Where To Park?

I feel sorry for most festival organizers when it comes to event parking. It’s a no win situation, but it is a problem that needs to be addressed head-on. And, the problem doesn’t end on where to park festival attendees. It also involves dealing with local businesses and residents. These people must be considered otherwise your festival or event will be plagued with complaints from angry citizens, and angry citizens usually translate into uncooperative politicians and bureaucrats. Along with parking challenges comes traffic control during the event. That’s why forming a parking and traffic control committee early in the planning process is very important. I know there are a lot of festival committees out there that feel that they have plenty of existing parking so why bother planning. I guess that’s fine if you are only planning a small local festival, but if you are looking for out-of-town visitors, a having planned parking and traffic control is a must! Even if it’s just to have directional signage! Careful thought early in the game will mean fewer problems during your event. It’s not just the BIG picture that needs to be considered, it’s the small details too. Last year Judi and I went to an event that included a large parade. The parade was to go straight down the main street and then turn right onto the street that led to the park and the final destination. However, someone had forgotten to put “No Parking” signs at the corner of the street. In the morning several car had parked there. By the time the parade came it was too late to find the owners and asked them to move their vehicle. As a result the larger floats couldn’t make the turn and were told to continue straight. Needless to say, this caused mass confusion. The whole parade became disrupted; parade participant didn’t know where to go, parade watchers didn’t know where to stand and the police had difficulties controlling crowd and traffic! This was a situation that could have been avoided if the committee had paid attention to the “little things”.

Creating a simple but thorough checklist will go a long way towards having minimum problems come parade day. Here are a few ideas to consider adding to the list:
€ Prepare a parking strategy with map that shows existing parking availability, no parking areas and potential off-site parking areas
€ Determine if off-site parking required
€ Determine if a shuttle service is needed and what the costs would be, plus if it could be paid for by a sponsor
€ Determine how many “No Parking” signs are required and where they would be placed (make the signs large enough to be seen clearly)
€ Determine how many “Directional Signs” are needed are where they would be placed (consider placing signs at all town entry points)
€ Develop a strategy to work with local residents and businesses
€ Develop a “parking patrol” strategy
€ Work with town officials and local police to make sure “No Parking” areas are strictly enforced
€ Plan for a number of handicapped parking spots
€ Plan for convenient drop off areas
€ Plan for parking attendants at off-site parking areas
€ Make sure your local media advertises all road closures, parking areas and parade route. These should also be included in any festival materials produced.

Festivals and Events Ontario

The other day I traveled to Brantford to the offices of Festivals and Events Ontario (FEO). FEO is the voice of Ontario’s festivals and events. (Website: http://www.festivalsandeventsontario.ca/) I was honoured to be asked to act as one of the judges for their 2008 Achievement Awards. This is where festivals and events submit entries for various achievement categories. There were 8 judges and we were split up into teams to handle the 100 or so submissions. As I looked through the submissions assigned to our team, I was struck by the professionalism and energy of the individual or committees who had made the submission. Reading through these submissions started me to think about FEO and all the festivals Judi and I had visited in 2007. I wondered how many of the festivals we had visited were members of FEO. When I returned home, I went onto my computer and the FEO website to find out. Of the 46 that we visited, 22 were members, 17 were not and 7 were deemed attractions. Some of the 17 might have been members through their municipality. To be honest, I couldn’t understand why all of them weren’t FEO members. It’s such a great organization to belong to! FEO not only provides a unique networking system with other festivals and events, they provide a direct link to quality suppliers. And now they offer free on-line educational seminars. If this isn’t enough, they hold an annual industry conference in February. It’s fun, interesting, educational and inspiring! I wondered why all of Ontario’s festivals and events were not joining. I was pretty sure all of the events we visit new about FEO, after all, the way we found out about all the festivals and events we visited was through the “Festivals & Events in Ontario Guide” produced and published by FEO in partnership with Ontario Tourism. It‘s hard to believe that these festivals are unaware of the association and its roll in the industry. So, why don’t they join? Perhaps it’s the cost, but I am sure that if a festival or event considered what they were gaining versus the cost, cost would be a non-issue. I believe that most don’t understand the benefits of membership? I think this is the key. If this is the case, whose responsibility is it? Is the festival’s executive? Is it the FEO and its members? Do they need to push harder to get their message out to the non-members? I think it’s a combination of all these factors. However, whatever the reasons, there is a missed opportunity on both sides.

