Curb Appeal… (Part 1)

 A while ago, Gary and I attended an event that had very little “Curb Appeal”! It’s too bad because it really took away from what could be a great event. As Judi pointed out, if we had just been passing by, we’d likely not have gone in. That being said, we did go in and as a result, I am writing this article.

The main problem with this event was their venue. It was older and not in very good repair. It was also too small for the type of event being held! To be honest, the best solution to the problem would be to move locations, but this is probably not a viable solution. So here are a few suggestions for organizers to help them improve the Curb Appeal of their festival or event:

1. Preliminary Inspection – Once you have decided on a location, make a thorough preliminary inspection of it. Be very critical of everything, especially how it will look to festival visitors on event day. After completing your inspection make a list of both the positives and negatives. Strike a location committee to determine what can be done to minimize the negative aspects of the location and then prepare an action plan.

2. Work with Location Owner – After you have completed your inspection list, you might want to contact the owner of the property to see if he/she will remedy some of the problems. If the owner is not willing to help or there are problems the owner can’t or won’t fix, the location committee will have to see what improvements they can make.

(To be continued in Part 2)

The Importance of a Festival/Event Name… (Part 2)

As you can see, all these names connect with the main festival plus they suggest what the sub-events are all about. Choosing your name carefully is not only important for event identification, but it is additionally important for event marketing and promotion! This is especially true for internet promotion on your website. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) experts agree that one of the quickest ways to gain page ranking on one of the main search engines (Google, Yahoo and Bing/MSN) is to have keywords (your event name) that potential visitors, on the internet, will use to “search” for events like yours. This is why your name is so important. The internet has now become one of the most powerful and least expensive marketing tools available. Let’s say you live in a town called “Acme” and you are holding an art festival. You’d likely want to name your event the “Acme Art Festival”. Then when people make their event search, they will likely type in the words “Acme festivals” or “Acme Art”. If they do, your events name should be listed on the first search page. Of course, there are other things you need to do to “optimize” your website, but a “smart” name is one of the main keys! 

The Importance of a Festival/Event Name… (Part 1)

 One of the most important decisions any new festival or event committee must make is the naming of their event! Your festival/event name should tell potential visitors exactly what the event is all about. Before choosing the name, organizers have to decide the main purpose of the event. That is, is it a sporting event, an art show, wine festival, music festival, etc? Once a theme has been agreed upon, you need to decide if including your geographical location in the name is necessary. Depending on the type of event or area, adding your location may be positive or negative. Sometimes if you have a broad-based event, you might want to have a general name and then a number of sub-names. A good example of a broad-based event is the Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest. The main name tells where the event is being held and what the theme is, Oktoberfest. Within this great event they have a number of events. These include such events as their Oktoberfest Thanksgiving Day Parade, the Miss Oktoberfest Gala Ball, Oktoberfest Idol and the Onkel Hans Food Drive! In fact, they have over 40 different events!

(To be continued in Part 2)

What’s In an Article?

 Over the past 14+ years, we have written articles about each of the 350 plus communities and their attractions and events Gary and I have visited. We try to keep each article fresh and interesting. When you visit and write about as many events as we have, it can be a daunting task! We enjoy it, though. Not only because of the challenge, but because it gives us the opportunity to think carefully about the uniqueness each of the festivals and events we visit. Sometime when we write, we are able to use my own experiences to tell the story, while other times we just describe what we have seen and heard. One of the tools that really helps us recall the details of each event are the photographs and videos taken at the event. Right now, we have over 100,000 photographs in our archives and about 5,000 videos! Another tool we use just for accuracy and content is personal. Before, and as, we write an article, we bounce ideas off each other. We always come up with something that we have forgotten! We are also our harshest critics. When I write an article about an event that we have visited, we always try to find the positive aspects of the event. We are not critics! We don’t want to be! There are enough of those in this world! We believe the festival and event organizers try their hardest to produce the best product possible and, most events are run and organized by dedicated volunteers. They deserve all the help and accolades they can get. The whole purpose of Ontario Visited and our festival and event articles are to provide potential event visitors with information about the events we have visited. In doing this, we also hope that we are helping to promote all of Ontario’s fantastic festivals and events.

Go Green (Part Four)

 Here are the final “Green Ideas”, at least for now!

Green Website:  I have visited a few websites lately that have included their “Green” philosophy and policies. The most notable of these is the Toronto Zoo. I think that this is a great idea because it shows the organization and its management’s commitment to “Go Green”. Their website outlines all the actions the Zoo and its staff is going to take and the benefit derived from these actions. I believe that more festivals, events and attractions should consider their commitment to “Going Green” and then let visitors know what their commitment is. A great example of this is Canada’s Largest Ribfest in Burlington. There website has a special section that tells visitors that they have gone “100% Green”. They then outline everything that they accomplished at their 2008 event!

