the business of international events
Regulating Drones at Your Events Risk Management – Protecting More Than What You Think is a Risk Building Blocks of Brand – Ten Basic Questions About Brand 2015 IFEA Award Brochures
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In uncertain times, we must often remind those whose support we depend upon, of the important economic and social value that our festivals and events bring to the communities we serve. Having a credible and current economic impact study can do just this, in addition to increasing credibility with stakeholders, providing quantified data to sponsors, presenting reliable data to base future marketing and programming decisions upon and much, much more. Unfortunately, this critical resource, especially with credible credentials, is often financially out of reach for most events even in a good economic environment. Recognizing this, the IFEA has created a cost effective, industry credible program to provide Economic Impact Studies at a budget-accessible investment. Call us today to learn more.
GETTING STARTED For more information about this valuable IFEA program, please contact one of our Business Development Directors: Steve Schmader, CFEE • 208-433-0950 Ext: *818 • schmader@ifea.com Ira Rosen, CFEE • 732-701-9323 • ira@ifea.com Penny Reeh, CFEE • 830-456-3829 • penny@ktc.com
the business of international events
Regulating Drones at Your Events
F E ATU R E S
Risk Management – Protecting More Than What You Think is a Risk Building Blocks of Brand – Ten Basic Questions About Brand 2015 IFEA Award Brochures
On the Cover: Photo by Adrienne Smith courtesy of Skagit Valley Tulip Festival Columbia Bank Photo Contest.
DEPARTMENTS 8 President’s Letter 12 The Digital Life
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26
14 The Un-comfort Zone 16 English 101 18 Turnstiles: Marketing for Event Managers
45 2015 IFEA Expo
30 32
Developing a Brand Identity for All Components of Your Festival by John Melleky, CFRE, CFEE and Paulina Artieda
51 2015 IFEA Webinar Series 57 IFEA World Festival & Event City 68 Hall of Fame 69 Pinnacle Awards 88 Volunteer of the Year 90 Foundation 92 The Board
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Make Your New Year's Resolution Stick! by Steve McClatchy
38
The Evolving World of Financial Transactions and Visitor Expectations by Jim Shanklin, CFEE
94 Marketplace
42 Spring 2015, Volume 26, Issue 1 “ie” is published quarterly by the International Festivals & Events Association, 2603 W. Eastover Terrace, Boise, ID 83706, USA. Permission to quote from material herein is granted provided proper credit is given to IFEA. Subscriptions are available for $50 per year.
Field Notes: Tips on Conducting Surveys to Improve the Visitor Experience by Douglas Boone and Jerry Savage Regulating Drones at Your Events by Greg Cirillo
20 “They Said What???” 24 Leadership at All Levels
Remissed Connections The Importance of Traditional Follow Up in a Non-Traditional Business World by Russell Trahan
The Salesperson’s Handbook Five Common Sales Obstacles and How to Overcome Them by Paul Cherry
PRESIDENT’S LETTER
Mitakuye Oyasin… All My Relations During my site visit to the JW Marriott Tucson Starr Pass Resort, as we were considering the location for our IFEA 60th Anniversary Convention & Expo (to be held this September 21st23rd) I was invited by my hosts at the property to participate in a centuries old, traditional Native American ceremony at sunrise of my final day in Tucson. The ceremony, called Mitakuye Oyasin (Mee-tah-koo-yay Oh-yah-seen) is a Lakota Sioux term literally translated as “All My Relations.” The meaning, however, extends beyond that of the English translation to include not only human family, but all of the animal, plant and mineral kingdoms, as well as the forces of nature (wind, thunder, lightning, et al.) plus the elements, in that we are all connected in the intricate web of existence, and that each is effected by the actions of any other. Everything is interrelated and interconnected with all creation; nothing exists in isolation. As the sun began slowly climbing above the horizon, and the morning mist weaved its way through the majestic saguaro cactus standing guard across the Sonoran Desert that spread all around us, a handful of other guests and employees slowly gathered around a crackling fire pit on the Salud Terrace facing the now halo lit silhouette of the awakening city. People visited quietly with one another, almost reverently, in this beautiful setting. Soon we were joined by a local tribal host whose very nature made us all feel welcome in this gathering of strangers. He shared photos and stories of his parents and grandparents with us and tales of the many generations of his own family that had led him to this moment and place in his life. He invited us to start our day with a peaceful moment simply reflect8
ing on our own lives and paths – our families, friends, careers, travels, homes, health and all those things that had led us to that moment and place. He asked us to take a rare moment to think about all those who have touched our lives along our journey and all the lives that we have touched in some way. And as we did so, he accompanied the moment – quite naturally - with the soft, wistful music of a Native American flute in the peacefulness of the morning. Now, I have to admit here that I am not a religious individual by defined faith, but the combination of the setting and the music and the timbre of our host’s voice as he described the importance of the Mitakuye Oyasin to so many of his people, created in me a new appreciation for our own industry and good fortunes. On that early morning I thought about all of you and the friendships, professional relationships and interconnectivity of the IFEA and our global industry that has supported so many of our careers, organizations, communities and successes. I thought about the critical and positive role that we all have the good fortune to play in bringing and holding our communities, cities, countries and the world together, juxtapositioned against often horrific alternatives that are far too prevalent all around us. I thought about my own mentors and peers (many of you among them) and the young students and leaders coming up through the ranks today, who have chosen their path, hopefully, because we have made it a desired one to follow and offered our hand to help. I thought about the diverse families, friends and individuals of all ages and backgrounds who attend, enjoy and participate in our events; the volunteers and entertainers and vendors and
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Spring 2015
Steven Wood Schmader, CFEE suppliers and venues and service providers and staffs and boards, as well as our own spouses and children who have supported our successes and whose lives have (hopefully) been positively impacted by our lives work. I thought about the vibrant international networks and friendships around the world that may not have existed today without the IFEA. I thought about the creativity and new ideas and passion that have been sparked by the foundations that we have collectively laid. I thought about the formalization of education in our field (including our IFEA Event Management School) that many of you and others in our industry have pioneered and continue to grow. And I have to admit, I had to think about the uncanny interconnectivity of events to the forces of nature and the elements! Most of us have certainly dealt firsthand with that relationship! After leaving us with our thoughts for a short while, our host invited everyone to create a sage prayer tie (a small bundled cloth, filled with sage and tied at the top), which we then carefully placed in the fire. As we did so, we passed an eagle feather to fan the smoke, as we spoke, one at a time, the words “All My Relations,” acknowledging and sending blessings and good fortune to all those people, places and things that we are interconnected with, past, present and future. Now, there are many considerations that go into our selection of a convention site, but on that morning I felt that we were where we needed to be as we plan to celebrate the IFEA’s 60th Anniversary Convention & Expo. I hope that you will all plan to join us this September in Tucson for that occasion, and that you will help us to invite and include “All Our Relations” for a very special gathering.
helping you protect those whose leadership you depend on… …for the best price in the industry.
IFEA Member Directors’ and Officers’ Insurance
P.O. Box 17225 • San Antonio, Texas 78217 210-829-7634 • Fax: 210-829-7636 • Web: www.kaliff.com
2603 W Eastover Terrace • Boise, Idaho 83706 208-433-0950 • Fax: 208-433-9812
The IFEA would like to thank the following partners for their dedicated support of the association. Association Endorsed Partners have made a commitment to the continued success of our association, our members, and our industry through their umbrella support of all IFEA programs and services. Show your support for these dedicated providers to our industry by getting to know them, and the high quality products and services that they supply, better.
IFEA VISION
A globally united industry that touches lives in a positive way through celebration.
Publisher & Editor Steven Wood Schmader, CFEE, President & CEO Assistant Editor Nia Hovde, Vice President/Director of Marketing Advertising Sylvia Allen, Director of Sponsorship Sales and Marketing Advertising Sales & Expo Booking Art Director Craig Sarton, Creative Director Contributing Writers Gail Lowney Alofsin, Paulina Artieda Douglas Boone , Paul Cherry, Greg Cirillo, Jeff English, Scott Fraser Sean King, Steve McClatchy, John Melleky, CFRE, CFEE Jerry Savage, Jim Shanklin, CFEE, Russell Trahan, Kendra Wright Photography Andrew Rafkind, Adrienne Smith
With respect to interactions with members/customers or those applying to be members/customers, the IFEA will not cause or allow conditions, procedures, or decisions which are unsafe, undignified, unnecessarily intrusive, or which fail to provide appropriate confidentiality or privacy. If you believe that you have not been accorded a reasonable interpretation of your rights under this policy, please contact the IFEA office at +1-208-433-0950 ext. 18.
For association or publication information: IFEA World Headquarters 2603 W. Eastover Terrace • Boise, ID 83706, U.S.A. +1.208.433.0950 Fax +1.208.433.9812 http://www.ifea.com
Spring 2015
IFEA’s ie: the business of international events
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THE DIGITAL LIFE
By Kendra Wright
Chilling Out & Getting Focused Let’s face it. Very few of us would define ourselves as geeks. So you may wonder if you should skip right over this column. I hope you won’t! Or you may be so busy that you may be thinking, do I really have time for this column? I hope you do! The Digital Life is all about integrating digital tools that will save you time and make your life better. It is for two kinds of people – let’s call them the “uncomfortable but curious” and the “closet nerds.” (Actual nerds need not apply.) Let’s get one thing straight. I think people who haven’t bought into the idea that gadgets will save our lives are refreshing! Technology hasn’t been 100% positive for our society. When I meet someone not on Facebook or who doesn’t have a smart phone (which I’ve heard we should all just call “phones” now), I am fascinated! However, in the spirit of inclusiveness, I want to admit that although I love the technologically challenged among us, I’m excited to introduce you to some digital gadgetry that I hope will improve your life! As event producers, we’re all so busy. (Although I’m not an event producer now, I started my career executing 14 events per year for a non-profit in Arkansas. I’m very busy now building websites for events, but I never quite feel the need for a cot in my office like I did when I was an event producer. So I understand how crazy your lives are!) But I think the busy-ness of our jobs and the overall stress in our society leads
me to a constant journey for balance (I have come to feel balance is an illusion, but that’s another story for another day). The busier we are, the more we may crave getting our jobs done so we can rest. Although it may sound like an oxymoron, I want to tell you about some ways to use technology to get focused and to slow down and relax. Simply Being The first tool I want to tell you about is for meditation. You don’t meditate, you say? Good, then you’ll love this app! It is called Simply Being, and it has a one-time fee of $1.99 in the app store. I heard about it when I asked my cousin, a doctor, about the latest medication for insomnia. You could have knocked me over with a feather when he recommended an app instead of a drug! Do you ever feel like the more information that comes into your brain, the dumber you feel? The less able to actually recall information? Research is clear that the key to improving so many things about your health, including improving your memory and stress reduction, is actually slowing down your brain periodically so it can absorb. This is similar to in college when you were supposed to actually sleep after studying, so all that knowledge could assimilate in your brain. To be honest, I could get hung up with petty issues with Simply Being. There
isn’t a time I don’t log in when I don’t want to rebrand the whole app. I think they definitely spend their time meditating instead of on graphic design. But try it, and see if it doesn’t give you a whole new appreciation of (and ability to) slow down your busy brain and relax. Or maybe you don’t have time to slow down, because you just need to get things done! Focus@Will The second tool I want to tell you about is called Focus@Will. Again, this app is based on science. It is instrumental music that is proven to increase your productivity by increasing your focus. There is a free 30-day trial, after which it is $5.99/month, although they run lots of specials. I find that this app does three things for me. First, I almost always listen to it with headphones in my office. And headphones help give the signal that you’re busy, which will hopefully make you less likely to be interrupted. Secondly, in the trial, it gives you music in 60 minute increments, which is a doable duration to really focus and get something done. And thirdly, I think the music really does work in increasing productivity! A brief diversion. What do you do the first thing every day in your office? I’ll bet that you check email. But when you think about it, email is a reactive tool, and it almost never results in actually achieving Continued on page 91
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IFEA 60 Anniversary Convention & Expo th
JW Marriott Tucson Starr Pass Resort & Spa Tucson, Arizona, U.S.A.
Presenting Sponsor
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THE UN-COMFORT ZONE
With Robert Wilson
KA-BOOM! The Explosive Pain of Shame Twelve years ago, I phoned a prospective client that I’d been courting for months. The last time we’d spoken, only a few weeks earlier, she expressed interest in my conducting a seminar for her company. This time she said, “I was in the audience at the Fox theatre last week; we won’t be needing your services.” My face burned red with shame, as her words forced me to recall the most challenging experience I’ve ever had as a humorist. It was my second year working as a presenter when I was hired to serve as the Master of Ceremonies for a landscape design association’s award dinner. The job was easy enough, just read a description of what the recipient did to win the award, call them up to the stage, and give them a trophy. Grateful for the opportunity, and wanting to provide additional value to my service, I offered to open the program with a ten minute comedy routine. My client graciously accepted. On the morning of the program, I woke up with the flu. I had a sore throat, congestion, 103 degree fever, chills and aches. I was miserable. Recalling the adage, “the show must go on,” I dosed my self with the maximum allowed quantities of several over-the-counter medications. Throughout the day, I pumped myself up with chicken soup and hot tea. By show time, I was feeling pretty good. I stepped onto the stage and told my first joke. To my shock no one laughed. So, I moved right onto my next one. Again, no one laughed. I’d never experienced this before and I started to feel a sense of panic. Nevertheless, I forged ahead and told joke number three. Silence! I couldn’t understand it, I’d told these jokes dozens of times to dozens of audiences and they always laughed. Joke number four fell flat. I was now in full panic, and at one point I couldn’t even remember my next joke. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know how to recover. I plodded on hoping they would laugh at the next one. They never did. My throat became parched, and I had nothing to drink. With each unlaughed at joke, my throat became dryer and more constricted until I could barely speak. I skipped to the end, and delivered my very best jokes... still nothing. 14
I finally finished, and received no applause - not that I expected any at that point. The whole thing lasted only five minutes - the longest five minutes of my life. Remarkably the rest of the program went without a hitch. I read the descriptions, gave out the awards and completed the evening. Needless to say, I never wanted to experience the humiliation of bombing so badly again. On the other hand, I didn’t want to give up delivering humorous presentations - the joy of making people laugh is wonderful. I was determined to discover what went wrong, and how I could fix it. In hindsight, I could see that my timing was off. I could easily blame that on being sick, but the real problem was that I didn’t have the experience or know-how to turn it around. The first thing I did was make sure I always had a glass of water. The second thing I did was talk to several comedians and humorists to learn what they did when a joke bombed. Before long I had the answers I needed. Now, when a joke tanks I make fun of it. First by making a whistling sound of a bomb dropping followed by the sound of explosion, then I say, “Whew, that joke didn’t just bomb - it stunk!” I, then, wave the air where I was standing as if to blow away the smell, while stepping away from that spot dramatically as if the area, itself, was contaminated by nuclear fallout. That almost always gets a laugh. It also humanizes me in the eyes of the audience; I’m fallible and can make light of it. Usually the very next joke I tell will get a laugh, if only out of sympathy. I’ve learned many other techniques and as a result I haven’t bombed since. I was motivated by shame, one of the worst feelings an individual can have. I never wanted to feel that again. People confuse shame, guilt and embarrassment because they are very similar feelings, but the roots of these feelings are very different. We experience embarrassment,
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when we accidentally make a mistake such as spilling a drink down the front of our shirts. We suffer guilt, when we do something we know is wrong. Shame, however, is born of ignorance or of not having mastered a concept - such a social behavior - that we think we have mastered. We feel shame when we are unexpectedly condemned or criticized for something we didn’t know is incorrect. The shame comes when we recognize the obviousness of our error. It makes us feel stupid. If we know in advance that it is incorrect, the feeling we experience instead is guilt or embarrassment. I recall being shamed by my classmates in elementary school when I shared a belief that women get pregnant by kissing. Hey, I came by it honestly! Remember that little song, “Johnny and Suzy sitting in tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes Johnny with a baby carriage.” So, if shame was such an effective motivator for me, would I recommend using it to motivate others? ABSOLUTELY NOT! Shame is extremely motivating when it comes to eliminating unwanted behavior, but at the same time it is also a de-motivator. Shame is so powerful, it can make someone feel worthless and completely shut them down. Shame hits like a fist, and when it comes during childhood, some people spend the rest of their lives trying to recover from it. Motivate instead with understanding and kind explanation. Robert Evans Wilson, Jr. is an author, speaker and humorist. He works with companies that want to be more competitive and with people who want to think like innovators. For more information on Robert, please visit www.jumpstartyourmeeting.com.
Time-Slot Reservation Tickets Dynamic Reserved Seating Interface Accurate Real-Time Scanning
Encrypted Barcode Security In-Depth Reporting Immediate Access to Revenue
ENGLISH 101
By Jeff English, CFEE
RISK MANAGEMENT
Protecting More Than What You Think is a Risk When someone thinks of risk management, the term is normally associated with preventing injury on an event venue. Trip and fall, bag checks, lost children and golf carts are all parts of a normal risk management plan. What I’ll be covering today is a very different, but very real threat to festivals & events, along with every other small business across this planet of ours. Seven years ago I was hired at the Kentucky Derby Festival to serve as legal counsel and to supervise our merchandise team and the Kentucky Derby Festival Foundation. Part of my job description, for whatever reason, also included supervising our IT infrastructure (Probably because I was the new guy and drew the short straw!). Of everything I do at KDF, managing IT can by far be the most challenging and perplexing. I’m a lawyer by trade and have no formal training on servers, software, IP addresses, firewalls, or virus attacks. I do a serviceable job fixing small things, but KDF farms the complex stuff to an outside contractor. Seven years ago, my primary focus was getting our hardware, printers, internet and software up to date and working. We had printers that wouldn’t print, laptops that were outdated, a wireless system that at times felt as if it were bouncing off a network of Russian satellites, and an outdated server that would shut down for no apparent reason. I honestly never knew (and still don’t know) what IT headache was going to come across my desk when I walked into the office. Until about two months ago, I was feeling pretty good about myself and how things were going in my little IT world. Our systems were updated, I had just ordered fiber optic internet cable to be installed, and the phone calls from frustrated staff members were at an all time low. If things were too good to be true, it means they were because things proceeded to go straight to hell. Have you ever heard of the Cryptolocker Virus, or its ugly step brother, the Key Holder Virus? If you watch The Good Wife, they did an entire show on the virus encrypting the law firm’s files. These bugs are forms of what are called ransonware viruses. Ransomware works like this: An 16
e-mail is sent to a staff member with an attachment. The e-mail is usually from someone they know, so the staff member opens the attachment. BAM! The virus is launched and it strikes without mercy. It encrypts all of your files and will not allow you to open any of them. A message is sent that demands payment of $500 in Bitcoin within 10 days or your files will be locked forever! We’ve been hit twice. Once on November 19 and just recently on December 22. After countless hours of research, talking with experts, and doing everything possible to not pay the ransom, we’ve unfortunately been forced to pay it twice. There’s literally no way to crack the code once the virus has hit. So in terms of managing the risk to your entire server and financial data, what can be done to prevent these ransomware viruses from attacking; or even better, what are your options if it does strike? Here’s what I’ve learned after a month of bad dreams and sleepless nights: 1. There is no software on the market that can fully prevent Cryptolocker or Key Holder from striking once the virus has been “invited” onto your system. That means someone must open an attachment or click on a link embedded in an e-mail for the virus to launch. 2. Staff education is the absolute most important element to preventing a virus attack. Make sure staff members are very careful when opening e-mails and attachments. If it looks fishy, don’t open it. Many times the virus comes in the form of a UPS or FedEx e-mail with an attachment claiming to have tracking information. If the person did not ship anything with UPS or FedEx, logic tells you the e-mail is up to no good. 3. Crank your spam filter and firewall settings up to their highest possible
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settings. Exclude all .zip files from getting past your filters. These files often contain executable software and easily launch viruses. 4. Install Malwarebytes on every computer in your office and run a scan. 5. Make sure your back-up systems are secure. Whether it’s a tape back-up or on the cloud (whatever the “cloud” is), your only option, other than paying the ransom, is to get your files back through a complete rebuild of your system through back-up files. Even if your office follows some or all of what I’ve listed above, there’s no guarantee it will prevent an attack. When I first started at KDF I never considered IT to be a “risk” that needed to be assessed. With everything we do being saved on a digital platform, not having access to this data can cripple your office’s ability to function. Where before I was stressed over making sure everything was running correctly, KDF has now joined the ranks of Target, Michael’s, PlayStation, Xbox, and countless other companies focused on preventing hacker attacks. It’s a never ending battle with no end in sight. Best of luck out there! Jeff English is the Sr. Vice President of Administration/General Counsel of the Kentucky Derby Festival. After graduating from Washburn University School of Law (Topeka, KS) in 2004, Jeff worked in politics and practiced law before joining the KDF staff. He is charged with overseeing all of Festival’s legal issues and serving as its risk management officer. He also manages the Merchandise Department and the 501(c)3 not-for-profit Kentucky Derby Festival Foundation.