From thinking about membership, I started wondering why there weren’t more submission. Yes, quite a few had been submitted, but when you think how many great festivals and events there are out there, the number of submissions was much too small. Believe me; I know we visited of a number of festivals that should have made submissions in at least one or two of the categories. To win one of these prestigious Achievement Awards is an honour that a festival can take to the bank (sponsors, volunteers and visitors). To be the best of the best is definitely something to strive for. When I asked why there weren’t more, someone said to me that a lot of festivals think it is just too much work, especially the ones whose events are held at the end of the year. Personally I think this is a lack of planning on the part of the festival organizers. The planning of a festival or event takes places months before the actual event takes place. Why don’t festivals and events make an Achievement Award submission part of their strategic planning? That way, no matter when the event ends, it is just a matter of gathering up all the support materials and submitting them. Everything else, applications and summary sheets would have been completed prior to the event being held. Since the awards promote excellence, the added advantage is that the organizers would have had to take this into consideration when planning the event! So no more excuses festival organizers, include Achievement Award submissions in your event planning. And, a thought for FEO, start your promotion of the Achievement Awards right after the annual convention, don’t wait until later in the year. Plus, why not create an easy to follow on-line tutorial that will help festivals and events with their submissions. This will not only help experienced submitters, but will help and encourage first time submitters.

Here is my final thought. While our group was judging the Achievement Awards, another group was reviewing numerous submissions from all over Ontario, all vying to be one of the top 100 festivals in Ontario. This number was increased this year. Previously only the 50 top festivals were chosen. There are thousands of festivals and events held each year in Ontario, so being chosen as one of the top 100 festivals and events is quite an accomplishment. I can’t imagine why any festival or event wouldn’t strive to be in this elite group! Like the Achievement Awards, being one of the top 100 means bankable prestige. Sponsors like to be associated with winners. Volunteers like to know that their efforts are appreciated. Festival goers like to believe that they are attending a quality event. And vendors, if you have them, want to feel that they are getting great value for their investment. It is a win-win situation for everyone, more sponsorship money, satisfied volunteers, greater attendance and happier vendors.

Festivals and events are the backbone of Ontario and Canadian Tourism. According to FEO’s website, festivals and events in Canada create over 54,000 full time jobs. They give the federal government $291 million in direct tax revenues. Sports tourism alone accounts for $1.4 billion dollars in annual spending. In Ontario there are over 5,000 festivals and events being held each year giving Ontario an estimated economic impact of $812 million. With so much at stake, it is important that all of us in the industry try to the very best that we can be. Let us all aspire to new heights in 2008!

How Do People Find You?

I am sure that Judi and I are not the only ones who visit out-of-town festivals and events. While I am normally able to find most places, there are some smaller towns that need the help of directions to find them. It is important, therefore, for festival organizers to include direction or better still, a map, to their town. These directions should also include directions to the festivals location. This, however, is not enough! This brings me to my greatest complaint against festival organizers. Most festivals have few or no directional signs. They seem to expect that out-of-town visitors will just know where the local fair ground or community centre is. The problem is, out-of-town visitors don’t know where these locations are. I can tell you from experience that having to drive around looking a festival site is very frustrating and usually takes the fun out of visiting the festival. All that is needed are few well placed directional signs scattered strategically around town. I don’t think organizers are lazy (just the opposite) or are trying to save money. I think they are so familiar with where everything is located in their town that they think very one else is too, even out-of-towners. Festival organizers must get out of this mind set and start imagining themselves as festival visitors, not festival organizers. By doing this their festival will become more visitor friendly which will eventually lead to greater attendance. Greater, more diversified attendance will help the festival grow and prosper. If you think this is an isolated problem, I can assure you it is not. Of the 40 plus festivals we visited this past year, over 90 percent has poor to no directional signage. This is not a good statistic. Those who did put out directional signage did a very good job. I would like to point out one festival that did an exceptional job in this area. Most festivals won’t even consider putting festival signage on a major 4 – 6 lane highway. They are afraid the Ministry of Transportation will tear them down and then give the town grief. The festival feels that it is “better to ask for forgiveness than permission” Each year they put their big highway directional signs out. The Ministry seems to turn a blind eye to this indiscretion. The signs tell drivers which exits to get off at. Smaller signs just off the highway lead festival goers to their large parking area. This festival, of course, is one of Ontario’s top 50 festivals, and with good reason. It is a well run, interesting event. It is the Winona Peach Festival!