Signage: Why not use more signage to replace expensive and wasteful paper programs. Most of these are eventually thrown in the garbage. The use of informative well-placed signs will enhance your visitors’ event experience. Signs can be used both to direct visitors to specific locations and to inform them what activities are taking place, where they are taking place and when they are taking place. The key to using signage properly is to have enough of them to be truly useful. Organizers should put themselves in the place of out-of-town visitors who know nothing about the town or the event and then place the signs accordingly. Lack of proper signage is the number one mistake festival and event organizers make! Besides, signs can be sponsored and therefore become a profit centre! If you are concerned about promoting your activities, a well-designed website with plenty of details and well-placed signage should be the trick! If you are still not convinced, try taking a survey of festival/event visitors to see what they think, good signage versus paper programs. I think you will be surprised by their answers, especially if you tell them that you are considering the change in order to help the environment!

Shuttle Service: If you offer a “People Moving” service, is it “Green”? Are the buses you are using gas driven? If they are, you are not “Green” even if they are diesel. Why not consider a “Greener” option! Most communities have horse drawn wagons readily available. These are a lot of fun and certainly “Green”! If you want something a little more exotic, there are electric trains and vehicles available for hire. This option is more expensive, but the benefits are substantial and the “WOW” factor can make your visitors’ event experience that much better. If they enjoyed it, they will likely tell all their friends! Interesting “People Movers” are also easier to sell to prospective sponsors. If you get enough of them, you can either reduce or eliminate your expense!

Like I mentioned at the beginning of this “Go Green” article, there are plenty of “Green Ideas” out there. It is up to festival/event organizers and their communities to decide what is best for them. The biggest commitment of all is getting started! Good luck!

Go Green (Part Three)

 Green Information Booths: Most visitors to a festival or event want to help our environment. The trouble is that many don’t know what they can do “to do their part”. Yes there are plenty of programs on television and articles in magazines and newspapers, but most don’t reach out to the average person. Having a “Green Information Booth” that has real examples of recycling and protecting our environment is one way to help inform people about “Going Green”. I have seen a number of environmental booths at the festivals we have visited. Another unique way is to have “Green Ambassadors”. Two years ago Judi and I visited the Peterborough Festival of Trees. As we exited the festival we were greeted by “Green Ambassadors” and given literature about the festivals “Green Program”! The Ambassadors encouraged us to develop a “Green Program” for ourselves. This was suggested in a fun and thoughtful way!

Compost Bins: Many venues and events are now composting as much of their waste as possible. I heard that Fanshawe Pioneer Village has plans to implement composting. I believe that they are going to work with local farmers to put the compost to good use. The Toronto Zoo has a wonderful “Green Plan”. One of their “Green Programs” includes the “rounding up” of “zoo poo” and converting it to energy.

Canvas Tote Bags: With plastic bags now being discouraged in most towns and cities, canvas tote bags have become a must. Many festivals and events are jumping on the “Tote Bag” bonanza by selling them to their visitors. Like the recyclable logo water bottles, the logo tote bags are a great way to raise extra money while promoting an event.

Go Green (Part Two)

 Throughout our travels to Ontario’s festivals and events, we have encountered some great “Green” ideas. Last week I spoke about the importance of Ontario festivals and events “Going Green”. This week and the next few weeks, I am going to share these ideas with you. (Please Note: the festival and event examples that I have mentioned are from my own experience. I know that there are many other festivals and events that offer the same or better “Green Solutions” I hope that they will contact me and let me know their ideas.)

Recycle Bins: I know that this is not a new or unique idea, but it is one of the first steps in “Going Green”. Unbelievably, there are still a number of events that do not recycle! Recycling is not the innovation, but how it’s done can be! Take Fanshawe Pioneer Village as an example, not only do they recycle, but they so it in a very unique way. Fanshawe is a heritage village and wants to depict the 1800’s as they were. So, having a bunch of blue recycle bins placed around their grounds would not help their authenticity! Instead, they have built a number of authentic looking structures that hold both garbage and recycling! The recycling is there and so is the heritage look! (See Photos)

Potable Water: More and more events are seeing plastic water bottles as a “waste”, both in the use of manufacturing energy and long term land fill. As a result, some festivals and events are bringing in large containers of potable water for their visitors. Although we haven’t visited the Hillside Folk Festival in Guelph yet, I understand that they have been doing this for a number of years. The Toronto Zoo has also brought in potable water.

Re-Usable Water Bottles: In conjunction with the potable water, both the Hillside Folk Festival and the Toronto Zoo are selling re-usable water bottles with their logos imprinted on them. They get two bonuses while helping preserve our planet, profit from the sale of the water bottles and advertising with the logo imprints.

Re-usable Plates and Cutlery: Some festivals are now only selling food on re-usable plates with re-usable cutlery. By doing this they are drastically reducing the amount of waste. The Shelter Valley Folk Festival does this and has been for a number of years. When their festival first began, they invested in plates, glasses and cutlery. Now all of their food vendors are required to us festivals plates and cutlery. Lang Pioneer Village at their Dine and Shine event offered a variation of this idea. They encouraged visitors to the event to bring their own plates and cutlery. All those that did had a chance to receive a great prize. This was a well received “Green Promotion”!