TWO PROGRAMS GUARANTEED TO INCREASE YOUR SPONSORSHIP REVENUE! International Festivals & Events Association
SPONSOR SUMMIT
Sponsorship is the fuel for the festival and events industry engine. Strengthen the partnerships you have built with your festival’s sponsors by hosting an IFEA Sponsor Summit. When sponsors have to make difficult resource allocation decisions, they will remember the sponsor properties that gave them the tools and ideas they need to gain even greater value from their sponsorship investment.
SPONSOR AUDIT
Are you getting the most out of your sponsorship program? Is your sponsorship program performing at its peak or could it be strengthened? Have you identified and valued all of your sponsorable benefits and assets; or is their valuable ‘real estate’ going untapped? Have you been so busy recruiting, servicing and retaining the sponsors you have that you haven’t had time to step back and evaluate your overall sponsorship program to see if there is room for improvement? If all of these questions have left you with even more questions, it may be time for an IFEA Sponsorship Audit! To set up a Sponsor Summit or Sponsor Audit or for more information about these valuable IFEA programs, please contact:
SYLVIA ALLEN, CFEE +1-732-241-1144 • sylvia@ifea.com International Festivals & Events Association 2603 W. Eastover Terrace • Boise, ID 83706 • USA Phone: +1-208-433-0950 • Fax: +1-208-433-9812 www.ifea.com
Turnstiles: Marketing for Event Managers By Sean King
BUILDING BLOCKS OF
BRAND TEN BASIC QUESTIONS ABOUT BRAND QUESTION: What does every corporation, non-profit organization, festival, event and individual have, but has virtually no control over? 18
A tax ID or social security number? Free will? Good guesses, but we were thinking more about A BRAND. While many of us toil in obscurity thinking there’s no way we have the time or resources to manage our BRAND, one might argue the exact opposite is true. There’s a school of thought that all of the time we spend on our marketing and advertising should be done in support of our BRAND. Personally, I come down in the middle of the discussion. Even the smallest shops need to pay some amount of time to their BRAND, however not all decisions can ever be dictated solely with the intent of protecting the BRAND. Think of BRAND as the 401K of your organization. But instead of financial contributions, you’re building a nest egg of good will with posts, articles, videos and day of event operations whether it’s a single day, full weekend, week or monthlong festival you are bringing to life.
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So whether you are a one-person marketing team at a small event or have an army of paid personnel, interns and volunteers, the following questions provide you with opportunities to begin or continue developing your BRAND. BLOCK #1 Why is BRAND So Important? Simply put the definition of BRAND is not what you say it is, but rather it is what others say, feel and think about your event, your organization and YOU! BRAND is what the stranger on the street knows about your event. BRAND is also what your most loyal supporter says to her closest friends over dinner about you. Sponsors align themselves with BRANDS that are similar. Sure sponsors are about engagement and ROI, but if both of your BRANDS are aligned, the easier the pitch and the conversation will be. In turn, the more successful the activation with your audience will be as well.
BLOCK #2 Where Does BRAND Exist? The true meaning of BRAND is not what is at the surface, but it is what exists several layers below. The difficult process of building BRAND is to find the deeper meaning to what it is you are doing and recognize those components as the main attributes you want to build upon. In order for you to begin to do the real work of BRAND building, you must leave the world of operations. Trite as it might sound, operations are simply operational. Operations are widgets and processes. Brands are intangible, yet have a very direct effect on attendance, financial support, sponsorship and volunteerism and the overall long-term existence and impact of your event. BLOCK #3 What are You Really Trying To Do? Here’s a quick game to play alone or with other team members, volunteers and other stakeholders. Ask everyone “What are we trying to do here?” Don’t take your first answer or your third or your fifth. Keep asking yourself the same question until you are quite certain there’s nothing more left to give. That is when the first glimpse of what your BRAND is and what it could be. Money is a terrible motivator. Passion can be even worse. But you can’t live without either of them, but they aren’t really attributes of a BRAND. When it comes to BRAND, you must strip most of those outside elements away and be left with the real truth staring you squarely in the face. That is the spark of BRAND. BLOCK #4 Isn’t a Logo Enough? Many BRAND neophytes look at a slick logo with a great graphic and typography and say “We’ve got our BRAND.” When really all they have is a terrific visual vehicle for the BRAND to be identified. To paraphrase author and marketing guru Seth Godin, “Nike spent $250 for a logo, yet their brand is worth billions. And they probably paid too much for the artwork.” We’re not fortunate to have so much valuation to our BRAND, but the concept should leave an impression on you. While the design is a piece of the puzzle, it’s by far not the most important. The place where most businesses fail to reach their full potential is that they believe BRAND is an achievement, when it is a journey. BLOCK #5 Is Your Mission Your BRAND? Any great invention, service or event starts with an idea. After the initial glim-
mer of success, those positioned for the long term do the hard work to determine their BRAND and then begin building around those core values and attributes. While your mission and vision guide where it is you want to go, your BRAND is where you stand today and reflects the history of your event and organization and what it means to your stakeholders. Your BRAND is the GPS and your mission is the map application. Without the GPS to tell you where you are, you can’t tell whether you are on the right pathway. While without your map app, you’re destined to lose track of where you want to go.
year or to out-do last year’s graphics with an entirely new package. If you’re putting your best foot forward, then refine, update and move on. That’s not to say you shouldn’t try new things, but instead of spending all of the time on reinventing items that already work, take some of that time to invest in a new medium, a new outreach or a new promotional idea. Of course, whatever you do, make sure it is tied in with the BRAND attributes you and your supporters hold close.
BLOCK #6 SO WHY DON’T WE HAVE A BRAND? Here’s the truth: you already do have a BRAND. Whether you are doing anything with that brand to expand your impact and broaden the scope of your engagement is the question. The key to leveraging your BRAND is to acknowledge the core attributes and never lose sight of them. Keep them in the back of your mind whenever you’re writing copy, designing a marketing piece, posting a photo or sending an email. BRAND should also be prevalent when deciding what partners to work with, how your volunteers interact with attendees and whether you should add a certain style of new programming. BRAND is always functioning as your event’s conscience, keeping you on message and staying connected to your supporters. Meanwhile, it’s your responsibility to use your BRAND to find more folks just like them to expand your audience and deepen your relationship with partners. BRAND is what you do. It’s how you do it. It’s for how long you’ve been doing it. And most importantly, it’s also who’s doing it.
BLOCK #8 Do BRANDS Fail? Not all BRANDS work. You can have great ideas and execution on the branding components, but still fail if you can’t deliver on the promises you make operationally. As we all know in the world of events, festivals and non-profit organizations, failure is a rainy day or a fundraising shortfall away. History is filled with passionate people who did amazing things for organizations that no longer exist. In most of these cases, the money ran out a long time before the passion. However, those failures also stem in part from the inability to build a BRAND over a period of time and failed to connect the BRAND with the people whom the cause or the event really impacted. Let’s face one fact: we only have a limited amount of time and money. The landscape is littered with tweets and videos and ads of millions of really cool things. We need to stake out our place with those most likely to attend our events and support our mission. It should be our sole task to create a deliberate plan to identify as many of these people as we can. And leveraging our BRAND is an effective way to achieve that goal on a long-term basis.
Block #7 Isn’t It Harder to Build BRAND Than to Devise New and Different Concepts? Consistency is the enemy of apathy in building a BRAND. Once again, BRAND is more than just a style guide for your logo and boilerplate press release copy. Even the most successful brands have times when their BRAND came off the tracks. More times than not, those incidents are usually facilitated by the need to make sales results. Entities make quick decisions to create new marketing campaigns or dramatic shifts that do not reflect the true BRAND usually wind up hurting more than helping. Here’s where consistency can win. Don’t feel the necessity of having to think up the next brilliant tagline each
BLOCK #9 Do BRANDS Live and Breathe? If Google and Disney and Apple have BRANDS, why doesn’t the local festival or arts organization? Well, they do; everything does. However, the amount of resources and the time that is paid to them by these different organizations is extremely different. For events and festivals, BRAND has been built with those thousands of attendees that attend each year. They expect the same level of entertainment, service, appearance, engagement and satisfaction as had been provided in prior years. Those are the attributes of your BRAND. But those attributes also change with the times; not in wide swings, but rather small tweaks that reflect anything from changing community population to Continued on page 93
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THEY SAID WHAT???
By Scott Fraser
Why You Need Public Relations! As I write this, we are in the final countdown to this year’s Super Bowl, arguably the biggest sporting event in this country and possibly beyond. The Super Bowl has been transformed from what started out as one single championship game, into a week-long celebration of events. And, if your team is involved in the big game, the media scrutiny is at least two weeks long.
This year, much of the lead-up discussion and media frenzy has been about whether or not the New England Patriots used footballs that met league air pressure specifications in their championship game against the Indianapolis Colts. (Full disclosure here, I am a life-long New England resident and sports fan.) Rather than discuss the specifics of the controversy, which have been dealt with ad nauseum by well known, hard hitting national news and sports reporters, I want to address the public relations aspect of all this. The controversy about under-inflated footballs erupted overnight, literally just a few hours after the Patriots won the AFC Championship. The first media report was posted between 2:00 a.m. and 3:00 a.m. I’m sure some of the players and team officials were probably just settling down for sleep after the exciting late night game. I have tried to put myself in the position of the Patriots public relations spokesperson as he received a late night/ early morning phone call about the blossoming controversy. I’m willing to bet his response was something similar to the name of this column, “They said what???” A phone call like that jars you awake in a hurry and your brain immediately goes in to overdrive as you start devising a plan to address this negative story. The New England Patriots, whether you like
the team, the coach, the players or not, have a solid, well-respected and well-run public relations department. I’m sure numerous high level meetings were held with team officials, ownership, coaches, players, equipment managers, etc. as a plan was set up for dealing with this controversy which seemed to lead every national news station broadcast for days on end. Ultimately multiple news conferences were held by the team—two by Coach Bill Belichick, one each by quarterback Tom Brady and owner Robert Kraft. All denied any wrongdoing and denied any knowledge of how the footballs became underinflated. Despite all of these efforts, this has been the lead story of most national news and sports media leading up to the game. The Patriots are no strangers to controversy. This probably actually helped them prepare in this case for handling the media frenzy. So what does this all mean for you? Well, it should mean everything to anyone who puts together a major event, festival, concert, celebration, etc. It should be a warning as to how fast all of your preparations and good work can take a sudden turn and all head south. In the case of the Patriots, nothing has been proven. Oh, there has been a lot of speculation. “Published reports” quoting “unnamed sources close to the
investigation” have made several serious allegations. But as of this writing, the NFL has yet to make a formal statement other than to say their investigation is ongoing. So at this point, the Patriots are putting a lot of time and effort into defending as yet unsubstantiated allegations, although the facts will most definitely come to light at some time in the future. This can happen to you. All of your best laid plans to highlight your upcoming event, to showcase performers, to promote the venue and spotlight the favorite activities of your customers and attendees, can come crashing down, literally overnight, with a well-placed news story that may only contain unconfirmed allegations. If you have a public relations plan in place, you should have at least one component that addresses crisis communications. In fact, you should really have a separate crisis communications plan, but that is a story for another time. If you have a good PR plan, you should be using it to highlight all of your good works on a year round basis. For instance, if yours is an annual music festival, you can build good public relations all throughout the year. How? Well, you can talk about the cooperation you have with your host city or venue. You can talk about the good work of your event volunteers and put out a call for more if you need them. You can announce the Continued on page 93
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Good
Great
CFEE
An Important Step in the Career Track of Industry Leaders Join us September 18-20, 2015, in Tucson, Arizona, U.S.A. and be three steps closer to the recognition you deserve. CFEE SEMINAR DAY 1 SPONSORSHIP/SPONSORSHIP SERVICE
Over the past generation the sponsorship of festivals and special events has evolved from the quasi-donation of money by a local business to a sophisticated marketing relationship involving the exchange of mutual value. The development of a comprehensive sponsorship plan and successful fulfillment program involves the coordination of numerous details and the working knowledge of a variety of factors. This area of instruction is designed to provide information about the fundamentals of sponsorship. (Learn More)
CFEE SEMINAR DAY 2 MARKETING/MEDIA RELATIONS
A strong marketing vision, direction, and ultimately a plan is essential in successful promotion of any company’s
products or services. This area of instruction is designed to look at and provide an overview of marketing and media relations and specifically how these functions can be used to the unique needs of the festival and special events industry. (Learn More)
CFEE SEMINAR DAY 3 ADMINISTRATION/MANAGEMENT
Using the development of a model business plan as a guide, these sessions will explore and reveal the process by which successful administration and management programs are developed. Session attendees will explore the ins and outs of managing a board of directors, building an effective leadership and administration team, identifying budget targets and making them work, establishing marketing plans, identifying competition and establishing a business paradigm that will give more, “gravitas,” to an event-producing organization. (Learn More)
For more information about the IFEA’s professional certification program, and our 2015 CFEE FastTrack® Program, contact Bette Montieth at bette@ifea.com or call +!-208-433-0950. The CFEE Professional Certification Program is Sponsored by
LEGACY SCHOLARSHIPS Supporting and Educating the Festivals & Events Industry Since 1993.
Each of the following IFEA Foundation Legacy Scholarships serve a selected audience(s) within our industry, as identified, by providing an annual scholarship to the IFEA Annual Convention & Expo (registration only). We invite you to look through the opportunities, take a moment to learn a little more about the special individuals and groups attached to each, and apply for those that you may qualify for. For more information, go to: www.ifea.com. The Nick Corda Memorial Scholarship Providing support to young/new professionals currently completing their education or with less than three years in the industry. The Carolyn and Lee Crayton Legacy Scholarship Providing support to a deserving individual/organization from a smaller market, with grand visions for helping their community through events, but not yet a budget to match those visions. The Judy Flanagan Scholarship Providing support to a deserving individual/ organization whose event involves a parade.
The Georgia Festivals & Events Association Scholarship Providing support to a deserving individual/organization from Georgia. The Bill & Gretchen Lofthouse Memorial Scholarship Providing support to a deserving individual/organization currently struggling with short-term economic or start-up challenges. The Mampre Media International Scholarship Providing support to a deserving individual working with media/marketing responsibilities for an event. The Jean McFaddin Legacy Scholarship Providing support to a deserving individual/organization who has had at least 2 years active involvement, either as staff or volunteer, in producing a multi-dimensional event and whose career/lives have been inspired or touched by the Macy*s Thanksgiving Day Parade. The Daniel A. Mangeot Memorial Scholarship Providing support to a deserving individual/organization seeking advanced education and professional certification. This scholarship provides core curriculum registration fees toward the attainment of the IFEA’s Certified Festival & Event Executive (CFEE) designation. The Mid-Atlantic Festival & Event Professionals Scholarship Providing support to a deserving individual/organization within the Mid-Atlantic United States.
The Richard Nicholls Memorial Scholarship Providing support to a deserving High School senior or College Student with a history of commitment to participating or volunteering in non-profit events / organizations; someone who is well-rounded in extra-curricular activities in and outside of campus life and who has a passion for helping others and/or supporting a cause that enhances the quality of life for individuals or the community at large. The Bruce & Kathy Skinner Scholarship Providing support to young/new professionals currently completing their education or with less than three years in the industry. The John Stewart Memorial Scholarship Providing support to a deserving individual working with technology responsibilities supporting an event(s).
The Tennessee Festival & Event Professionals Scholarship Providing support to a deserving individual/organization from Tennessee. The Pete Van de Putte Scholarship Providing support to a deserving individual/organization from Texas.
The Joe & Gloria Vera Scholarship Providing support to a deserving individual/organization from Texas.
The Don E. Whitely Memorial Scholarship Providing support to a deserving individual/organization whose event involves a parade. The Kay Wolf Scholarship Providing support to a deserving individual/organization from Texas.
The George Zambelli, Sr. Memorial Scholarship Providing support to a deserving volunteer who has given their time and energies to their community festival/event.
For more information about how you can sponsor an IFEA Foundation Legacy Scholarship, call +1-208-433-0950 or email Schmader@ifea.com. For more details about each Legacy Scholarship, go to www.ifea.com
Remember All Those Who Helped You Get Where You Are Today?
The IFEA “Fund for the Future” provides critical funding to ensure that the IFEA has reserves in place to protect against future economic shifts and realities in a constantly changing world; to allow the organization to keep pace with new and changing technologies necessary to communicate with and serve our global industry; and to support a continued expansion of our services, resources, programming and outreach around the world.
Pay it Forward With a Gift to IFEA’s
‘Fund for the Future.’ Your donation will ensure that our world always has something to celebrate!
Contact any IFEA Foundation Board, IFEA World Board, or IFEA Staff Member for more information. Individual and Organizational Contributions are welcomed and encouraged. All contributions are tax-deductible in the United States.
For more information go to www.ifea.com.
LEADE RSH I P AT ALL LEVE LS
With Gail Lowney Alofsin
“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” John Quincy Adams When it comes to the subject of leadership, there are an endless array of books, blogs and articles. The example set by “real life” mentors trump what can be read. In January 2015, I had the privilege of leading the inaugural Providence, New York, Stamford J-term course for the University of Rhode Island Harrington School of Communication and Media. This one week, three credit course, offered the students an opportunity to witness leadership in action. Fourteen engaged and intelligent students joined me “0n the road” in our Mercedes Sprinter Van. We learned from over 40 professionals in the communications, sales and marketing departments of corporations such as ESPN, Warner Brothers, Thomson Reuters, Jaguar Land Rover, Y&R, InMarketing, Citizen’s Bank, Amica Mutual Insurance, Providence Warwick Convention & Visitor’s Bureau and the CW Television station, to name a few. The leadership lessons garnered by our hosts centered on themes of authenticity, integrity, inclusiveness and communication. The students were counselled to compete against their best efforts versus each other. One of the students, Jordan Walker, a Public Relations Major graduating in May 2015, shared a few of her life lessons from the leaders inclusive of: 1. Develop your personal and professional brand. 2. Network before you need it -- and maintain the relationships! 3. Trust your gut.
By the end of the week, the learning that I personally garnered from both the guest speakers and the students was invaluable. We all have something to offer, we are not in competition and no matter what our age or experience, we learn new things and hone our skills our entire lives. In the words of Michelangelo, Ancora Imparo, “Yet, I am learning,” and certainly appreciate every opportunity to do so.
Gail Lowney Alofsin is speaker, author, adjunct professor and business consultant. She is the President of AMP! (Authentic Measurable Performance) delivering presentations focused on leadership performance, work life balance and integration, communication, customer service and business. The new book, Your Someday is NOW – What are you Waiting For, focuses on becoming your best you. A lifelong student and humanitarian, Gail believes that we all have the capability to be a leader in our own lives, influencing the lives of others for positive peak performance and success. An active volunteer since the age of 7, Gail believes that leadership commences when we look beyond ourselves to enhance the lives of others – personally and professionally. She can be reached at 401640-4418 and gail@gailspeaks.com. Follow her on twitter: @gailalofsin and visit her website: gailspeaks.com.
