There Is No Free Lunch…

Whoever coined the phrase “there is no FREE lunch” (or should I say “no FREE promotion”), must never have worked on a festival or event committee! Getting FREE publicity or promotion is fairly easy. Getting a lot of the “right” kind of FREE publicity is an art! However, in order to get this type of FREE publicity, you have to offer something in return. Not money, but something of value. So, in a sense, the phrase may not be wrong after all! To get the best kind of free promotion or publicity, festival organizers have to determine what is special about their event and who it might appeal to. The list should be long and detailed. Once that list has been completed, an additional list should be developed with the names of people and corporations who would benefit from the event. The list would likely include doctors, dentists, lawyers and businesses (local, regional and national). It is all easy so far, right? With the “lists” completed, this is where the “art” comes in! You have to figure out what you can offer to get the maximum return, money, free merchandise, advertising, etc. All potential sponsors and donors have their own agenda. They are going to give your event something only if they perceive that they are getting value. The more value, the greater the contribution! If you are wondering what this means, take a look at the way NASCAR works with its sponsors… maximum exposure! You may not be interested in stock car racing, but a study of NASCAR is a study of the “Art of Promotion”! Everything that NASCAR does, the race tracks, the drivers, the car owners, the crew chiefs, the crew and the TV and radio stations all work together to promote their sponsors. As a result companies spend millions of dollars. This is a lesson that all festival and event organizers should learn and use. Working with media (newspapers, magazines, radio stations and TV) is the same. What makes them tick? What do they need to promote your event? Find out and the “promotional kingdom” is yours! You cannot take, take, take and not give back! If you keep these thoughts in mind, promoting and publicizing your event for FREE will be “easy” and “artful”!

Your Comments Please…

Last month we added two new features to our Ontario Festivals Visited website. Both were aimed at allowing visitors to our website to tell us what they thought about the festivals and events they attended. Each event page now contains a comment section and a survey questionnaire. Although the comment and survey sections on these pages refer to festival featured on the page, there is another page called “Visitor’s Forum Plus” (http://www.ontariofestivalsvisited.ca/visitors_forum.htm) that allows visitors to comment on any event. I believe that information is the key to success. By providing these two features, it is our hope the festival and event organizers will read them and learn from them. The more organizers know about the people who attend their event, the more they can improve and “fine tune”. Any organizer who thinks his or her event is perfect is only kidding themselves and is likely in for a rude awakening! This month we are working on another information feature. It will be a new section within the Ontario Festivals Visited website. The new section is entitled “Festival News”. This new section will be devoted to providing the latest festival and event news from across Ontario and beyond. Although we will be collecting “News” from various sources, we encourage festival and event organizers to send us information about their event. A submission form will be available to make the exchange of information easy to provide. We will also be encouraging site and festival visitors to comment on what they have seen and read. All in all, we are hoping for a total interchange of information! Please watch for this new section, "Festival News", starting May 2009. Become involved. Let us know your news and ideas!

The Way of the Future…

I, and others, have spoken about it before, but I believe that it needs to be re-mentioned! With the economy as low as it is, more families will be staying close to home this summer. That being said, festivals and events will have to become more “kid and family friendly”. The challenge will be that more festivals and events will be competing for the same dollars! As a result, organizers will have to become more innovative! The days of status quo are over. No longer will organizers be able to rely on the “tried and true”. Yes, some of them will work, but which one? Offering the same thing that everyone else does won’t “cut it” any more! New ideas will have to surface! That’s why, for me, it was refreshing to meet Whitney Smith and the Suitcase Theatre. A number of weeks ago I had the opportunity to see a Suitcase Theatre “Puppet Musical” play based on the poem, “The House That Jack Built”. (You can read my Ontario Festivals Visited article at http://www.ontariofestivalsvisited.ca/fesivals/2009/winter/suitcase_theatre.htm) It was an original production with new music written by Whitney. I must admit that I was a bit “nervous” about it being a play for “children”! However, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the play. Perhaps it was my “inner child” coming through. Whatever it was, I enjoyed it and I know that adults in the audience did too! Whitney and his Suitcase Theatre Company are now offering this play and others to organizers of festivals and events located in southern Ontario. This is a perfect alternative “innovative” attraction! I hope, as Judi and I travel from event to event, that we see more of the Suitcase Theatre group’s productions! (Suitcase Theatre’s website is http://www.suitcasetheatre.com/index.html)

Event Development – Agreement and Size Matters

“The following is a continuation of my Event Development Series. The last Blog started describing the “Direction” section, now I want to move to the “Agreement” and “Size Matters” section. As suggested previously, any thoughts and idea are more then welcome!"
Agreement
You have now made your formal presentation to your group. After much discussion, a decision has been made to go ahead with the event. You know why you are holding it and you have fully discussed and decided the ultimate objective. All participants are in agreement. Right? Many projects start off with great enthusiasm, but when tough decisions (money!) need to be made, in fighting starts to take place if everyone is not on side. More potentially great projects have failed or don’t even take place because all the players can’t agree. Before starting, make sure everyone understands what the project is, what need to be accomplished and what sacrifices are likely. Do these before you get too far into your project!
Size Matters
Finally, how large an event do you want to hold? Remember larger events require more time, planning, commitment, member participation and money…and they have more problems! This is why it is important to know your ultimate goal. If it’s your first event, it may be prudent to scale back and learn from your mistakes. If you do decide to go for the “brass ring”, plan, plan, and plan!