NOTE TO THE GOVERNMENT OF ONTARIO: Since one of your top priorities is helping Ontario festivals and events, why not relax your highway sign laws a little. Why not allow, bona fide festivals, the right to put up directional signs during their event. In fact, why don’t you do it for them as your contribution to making their event more successful! That way everyone wins. You do because you’re helping tourism. The festival does because it will attract more and less frustrated visitors. The Ministry of Transportation benefits because they will have the proper guideline to allow the signs to happen. And, the police will because they won’t have to enforce laws that negatively affect the communities they police. Think about it!

Seniors and the Disabled Are People Too…

If you are well and fully functional, it’s hard to really know what it’s like not to be. There are lots of rules, regulation and guidelines to help organization help the physically challenged and certainly they are all well intentioned. The problem is that most of the people providing the special needs are not disabled and don’t fully realize the impact of what they provide or don’t provide. Some uneducated event organizers may say that they are not catering to this type of person or that it costs too much or is too much trouble. Not only is this wrong thinking, it eliminates a very lucrative market. Many of the physically challenged are seniors and many have a lot of disposable income. Not only that, they like to spend it on others, like grandchildren! The whole idea of holding an event is to attract people, lots of them, so why limit yourselves on “who”. The more you do to make your event disabled/senior friendly, the more your event will attract them. People like to go where they feel welcomed! You will be surprised at how the word will spread. Most seniors and disabled are members of networks and they like to talk about their experiences (positive and negative). So let’s suppose that you agree with me and want to include this group of potential visitors in your marketing plans. Great, but don’t just provide the minimum requirements, go the whole way! You will be glad you did and everyone (abled and disable, seniors and youths) will applaud your efforts. Once you have finished your plans, make sure you let everyone know about them (media, website, advertising, program guide, etc.).
Here are a few ideas to help you provide the best physically challenged program possible:
€ Train your volunteers on how to assist seniors and the disabled
€ Make sure you have plenty of disabled parking (if you do this right, you will need it!)
€ Have plenty of wheel chairs on hand
€ Have convenient drop off areas
€ Provided clean well marked disabled washroom facilities
€ If you have a large outdoor event site, install several conveniently located shaded rest stops
€ Provide a “Wheel-Trans” type service to your event
€ Again, if you have a large venue, provide a disabled accessible people mover
€ Make sure food areas have lots of shaded table and chairs. Picnic tables are very hard for the physically challenged to use
€ Ask your food vendors to have menus that can be seen and read by people in wheelchairs
€ If you have vendors selling products, provide a delivery service either to the purchaser’s vehicle or to his/her home
€ Provide a rest tent with cots and other services that would appeal to seniors and the disabled
€ Provide a “large print” event guide for those who need it
€ Place you washroom facilities in various locations rather in just one location. This is especially true if you have a larger site
€ Ask the seniors and disabled in your community what they would like
€ Try to provide clear walkways that allow wheelchairs and walkers to pass easily
€ Finally, ask members of the physically challenged community to become members of your organizing committee
Remember, you never know when you might need these services yourself.