Whether you are new to the workforce or have been working for decades, the sage advice below from the JTerm guest speakers serves as a reminder of core leadership principles. “Never compromise your integrity in any situation.” Tom Cerio, Warner Brothers “Life doesn’t slow down, embrace change.” Kyle LeTellier, Boston Globe “Map out your dream job, who do you know there? How will you get there?” Kathy O’Donnell, Citizens Bank “Carpe Diem – Seize the Day!” Tina Castano, CW 28 Providence “Sharpen your peripheral vision – there are always emerging opportunities.” Michael Moore, Thomson Reuters “Perception is Reality.” Bob Beagle, University of Rhode Island
By Russell Trahan
REMISSED Bryan walked into his office and flipped on the lights. It had been one month since his presentation and proposal submission to an industry-leading executive team, and that morning was to be the date of their decision on whether to retain his firm. A look to the phone—no blinking light signifying a voicemail. A scroll through his Outlook inbox—nothing. Securing this contract was to be a pivotal moment in his career, and sure to be the determining factor in his upward trajectory in his office. The minutes turned to hours and no word, and the slight anxiety became increasingly worrisome. Bryan had covered his bases and kept in touch; just last week he engaged in some brief social media banter with the team’s CFO. Simple enough to maintain an air of informality and ensure the lines of communication remained open. His inbox dinged: it was the company’s CFO. “Bryan, we appreciate your proposal submission, but we have decided to go in another direction. We require more consistent interaction from our business partners, and while we scheduled today to finalize our decision, we had yet to hear from you in the interim. We wish you the best of luck.” The email hit him like a freight train. He had avoided a formal follow-up process in fear of seeming overeager or pressuring his prospect, but had maintained casual connections through his LinkedIn and Facebook accounts just to keep his name top-of-mind. While Bryan assumed the company would appreciate his distance while they were in the process of making their decision, it actually became the nail in his corporate coffin. They were awaiting his traditional methods of follow up, and his lack of correspondence instead conveyed that he was not the right man for the job. In an ever-expanding digital business landscape, Bryan’s story is all too familiar. Many working professionals are exchanging established means of follow up, such as phone calls and face-to-face meetings, for quick messages over social media or email, and it is impacting their business relationships and bottom-lines. They sacrifice professional courtesy in an
CONNECTIONS The Importance of Traditional Follow Up in a Non-Traditional Business World
attempt to appear casual, and regardless of the many ways we can now communicate, when it comes to follow up, the best practices are the traditional practices. Social Media is for Building Business Connections—Not Maintaining Them Have you encountered a friend or relative that limits all contact with you to digital convenience? That one person who never fails to have a comment reserved for your timeline or feed, but you cannot recall the last time you actually spoke? These individuals also exist in the business realm, and they’ve attempted to streamline their communication with an overkill-level reliance on their social media accounts. It’s not just a bad business practice—it’s bad overall form. Social media can prove invaluable when creating connections, but maintaining them—as is the objective when conducting follow-up on a potential deal—should always be reserved for traditional modes of correspondence. Anything less borders on lazy and unprofessional. Avoid the “Are We There Yet?” Once you’ve curbed your inclination for social media-centric follow up, there are parameters that should be adhered to when following up with leads. The first— and most important—is to establish an agenda when touching base with your prospects, and ensuring that each subsequent call or meeting occurs under the umbrella of providing new information. There should be a concrete reason for picking up that phone, and a distinct benefit to the individual on the other end of it. Any parent can describe road-trip trials and tribulations, and many of them will describe the maddening, constant cries of “Are we there yet?” from the back seat. That same irritated feeling occurs with continuous follow-up calls. There is a distinct difference between being attentive and being annoying—learn it, because your potential client is already well-aware. Two to Tango Bouncing off avoiding impulses to flood your prospect with phone calls, you should actually give them the freedom to lead the interactions a bit. Allow them to dictate the follow-up flow by inquiring
into their timeline and preference for the next call or meeting, and set a date. Whether your next meeting is two weeks or two months away, your sales prospect has provided an appropriate date and time for your next meeting to occur. The onus is now on you to stick to the plan and pick-up the phone. Set Your Calendar and Stick to It The genesis of the business salesperson always harkens to a time when a man in a pork-pie hat would knock on door after door after door selling vacuums—the quintessential cold-call. There is now a palpable aversion to following up with established sales leads in favor of “keeping things casual.” This only leads to one thing: missed opportunity. Let your calendar hold you accountable. Prior to the end of a meeting or call, be sure to pencil-in an appropriate time to follow up with your prospect, and stick to the date on the calendar. Keeping things casual may maintain pride, but it does not promote sales. He was remiss with his follow up practices, and because of that, Bryan lost out on an important deal for his company, and for his professional growth. Lessons are often learned through unintended or unwanted consequences, and his silver lining exists in that going forward, Bryan will make sure to devote a large amount of energy and attention to the manner in which he follows up with prospective clients.
Russell Trahan is President of PR/PR, a boutique public relations agency specializing in positioning clients in front of their target audience in print and online. PR/ PR represents experts of all kinds who are seeking national exposure for their business or organization. Russell and PR/PR will raise your business’ awareness in the eyes of your clients and customers. For more information, please visit www. prpr.net or email AdminAgent@ prpr.net for a free consultation.
FIELD NOTES:
TIPS ON CO SURVEYS TO THE VISITOR EXPERIENC By Douglas Boone and Jerry Savage
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ONDUCTING TO IMPROVE R CE In today’s highly competitive marketplace it has become more important than ever for event managers, vendors and other stakeholders to gain an in-depth understanding of the visitor experience. Analyzing the visitor experience helps marketers and coordinators optimize customer satisfaction, while inviting greater loyalty and word-of mouth recommendations. In order to achieve these goals— while also identifying key visitor segments for advertising efforts— savvy planners conduct survey research. For event producers, the survey can be an effective way to collect data and create dialogue with visitors that can help to improve the offering and, ultimately, drive sales growth. Event surveys can be carried out by event staff or consultants working together with staff. Regardless of who does the data collection and analysis, there are a variety of issues to consider during planning. This article takes a holistic look at the event survey process and provides practical tips for those who are considering an onsite survey. Spring 2015
Clearly Define the Objectives of the Study Before Designing a Questionnaire The ability to provide useful analysis begins with (1) clear objectives for the study and (2) a carefully designed questionnaire that directly addresses those objectives. Think about the exact wording of each survey question and how questions relate to one another. Will data collected from each question guide future decision-making and help marketers achieve their goals? If not, questions should probably be cut in order to save resources and avoid respondent fatigue. Objectives may include a determination of preferred price points or timing, perceptions of vendors, entertainment or other attributes important to event success. Marketers may also want to conduct segmentation studies to identify key visitor groups and a marketing message that will resonate and drive attendance. In this case, one will need demographic, psychographic, behavioral (e.g., number of times attending or what was purchased at the event) and/or firmographic data appropriate for segmentation.
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Hiring a team of researchers often means bringing on a vendor with specialized training. This group should align themselves with event staff to ensure respondents know they are “official.” Event staff shirts, lanyards, hats and other clothing can all be used to create this perception. In order to maximize the value of the survey, it is also important to consider how in-house databases are segmented. If prospect lists or databases of past attendees are segmented by income or geography, for instance, then questions should be included that allow the team to gather data that are directly comparable to extant data. If a core objective is audience expansion then survey findings, such as a marketing message, can be laid over matching segments in a larger database. The end result is micro targeted messages customized for each prospect segment. Some producers have subsidized the survey process by giving select vendors the option of sponsoring part of the survey in exchange for a report that details visitor perceptions of their booth, wares and employees. This can be a good option for producers with a limited budget. Tools of the Trade Once you have clarified your objectives and developed a questionnaire, you will need the right device and software to collect data. In some instances software is only compatible with certain devices such as an iPhone or iPad so it is important to determine what type of device will be used to collect data before turning to the question of software selection. There are currently several reasonably priced software options that may be used on Android or iOS enabled devices. There are three critical components to consider when selecting a survey application: (1) Survey question types/capabilities; (2) whether the touch screen display needs to be consumer-friendly, and; (3) the data analytics and reporting capabilities of each package. 28
Several vendors now offer software that allows one to conduct surveys offline and upload responses after the event. This can be an enticing option for many producers who may be gathering data in areas that do not have WiFi. Before selecting software, be sure to understand its pricing model – often survey software is either a monthly subscription with unlimited respondents or is based on a license fee to access the software and an additional cost for each survey response. Premium survey tools have multiple capabilities including a wide range of survey question types and control over the look and feel (e.g., big buttons that may be preferable in a kiosk set up). Premium tools include Qualtrics Mobile while HarvestYourData is a lower cost tool that has fewer features, though still adequate for most projects. Consumer facing kiosks designed for a “passive” approach to data collection (explained below) may require software with visually appealing displays that have response sliders, big buttons and other features that make them very user-friendly. If you’re conducting face-to-face intercepts, the tablet will be in the hands of your recruiters and a user-friendly survey layout with big buttons may be sacrificed in order to save money. For kiosks where respondents fill out their surveys with minimal supervision, consider how you will lock down your device before making a purchase. Locks can be purchased from companies like Amazon or, in some cases, rented along with tablets. While large (e.g., 10 inch) tablets are often ideal for kiosks, a smaller device is generally preferred by recruiters who will actually carry the device in a face-to-face intercept.
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If you have a limited budget and willing staff, you may be able to conduct the survey using their smartphones. This is the same process as conducting face-toface intercepts with a tablet and, in some cases, can be a good way to save precious resources. Coordination and Pre-Planning are Key Given the nature of event surveys, project coordination and pre-planning are especially important. You only get one shot at data collection, so make it count. There are two primary methods to complete onsite work: (1) You may employ a team of researchers to conduct intercepts throughout the event or (2) managers may strategically place survey kiosks with one or dozens of individual devices in use for respondents to complete the questionnaire. When planning the survey and thinking about data collection goals, think realistically about how many surveys can be completed per device per hour. If one survey takes five minutes then it’s possible to complete 8 to 10 surveys per hour /per device. The remaining time is needed to recruit potential respondents. Recruiting survey respondents is a skill that interviewers and survey managers often develop over time. It should also be emphasized that incentives are often needed in order to persuade large numbers of visitors to take the survey. Response rates can vary greatly, based on the visitor base, incentives and the approach being used to recruit respondents. In general, the survey should be no longer than three to five minutes. The shorter the better. If you are conducting intercepts in which interviewers administer the questionnaire to each respondent pilot testing is a good idea as this provides a fairly precise estimate of time-to-survey-completion. Administer the survey with a few co-workers or friends to estimate length. Typically it takes longer to read the survey out loud than it takes to read it silently. In the field respondents are often distracted by family, friends and other event happenings. A 90 second pilot in a sterile office should be considered at least a 2 minute survey in the field. It’s better to estimate time conservatively and collect more responses than expected than it is to come up short. Each device that is used to capture data should have a number or name associated with it. That identifier should be linked to each survey response. You will then have power to drill down to the device level if you see oddities in your data. A device identifier will also help you monitor your interviewers and determine which devices are optimally positioned to capture the greatest number of responses. In some cases, survey software is configured to link a device to data automat-
ically. If this is not the case, simply add a question where the survey attendant can write in the device name or number. This will give the analyst the ability to filter survey results by device. Make Sure Survey Staff are Embedded Hiring a team of researchers often means bringing on a vendor with specialized training. This group should align themselves with event staff to ensure respondents know they are “official.” Event staff shirts, lanyards, hats and other clothing can all be used to create this perception. If you are using a kiosk, banners with the event logo help the audience identify the kiosk as “official.” Staff manning the kiosk should follow the guidelines of an intercept team and wear staff shirts, caps, etc. Staff should always understand the nature of the event before they start surveying attendees. Make sure they understand the questionnaire and key objectives of the study. Is it an event launch? A playoff game? What are the show start times? This helps to ensure interviewers are effective and that respondents are satisfied with the survey experience. To Intercept or Not to Intercept While the “passive method” of allowing patrons to fill out a survey at an event booth can be useful and is generally less costly than traditional intercepts, using trained interviewers is often necessary when seeking in-depth quotes. Trained interviewers can probe around survey items and can also help to produce important context and qualitative insights. If conducting intercepts, you can hold brief exit interviews with each survey
interviewer. When the event ends no one will have a better sense of the attendee experience than the survey interviewers. Their insights may lend valuable subtext to the hard data. Kiosks are often a lower cost option since they require less labor. The anonymity of the touch-screen devices may help respondents to answer honestly as opposed to responding in a way they think will please the interviewer. Provide incentives to encourage participation Patrons at concerts, festivals, consumer shows and other events are often offered incentives to get their attention and help ensure that they provide carefully considered responses. Incentives are especially important when seeking qualitative data such as quotes and are essential for maximizing response rates. If using the kiosk or “passive” approach to data collection, signage will be needed to attract attention. If possible, consider prizes related to the event. Discounts at the concession stand, free rides or event T-shirts can help promote the event and can also be enticing to prospective respondents. A drawing for cash prizes, vacation packages or other big ticket items can also help to drive up the response rate and help ensure the team achieves the relatively large sample size that is often necessary for reliable statistical analysis. Make Reports Actionable to Maximize Impact Many clients initially seek general feedback about the guest experience but are not sure exactly how to use the data to drive sales and achieve other critical goals
If possible, consider prizes related to the event. Discounts at the concession stand, free rides or event T-shirts can help promote the event and can also be enticing to prospective respondents. A drawing for cash prizes, vacation packages or other big ticket items can also help to drive up the response rate… Spring 2015
such as optimizing guest satisfaction. Researchers should work together with stakeholders to create survey measures that are a direct extension of the key objectives of the study. This positions the team to produce actionable insight and recommendations that improve the bottom line. If the study’s objectives were clearly defined in the beginning of the process and questions were based on those objectives, then it is often relatively easy to see how the data are relevant to the team’s business goals and how findings should be applied to help guide decision-making. Powerful, yet low cost survey tools may have a limited analytics package so look for the capability to export a CSV file that can be imported elsewhere. An exported data file may pair well with inexpensive analytics tools that offer monthly subscriptions. To improve analytics and provide a visually appealing report consider online tools like Statwing and Tableau Public. Given that such tools often have a substantial learning curve, however, those that have no training in statistical analysis may want to consider hiring a professional research analyst to help them prepare the final report. Conclusion Given the fact that today’s event visitors have more options than ever before, it has become critical that event producers do everything they can to optimize visitor satisfaction and develop messaging that resonates with prospects. Survey research can be used to achieve these key business goals, and others, and thus is an invaluable tool to managers of all types of events.
Douglas Boone founded Event Survey Group. He began his career in event research at Tradeshow Week magazine. Today his research services are dedicated to the event industry and are offered to all sizes of for-profit and not-forprofit organizations. Survey clients include OC Fair & Event Center, Art + Soul Oakland, and the Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board. Contact Douglas Boone at dboone@eventsurveygroup.com Jerry Savage has over 12 years of market research experience and has conducted survey research on a broad range of topics. Jerry specializes in consumer insight research and is the author of numerous reports, white papers and articles on consumer trends and research methodology. Contact Jerry Savage at jsavage@eventsurveygroup.com
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REGULATING
DRONES AT YOUR EVENTS By Greg Cirillo
Battery-powered, remote controlled drones now give us the ability to capture amazing images and video that was previously only available with helicopters at great expense and danger. Views that used to be captured for tens of thousands of dollars, can now be had for hundreds of dollars, or less. Event organizers, performers, media, bloggers and even attendees will want to capture these amazing images and videos. If you are lucky, they will ask permission and you will have the opportunity to protect your interests. But many will not ask, and you will need to deal with uninvited drones. For the near future, the vast majority of well-intended drone uses are technically illegal. And if you are hosting or sponsor30
ing an event, you need to consider both the safety risks and privacy infringements posed by drones. What must a host know in order to remain in compliance with law? And what should a host do in order to minimize liability for drone usage? “Anything this good must be illegal.” That statement is largely true for most uses of drones, at least for the next year or two. In a nutshell, the law on civilian drone use in the United States is as follows: • Although the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has proposed rules (released February 15, 2015) that allow limited civilian drone use under defined limitations, those proposed rules will not go into effect until they have
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cleared mandatory notice-and-comment periods, which may not be until 2017. Until then we are left with the current legal landscape. • The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) considers a drone to be an aircraft, whether it weighs 15,000 lbs. or 3 lbs. The FAA has very limited flexibility and needs to consider the worst case scenario (that being a remotely controlled drone impacting a passenger aircraft with potentially disastrous results). • Unless a specific regulatory exemption applies or is granted, to operate in our national airspace (which means anywhere outdoors and off the ground) the equipment needs to satisfy FAA airworthiness standards, the
operator needs to meet FAA licensing requirements, and the operation must comport to the same airspace rules as a Cessna 172 or Airbus A380. Yes, really. • The FAA is developing rules to govern the airworthiness certification of drones, the licensure of operators (pilots) and proper use in U.S. airspace; but those rules are unlikely to become law until well into 2016. It is anticipated that these rules will initially require constant manned operation (no autonomous flight), operations within the pilot’s visual line of sight, and a very high level of diligence in the design and operation of drones, including a requirement that the operator hold a pilot’s license. The rules will, by no means, make drone operations easy or common. This summary of the law seems completely at odds with what we are seeing every day. Hundreds of thousands of consumers are buying drones and flying them anywhere and everywhere. They are not pilots and they are not seeking FAA authority. So how are they lawfully operating? There are three explanations. • First, there is a long-standing exemption (meaning that the FAA looks the other way) for aircraft modelers. Long before the advent of lightweight cameras and quadcopters, you had hobbyists building and flying model aircraft – often replicas of actual aircraft. Applying the above FAA standards, these would otherwise be considered aircraft and would require airworthiness certifications, pilot licenses and airspace compliance. But in a nod to practicality, the FAA allows modelers to enjoy their hobby provided that they voluntarily comply with a written understanding restricting flight operations.1 This modeler’s exemption is now applicable to modern quadcopters to the same extent as it applies to model aircraft operators. For operators that want to remain within the exemption, their operations are limited in a number of ways, including remaining within the operator’s line of sight, under 400 feet, away from other people and away from air traffic. Most importantly, the use of drones must be non-commercial, meaning that it is not done for profit or even for reimbursement or barter. • Second, many operators are behaving illegally and have no concern or no idea that they are behaving illegally, and the FAA does not have the resources to stop them. The FAA has always had the ability to seek financial penalties for unsafe “aircraft” operation and they have actually done this with drone operations. However, the process is slow and cumbersome, and the FAA lacks the re-
sources to police the hundreds of thousands of drones flooding our airspace. This may change as the FAA very recently released guidelines to encourage local law enforcement officials to identify and prosecute illegal drone operations.2 • The third explanation for current drone uses is that, beginning in late 2014, the FAA started issuing one-off exemptions in response to specific petitions seeking limited use of drones, including commercial uses. There are only a handful of legal operators under this exemption process, but that will likely increase. As with the modeler’s code, operators will be severely restricted in their operating area and operator requirements. As An Event Host, Here is What You Must Do Make a good faith effort to prevent unlawful drone usage and protect yourself from illegal uses. Drones can be dangerous if they come in contact with visitors, participants or equipment. As a starting point, your position on drone operations should be clearly spelled out in your policies and operating contracts. Nobody should be operating a drone at your facility unless you are convinced that it is legal. For example, if a photographer offers to produce and sell video at your event, that photographer is going to need to show an FAA exemption permitting that use. If an event participant wants to employ a drone to record part or all of an event, you will need confirmation and acknowledgment that they are within the modeler’s exemption, or have an FAA exemption. Even an amateur blogger capturing video for his or her blog is going to need to show you an FAA exemption. In all cases, the drone operators need to attest to the legality of their operation, assume responsibility, and hold the host harmless for breaches. In some cases, it will be appropriate to require the operator to secure liability insurance, with the facility named as an additional insured party. If drones of any kind are allowed, it needs to be with permission and after satisfaction of these conditions. Without going into the details, what you will find is that today and for the near future the vast majority of intended drone uses are simply going to be illegal. For example, even in the rare cases where FAA exemptions have been granted, it does not freely permit drone operations over people’s heads. The risk and consequences of being caught for an FAA violation is nominal for the photographer or blogger using it on occasion; but the risk to an event host is much higher, and of greater concern. Your event management personnel are going to need to be educated on your drone policy and be prepared to safely intercede to prevent unauthorized uses. Spring 2015
As An Event Host, Here is What You Should Do Even if the intended drone usage is technically legal, as an event host you need to manage drone use in order to advance visitor safety and to keep yourself out of other legal matters involving privacy or illegal nuisance. The simplest approach is instituting a complete ban on drone usage. In the right context, this is the way to go since enforcement is easy. But commercial and popular forces will come into play and you will want to allow certain uses either by the media, performers or even in support of your own operations (site inspection or event promotion). In that case, it is vital to understand what is legal (including knowing your local laws protecting the privacy of individuals, and prohibiting nuisance activities), and educating your staff so they can carry out your objectives. As above, you will need to build in new procedures and documentation to address the safety, privacy and liability risks of drone uses. Lastly, if you are going to allow drones at events where performances are taking place, you must consider how copyrights may be impacted, and whether contracts with performers adequately address the rights to the images or video collected at the event. Keep in mind that the law will change when the FAA issues its detailed, final rules, and whatever policies and procedures you adopt today will need to be reviewed and revised when the law changes. 1. The FAA has January 13, 2014 Memorandum of Understanding with the American Modelers Association, building on a long history of self-regulation by aircraft modelers. 2. January 8, 2015 FAA Press Release and Notice. http://www.faa.gov/news/updates/?newsId=81244
Greg Cirillo is an aviation law specialist and Chair of the Aviation Group in the McLean Virginia office of the law firm Wiley Rein, LLP. In addition to helping clients navigate the evolving laws governing unmanned aircraft, he works extensively with owners and operators of private and commercial aircraft on purchase, sale, lease and finance transactions, as well as regulatory compliance and conflict resolution. Founded in 1983, Wiley Rein LLP counsels leaders in numerous industries nationwide and around the world with more than 270 attorneys practicing in more than two dozen specialties of law and public policy. Greg can be reached at gcirillo@wileyrein.com / 703.905.2808. More on Wiley Rein at www.wileyrein.com.
