors. By doing this it’s a win-win situation for everyone, great vendors equal great events and happy visitors!

Activity Planning…

Some time ago, Gary and I visited a festival and were disappointed when we found out the amount of down time we were going to experience if stayed for the whole event. With this particular festival, they had plenty of activities planned for the morning and musical entertainment for the evening but not very much in-between. 

The type of planning may be acceptable for local residents, but for out-of-town visitors it is a deterrent. Having an interesting array of activities and events, strategically scheduled for the entire day/weekend is critical to a successful event. When planning an event, organizers must keep in mind who they are trying to attract and then plan the event/festival accordingly. One event that we visited, in my opinion, planned their activities and event to perfection. They had a wide range of interesting events that appealed to their target market. The activities and events were planned in such a way that none interfered with the other. This included timing and just as important, sound interference. Also, the events were planned in such a way that visitors could make their way without having to run to make it in time. This type of scheduling avoids the tension that so often results in angry parents dragging their children from event to event. Judging the reaction of fellow visitors, I could see that they also appreciated the efforts of the organizing committee. 

Successful festivals always know who their target market is and how to cater to them.

Festival Dining... Part Two

Festivals should be aware of this trend and make sure they are making this type of food available. One food related area that most festivals miss is having a decent eating area close to the food vendors. There is nothing more annoying then having to juggle food, drinks, purses and packages or to have to stand up to eat. It is such a simple thing to provide food area seating. I can’t understand why festivals don’t offer this amenity. 

One of the best examples of how to combine all of these elements is the Winona Peach Festival. At the Winona Peach Festival they have one large food court area. All the food vendors are located in this one area. The food vendors, all of whom are manned and operated by local community and service groups, offer a large variety of wholesome foods. Visitors, after purchasing their food, can take it to a covered eating area! The Winona Peach Festival is a great event to learn from and copy. Good food, at a reasonable price, will always win the hearts of festival visitors! 

Finally, I have one further suggestion. When setting up an eating area, festival organizers should include a wash-up facility. I am sure that this is one element that would be very much appreciated by all visitors.

Festival Dining… Part One

To me food and how it’s presented is an important part of how people perceive an event or festival. Part of the festival experience is the food and it’s likely the biggest festival expense for a family. If the food being offered is of poor quality, visitors will think the same of the event. I doubt this is the message that most festival organizers want to send to their attendees! I don’t mean that the food has to be at the gourmet level, but I believe that it must be prepared well and have strong appeal for the whole family. 

Fortunately local governments and health boards are taking a closer look at outdoor eating facilities and making vendors prepare their food in a more hygienic fashion. This answers the preparation concern, but not the appeal. Festival organizers should screen potential food vendors very carefully to insure the only reputable operators are allowed to participate. Careful attention should be made to the types of foods being offered. A wide variety is preferable, not only for the people attending but for the vendors themselves. In addition to hygiene and variety, people are demanding healthier and more nutritional foods. 

To Be Continued ~ Part Two

Building Your Website – Contact Information and Linking

11.  Contact Information

A number of the websites I have visited over the past year have had either no contact information or incomplete information. I believe that this is a real mistake! When someone visits your website they are looking for answers. Most websites are designed to give as much information as possible. However, there will always be someone who has a question that is not answered on the site. When this happens the person will want the question answered. If they don’t get it an answer they will likely become frustrated and not visit the site again. A lost opportunity! This is why I always recommend that a website contain complete contact information. For me this includes telephone numbers (phone, fax and, where possible, cellular), a mailing address and, most important, an e-mail address. An e-mail address is important because, after all, the question is coming as a result of your Internet website. Communicating via the Internet only makes sense! Finally, it is imperative that once a question has been asked, no matter what mode of communications, that it be answered as soon as possible!

12. Linking

When it comes to Search Engine Optimization (SEO), search engine companies (especially Google, Yahoo and MSN) are attaching more and more importance to websites having quality, compatible external links! Before search engines “smartened up”, Search Engine Optimizers use to “load up” websites with questionable external links. Most had no relevance to the sites they were linked to. This was all in the name of optimization! Fortunately search engine companies have become more sophisticated and are now recognizing when sites are trying to trick them. As a result, websites who use this practice can be penalized by Search Engines and have their rankings reduced or eliminated completely. When this happens it is very difficult to earn your ranking back! In a word, Search Engine managers don’t like to be tricked or taken advantage of! It is important, right from the start of Building Your Website, that you and your web designer create a plan for attracting compatible, quality external links. This process may be time consuming, but doing it right, from the start, will pay huge dividends in the future! Remember that the object of all Search Engines is to provide quality and accurate searches for their customers.  So if you plan your website accordingly, you can’t go wrong!

What Are They Thinking?

Sometimes you read an article and it really makes you wonder! That’s what happened to me when I read an article about a community stopping funding for upcoming events. I don’t know the whole story, but if it true, I think that it is a big mistake! Festivals and events are the backbone of any community. Making it harder for festivals to grow and prosper is “wrong” thinking. Consider, for a moment, what festivals and events mean to a community. First of all, they bring a community together. They give the community and its residents as sense of pride and purpose, a sense of community. They make residents want to reside in their community much longer and to give back to it! Successful, well-funded festivals bring new visitors into the community. If people are enjoying themselves, they will spend money, sometimes, lots of it. They go to restaurants, stay overnight in hotels and shop in local retail stores. If they really have enjoyed themselves, they might even want to move to the community and be part of it. Additionally, some visitors may feel that the community is a good place to invest their money! Some might want to relocate their business to the community. Anything is possible! All this means more wealth for the community and more taxes to the government. With healthy festivals and events, everyone wins! I hope that the community’s politicians and staff take a deep breath and reconsider their actions. The heath of their community depends on them doing the “right thing”!

Other communities who are considering similar actions should take note! This is not the time to cut back! It’s time to step forward and be bold. It’s time to make your community the best that it can be!