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!

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.

9.    FOOD – Food is an important component of most festivals and events. It used to be that “good old fashion” comfort food was totally acceptable, foods like hot dogs, hamburgers, French fries, sno-cones and candy floss. While these are still the “norm”, times are changing and many visitors are demanding more nutritious foods. A number of festivals and events have responded to these demands and are offering a greater variety of nutritious meals. Families are not only becoming “health” conscious, but with the economy as it is, they are looking for better food value. Some families have stopped buying food at festival all together, opting to eat at home before going to the event or bring a picnic lunch to eat at the event. Festivals and events that recognize these trends and respond to them will benefit from the changes in the long run. Here are some ideas to think about.

Ø  Try grouping food vendors together and offer a greater variety of “comfort” and “health foods”.

Ø  Provide a “picnic” area for visitors who bring their own food. Make sure you advertise this service on your website and in your advertising.

Ø  Screen food vendors thoroughly, make sure that they meet the food standards that have been set, both in quality of food and food value. It’s your event, so you make the rules!

Ø  Providing a family friendly environment will pay huge dividends.

One of the best events we have visited for food was the Winona Peach Festival. All food vendors are local charities and organizations. The food is home made, nutritious and delicious. The vendors are all located in the same food area and there is plenty of variety to choose from. In the centre of the food area is a covered picnic area!

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.

8. PROGRAM GUIDES – I like festivals and events that produce a nice informative program guide. To me it shows that it is a well-planned event and that they care about their visitors. I also like informative program guides because they provide me the information, I need to enjoy the event. I don’t believe that guides need to be overly ornate to serve its purpose. Like websites, content is “king”! Here are some of the components that I think are necessary to make a guide effective.

Ø  A site map should be included showing the location of all events and activities and all important facilities, washrooms, information booth(s), first aid station(s), ATM’s, disabled parking, shuttle bus stops and designated food areas.

Ø  Activities and descriptions should be included along with times.

Ø  Contact information should be given with telephone numbers that can be used during the event

Ø  Finally, a list of event sponsors

I am sure that more could be added, but this a start. If cost is prohibiting an event from producing a program guide, festival organizers should contact the local newspaper to see if they would be interested in publishing the guide. If you give them the advertising rights, they will likely produce the guide for free and in some cases they may even pay for those advertising rights. Another inexpensive way of producing a program guide is to make it part of your website. If you go this route, make sure that the program is not too long, that it is in the “PDF” format and that it can be printed in “black and white”. One of the best festival program guides I have seen is produced for the Cobourg Waterfront Festival by one of the local newspapers. The newspaper pays, through sponsorship, for the right to publish the guide.

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. 

7. WEATHER PLAN – No-one can control the weather, but an effective “weather plan” can, at least, minimize the affects. Even “indoor” events can be affected by poor weather (snow, freezing rain, hurricanes, etc)! Making alternative weather plans helps in two ways. Firstly, it tells your volunteers what will happen in case of disastrous weather, a plan to follow. And, secondly it tells your potential visitors what you plan to do if the weather turns bad. One of the most important aspects of any weather plan is communications, both to your volunteers and to your visitors. If an event is going to be cancelled or postponed, you have to let people know. “Letting people know” can easily be accomplished through your website. First by publishing your weather policy and then by providing a contact telephone number should a cancellation or postponement take place. A “Postponement or cancellation notice” could also be placed on your website. When serious thunder storms threatened the opening night outdoor play of the St. Lawrence Shakespeare Festival, they had an alternative plan and location in place. Even though the weather looked fine when they made the decision, experience told them not to take a chance on the weather forecasts for the area. They made the decision in plenty of time and then let festival visitors know of the location change.