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DEVELOPING A
By John Melleky, CFRE, CFEE & Paulina Artieda
for ALL COMPONENTS of Your FESTIVAL
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Known for its festivities and colorful traditions, Fiesta® San Antonio is a cultural event that is celebrated by millions yearly. This cultural experience annually attracts the local San Antonio community, yet has increasingly seen more attendance from a new generation of Fiesta®-goers that are coming from the Texas region as well as out of state. With the 125th Anniversary quickly approaching in 2016, Fiesta® San Antonio set out to rebrand its logo that has been in use for the past 20 years. Known as the “Cascaron” logo, this logo served its purpose as part of the Centennial Celebration in 1991.
Over time, however, the logo was used less and less in printed materials and due to the complexities within the organizational structure of Fiesta® San Antonio, the logo was not used as an official brand identity among its collaborations and communication materials. While the umbrella organization, the Fiesta® San Antonio Commission, used the logo consistently, all other festival activations where not adequately branded and in some cases displayed their own version of a Fiesta® San Antonio logo.
various fonts and treatments within their signage. This has led to a diluted brand identity for the Fiesta® San Antonio Commission and in return has made it more complicated to keep track of official sponsorship opportunities. PMOs, the nonprofits that run official Fiesta® events, and other organizations have not been required to utilize the “Cascaron” logo nor have had to have signage at the event that promotes it as an official Fiesta® San Antonio event.
A New Approach As part of the strategic plan started in 2012-13 for Fiesta® San Antonio, one of the five objectives was to “Tell the Fiesta® San Antonio Story.” The first task in this objective was to create a brand identity and guidelines that could be consistently utilized by all organizations and sponsorships involved in the festival. In addition, the new identity had to be reflective of how this event offers a festive fun celebration that is tied to cultural traditions
THE FIESTA® SAN ANTONIO OFFICIAL POSTER: Each year Fiesta® San Antonio accepts poster designs from the community and picks a winning design that will become the official poster of the festival. The winning poster is celebrated at an unveiling event where the artist is recognized and the print itself can be purchased. Over the past five years, the word Fiesta® has been an integral part of the poster design and has been interpreted by the artist. This artwork of the word Fiesta® was then used in additional communication materials such as: print, signage, merchandise and medals for the year. SPONSORS & PARTICIPATING MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS (PMOS): Throughout the years sponsors have also been given the liberties to use the word Fiesta® in Spring 2015
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In creating a consistent brand identity, it’s important to recognize that a logo is a visual way to identify a company and is a part of a branding family. A logo is not a brand but a chief visual component of an overall brand that can be made up of shapes, letters, spacing and colors. Logos represent the essence of an organization. and is inviting to communities around the world. In creating a consistent brand identity, it’s important to recognize that a logo is a visual way to identify a company and is a part of a branding family. A logo is not a brand but a chief visual component of an overall brand that can be made up of shapes, letters, spacing and colors. Logos represent the essence of an organization. (Mercury Mambo, presentation July, 2014) In order to launch this new strategic plan, the Fiesta® San Antonio Commission developed a RFP that called for a marketing firm to take on the rebranding project. After reviewing multiple proposals, Mercury Mambo was selected and awarded the business. Mercury Mambo specializes in multicultural marketing and has had a long reputation in developing strong campaigns and experiences for the Hispanic community. This was vital in the decision-making process for Fiesta® San Antonio since 88% of the festival’s participants identify themselves as Hispanic or Latino. Mercury Mambo set out to discover key insights and conducted a competitive market review in order to develop three visual concepts to choose from. Each concept explored how Fiesta® San Antonio can evolve its identity beyond the local community and also connect with new millennial consumers that have been increasingly attending the festival each year. During these explorations it was key to incorporate how the festival itself is representative of a fusion of arts, heritage and culture. As a requirement, the new brand identity had to incorporate a vibrancy that was reflective of this fusion and in addition include the traditional bright colors that have been a part of the Mexican/Hispanic legacy of Fiesta® San Antonio. Emphasized previously, this identity also had to appeal to the next 34
generation of Fiesta® San Antonio-goers, the millennials (this also would allow the organization to meet a second objective of the strategic plan to expand our outreach) and lastly it needed to easily become an extension for the 125th anniversary of Fiesta® San Antonio, which occurs in 2016. In order to obtain board support, concept designs were tested amongst focus groups. These groups were compiled of board and decision makers, fans and newly exposed millennials. Findings from the focus groups highlighted that Fiesta® San Antonio has multiple meanings to everyone and can be reflective of a multitude of experiences. In other words, there is not one iconic image of the festival or of what it represents that can connect with all attendees. Since the festival is a fusion of the arts, heritage and culture, everyone connects with their own personal experience carried by family traditions and friends. Focus group individuals identified over 30 words that they felt represented the festival, yet what was consistent among them and the board was that the logo needed to feel fun and whimsical to convey the celebration that takes place at Fiesta® San Antonio. Some of the identified words will later be conveyed as icons in the brand family.
The New Logo With research and insights in place, the Mercury Mambo team finalized a logo, brand identity and brand family
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that positions Fiesta® San Antonio as a traditional yet forward-thinking cultural event. As seen here, the brand becomes a one of a kind identity with hand drawn typography that conveys the craftsmanship and traditions that has for many years been the essence of Fiesta® San Antonio. The vibrant, bold colors are also representative of the beautiful celebrations and ceremonies that take place with all of the organizations, parades and events at the festival. By positioning the word “Fiesta” as its own icon and typography, this establishes a brand identity that can be consistent among the different activations throughout the event and most importantly builds brand awareness and recognition of the festival throughout the world. In addition, “San Antonio” was also positioned as a key icon and typography in order to create a unique official lock up of the logo and make it easy for new audiences to give it a destination as a cultural event.
The Brand Family The simplicity of the official logo makes it easy to use throughout many mediums. With that in mind, Mercury Mambo felt there was space to create a second treatment of the official logo large mediums, such as billboards and large prints. Because Fiesta® San Antonio can identify as art, culture and heritage, three icons were developed that appeal to outsiders and current festival-goers. This logo, known as the Mural Logo, has the three icons within the typography – this includes the Alamo, a guitar and a folkloric dancer (as shown above). In addition to being representative
of some of the unique elements of Fiesta® San Antonio, they were also commonly identified by focus group individuals as icons that spark tradition. These icons were not only integrated into the Mural logo but also became an extension of the brand identity. They can be used throughout different merchandise and branding in correlation with the official logo. The Fiesta Store® was excited to explore new designs on t-shirts, pens, medals, etc. Banners microsites and social media sites can also integrate the icons as part of the “look-and-feel” of Fiesta® San Antonio. This design approach was directly reflective of how the audience experiences the festival and their interpretation of Fiesta® San Antonio through icons or visual. For this reason, Mercury Mambo felt that it was important to extend the brand family with icons and it was a unique way of visually telling the story and history of the brand. This was also a turnkey strategy by giving the audience, particularly millennials, options to explore and in turn customize their interpretation of the festival. They can do this through digital customization on their social media channels or simply by picking merchandise designed with the icon of their choice. This type of engagement and interaction with the brand creates strong awareness and brand loyalty. Additional icons were developed to highlight specific traditions or icons of Fiesta® San Antonio, they included: Miss Fiesta Crown, General Crown, Fireworks and a Medal. The brand family was also inclusive of categories that needed specific logos. Using the official logo as a foundation, additional proprietary logos were developed to unify the brand identity of Fiesta® San Antonio family. The first category were the Pillar Logos that are used to segment different marketing and sponsor initiatives of the Fiesta® San Antonio Commission. Pillar Logos included: Fiesta® San Antonio Community, Mobility, Technology & Engagement. Organizations choose participation in one or more pillar. These pillars are represented by one certain color that is tied to sponsor listings, proposals and other marketing collateral.
A second category needed to identify the main programs within the Fiesta® San
Antonio umbrella that already had their own identity and brand. This included The Fiesta® San Antonio Commission, Miss Fiesta San Antonio® and The Fiesta Store®. The Commission logo is similar to the Fiesta® logo. However, for Miss Fiesta® and The Fiesta Store®, new logos with icons were created.
Fiesta® San Antonio also has a Charitable Component. The programs under that entity included: Fiesta Verde® (recycling), Fiesta Safe Rides® and Fiesta® Fit. The emphasis color chosen is green and has wording in green, along with the tool lines being that same green color. A fourth category included headline art and a logo identity for the more festive celebrations or sayings that need brand consistency. This included Fiesta® Fiesta, Fiesta® Carnival and ¡Viva Fiesta®! Each of these events utilizes the main Fiesta® brand with the words in a pink script.
To help distinguish official events and sponsors, a stamp-type logo was designed utilizing the Fiesta® from the main brand that could be given to sponsors and events to promote that they are a part of the entire festival. This special logo allowed the organization to use it at their leisure and help maintain control over the main brand of Fiesta® San Antonio. Lastly, the 125th Anniversary logo was developed in anticipation for a grand celebration marking a significant milestone for Fiesta® San Antonio and its community. This utilized the purple tool lines and a specialty script highlighting 125 years on the top of the logo. The Brand Guidelines With an elaborate collection of unified logos and brand elements, it was integral for the Fiesta® San Antonio Commission to supply brand guidelines and restrictions to its collaborators and organizations that will use the official logo on their communication materials. The purpose of these brand guidelines is to assure that the integrity of the official logo is maintained. Guidelines include requirements on sizing, color palettes, logo safe areas, the do’s and don’ts, co-branding and much more. In addition, the brand guidelines secure that a unified message is delivered among communications, consistency among all organizations
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and prominent brand awareness to its audience and employees. Most recently, the launch of the new logo took place on November 12, 2014 and was incorporated with the reveal of the new poster design for 2015. The official logo has and will continue to be integrated into new poster designs for years to come. Fiesta® San Antonio Commission and its board members are excited to continue to introduce the new identity and in addition begin the process of creating a solid, successful and recognizable identity for Fiesta® San Antonio and any official moving forward.
John R. Melleky, CFRE is the Chief Executive Officer for the Fiesta® San Antonio Commission. Before joining the Fiesta Commission, John was the executive director of the Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists Foundation in Richmond, Va. He also founded 3fold consulting LLC, which provided event planning, association management, and fundraising services for a variety of nonprofits. While working with Veronica Whitehead & Co. as operations director, Melleky worked on conferences for Time Warner and MasterCard, and 10 years with the FORTUNE 500 Forum. He was also the operations director for Real Simple’s “Get Organized New York Tag Sale” in Central Park, which raised money for the New York City Fund for Public Schools. John has a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Richmond and an MBA from Virginia Commonwealth University and is a member of the International Festival and Events Association and the Association of Fundraising Professionals. Mercury Mambo - Hispanic marketing agency, Mercury Mambo, leads the way by understanding the motivations that drive Latinos at the point of purchase. Or as they say… Where Commerce & Culture Collide.™ What sets them apart from the competition? It begins with their vast experience at retail, their ability to develop breath and depth of consumer insights for all of their strategic platforms and last but not least their magnetic creative strategy. This Hispanic marketing agency is one of the leaders in the industry.
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Make Your New Year’s Resolution
STICK! DON'T LET ANOTHER YEAR GO BY WITHOUT PROGRESS, GROWTH AND IMPROVEMENT By Steve McClatchy How did you do in 2014 with your New Year's Resolutions? Are you celebrating with jubilation from accomplishing all of them? Did you follow through on your promises to yourself to improve your life, your relationships, your wealth, health and happiness? No? Well, don't be too hard on yourself; lots of people will make the same resolutions this year that they made last year, and the year before.
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It usually goes something like this, you resolve to lose weight, write a book, get a new job, go to graduate school, et cetera, you might even write it down on your to-do list, but by the time the Girl Scouts show up to sell their cookies in February, the resolution is forgotten. So why do so many fail and so few succeed at achieving their goals and resolutions? The key to your success or failure is found in a little difference between your to-do list and your calendar. The most successful people don't let their planning stop with their to-do list. They take out their calendar and they make sure they have their most important priorities scheduled and defended. If someone were to ask if you were available this Thursday for a meeting the first thing you would do is check your calendar. If your calendar says you're busy on Thursday you would decline the invitation and steer your meeting toward another day. Notice that you did not check your to-do list for Thursday, you checked your calendar. This little difference in the way you treat tasks and appointments can be vitally important to your success or failure in achieving your goals and resolutions. These two tools that most people use to help their brain manage daily life, the to-do list and the calendar, do not serve the same purpose. Your to-do list contains a list of tasks that are time flexible, to which you have not assigned specific times to complete. Your calendar, on the other hand, contains a list of tasks that are time specific, to which you have assigned specific times to complete. As a result of these time specific commitments you have given yourself a lot more work to do. Each time something comes up you will now have to reference these commitments to make sure you don't double book yourself. You will have to defend them against other tasks or appointments that want the same time slot. You will now have to work everything else around completing this specific task at this specific time. This appointment will influence what you can do, where you can be and who you can be with before it and after it. Do you see all the extra work that is involved in putting an appointment on your calendar? Because of the extra work involved in scheduling them, working around them and defending them repeatedly, we reserve appointments on the calendar for what is most important. If you are going to go through all of this it better be important! There is another problem we face when it comes to improvement in our lives: our maintenance items. Maintenance items include your morning routine, eating three meals a day, dishes, trash, laundry, bills, haircuts, grocery shopping, car maintenance, house maintenance, taxes,
sleeping, voice mails, emails, reports, expenses, budgets, meetings, presentations and everything in life that would eventually be brought to your attention if you didn't do it. The problem with maintenance items is life creates them every day. There is never a time when they are complete because they repeat. We don't check off the task of putting gas in the car. Every mile you drive means that task is going to repeat soon. This is what happens with all your maintenance items. If there is always a maintenance item to do then you could spend all of your time doing them and catching up would always be just out of reach. You can always find something that needs to be maintained, cleaned, fixed, fed, paid, filled up or emptied out. If you can fill all your time with maintenance then there is no time in life for goals and improvement! Wait, let me say that again. There is no time in life for goals! To have goals in your life you have to "make time." The question isn't: "is there time for goals?" The question is "how far are you willing to be behind on your maintenance items to have goals in your life?" "Making time" is an expression we use to describe the process of putting the commitment on our calendar, defending it, working around it and deciding to put off our maintenance items because of it. That is the process we call "making time." This is the key to success with your New Year's resolutions, your goals in your business, your personal life, and anything that you want to accomplish. What in your life is worth planning, scheduling, defending and being behind on your maintenance items because of it? What step can you take today to make your life better, reduce your stress, move your business forward, or improve your important relationships? Is it exercise, creating a budget, finding a mentor, scheduling a date night, benchmarking the competition, fixing a broken system at work, networking, or enrolling in a training class? If these things are not scheduled and defended they will not happen. There are some things in life that you remember for a year, five years, a decade or even a lifetime. Goals and resolutions fall into this category. How long will you remember getting a degree or advanced degree, learning a new musical instrument, documenting your family tree, getting a new job, presenting at a big industry convention or writing an article that gets published? These things are much more memorable than your commute to work, paying your bills, taking out the trash, picking up your dry cleaning or submitting your monthly report. When you look at the results that come from moving things forward, achieving your goals, learning new things Spring 2015
or gaining more experience you will see that these things are worth defending. They are worth all the trouble and extra work that comes from placing them on your calendar and committing to them. When you see how these accomplishments and improvements contribute to your self-esteem, confidence and your outlook on life, you'll see that these things are worth defending and not leaving to chance. Make a list of your loftiest goals for life or what you want to change for tomorrow. Then take one small piece off your to-do list and put it on your calendar today so you can make it happen. Achieving goals and resolutions is possible and a lot of people are successful with them each year. Each year in the United States there are over 100,000 people that graduate with an MBA degree, over 300,000 books are published, over 500,000 people run marathons, and over six million people take piano lessons. You can search these and other statistics online very quickly for inspiration. Don't just dream of a goal, add it to a to-do list and leave it to chance. Take the final step needed to make it a reality! Use your calendar as a weapon to move your life forward. Make this your year for progress, growth, improvement and happiness. Make this your year for results!
Steve McClatchy, president of Alleer Training & Consulting, provides training, consulting and speaking services in the areas of Consultative Selling, Leadership and Time Management. Steve is also author of the book Decide: Work Smarter, Reduce Your Stress & Lead by Example which is a New York Times, USA Today and Amazon bestseller. If you would like to learn more about the ways Alleer can be a resource to your organization, email Steve.McClatchy@alleer.com or call 800-860-1171. Decide! Newly released Decide is a New York Times (#2), USA Today Business (#1), and Amazon (#1) Bestseller! Follow Steve McClatchy’s no-nonsense and practical approach, and you’ll soon lead at your highest level of personal performance.
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The Evolving World of
FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS and Visitor Expectations By Jim Shanklin, CFEE The Coin of the Realm is changing to digital commerce, and it is a Mega Change for community events. While the transition up to now has been gradual and absorbed into the consumer economy with little fanfare, it is now at the Tipping Point and accelerating rapidly in the U.S. Only a few years ago, there were three great “pools of cash” in our economy: taxi services, coin-operated laundromats and community events. Today, there is one “pool” remaining, and the focus of digital commerce players is on the community events world. It is not as though cash is regarded fondly as a medium of exchange. Not only do event organizers complain about cash, but attendees, midway operators, vendors and volunteers also complain about it. Cash is high risk, high maintenance and high cost to transport into banks; and everyone knows about the negatives. Cash has the benefits and the drawbacks of being anonymous and “fast” to use. “Anonymous” means that it can disappear; not be directly traced, and is an open opportunity for people in the events world who are less than honest. “Fast” means that despite all of its drawbacks, food and beverage vendors can move a lot of customers through their lines. When is “Cashless” Not? Some members of the events marketplace say that they are “cashless” today, through the use of paper tickets or plastic tokens. Unfortunately, although both of these cash surrogates offer some benefits, they maintain several of the risks and inconveniences of cash. First, they require a dual reconciliation at an event’s end. Not only does cash have to be counted, but the ticket or tokens as well, requiring redundant volunteer teams to administer the reconciliations. Event visitors especially resent the multiple lines, long waits, and the “breakage” resulting from tickets or tokens left in their possession. Paper tickets also offer prime opportunities for vendor or midway fraud. Stories abound about tickets being soaked, sprayed and literally counterfeited in attempts for sellers to wring a little additional profit from events. In our conversations with event organizers, one manager of a very large carnival, games and concessions area using paper tickets commented in reference to the games area, “I know I lose at least $200,000 a year in those games.” That alone is reason to explore going truly cashless. The Drivers of Digital Commerce Global, national and local commerce today moves at the speed of electrons. The demand upon the b2b banking system to get sales into their retail, service and trade customers immediately is intense. Just recently, Nacha, the Electronic Clearinghouse Association, proposed same day settlement of funds to its bank members. The members voted it down as too slow. On October 30, 2014 Nacha announced it can achieve multiple settlements per day into its member banks. We already are in a digital economy. The universality of credit, debit and now prepaid cash cards, coupled with the new tools for consumers to use their cards digitally, has made digital commerce “mainstream.” The only question remaining is how best for the community events marketplace to flow with the stream instead of paddling vigorously against it. Spring 2015
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In our conversations with event organizers, one manager of a very large carnival, games and concessions area using paper tickets commented in reference to the games area, “I know I lose at least $200,000 a year in those games.” That alone is reason to explore going truly cashless.
The Tools of Digital Commerce The Smartphone is the universal tool for digital commerce. Cell phones are now owned by 87% of US citizens—275 million people. Of the phones, 52% are Smartphones capable of all of the functions required for “mobile banking,” as it’s called. Among the “heavy users” of Smartphones, the 18-39 year-old Millennials age group, 75% have Smartphones, and 39% of them have used mobile banking in the past 12 months. This 80 million-strong age cohort is the first Digital Native generation, a term coined to reflect their exposure from birth to Smartphones, laptops, tablets and other digital products. In addition to banking, the Millennials represent far and away the highest users of mobile shopping: 70% of them buy mass transit with mobile, 66% fast food, 54% retail, and 45% parking. Why would we think they want to use cash, paper tickets or tokens at our events? Good News: Visitors Spend More with Cards There no longer is any question that people spend more when they use cards— credit, debit or Smartphone-resident 40
digital cards. The public data is national and unequivocal. The growing body of data FTS sees supports all of the public data: retailers (and vendors) experience from 12-18% on average increase in sales volume, and additional increases in per “ticket” sales, from credit, debit card and prepaid card purchases than from cash. In surveying millions of purchases, Visa® shows clearly that the average cash purchase is $17.00; the average Visa credit card purchase is $66.00; the average debit card purchase, $42.00. With all due respect, the case is closed. Introduce prepaid cards to your event and your attendees will spend more, your vendors will sell more, and if your event charges a commission, you will make more. Taking Your Event Cashless: Considerations The decision to transition your event to a cashless model is not a trivial one. It will be a cultural change for your event and for most to all of your stakeholders. Whether you think of it from a positive or a tentative position, it deserves and requires discussion, team building, a plan and the anticipation of resistance to make the transition successful. I’m hopeful that the ideas offered in the following sections
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of this article will be useful to you, and will assist the journey. In an analysis of moving to cashless, you likely will find that the positive results will far outweigh the challenges. Discuss the Present The more discussion you can have about making this change, the better will be the transition, let alone the project results. Build a team of staff, board members, vendors and volunteers to initiate discussions about going cashless. It must be a team willing to work. Discuss how cash does and does not work for your event: how much real and perceived risk, how much time, how much “slippage” you may have, how “breakage” may affect your visitors’ attitudes, the costs of transport, bank services and other attending costs to using cash. Make sure the meeting is positioned as a brainstorming session to pull out all of the ideas possible, both good and not, to make the first meeting a success. In part the discussion(s) will benefit the decision path, and in part it will begin to socialize the topic in a non-passionate forum. The stakes for any member of the team should not be high. Once you’re satisfied that you have thoroughly explored the subject, define the benefits of making the move. Define the Benefits Depending upon the success of the initial meeting, a discussion of the benefits of taking cash out of your event may be a part of the first meeting, or the topic for a second meeting. Some of the benefits that may come to mind include reduced risk, reduced “slippage,” more efficient use of staff and volunteers, new and valuable sales and revenue information and the potential increase for revenue. Your team likely will come up with more ideas, and the exercise should encourage the next step. Develop a Plan Once your initial meetings are completed, I’d recommend a written plan to move forward with the project. It can be simple, but a plan nevertheless can help keep stakeholders and your staff aware of and involved with developments along the way. A plan also can identify issues that you may not encounter until the project is well along in its development; specifically, the inevitable Barriers to Change (it’s that cultural change thing, again). In fact, a written plan should also identify, well ahead of time, how to plan for and deal with the introduction of the new cashless event to your attendees, vendors and sponsors using your local media outlets.
This 80 million-strong age cohort is the first Digital Native generation, a term coined to reflect their exposure from birth to Smartphones, laptops, tablets and other digital products.
A written plan will also be an indicator to potential cashless service providers that your event is serious about the change and that the provider selected must work hand-in-hand with your event to achieve the optimum goal. Look for a Solution, Not a Service With a plan in place, begin your search for a potential service provider. There are a growing number of cashless service providers in the community events marketplace, some of them stronger than others, as it is quite early in the development of cashless community events. From the point of your plan, look for three overall capabilities as you look for a potential provider and business partner for your event: • A transaction service that replaces all cash at all sales points at the event. This approach ensures that you are capturing all revenue, and demonstrating that your attendee does not need cash to have fun! • A transaction service that allows and includes financial reporting that increases Business Intelligence (BI) for your event, your vendors and for your sponsors. • A transaction service that delivers benefits to all parties to the event—your event bottom line, your attendees, your vendors, your volunteers and your sponsors. Overcome the Barriers People and attitudes that may arise as potential barriers to the cashless direction are understandable, once you look at the event in the context of the local community society. Especially if the event is 50 or more years old, some fans of the event, those who may have grown up attending it as young people, want it to remain as it was out of the emotional and nostalgic
feelings for the event. Others simply don’t like change, and want to express their dissatisfaction; those you’ve likely heard from in the past on other changes. A communications plan, public relations and advertising, is a must-have part of your plan. Contact print and broadcast media outlets, at 60-45 days prior to the event, and set up interviews with the “anchor” people or editors to position and explain the new digital commerce, why you are making the changes, and what the likely benefits will be for attendees and vendors in particular. Acknowledge that some in the community might be displeased; build on your allies’ reputations, your board members’ roles in the community and answer the reporter’s or anchor person’s question, while again explaining that there will be benefits to all segments of your attendee audience from the new program. At 30 days prior to opening, but as a part of your event opening, use your web site, social media platforms and offline media to promote the new cashless event, the new card or other cash replacement device, plus the other new innovations that you are introducing as a part of the change to digital commerce. Enlist members of your team to join you in the interview process with the media. As many of them are familiar faces and names to both the media and the public, they will become endorsements of the new direction, and will add credibility to your own presentation. It IS in Fact, a New Day To repeat myself, moving to digital commerce and a cashless event is a cultural change. Like many mega changes, however, once you are able to look back at the initial event, and look forward to your second cashless event, you will see what Economist Dr. Joel Mokyr meant in a recent Wall Street Journal issue. In referencing the role Spring 2015
of technology in the US economy, he said, “the technological tailwind is more like a tornado. Fasten your seat belts.” You will look back at the benefits of taking your event cashless with the same feeling. Fasten your seat belt. Jim Shanklin, CFEE, Executive VP of Festival Transaction Services, Inc., founded Festivals.com in 1995, and introduced Internet promotion to the festivals and events community through Festivals.com and Backstage at Festivals.com. Festivals.com today is Festival Transaction Services, Inc., and Festivals.com is still the Number One Google return for the keyword, “festivals.” Mr. Shanklin regularly speaks at festival and event conferences on how to link event activities to benefit from Internet exposure and commerce, and is recognized throughout the festival and event industry as an Internet pioneer. Prior to founding Festivals.com, Jim had 32 years of experience in the marketing research and advertising agency businesses, holding senior management positions at several Pacific Northwest advertising agencies. He also founded and ran a consulting firm from 1992-1995, delivering projects in marketing research, strategic planning, and consumer product marketing to domestic and international companies. Jim holds a MBA degree, and has pioneered integrated marketing and consumer behavior concepts throughout his career. His personal interests include downhill skiing, music and community involvement.
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K O O B N D O N M A M
E L A S THE
S E SOBASLTACLES
C TO OVER OME THE
BY PAU L CH E R RY
O C E FIV
AN D H OW
H
S ’ N O S R E SP
M
LUCY WAS A BRAND NEW SALESPERSON WHO WANTED TO MAKE A BIG IMPRESSION. She did everything she could think of to establish relationships with prospects and wow them with her proposals. While she was not failing as a salesperson, Lucy was certainly not leading her team in sales either. After nine months of below average performances, she knew something had to change—but what? Veteran salespeople know that while every customer is unique, the obstacles to a sale are predictably the same and occur rather frequently. Once you understand these obstacles and the strategies to overcome them, you will have all of the tools you need to make the sale. OBSTACLE 1: Identifying and Communicating with the Decision Maker(s) Too often, salespeople will focus solely on their initial contact at an organization. Whether that person is a mid-level manager or an HR executive, they are probably not the only person who is going to have input on the proposal process. Smart salespeople know that there are usually other decision makers who will have input in the deal, and the challenge is to figure out who they are and how you can meet with them. In order to get the information you want, you will to have to ask your current contact some questions that might seem awkward. Some questions to broach the issue are: • What is your time frame for making a final decision? • What criteria will you be evaluating to ensure you are making the best decision? • What measurable outcomes are you looking to achieve? Once you are able to determine who else will be involved in the decision making process, you can ask this follow up question: “I really appreciate this insight. So that I can propose the best solution that is going to meet the needs of everyone else involved, I would love to talk with these other individuals and get their input. When can I meet with them?” OBSTACLE 2: Uncovering the Budget Nothing will derail a deal faster than a mismatch between your proposal and the customer’s budget. Unfortunately, prospects are often reluctant to discuss their budgets with salespeople. It is your job to press them further to get a number, or at the very least, a range of what their budget is for the project. There are two options to making this happen. You can politely—but firmly—suggest
that your prospect determine their budget prior to soliciting bids. Stress the importance of an advance figure, and express your interest in receiving them before you reconnect. This approach puts the focus on the prospect, not you. It tells them that you care about them and their financial security and you do not want them to make a mistake. The second option involves framing the interaction through the lens of recommending a program that best suits your prospect’s needs and expectations, and expressing how budget parameters can shape the direction for both parties. If they say they cannot give you a number because they’re not the ones putting the budget together, ask to be introduced to those who are involved in crafting the budget. This will minimize price objections later on in the process, especially when you are put in front of people who are not as concerned with budget, as they are with their ROI. OBSTACLE 3: Working with Customers Who Do Not Want to Commit There is nothing more frustrating that getting ready to close a sale, only to have a customer say, “I still need to think about it.” When this happens, a seasoned salesperson knows that he or she needs to follow up on the customer’s statement. You should respond by saying: “I can understand you need to think about this. After all, it is an important decision and you need to do what is best for you and your organization. Tell me, what specifically stands out from our conversation that is of interest to you?” The goal of this question is to get clarification on how much the prospect is really interested in what you have shared and whether or not the prospect feels they want to move forward. Is there sincerity in the response, or are you being blown off? Once you get an answer to your first question, you can acknowledge that the customer has concerns, and ask them what they are. Ask what is holding them back from making a decision, and then hopefully you can help alleviate their concerns and get the sale back on track. OBSTACLE 4: Understanding the Customer’s Values Too often, salespeople get stuck on the issue of price. If you sell on price, you lose on price. As soon as someone cheaper comes along, a customer will not give you a second thought before cutting you loose. Instead of getting caught up in price wars, you need to steer a customer’s attention Spring 2015
to other issues. This means you need to ask your customers about value. What characteristics does the organization value in a vendor? Are they most concerned with good customer service, high quality products, speedy delivery, or ease of use? Once you get a customer talking about these areas, you can determine what their needs are and how you can position yourself to get those needs met. OBSTACLE 5: Establishing Your Credibility Many salespeople make the mistake of spending an initial meeting talking all about themselves and their products. This is a mistake. During an initial call, your goal should be for the prospect to do 70% of the talking. Why? For two reasons: 1. You want to hear about his/her problems, goals, concerns and ideas. 2. You want to qualify if there is a genuine opportunity with this prospect. You cannot do either of those things if you are trying to sell during the first meeting. As much as you want to sell yourself, you should never bring out PowerPoint, samples or company literature during an initial meeting. What should you do at an initial meeting? You should start the meeting with a unique value opening statement, which is a 30-60 second description of who you are as a company and what you do. The value opening statement should detail the benefits of your company to the prospect, the impact that hiring you will have to their organization, and an immediate follow-up question to gauge their expectations and interest. Remember Lucy? She started to utilize these tips and strategies with her customers. She found that she was able to ask great questions of her customers and this in turn led to increased sales and increased overall performance in her office. Paul Cherry is President of Performance Based Results and is the leading authority on customer engagement strategies. He has more than 23 years’ experience in sales training, leadership development, sales performance coaching and management coaching. He is also the author of Questions that Sell: The Powerful Process for Discovering What Your Customer Really Wants and Questions that Get Results: Innovative Ideas Managers Can Use to Improve Their Team’s Performance. For more information on Paul, please visit www.pbresults. com. You can also reach him at 302478-4443 or cherry@pbresults.com.
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ASSOCIATION ENDORSED PARTNERS
ASSOCIATION SPONSORS
ASSOCIATION SUPPORTERS
CONVENTION PARTNERS 速
For IFEA sponsorship opportunities, contact Sylvia Allen, Director of Sponsorship Sales and Advertising at (732) 946-2711 or sylvia@ifea.com
International Festivals & Events Association
IFEA WORLD
IFEA’s 60th ANNIVERSARY EXPO
Tuesday, September 22, 2015 • 11:00 a.m. - 6:30 p.m Part of the IFEA 60th Anniversary Convention Presented by Haas & Wilkerson Insurance September 21-23, 2015
JW Marriott Tucson St arr Pass Resort & Spa
TUCSON, AR IZONA, U.S.A. Spring 2015
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YOU BE th AT THE IFEA 60 ANNIVERSARY
WHY SHOU LD
CONVENTION & IN
TUCSON , ARIZONA?
EXPO 2015 46
EXPO
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THIS IS YOUR TARGET MARKET: Meet the festivals and events (of all sizes), host cities, tourism organizations, sponsors, and academics who are the core of our industry. IFEA attendees are the key decision-makers for their events and organizations or carry substantial influence with those who are. STAND OUT FROM THE PACK: The IFEA Expo allows you to stand out from the competition. Being present is half the battle. GET ON THE SAME PROFESSIONAL PAGE: Participate in the entire IFEA convention; learn about the trends, issues, challenges and opportunities of your target market so that you can help them to understand how your product/service might benefit them directly; or design new products/services that do. SHOWCASE NEW IDEAS: IFEA attendees are always looking for new ideas that will help to keep their events fresh and exciting. The Expo is the place to showcase your latest and greatest products/services.
Presented by
Spring 2015
BUILD YOUR PROFESSIONAL NETWORK: Future successes and business are built upon the network that you build today. The leaders of our industry are never more accessible than they are at the IFEA Convention & Expo.
2015 IFEA EXPO PACKAGES EXHIBITOR PACKAGE:
$895 IFEA MEMBERS
Package Includes: • 8’x10’ Booth space • Exhibitor listing in IFEA Annual Convention & Expo Program • Inclusion on IFEA’s Virtual Online Trade Show with link to your website • Pre-Convention & Post Convention Mailing Lists • IFEA Expo Lunch & Happy Hour Reception
• Entrance to the dfest®/ Dixie Flag Event Services Team Hospitality Suite • Entrance to the IFEA Foundation Night Party & Auction • IFEA Convention Program Book • Exhibitor Communications, Updates and Tips from the IFEA
1 Day, 1 Exhibitor Participant and Booth
EXHIBITOR SPOTLIGHT ADVERTISING PACKAGE:
1 Day, 1 Exhibitor Participant, Booth and Advertising
$1,495 IFEA MEMBERS
$1,195 NON-IFEA MEMBERS
$1,795 NON-IFEA MEMBERS
(Limited Packages Available)
Package Includes: All items listed within IFEA Exhibitor Package, plus: • Full Page B&W Advertisement in IFEA Annual Convention & Expo Program Book ($645/$775 value) • Full Page Exhibitor feature page in IFEA’s “ie” Magazine ($1,000 value) (Based on IFEA Questionnaire)
EXHIBITOR CONVENTION PACKAGE:
3 Day, 1 Exhibitor Participant, Booth and Convention Registration Package Includes: All items listed within IFEA Exhibitor Package, plus: • Full Registration to the IFEA 60th Anniversary Convention • All Educational Sessions during the main convention • Convention Opening & Keynote Speaker • All Coffee Breaks at Connections Café • Entrance to the dfest®/ Dixie Flag Event Services Team Hospitality Suite
FULL EXPERIENCE PACKAGE:
3 Day, 1 Exhibitor Participant, Booth, Advertising and Convention Registration Package Includes: All items listed within: Some items may be duplicated within packages – only one of each is provided per registered exhibitor.
EXHIBITOR PACKAGE ADD-ON ITEMS: Additional Convention Registration Includes all items in Convention Registration
Additional 1 Day Booth Worker
Includes meals and social activities for the day of the Expo
Prime Booth Location Attendee Bag Inserts Advertising & Marketing Opportunities
• Exhibitor Spotlight Listing in IFEA Annual Convention & Expo Program (company name, logo, overview (150 words or less), contact information, and highlighted booth numbers)
• Exhibitor Spotlight Listing in the IFEA Update Newsletter (company logo, tagline and link to your website)
$1,495 IFEA MEMBERS
$1,795 NON-IFEA MEMBERS
• Entrance to the IFEA Awards Luncheon • Entrance to the IFEA/Haas & Wilkerson Pinnacle Awards Presentation • Entrance to the IFEA Foundation Night Party & Auction • IFEA 60th Anniversary Convention & Expo collectors lapel pin • ‘Inspire the Industry’ Presentations Lunch • Closing Session & Speaker
$1,995 IFEA MEMBERS
$2,195 NON-IFEA MEMBERS
• IFEA Exhibitor Package • IFEA Exhibitor Spotlight Advertising Package • IFEA Exhibitor Convention Package
IFEA MEMBERS
NON-IFEA MEMBERS
$495
$695
$150
$250
$175 $495
$275 $795
Please see 2015 Advertising & Marketing Opportunities
Spring 2015
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EXPO DATES & TIMES Load In Tuesday, September 22, 2015 7:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. EXPO HOURS Tuesday, September 22, 2015 11:00 a.m. – 6:30 p.m. Expo Lunch: 12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. Whether you are hungry for ideas or hungry for lunch, the IFEA Expo trade show will fulfill both needs! Unopposed by any other sessions, this is your time to introduce your product or service to your fellow convention attendees for the first time. Meet someone you’d like to continue the conversation with? Invite them to return during the Exhibitor Meeting time for a more in-depth conversation. Exhibitor Meetings: 1:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. Instead of closing your booth down during the educational sessions, use this time to make a deeper impact with potential buyers. Fill this time with one-on-one meetings and take the conversation more in-depth. Whether you pre-schedule your appointments or make them at the show, this open time gives you the added value to make the connections you want to further your business partnerships. Expo Happy Hour: 5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. Celebrate a sale, continue the conversations, share a beverage with old friends - unopposed by other sessions, the ‘Expo Happy Hour,’ is the perfect end to a successful Expo.
BOOTH SPECIFICS AND DETAILS • Standard booth packages start at $895 for IFEA Members ($1,195 for Non-IFEA Members) for a 1 Day Exhibitor Package (1 day, 1 employee manned booth). Additional packages and custom options are available to meet exhibitor’s individual needs. • All booths will be 8’x10’ in size, equipped with 8’ back wall drape, 3’ side dividers and a booth identification sign with booth number. • Exhibitors requiring additional items (furniture/electrical etc.) may order/purchase from the Expo Service Company. The Service Company’s detailed package will be sent to all registered exhibitors 3 months prior to the IFEA Expo. • IFEA Exhibitors are required to furnish a certificate of insurance to IFEA prior to occupancy. Coverage must be for General Liability with a combined single limit of $1,000,000. • Live entertainment and demonstrations, while encouraged, shall not disturb adjacent exhibitors and their patrons. Musical instruments and P.A. systems may not be used in the exhibit hall. • Booth selection will be done on a first-come, first served basis. • Payment in full must be received with registration form.
TO RESERVE YOUR EXHIBIT SPACE, PLEASE CONTACT:
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IFEA’s ie: the business of international events
Sylvia Allen Director of Sponsorship Sales and Advertising p. +1-732-946-2711 f. +1-208-433-9812 e. sylvia@ifea.com
Spring 2015
IFEA’s 60 th ANNIVERSARY EXPO BOOTH REGISTRATION FORM
JW Marriott Tucson Starr Pass Resort & Spa Tucson, Arizona, USA, September 22, 2015
(Part of the IFEA 60th Anniversary Convention, September 21-23, 2015)
EXHIBITOR: _______________________________________________________________________________________________ MEMBER
NON-MEMBER
EXHIBITOR PACKAGE
❍ $895
❍ $1,195
x _________ Booths $ ______________
EXHIBITOR SPOTLIGHT ADVERTISING PACKAGE
❍ $1,495
❍ $1,795
x _________ Booths $ ______________
EXHIBITOR CONVENTION PACKAGE
❍ $1,495
❍ $1,795
x _________ Booths $ ______________
FULL EXPERIENCE PACKAGE
❍ $1,995
❍ $2,195
x _________ Booths $ ______________
Additional Convention Registration
❍ $495
❍ $695
x ____ Registrations $ ______________
Additional 1 Day Booth Worker
❍ $150
❍ $250
x ________ Workers $ ______________
Prime Booth Location
❍ $175
❍ $275
x _________ Booths $ ______________
Attendee Bag Inserts
❍ $495
❍ $795
$ ______________
EXHIBITOR PACKAGE ADD-ON ITEMS: Includes all items in Convention Registration
Includes meals and social activities for the day of the Expo
All prices are in U.S. Dollars
TOTAL $ ______________
EXPO DATES & TIMES EXPO LOAD IN Tuesday, September 22, 2015 7:00 a.m.- 11:30 a.m.
EXPO HOURS Tuesday, September 22, 2015 11:00 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Expo Lunch: 12:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. Exhibitor Meetings: 1:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. Expo Happy Hour: 5:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
EXPO LOAD OUT Wednesday, September 23, 2015 7:00 a.m.- 9:00 a.m.
EXHIBITOR CATEGORIES All paid 2015 exhibitors will receive a complimentary line listing in IFEA’s Convention & Expo Program and on-line at www.ifea.com. Please complete “Program Listing” of product or service below. Check up to five general categories within which you’d like your company name to appear. Fill in up to five categories: ❍ Attractions ❍ Audio/Visual Equipment ❍ Banners/Flags ❍ Barricades ❍ Communications ❍ Concession/Catering ❍ Consulting ❍ Crowd Management ❍ Décor/Displays/Backdrops ❍ Entertainment/Talent
❍ Equipment Rental ❍ Event Management Software ❍ Event Supplies ❍ Event Support Services ❍ Financial ❍ Fireworks ❍ Fundraising ❍ Graphics ❍ Inflatables ❍ Insurance ❍ Internet
❍ Lasers ❍ Lighting ❍ Marketing ❍ Merchandising ❍ Mobile Apps/Storage ❍ Novelties ❍ Performing Artist ❍ Pins/Emblems ❍ Portable Fence ❍ Printing ❍ Production Company
❍ Restrooms ❍ Screen Print/Embroidery ❍ Special Effects ❍ Sponsorship ❍ Staging ❍ Temporary Credit Card ❍ Tents ❍ Ticketing/Wristbands ❍ Tokens ❍ Weather Monitoring ❍ Other___________________
PROGRAM LISTINGS Company Description (25 words or less) _____________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
To make a reservation or for more information please contact: Sylvia Allen, Director of Sponsorship Sales and Advertising Phone: +1-732-946-2711 • Fax: +1-208-433-9812 • Email: sylvia@ifea.com International Festivals & Events Association • 2603 W. Eastover Terrace • Boise, ID 83706 • USA • Phone: +1-208-433-0950 • Fax: +1-208-433-9812 • www.ifea.com
IFEA’s 60 th ANNIVERSARY EXPO BOOTH REGISTRATION FORM
JW Marriott Tucson Starr Pass Resort & Spa Tucson, Arizona, USA, September 22, 2015
(Part of the IFEA 60th Anniversary Convention, September 21-23, 2015)
COMPLETE THIS FORM AND E-MAIL, MAIL OR FAX TO THE IFEA. List how you would like your organization to appear in the convention program and online: Exhibitor Name: _______________________________________ First Name for Badge: __________________________________ Title: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Company/Organization: _______________________________________________________________________________________ Address: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ City: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ State/Province: ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Zip Code: ____________________________________________ Country: ______________________________________________ Phone:_______________________________________________ Fax:__________________________________________________ E-mail: _______________________________________________
Website: _____________________________________________
Additional Booth Worker: _______________________________ First Name for Badge: __________________________________ Title: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Additional Booth Worker: _______________________________ First Name for Badge: __________________________________ Title: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Contact information if different from above for all correspondence: ❍ SAME AS ABOVE Contact Name:_______________________________________________________________________________________________ Address: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ City: _________________________________________________ State/Prov.: ___________________________________________ Zip/Postal Code: ______________________________________ Country: ______________________________________________ Phone:_______________________________________________ Fax:__________________________________________________ E-mail: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Booth selection will be done on a first-come, first served basis. Payment in full must be received with registration form. ❍ TOTAL AMOUNT ENCLOSED $ ___________________________________ SELECT METHOD OF PAYMENT: ❍ VISA ❍ MasterCard ❍ American Express ❍ Discover ❍ Check (make check payable to IFEA in U.S. funds) Print Cardholder Name: _______________________________________________________________________________________ Signature: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ Credit Card Number:__________________________________________________________________________________________ Expiration Date: _______________________________________ CVN Code: __________(MC/Visa-3 digit code back) (AMX-4 digit code front) ❍ I have read the rules and regulations below and agree to abide by them as a condition of participation. Liability: Applicant exhibits at his/her own risk. Neither International Festivals & Events Association, Inc., nor its employees, and/or its agents, either jointly or individually, is responsible for liability insurance coverage for bodily injury and property damage for Exhibitor's operation. Tradeshow participants are required to furnish to International Festivals & Events Association prior to occupancy a certificate of insurance. The coverage must be for General Liability with a combined single limit of $1,000,000. All insurance must be on an occurrence policy and must include International Festivals & Events Association as an additional insured. Neither IFEA nor its employees, and/or its agents, either jointly or individually, is responsible for any injury to exhibitors, their employees, guests or visitors within the confines of the space contracted by the exhibitor even if such injury is caused, or alleged to be caused, in whole or in part by the negligence of IFEA, its employees, agents or volunteers. The exhibitor assumes the entire responsibility and liability for losses, damages, and claims arising out of exhibitor’s activities on the Hotel premises and will indemnify, defend, and hold harmless the Hotel, its owner, and its management company, as well as their respective agents, servants, and employees from any and all such losses, damages, and claims. Acts of God: IFEA shall not have any liability whatsoever for any damage to any person, matter or thing resulting from storm, wind or water, or other acts of God, nor from fire, strikes or lockouts. If the exhibitor's show space has not been made available to the exhibitor for more than one 24 hour period by reasons of acts of God or from fire, then IFEA (promoter) shall return to the exhibitor payment made by deducting where from Promoter expenses occurred to that date. Character of Exhibits: IFEA reserves the right to request the removal of any items, which in its sole judgment do not conform to show guidelines. Failure to comply is just cause for removal of an exhibitor from the show. Payment Policy: All fees must be paid in full with this signed registration form. Cancellation Policy: Fees are non-refundable. Confirmation: Complete shipping and setup instructions will be emailed at a later date.
To make a reservation or for more information please contact: Sylvia Allen, Director of Sponsorship Sales and Advertising Phone: +1-732-946-2711 • Fax: +1-208-433-9812 • Email: sylvia@ifea.com International Festivals & Events Association • 2603 W. Eastover Terrace • Boise, ID 83706 • USA • Phone: +1-208-433-0950 • Fax: +1-208-433-9812 • www.ifea.com
2015 IFEA Webinar Series
IFEA is pleased to present our 2015 Webinar Series! Offering online educational sessions hosted by industry leaders and special guests, the IFEA Webinar series covers a wide variety of topics important to your organization’s success. Webinars are easy to attend . . . just view and listen to the presentation online from the comfort of your own computer - without even leaving your desk! No Travel Expense Required. Can’t make the live presentation of the Webinar? All Live webinars are recorded and are available for 7 days following the live presentation to watch at your leisure. What better way to receive great educational information by great presenters while saving both time and travel expenses! Registering for a Webinar: Live Webinars are available for purchase via any of the following methods: • Online at the IFEA Store • Faxing or mailing in the Webinar Registration Form ❍ (See separate brochure/registration form for Webinars on Demand) • Calling the IFEA at +1-208-4330950 ext: 3 Webinar Start Time in Your Time Zone: 7:00 a.m. Hawaii 9:00 a.m. Alaska 10:00 a.m. Pacific 11:00 a.m. Mountain 12:00 p.m. Central 1:00 p.m. Eastern 6:00 p.m. GMT Webinar Length: 60 Minutes Individual Webinar Cost: • $59 - IFEA Members • $59 - Association Alliance Members
• $79 – Festival & Event Ontario Members • $99 - Non-IFEA Members Registration cost is per computer site for as many people as you can sit around your computer. Gather additional staff, volunteers, or board members around your computer so they too can join you for this learning experience at no additional charge! Buy More, Save More Webinars in Bulk Pricing: The more Webinars purchased, the more available for free. May combine Live Webinar Presentations and Pre-Recorded Webinars on Demand to take advantage of this special offer. See separate Webinars On Demand Brochure for On Demand schedule. (Call, Mail or Fax orders only, not available for online purchasing) • BUY 3 Webinars and Receive 1 FREE • BUY 5 Webinars and Receive 2 FREE • BUY 10 Webinars and Receive 5 FREE Questions? Contact: Nia Hovde, Director of Marketing & Communications at: nia@ifea.com
© Copyright 2015. The presentation, materials and content of these Webinars are the intellectual property of the International Festivals & Events Association (IFEA) and the specific presenter for each webinar. They are presented for the educational use of each paying customer to the IFEA. Any reproduction, rebroadcast or reselling of this webinar, or the content contained within, by an outside party, without the expressed written consent of the IFEA is strictly prohibited.
2015 IFEA WEBINAR SCHEDULE THURSDAY, JANUARY 29, 2015
The Ten Most Important Things You Can Know/Do to Increase Non-Sponsorship Revenue Becky Genoways, CFEE, President, Genoways Events, Rockford, IL CFEE Elective Credit: Current Industry Issues & Trends
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2015
Online Resources to Improve Your Marketing and Your Life Kendra Wright, Partner & President, Saffire Events, Austin, TX CFEE Elective Credit: Current Industry Issues & Trends
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2015
Critical Voice: Dealing with the Media During a Crisis Mike Berry, CFEE, President & CEO, Kentucky Derby Festival Gary Stinson, Digital Media Manager, Kentucky Derby Festival Louisville, KY CFEE Elective Credit: Leadership/Management
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2015
Building a Business Plan for Future Success Penny McBride, CFEE, President/CEO, Fredericksburg Chamber of Commerce Fredericksburg, TX CFEE Elective Credit: Leadership/Management
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2015
Building Blocks of Brands Sean King, Director of Marketing & Communications, Youth Education in the Arts Allentown, PA CFEE Elective Credit: Current Industry Issues & Trends
THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 2015
Designing the Best Participant Experience Dr. Vern Biaett, CFEE, Assistant Professor of Events Management Nido R. Qubein School of Communication, High Point University, High Point, North Carolina CFEE Elective Credit: Current Industry Issues & Trends
THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2015
When, How and the Challenge of Expanding Your Event Ted Baroody, President, Norfolk Festevents, Norfolk, VA CFEE Elective Credit: Current Industry Issues & Trends
THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2015
Strategies, Tactics and Cool Ideas for Activating Sponsorship Bruce Erley, CFEE, APR, President, Creative Strategies Group, Denver, CO CFEE Elective Credit: Economic Impact
THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2015
Leadership at ALL Levels - YOU are YOUR Company! Gail Alofsin, Director of Corporate Partnerships, Newport Harbor Corporation, Newport, RI CFEE Elective Credit: Leadership/Management
THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 2015
Event Budgeting & Financial Management: A 365 day Process Jeff Curtis, CEO, Portland Rose Festival Foundation, Portland, OR CFEE Elective Credit: Leadership/Management
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2015
It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane…Wait, What the Heck Is That? Jeff English, CFEE, Vice President of Administration/General Council Kentucky Derby Festival, Louisville, KY CFEE Elective Credit: Current Industry Issues & Trends
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2015
Providing Sponsors With ROI Other Than On Event Days Kevin Grothe, Vice President of Sponsorships, Memphis in May International Festival Memphis, TN CFEE Elective Credit: Economic Impact
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2015
Membership Clubs and VIP Experiences Becky Genoways, CFEE, President, Genoways Events, Rockford, IL CFEE Elective Credit: Leadership/Management
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2015
Onsite Marketing Partnerships Chuck O’Connor, CFEE, Director of Corporate Partnerships, National Cherry Festival Traverse City, MI CFEE Elective Credit: Economic Impact
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2015
Beyond the Bounce Houses! Programming Children’s activities at your Festival Keli O’Neill Wenzel, President, Managing Partner O’Neill Marketing & Event Management, Kansas City, MO CFEE Elective Credit: Creativity/Innovation
Thursday, January 29, 2015 Time: 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. MST The Ten Most Important Things You Can Know/ Do to Increase Non-Sponsorship Revenue Becky Genoways, CFEE, President Genoways Events Rockford, IL CFEE Elective Credit: Current Industry Issues & Trends
In an industry that is constantly looking for new revenue streams and how to maximize current streams, operational consultant and expert Becky Genoways will share with attendees a ‘Top 10’ checklist of critical areas to revisit at your event for increasing non-sponsorship revenues. Becky Genoways is a leading industry consultant, educator and former President and CEO of On the Waterfront, Inc., a multiple-event production company located in Illinois. Genoways, a 30-year veteran of the festivals and events industry, is a Certified Festival & Event Executive (CFEE) , past Chair of the IFEA World Board of Directors and a member of the IFEA President’s Council. She has produced events of all sizes, from a local market with weekly attendance of 3,500 to a major music festival that attracted over 300,000 people. Genoways has presented professional training seminars throughout North America, in the Middle East and New Zealand.
Thursday, February 5, 2015 Time: 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. MST Online Resources to Improve Your Marketing and Your Life Kendra Wright, Partner & President, Saffire Events, Austin, TX CFEE Elective Credit: Current Industry Issues & Trends
In this fast-paced session, we will take you on a whirlwind tour of the latest and greatest online, smart phone and tablet tools and apps to help increase your efficiency, get control of your email, improve your communication and just have a better life! We’ll specifically discuss tools for marketing more effectively and wowing your web site visitors while saving your sanity. Get ready for an energetic pick-me-up, with lots of ideas you can implement easily and immediately! Kendra Wright started her career managing non-profit fundraising events. Then in 1995, as the internet came to being, she began doing online marketing, managing 252
global Internet strategies at a Fortune 1000 technology company. In 1998, Kendra left that company to found, Wright Strategies, working with clients like KEEN Footwear, Jeep, Panasonic, Intel, Nike and Chrysler. Finally in 2009, Kendra launched Saffire Events to deliver software that makes it easy for events and venues to market themselves online. It’s been a wild ride.
Thursday, February 12, 2015 Time: 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. MST Critical Voice: Dealing with the Media During a Crisis Mike Berry, CFEE, President & CEO, Kentucky Derby Festival Gary Stinson, Digital Media Manager, Kentucky Derby Festival Louisville, KY CFEE Elective Credit: Leadership/Management
Recent crisis situations at multiple events throughout our industry have exposed a blind spot that we can ill-afford to have. When an unexpected, especially life-threatening or injury inflicting, incident occurs at your event, there should already be in-place a plan for how to respond and address the multiple media sources that will absolutely be waiting with microphone or keyboard in hand (social media included). That is not the time to start thinking about what to do. This very important session will talk about the pre-planning, preparations and real-time responses that need to be in place well before dealing with the media during a crisis. Mike Berry, CFEE is president & CEO of Kentucky Derby Festival, Inc. (KDF). Since February 1997, Berry has been responsible for the oversight of the Kentucky Derby Festival - one of the largest community festivals in the United States. He manages a full-time staff of 22 employees and serves on a 75-member board of directors for the Kentucky Derby Festival. Berry is also board member of the Kentucky Derby Festival Foundation, a 501(c)3 not-for-profit charity that receives and manages charitable contributions on behalf of the Kentucky Derby Festival, Inc. Prior to his current position, Mike Berry has served the KDF as: vice President & managing director (1990-1997), director of marketing and corporate relations (1988-1990), and events coordinator (1986-1988). He also served as administrative assistant to Governor Martha Layne Collins (1983-1986). Mike Berry is also very active in the community. He is a member of the International Festivals and Events Association Board of Directors, the Greater Louisville Sports Commission Board of Directors, the Louisville Theatri-
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cal Association (Broadway Series) Board of Directors, and the Music Theatre Louisville Board of Directors, among others. Gary Stinson joined the Kentucky Derby Festival as the Digital Media Manager in early 2013. In a newly developed digital role, Gary focuses on the daily communications on all social media platforms including the Festival’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Gary also manages other digital platforms for the Festival including the official website and smart phone app, as well as working with the media during the Festival peak season. Gary graduated from Campbellsville University in Campbellsville, KY in 2008 with a Bachelors of Arts degree in Public Relations and Journalism.
Thursday, February 19, 2015 Time: 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. MST Building a Business Plan for Future Success Penny McBride, CFEE, President/CEO Fredericksburg Chamber of Commerce Fredericksburg, TX CFEE Elective Credit: Leadership/Management
Many events today (new and long-running) find themselves in a similar position...looking to the future with a need to create (or re-create) an event that serves changing audiences, changing communities and in the end, makes money. This important workshop will focus on the planning processes necessary to build a profitable event. Learn how to create a written business plan that will provide organizational clarity and higher efficiency. You’ll take home dozens of ideas that will help your next event be better, happier and more profitable than ever before! Penny C. McBride, CFEE is the President & CEO of the Fredericksburg Chamber of Commerce. For 14 years prior to starting with the Chamber she owned Indigo Resource Group, an outsource firm that specialized in providing marketing, consulting and management services to tourism-related businesses and organizations. She continues to work as a consultant, speaker, trainer and writer. Her speaking clients have included the International Tour & Travel Research Association, Argentina Economic Development Federation, Dubai Events and Promotions Establishment, Hawaii Tourism Authority, Illinois Special Events Network, and Festivals & Events Ontario. Since 2008, she has worked on a contract basis as the Director of Business Development for the International Festivals & Events Association (IFEA). In this capacity she developed IFEA’s Economic Impact Assessment and Sponsor Forum products,
along with a variety of other services. Penny also teaches two of the six required core courses for IFEA’s Certified Festival & Event Executive (CFEE) program. She earned her CFEE designation in 2009, becoming part of an elite group of industry event professionals to hold this global designation.
Thursday, February 26, 2015 Time: 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. MST Building Blocks of Brands Sean King, Director of Marketing & Communications Youth Education in the Arts, Allentown, PA CFEE Elective Credit: Current Industry Issues & Trends
Your brand is not what you say it is, it’s what other say about it. What are attendees, volunteers and others saying about your event? Take part in an interactive 60 minute discussion on the elements of your brand, how to build your brand and helpful hints on how to make your brand work for you, your sponsors and all of the stakeholders in your event. Sean King has been consulting with small businesses and non-profit organizations for over 20 years. Currently, Sean is the Director of Marketing & Communications for Youth Education in the Arts (YEA!) a national non-profit musical youth organization based in Allentown, Pa. which teaches life lessons through music. Sean also serves as the marketing Chairperson for the Hamilton District Main Street program in Allentown. He also blogs at artsmarketingblog.org and you can follow him on Twitter @skingaspire. Sean resides with his wife Natalie and son Haydn in the global crossroads of Fogelsville, PA.
Thursday, March 12, 2015 Time: 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. MST Designing the Best Participant Experience Dr. Vern Biaett, CFEE, Assistant Professor of Events Management Nido R. Qubein School of Communication, High Point University, High Point, NC CFEE Elective Credit: Current Industry Issues & Trends
Many of you as an event managers have become industry experts at Production Design and know quite a bit about coordinating of the operational WOW! logistical factors needed to make an event special. The same might be said about Marketing, Sponsorship, Volunteer management, and Financial matters. What, however, do you actually
know about Experience Design? This session provides a starting place for event managers to understand what is experience design, what constitutes best experiences, and some ideas on how to go about creating experiences that can lead to increased social capital among attendees and enhance community development. Today we live in an experience economy where people have come to expect quality products and services while they search out extraordinary life experiences. It is critical that festivals and events are part of the Experience Design conversation. Following a career in leisure services that included producing festivals and events for the cities of Phoenix and Glendale, Arizona for twenty years, in 2006 Vern became a Faculty Associate at Arizona State University where he primarily taught event management courses in a certificate program he co-created. In 2013 he completed his PhD and in 2014 accepted his current position as the Assistant Professor of Events Management in the Nido R. Qubein School of Communication at High Point University in North Carolina. Dr. Biaett is a lifetime Certified Festival & Event Executive, was a founding member of the Arizona Festivals & Events Association, and is a past board member of the IFEA Foundation.
Thursday, March 26, 2015 Time: 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. MST When, How and the Challenge of Expanding Your Event Ted Baroody, President, Norfolk Festevents, Norfolk, VA CFEE Elective Credit: Current Industry Issues & Trends
With today’s challenges for maximizing revenues and finding new resources to turn to, many events are considering expanding their events...adding new, potential revenue-driving events to their current line-up (concerts; participant sporting events; etc.); taking on the management of outside existing events; or creating a totally new event in the ‘off’ season. While potentially driving new revenue streams, these decisions also stretch staff resources and take away the ‘normal’ year-round focus from the primary and original events (creatively; operationally and fund-raising efforts). When do these decisions make sense and at what investment/return ratio? Join our panel as they debate this growing issue.Ted Baroody is a graduate of North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA. After college he moved to Norfolk, Virginia to start his own small sports marketing company, Victory Promotions. After a couple of Spring 2015
years of power boat racing production under Victory Promotions, he served as Marketing Director for a group of local radio stations in Virginia Beach, Virginia for 5 years. From 1996 to 2011 he was the Director of Development of the not-forprofit event marketing company, Norfolk Festevents, Ltd. known as “Festevents,” and is now the President of Festevents. Ted also works with many non-profit organizations as a volunteer, event coordinator and as a board member and is on the IFEA Foundation Board of Directors.
Thursday, April 9, 2015 Time: 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. MST Strategies, Tactics and Cool Ideas for Activating Sponsorship Bruce Erley, CFEE, APR, President, Creative Strategies Group Denver, CO CFEE Elective Credit: Economic Impact
If you aren’t helping your sponsors come up with the right promotional plans to reach and engage your attendees, you are going to be left in the dust! The first step is for both the organizer and the sponsor to recognize that sponsorship is just an event marketing platform upon which you must create effective activations to achieve their marketing, communications and sales objectives. This session will review the reasons behind creating experiences that build your sponsors’ brands while enhancing your event. Learn the five key criteria for successful activations and see some of the cool ideas others are using. Bruce Erley, CFEE, APR is a 30-year veteran of the event marketing and sponsorship field and is regarded as a leading sponsorship expert for the festivals industry. He founded Creative Strategies Group (CSG) in 1995. Prior to that time, Bruce was the Vice President for Marketing and Sales for the International, educational and cultural organization, Up with People, where he directed sponsor sales, entertainment marketing and merchandising operations. At Creative Strategies Group, Bruce conducts all general consultation, including the development of property audits, sponsorship plans, corporate sponsorship programs and training, as well as directs CSG’s ongoing operations. Erley is widely acclaimed as a top presenter on sponsorship topics for the festivals and events industry.
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Thursday, April 23, 2015 Time: 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. MST Leadership at ALL Levels YOU are YOUR Company! Gail Alofsin, Director of Corporate Partnerships Newport Harbor Corporation, Newport, RI CFEE Elective Credit: Leadership/Management
Wherever you are on the “leadership ladder,” this webinar will assist you in cultivating the characteristics, skills and vision you need to lead and be led. Focused on the importance of internal and external leadership perception and the foundations that lead to effective execution, this webinar will also review “Best Practices” in both written and verbal communication. YOU are YOUR company! Leadership is a mindset and it starts with you. Gail Alofsin is the Director of Corporate Partnerships, Newport Harbor Corporation and has had the privilege of being involved in all aspects of event production for over two decades. Her current position is focused on prospecting, procuring and retaining corporate sponsors for the concerts and events produced at the Newport Yachting Center. A graduate of Tufts University, Gail’s passion for education led her to the University of Rhode Island where she has been welcomed as an adjunct professor in the Communication, Journalism and Public Relations departments since 1999 – 30 consecutive semesters! Gail has been speaking for over two decades at national and international conferences inclusive of IEG (International Events Group) and IFEA (International Festivals & Events Association). Her new book, Your Someday is NOW, focuses on work/life integration and personal branding, and was released in January of 2014.
Thursday, April 30, 2015 Time:11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. MST Event Budgeting & Financial Management: A 365 day Process Jeff Curtis, CEO Portland Rose Festival Foundation Portland, OR CFEE Elective Credit: Leadership/Management
The Portland Rose Festival is an event with a 107 year tradition, always driven by strong financial principles and sound budgeting techniques. Over the years, the festival has adapted it fiscal year budgeting to allow for greater 454
flexibility and overall management accountability. This presentation will provide valuable inside knowledge on how festivals and events can build an effective budget. This session will walk you through a 365 day approach to budget management, giving webinar participants valuable insight into budget philosophy and specific tactics that fosters a flexible way to create and manage a fiscal year budget. Jeff Curtis, Executive Director of the Portland Rose Festival Foundation has the responsibility of producing Portland’s annual world-class, award winning celebration along with a full time staff, and many dedicated volunteers. Jeff has been with the Festival since 1998, and his many accomplishments include the Foundation’s transition to a full-fledged 501(c) (3) organization, stewardship of the Rose Festival’s Centennial anniversary celebration in 2007, and overseeing the major relocation of Festival headquarters to its new historic home on the Waterfront of Portland in 2010. Jeff has a bachelor’s degree in Sports Science from the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, and is an inaugural graduate of Leadership Portland, a program developed and produced by the Portland Business Alliance.
Thursday, October 8, 2015 Time:11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. MST It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane…Wait, What the Heck Is That? Jeff English, CFEE, Vice President of Administration/General Council Kentucky Derby Festival, Louisville, KY CFEE Elective Credit: Current Industry Issues & Trends
If your event is held in an outdoor venue, chances are somebody is going to try and fly a drone over it. Having gained in popularity at events ever since one was flown through a fireworks show at SunFest in 2014, drones are now considered a serious safety risk by the Federal Government and law enforcement officials. What risks and threats do drones pose to your event? What recourse does your event have against a drone operator? What can be done to prevent drones from flying through your venue? Jeff English, Sr. Vice President of Administration and General Counsel at Kentucky Derby Festival, will share his insight and research on this new and serious issue facing the festival and event industry. Jeff English, CFEE is the Sr. Vice President of Administration/General Counsel of the Kentucky Derby Festival. After graduating from Washburn University School of Law (Topeka, KS) in 2004, Jeff worked in politics and practiced law before joining the KDF staff. He is charged with overseeing all of Festival’s legal
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issues and serving as its risk management officer. He also manages the Merchandise Department and the 501(c)3 not-for-profit Kentucky Derby Festival Foundation.
Thursday, October 15, 2015 Time:11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. MST Providing Sponsors With ROI Other Than On Event Days Kevin Grothe Vice President of Sponsorships Memphis in May International Festival, Memphis, TN CFEE Elective Credit: Economic Impact
Corporations are constantly evaluating their marketing strategies, including their sponsorships. In some cases, providing ROI during a one, two or three-day event may no longer be sufficient. This session will look at ways to provide additional ROI to sponsors other than during the days of your event. Kevin Grothe has more than 25 years of sales, marketing and fund raising experience in the event industry. He has been with Memphis in May International Festival for 8 years and is the Vice President of Sponsorships. Kevin has worked with several national accounts including Caesar’s Entertainment, Target and the Ford Motor Company. Through successfully negotiating and implementing a myriad of sponsorship strategies, revenue has increased from $1 million to nearly 1.5 million. Previously, Kevin was the Associate Athletic Director for External Affairs for the University of Memphis. While with the University, he oversaw an $8 million capital campaign. He has also held positions with the Mid-American Conference, Miami University, the University of Iowa and Influence America.
Thursday, October 22, 2015 Time:11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. MST Membership Clubs and VIP Experiences Becky Genoways, CFEE, President Genoways Events Rockford, Illinois CFEE Elective Credit: Leadership/Management
Festival upgraded experiences, membership clubs and VIP hospitality venues can enhance your patrons’ experience by providing amenities, benefits and activities that are not available to the general public and boost your budget without requiring a significant commitment
of resources. From small intimate settings to large corporate tents, upgraded experiences are a non-traditional revenue source that will make your patrons happy and boost your budget. Becky Genoways, CFEE is a leading industry consultant, educator and former President and CEO of On the Waterfront, Inc., a multiple-event production company located in Illinois. Genoways, a 30-year veteran of the festivals and events industry, is a Certified Festival & Event Executive (CFEE) , past Chair of the IFEA World Board of Directors and a member of the IFEA President’s Council. She has produced events of all sizes, from a local market with weekly attendance of 3,500 to a major music festival that attracted over 300,000 people. Genoways has presented professional training seminars throughout North America, in the Middle East and New Zealand.
Thursday, October 29, 2015 Time: 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. MST Onsite Marketing Partnerships Chuck O’Connor, CFEE, Director of Corporate Partnerships National Cherry Festival Traverse City, MI CFEE Elective Credit: Economic Impact
Tapping into your attendee’s passion for your event through a live marketing experience can be one of the best activation tools you own. Learn best practices related to this lucrative experiential marketing asset that will deliver crucial ROI to the sponsor, while enhancing the experience of your guests. Chuck O’Connor, CFEE is a corporate sponsorship seller, strategist and instructor. He spent ten years in television and radio advertising sales management before joining the National Cherry Festival as Director of Marketing & Corporate Partnerships in 1993. Chuck’s responsibilities include negotiating and implementing all sponsorships, as well as overseeing the Festival’s marketing and public relations effort. Chuck also owns Event Marketing Group, LLC, a company which specializes in event sponsorship sales and consulting. A member of the President’s Council of the IFEA, he has been a speaker and webinar presenter on sponsorship issues for IFEA, MFEA, IEG, the Hawaiian Tourism Authority, and the Illinois Special Events Network.
Thursday, November 5, 2015 Time:11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. MST Beyond the Bounce Houses! Programming Children’s Activities at Your Festival Keli O’Neill Wenzel, President, Managing Partner, O’Neill Marketing & Event Management, Kansas City, MO CFEE Elective Credit: Creativity/Innovation
The key to success is with the children. If you can effectively serve them, you will have the attention of the parents, the grandparents and other extended family and friends. And yet, we don’t focus nearly enough of our time and resources on creating and imagining high-quality children’s activities, entertainment and other options. Listen to ways to think beyond the bounce houses and execute a children’s area that kids AND parents will both enjoy.
Webinars On Demand
Looking for a different webinar topic – don’t forget to check out our Webinars OnDemand – previously recorded webinars that are now available for download. For a complete list of available Webinars On Demand, just go to the IFEA Store.
How Webinars Work
IFEA Webinars are Website-enabled seminars that function much like a teleconference. They use your computer’s Website browser to display presentation materials and other applications important to the Webinar topic, with the audio portion of the presentation provided either through your computer speakers or over the phone. Once your registration has been submitted, you will receive an email from the IFEA confirming that you have been registered for the Webinar. The day before the scheduled Webinar, you will receive an email with specific instructions on how to log in for the Webinar. You will receive this email again, the day of the Webinar. Once this information has been received, joining a Webinar is as easy as 1, 2, 3! 1. Log In To The Webinar: To start the Webinar, log in to the specific website address that you received for the Webinar and connect to the presen-
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President/Managing Partner of O’Neill Marketing & Event Management. Keli is the creator and orchestrator of many of Kansas City’s most successful civic, corporate and entertainment events. She serves as the founding Executive Director of the highly successful Kansas City Irish Fest. She is co-founder and Producer of the Jiggle Jam Family Music Fest, as well as executive producer of Boulevardia Craft Beer and Music festival and Kansas City RiverFest (KC’s largest Independence Day Celebration). Other recent projects include VIP coordination for Amway Global Presents the Tina Turner Tour, planning and management for the opening of the National WWI Museum at Kansas City’s landmark Liberty Memorial, opening events for the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, director of Kansas City’s City-Wide Events committee for the 2012 MLB All Star Game, marketing and communication liaison for the Big 12 Championships.
tation. Webinars can be viewed on virtually any computer with a highspeed internet connection. 2. Listening To The Webinar: After you’ve logged in and gained access to the Website, you have two options to listen to the audio portion. You can either dial the telephone number provided to hear the webinar via a conference call, or if you have computer speakers, you may listen via your computer speakers. (The phone number provided will not be an 800 number, so all costs for the call will be incurred by the registrant.) 3. Sit Back and Learn: Once you are logged in, all you need to do is sit back and learn! It’s just like any other seminar, except you’re sitting comfortably at your own desk! Throughout the webinar, you are able to ask questions to the presenter using the online Question/Answer messaging system that is part of the Webinar screen. The Webinar Organizer will view your question and present it to the speaker at the end of the presentation. Along with the Webinar itself, all registered attendees will receive a copy of the presentation used for the webinar prior to the webinar start time in addition to the recorded copy of the webinar after the webinar presentation.
IFEA’s ie: 2015 the business IFEA ofWEBINAR international SERIES events
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PRESENTING SPONSOR
IFEA WORLD FESTIVAL & EVENT CITY
©
AWARD PROGRAM “Recognizing the best in city-event leadership and partnerships around the world.”
ABOUT THE
IFEA WORLD FESTIVAL & EVENT CITY AWARD
©
The IFEA World Festival & Event City Award © was designed and created as a way for the global festivals and events industry to openly encourage, support, learn from and recognize positive local environments for festivals and events worldwide. If you are considering applying for this prestigious award, you already understand the important role that festivals and events play in your community by: • Adding to the quality of life for local residents; • Driving tourism; • Showcasing a positive community brand and image to the media, business community, and visitors; • Creating economic impact that translates into jobs, tax revenues and enhanced infrastructure improvements; • Providing enhanced exposure opportunities for the arts, not-for-profit causes and other community programs and venues; • Promoting volunteerism and bonding the many elements of the community together; • Encouraging community investment, participation, creativity and vision; and • Building irreplaceable ‘community capital’ for the future. To achieve and maximize these important returns for the markets that they serve, we must clearly understand their direct correlation to the partnerships with and support from the local community, at all levels, that is critical to the success and sustainability of existing festivals and events, as well as the ability to attract and encourage new events. Through this special award the IFEA is pleased to recognize those cities and markets who have worked, through concerted efforts, to provide an environment conducive to successful festivals and events. For each year’s selected cities, the IFEA World Festival & Event City Award © provides: • A strong platform from which to recognize the success of current and on-going efforts by every component of your community; • A clear positioning statement to encourage continued infrastructure, policy and process enhancement and expansion; and • A powerful marketing statement for use in recruiting and encouraging new festivals, events and businesses. We look forward to working with you, your city and community partners to recognize the quality efforts and support that you have successfully developed over the years and should be rightfully proud of. Thank you for your continued support of, and partnership with, the festivals and events industry. Best of Luck with your entry! 58
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VISA: GLOBAL SPONSOR OF THE IFEA WORLD FESTIVAL & EVENT CITY AWARD
©
In 2011, VISA joined with the International Festivals & Events Association to become the presenting sponsor of the IFEA World Festival & Event City Award, creating a natural partnership between the global events industry and the globally recognized financial leader. “Through this unique and special award, the IFEA hopes to create and expand the dialogue between events and cities around the world, at a time when each needs to be supporting the other more than ever. VISA is the ideal partner for this program and together we look forward to creating new and ongoing opportunities to explore and inspire these important city/event partnerships, redefining ‘best practices’ and setting the stage for the future,” said Steven Wood Schmader, CFEE, President & CEO of IFEA World. Charles Brown, Chairman & CEO of Festival Transaction Services and Festival Media Corporation, representing VISA in recognizing the previous IFEA World Festival & Event City Award© recipients, commented that “The IFEA has successfully built a global network of event professionals and resources that are changing the face of the industry and VISA is proud to be a part of that effort.” Festival Transaction Services has formed a new partnership that includes VISA, Bank of America Merchant Services and First Data Corporation – the three largest financial services companies in the United States – to provide cash management services to the festivals and events industry around the world. “We know that the professionals in the global festivals and events industry today are in need of strong and reliable partners – from recognition to cash management systems that can help them enhance the attendee experience, increase revenues and build stronger financial foundations. We can now bring that to the table and are excited about working with the IFEA to help strengthen the success of festivals and events around the world,” noted Brown. For more information on VISA products and services for festivals and events, please contact Jim Shanklin, Executive Vice President of Festival Transaction Services/Festival Media Corporation at +1-206-381-5202 or jshanklin@festmedia.com.
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ENTRY INFORMATION Quick Reference Guide DEADLINES
• Entry Deadline: 5:00 p.m. (Mountain Time Zone) – Monday, July 20th, 2015 • Entry must include completed entry, additional requested details and application form with payment • Due to time constraints in judging, late entries cannot be accepted.
FEES
The total cost to enter the IFEA World Festival & Event City Award© is $695 (U.S. Dollars) for IFEA Members and $895 (U.S. Dollars) for non-IFEA Members per entry. Payment may be made using a Visa, MasterCard or American Express credit card or by Check (made payable to the IFEA) or by Wire Transfer. For more information on Wire Transfers and transfer fees, please contact IFEA at +1-208-433-0950.
ELIGIBILITY
Applications for the IFEA World Festival & Event City Award © may be submitted by the City itself or by an event(s) on behalf of their City. It is our hope that the application process itself will result in an even closer working partnership and dialogue between the Applicant City and the festivals and events who serve that market. Applicants may re-apply for the IFEA World Festival & Event City Award © each year.
JUDGING
Judging of the IFEA World Festival & Event City entries is done by an international panel of respected event professionals, who have been pleased to discover that there are many amazing programs happening around the world that will help us all to raise the bar for our own communities, showing us what is possible – at every level – when vision and leadership combine. The IFEA World Festival & Event City Award © are presented on an individual basis to exemplary cities around the world that we hope others will emulate. The awards are not designed as a competition of one city against another, but rather to recognize those individual cities
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that have ‘raised the bar’ for everyone, taking into account the cultural, economic and geographic challenges that they have met, mastered and often changed along the way. For that reason, we may present multiple awards each year, while some will be encouraged to strengthen or make adjustments to selected components of their entry criteria for reconsideration in future years.
SCORING SYSTEM
• A possible total of 100 points may be awarded to each entry based upon the individual components listed under Sections 1-6 of the overall entry. • Failure to meet all requirements or answer/ provide all necessary information may impact judging decisions and will result in a deduction of points. • If a section or element does not apply to your City, please state this within your entry (explaining why it does not apply) in order to avoid losing points.
SELECTION AND NOTIFICATION
• Award Recipients will be notified via email by August 21st, 2015. Notification will go to the primary contact listed on the entry application. • The 2015 IFEA World Festival & Event City Award © will be presented during the IFEA’s 60th Annual Convention & Expo, Date & Location TBA. Each recipient city will be highlighted in a brief video presentation at the award ceremony and on-site throughout the convention.
MAXIMIZING YOUR AWARD
Being selected as an IFEA World Festival & Event City is only the beginning of the benefits to be gained from this special honor. The IFEA will help each recipient with ideas on how to maximize and leverage your award, with specific examples from previous recipients. • Each winning recipient of the IFEA World Festival & Event City Award © will receive an engraved award suitable for indoor display and a personal letter of congratulations. • Duplicate IFEA World Festival & Event City awards, flags (for display or flying) and other recognition items are available for purchase by award recipients wishing to share their honor with the many partners who helped them to win. • Winning recipients will be provided with the rights to use the 2015 IFEA World Festival & Event City Award© Winner logo
on their websites, press releases and other appropriate City letterhead, brochures, marketing materials, etc. • The IFEA will announce all IFEA World Festival & Event City Award© recipients in an international press release to the world’s leading media sources, including all local market media contacts provided to the IFEA by selected applicants. • IFEA World Festival & Event City Award© recipients will be featured in a special on-line tribute section at www.ifea.com in perpetuity and in a special section of ie: the business of international events, the IFEA’s industry-leading magazine. • Each winning recipient will receive a oneyear complimentary IFEA membership.
RELEASE & USAGE
• By submitting your entry to the IFEA World Festival & Event City Award, you automatically grant the IFEA the right to use any materials from your entry for editorial, analytical, promotional or any other purpose without additional permission or compensation. All materials and photos submitted as part of the application will become the property of the IFEA. • Entries submitted are not able to be returned. Copies should be made prior to submitting your entry, as desired. Note: Proprietary or sensitive information will not be shared if identified clearly. • Winning applicants agree that the IFEA may use their City name and representative photos in all press releases and program marketing materials, both hard copy and electronic versions. • Your entry into the competition is acknowledgement of these terms.
ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
Working in partnership with local community leadership, festivals, events, organizations and businesses, please provide a clear overview and understanding of the festival and event environment in your City/Market through your responses to each defined section. The application process in itself is a great opportunity to evaluate internally the areas where your City excels and other areas where you may be able to strengthen your efforts and further support local programs. Cities interested in being considered for the annual IFEA World Festival & Event City Award© must submit and include the following information: 1. A completed entry form providing contact and payment information.
2. A one (1) paragraph description of your city (to be used for promotional purposes by the IFEA). 3. An email list of your local media contacts in Excel format for IFEA for use in announcing the selected recipients. 4. A representative photograph highlighting your City and/or events. (A least 300 dpi in size) 5. A three (3) minute video presentation representing your City. (Refer to Important Details section below for video format.) 6. A one (1) page introductory letter stating why your City should be selected to receive the IFEA World Festival & Event City Award. 7. Your overall completed IFEA World Festival & Event City Award© Entry providing responses and supporting information for the following sections. Refer to pages 6-9 for detailed descriptions required for each section. This part of your entry must be submitted as one (1) singular entry piece/ document/PowerPoint/Pdf, etc.: ❍ Section 1: Community Overview ❍ Section 2: Community Festivals & Events ❍ Section 3: City/Government Support of Festivals & Events ❍ Section 4: Non-Governmental Community Support of Festivals & Events ❍ Section 5: Leveraging ‘Community Capital’ Created by Festivals & Events ❍ Section 6: Extra Credit To view examples of past IFEA World Festival & Event City Award© recipient entries, go to: www.ifea.com / Industry Awards / World Festival & Event City Award / Recipients.
IMPORTANT DETAILS
• Please submit your main entry (as listed in components 6-7 under Entry Requirements above), as one (1) singular entry piece/document/ PowerPoint/Pdf, etc. Components 1-5 listed under Entry Requirements may be submitted as separate pieces from the main entry, but must be submitted at the same time. • All entry information should be provided in English and typed using 10-point Arial font. • Please submit your overall entry via Email (preferred method of submitting entry.) Please create entry in a Word, PowerPoint, PDF document, tif, jpg or other standard format. If entry must be mailed, please submit your overall entry on a CD, or USB flash drive to the IFEA World Headquarters in the format listed above. • To submit Video portion of entry, please email video file as an MP4, WMF, MOV or provide a link to an online video location such as YouTube. If mailing video on a
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disk or USB Drive, please submit video as an MPF, WMF, MOV. (DVD’s should be encoded for Region 1 or Region 0 DVD capabilities.) • Entries over one Meg must be provided as a link to a fixed site with no expiration timeframe.
TIPS & POINTERS
• Not all components under a specific section will pertain to everyone. Don’t worry; there are no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ answers and our international judging panel will base their decisions on overall impressions after reviewing all of the submitted information. We are all learning from each other, with the goal of strengthening the partnerships, benefits and returns to our respective communities from the festivals and events that are such an important part of the community fabric and we hope to find additional new ideas being implemented from within all of the award entries that we can share in the future. • Responses to the requested information may require a straight-forward numerical answer, or a more descriptive definition. While we have placed no limits on length, we encourage you to provide the most succinct answers possible that clearly make your point. • If you have any questions or need clarification on any criteria, please do not hesitate to contact us. • Support materials, photos, videos, brochures, copies, etc. should be inserted following the responses to each section. • As needed, we may communicate with the primary contact on the application to clarify any questions that may arise.
SEND ENTRIES TO
Please email completed entries, application form and payment to: nia@ifea.com. Entry, payment and application form may be mailed if necessary. Be sure to provide entry on a disk or a USB Flash Drive in a word, PowerPoint, PDF or other standard format. Please mail to: IFEA World Festival & Event City Award 2603 W. Eastover Terrace Boise, ID 83706 U.S.A.
QUESTIONS?
Contact: • Steve Schmader at schmader@ifea.com • Nia Hovde at nia@ifea.com • Phone: +1-208-433-0950 ext:3
IFEA World Festival & Event City Award
©
ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
Working in partnership with local community leadership, festivals, events, organizations and businesses, please provide a clear overview and understanding of the festival and event environment in your City/Market through responses to each of the following sections. The application process in itself is a great opportunity to evaluate internally the areas where your City excels and other areas where you may be able to strengthen your efforts and further support local programs. Please submit the following information: 1. A completed entry form providing contact and payment information. 2. A one (1) paragraph description of your city (to be used for promotional purposes by the IFEA) 3. An email list of your local media in Excel format for IFEA to use to announce the selected recipients. 4. An individual photograph representing your city. (A least 300 dpi in size). 5. A three (3) minute video presentation representing your city. (Refer to Important Details section for video format.) 6. A one (1) page introductory letter stating why your City should be selected to receive the IFEA World Festival & Event City Award. 7. Your overall completed IFEA World Festival & Event City Award© Entry providing responses and supporting information for Sections 1-6 below. This part of your entry must be submitted as one (1) singular entry piece/document/PowerPoint/Pdf, etc. Please refer to the Entry Requirements and Important Details sections for specific entry formats and details. To view examples of past IFEA World Festival & Event City Award© recipient entries, go to: www.ifea.com / Industry Awards / World Festival & Event City Award / Recipients
Section 1. Community Overview Goal: The information in this section should help provide us with a better understanding of your community and the infrastructure in place to host and/or support those producing and attending festivals and events. • Please provide an overview of your community that will provide us with as many elements as possible, such as: a. Current City Population b. Current SMSA or LUZ Population (Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area or Large Urban Zone) c. Population within a 50 Mile Radius of Applicant City d. Primary Festival and Event Venues Available (Indoor and Outdoor. For example: Theatres, Plazas, Bandshells, Parks, Stadiums, Fairgrounds, Sport Facilities, Convention Centers, etc., including those facilities planned for completion within the next two years. Include Estimated Capacities for each. For outdoor venues, use a formula of 1 person per 3 square feet if no other total capacity numbers are available.) e. Water and Power Accessibility in Outdoor Venues f. Hospital and Emergency Response Availability g. Total Number of Hotel Rooms Available h. Public Transportation Options i. Parking Availability (Paid lots, meters, and free) j. Walking Paths, Bicycle Lanes k. Estimated City Visitors Annually Attributed to Festivals and Events
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Section 2. Community Festivals and Events Goal: The information in this section should provide us with an understanding of the diversity and success of current festivals and events that serve your city residents and visitors throughout the year. • Please provide us with a good overview of the leading festivals and events currently operating in your market. A full-year calendar of events is very helpful as we consider this area. Please provide the following for the ‘Top 10’ festivals or events in your market: a. Festival or Event Name b. Top Executive Contact Information c. Number of Years Festival or Event has been Produced d. Event Dates (Minimally the month held, with days if clearly defined – For example: the last weekend in June. If the event is a series, list the starting and ending dates – For example: Every Wednesday, June through August.) e. Primary Target Audience (For example: Families; Young Adults; Seniors; Children; Specific Cultural Heritage Groups; All Community Segments; Out-of-Market Visitors, etc.) f. Recurrence Cycle (Annually, Every 5 Years, etc.) g. Estimated Combined Aggregate Attendance
Section 3. City/Governmental Support of Festivals and Events Goal: The information in this section should help us to understand the strength and depth of support by the applicant City and other area governmental bodies (County, State, taxing districts, etc.) and demonstrate a clear awareness of event support needs by government agencies and officials. • Please define or describe each of the following elements (a-i) below, as completely and accurately as possible. • Where available and appropriate, please provide examples and copies. • If a section or element does not apply to your city, please state this within your entry and why it does not apply and/or what you may have/use instead. a. Defined and Accessible Public Objectives and Support Statements for Festivals and Events by the City and Other Local Government Agencies b. Direct Funding Support Provided to and/or Budgeted for Festivals and Events from the City or Other Government Agencies c. In-Kind Services Support Provided to and/or Budgeted for Festivals and Events from the City or Other Government Agencies d. Defined Role of the City in Festival and Event Approval e. City-Provided Festival and Event Process Coordination and Assistance Systems (For example: Existence of a City Events Department; ‘One-Stop Shopping’ for Permitting and Municipal Service Needs; Shared Resource Programs for Volunteer Recruitment/Management, Non-Proprietary Equipment Usage/Maintenance, Insurance/Music Licensing Provisions, etc.) f. Participation in Official Capacity by City Department Representatives on Boards and Planning Committees of Local Festivals and Events g. Local Laws, Ordinances, Regulations, Permits and Policies Impacting and Supportive of Festivals and Events (For example: noise ordinances, traffic regulations, curfews, parking fees, fireworks regulations, ambush marketing control, alcohol service requirements, taxes, food safety, insurance requirements, etc.) h. City Provided Festival and Event Training Programs (For example: Marketing, Planning, Budgeting, Risk Management, Alcohol Service, City Department Introductions, Professional Certification, etc.) i. Direct Industry Involvement / Memberships by Any of the Above
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Section 4. Non-Governmental Community Support of Festivals and Events Goal: The information in this section should help us to understand the commitment to festivals and events and direct support provided by community individuals and non-governmental organizations. Without this type of support most festivals and events could not achieve the level of success that these important partnerships help to build. • Please define or describe how each of the following elements/organizations (a-l) below (if applicable) lends their support to ensure the success and outreach of local festivals and events completely and accurately as possible. • Answers should be provided as an overview reflective of the entire community versus an individual event/organization, with enough detail to provide a clear picture of support. • If a section or element does not apply to your city, please state this within your entry and why it does not apply and/or what you may have/use instead. a. Volunteer Involvement b. Sponsorship Support (include in your answer a list of the ten (10) most prominent corporate sponsors in your market) c. Media Support d. Chamber of Commerce / Convention & Visitors Bureau Support (Promotion and marketing activities, familiarization tours, travel writer access, material creation, information distribution, grant funding, visitor hosting, etc.) e. Downtown Associations (Support by Downtown merchants and businesses) f. Organizations to Assist Individuals with Disabilities g. Local Event Cooperatives h. Sports Commissions i. Educational Institution Support j. Special Incentives/Discounts Provided to Festivals and Events by Local Venues k. Access to Industry Suppliers in the Local Market (For example: banners and decorations; generators; portable toilets; merchandise; generators; stage, lights & sound; golf carts; security; chairs; barricades; ATM’s; communication services; etc.) l. Direct Industry Involvement / Memberships by Any of the Above
Section 5. Leveraging ‘Community Capital’ Created by Festivals & Events Goal: The information in this section should help us to understand how the City and its non-governmental partners maximize the ‘community capital’ created by festivals and events in your market. • Please define or describe how your City uses the branding and marketing images/ opportunities provided by your local festivals and events to leverage return in other areas. • These may include, the items below, among others. • If a section or element does not apply to your city, please state this within your entry and why it does not apply and/or what you may have/use instead. a. Community Branding (How are local festivals and events used promote and build upon the positive image of the city?) b. Promoting Tourism (How are local festivals and events used to promote tourism visits?) c. Convention Marketing (How are local festivals and events used to recruit conventions to the city during the times that festival or event activities may serve as an extra incentive for choosing a destination?) d. Corporate Recruiting Efforts (How are local festivals and events used by Economic Development efforts to recruit new businesses to consider choosing your market for their operations?)
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e. Relocation Packets and Information (How are local festivals and events used in information designed to entice individuals / organizations to relocate to your city?) f. Familiarization Tours (How are local festivals and events used by your City and Convention & Visitors Bureau as part of ‘Familiarization Tours’ for visiting meeting planners, VIP’s, etc.) g. Out-of-Market Media Coverage (How are local festivals and events used to secure interest in coverage from out-of-market media sources, travel writers, etc.?) h. Enhancing Exposure to the Arts and Other Causes (How are local festivals and events used to feature, highlight, expose new audiences to, or drive support for the arts and other causes?) i. Creating Highly Visible Public Relations Campaigns for City Facilities and Services (How are local festivals and events used to drive positive public relations campaigns for things like police image, parks usage, fire safety, EMT roles and support needs, use of local transportation options, marketing of/exposure to local venues, support of local bond issues, etc.?) j. Encouraging Community Bonding, Participation, and Celebration (How are local festivals and events used by the City to bond all of the diverse elements of the community together, encourage community involvement and support, and celebrate who we are when we are at our best?) k. Highlighting or Developing Underused Venues or Sections of the Community (How are local festivals and events used to encourage usage of or exposure to underused venues or city neighborhoods, underdeveloped sections of the City, etc.?) l. Creating Legacies and Images Beyond the Event (How are local festivals and events used to create lasting legacies (venues, programs, infrastructures and images of the City after and in-between events?)
Section 6. Extra Credit This section provides an opportunity to highlight any other programs, services, resources, activities, etc., that may not have been included or covered in the previous sections. Some examples may include the items below, among others, a. Skills Development - Availability of Certificate or Degree Programs in Festival & Event Management through a Local University or Private Provider b. Members of Your Event Community Who Currently Hold a Certified Festival & Event Executive (CFEE) Designation c. Secondary School System Graduation Requirements that Encourage Volunteerism and Community Service during Festivals and Events d. A Festival and Event Shared Resource Program in Your City (For example: shared warehousing, office space, equipment, staff, etc.) e. Efforts to Actively Recruit New Events to Your City (Please include reference to any applications made/secured if this area pertains) f. Other Creative Endeavors
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IFEA World Festival & Event City Award© APPLICATION Entry Deadline: 5:00 p.m. (MST) Monday, July 20th, 2015 Submit Entries, Entry Form and Payment to: Email: nia@ifea.com (preferred method of receiving entry.) If shipping entry, send to: IFEA World Festival & Event City Award© • 2603 Eastover Terrace, Boise, ID 83706 USA Phone: +1-208-433-0950 ext: 3 – nia@ifea.com
CITY APPLICANT INFORMATION (Please print clearly) Applicant City Name (If including information from surrounding market or suburb communities, please note those in parenthesis):______________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ State / Province or Territory: __________________________________________________________________________________________________ Country: __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Global Region: (Choose one)
❍ Africa
❍ Asia
❍ Australia / New Zealand
❍ Europe
❍ Latin America
❍ The Middle East (MENASA)
❍ North America
Note: Politically connected islands and territories should choose the region of their most direct affiliation. ❍ Other (If you choose ‘Other’ please clearly specify location below.) __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Population Level (select one):
❍ Under 1 million ❍ Over 1 million
PRIMARY CONTACT INFORMATION (Please print clearly) The following information should pertain to the primary individual with whom the IFEA should communicate with, as necessary, throughout the award judging and selection process. Name: ___________________________________________________________ Title: __________________________________________________ Organization: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Mailing Address: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ City, State, Country, Postal Code: _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Phone (Business): _________________________________________________ Phone (Mobile): _________________________________________ Fax: _____________________________________________________________ E-Mail: _________________________________________________ Note: The Recipient City will receive a complimentary membership for one year in IFEA through our appropriate global affiliate. If different from the Primary Contact please let us know who should receive this membership.
RELEASE & USAGE
• By submitting your entry to the IFEA World Festival & Event City Award©, you automatically grant the IFEA the right to use any materials from your entries for editorial, analytical, promotional or any other purpose without additional compensation. All materials and photos submitted as part of the application will become the property of the IFEA.
• Winning applicants agree that the IFEA may use their City name and representative photos in all press releases and program marketing materials, both hard copy and electronic versions. • Your entry into the competition is acknowledgement of these terms.
PAYMENT TOTAL
IFEA Member Non IFEA Member IFEA World Festival & Event City Award©: Number of Entries:_________x ❍ $695 USD Per Entry ❍ $895 USD Per Entry = $_____________
PAYMENT INFORMATION Please select your method of payment:
❍ VISA
❍ MasterCard
❍ American Express ❍ Check (Made payable to the IFEA) ❍ Wire Transfers: (Contact Bette Monteith at bette@ifea.com for details)
Print Cardholder Name: _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Signature: _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Credit Card Number:________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Expiration Date: _____________________________________________ CVN Code: _________________ (VISA/MC-3 digit code back) (AMX-4 digit code front)
DID YOU REMEMBER TO: ❍ Complete the entry form providing contact and payment information? ❍ Submit a one (1) paragraph description of your city (to be used for promotional purposes by the IFEA)? ❍ Submit an email list of your local media in Excel format for IFEA to use to announce the selected recipients? ❍ Submit an individual photograph representing your city. (A least 300 dpi in size)?
❍ Submit a three (3) minute video presentation representing your city? ❍ Submit a one (1) page introductory letter stating why your City should be selected to receive the IFEA World Festival & Event City Award©? ❍ Submit your overall completed IFEA World Festival & Event City Award© Entry providing responses and supporting information for Sections 1-6? Is this entry submitted as one (1) singular entry piece/document/ PowerPoint/Pdf, etc.? Is this entry provided on a disk, USB Flash Drive or electronically in a Word, PowerPoint, PDF or other standard format?
Past IFEA World Festival & Event Cities Each year, the International Festivals & Events Association announces the recipients of the IFEA World Festival & Event City Award, presented by VISA at the Annual IFEA Convention & Expo. The IFEA would like to congratulate each winning city. For more information about each winning city - go to: www.ifea.com / Industry Awards / IFEA World Festival & Event City Awards / Past Event Cities
2014 IFEA World Festival & Event City Award Recipients • • • • • •
Dubai, United Arab Emirates Dublin, Ohio, United States Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States São Paulo, Brazil Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Population Level: Over 1 Million • Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa • São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil • Indianapolis, Indiana, United States • Dubai, United Arab Emirates • Shanghai, China • Sydney, New South Wales, Australia ❍ Judges Selection for Most Outstanding Global Entry in Population Category
2013 IFEA World Festival & Event City Award Recipients 2010 IFEA World Festival & Event City Award Recipients • • • • • • •
Nice, Côte d’Azur, France Boston, Massachusetts, United States Hwacheon-Gun, Gangwon-do, South Korea Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Rotorua, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand Salvador, Bahia, Brazil Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
2012 IFEA World Festival & Event City Awards Under 1 Million Population: • Hampyeong-gun, Jeonlanam-do, Korea • Grapevine, Texas, United States of America • Campos do Jordão, São Paulo, Brazil • Maribor, Slovenia • Ballito-KwaDukuza, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa • Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, People’s Republic of China • Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia • Dublin, Ohio, United States of America ❍ Judges Selection for Most Outstanding Global Entry in Population Category Over 1 Million Population: • London, England • The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago • Sydney, New South Wales, Australia • Denver, Colorado, United States of America • Dubai, United Arab Emirates ❍ Judges Selection for Most Outstanding Global Entry in Population Category
2011 IFEA World Festival & Event City Award Recipients Population Level: Under 100,000 • Meizhou Island of Putian City, Fujian Province, China • Gimje-si, Jeollabuk-do, South Korea ❍ Judges Selection for Most Outstanding Global Entry in Population Category Population Level: 100,000 to 1 Million • Joinville, Santa Catarina, Brazil • Reykjavik, Iceland ❍ Judges Selection for Most Outstanding Global Entry in Population Category
Population Level: Under 100,000 • Taupo - New Zealand ❍ Judges Selection for Most Outstanding Global Entry • Hidalgo - Texas, United States ❍ Top North American City for the population category • Geumsan-gun - Chungcheongnam-do, Korea • Top Asian City for the population category Population Level: 100,000 to 500,000 • Edinburgh - Scotland ❍ Judges Selection for Most Outstanding Global Entry • Norfolk - Virginia, United States ❍ Top North American City for the population category • Jinju-si - Gyeongsangnam-do, Korea ❍ Top Asian City for the population category - tie • Boryeong-si - Chungcheongnam-do, Korea ❍ Top Asian City for the population category - tie Population Level: 500,000 to 1 Million • Rotterdam - The Netherlands ❍ Judges Selection for Most Outstanding Global Entry • Ottawa - Ontario, Canada ❍ Top North American City for the population category Population Level: Over 1 Million • Sydney - New South Wales, Australia ❍ Judges Selection for Most Outstanding Global Entry • Louisville - Kentucky, United States ❍ Top North American City for the population category • Salvador - Bahia, Brasil ❍ Top Latin America City for the population category
2015Call for Inductees Please submit the following information for your nomination:
A. INDIVIDUAL SUBMITTING NOMINEE 1. Name • Organization • Address • City • State Zip • Phone • Fax • Email 2. If your nominee is selected, will you be willing to help ensure that they attend the luncheon? 3. If your nominee is selected, will you be willing to assist the IFEA and the inductee in gathering materials to prepare their induction video? B. NOMINEE INFORMATION 1. Name • Position • Address • City • State • Zip Phone • Fax • Email
Known as the associations most prestigious honor, the IFEA Hall of Fame recognizes those outstanding individuals who, through their exceptional work and achievements, have made a significant contribution to the Festivals and Events Industry. The International Festivals & Events Association is now accepting nominations from its members for those individuals who meet this standard for the 2015 Induction Ceremony. The Hall of Fame Committee will review all nominations and select one or more individuals to be honored in to the IFEA Hall of Fame. The Honoree (s) will be the guest (s) of the IFEA on an all-expense* paid trip to the 60th Annual IFEA Convention & Expo location and date TBD, where they will be inducted at a reception, in their honor. NOMINATION CRITERIA Nominations must represent a current or past IFEA member who has made substantial achievements and/or contributions to the festivals and events industry. Nominees can be retired and represent any facet of our industry (i.e. vendor, supporter, senior professional, etc.). (Current IFEA Board of Directors and Staff Members are not eligible to be nominated).
C. NOMINATION QUESTIONS • Please answer each of the following questions citing specific examples. Points will be awarded for each question. Points awarded are listed below. • Please provide up to a 1 (one) page response (single sided) for each of the below questions, for a maximum total of 4 (four) pages. 1. Explain how your nominee has made a difference to the festivals & events industry. (25 points) 2. Submit a general overview of your nominee’s career, including organizations they have worked for, positions held, titles, awards, etc. (25 points) 3. Describe the level of involvement your nominee has had with the IFEA during their career. (25 points) 4. What void would there be if he/she were not an event professional? (25 points) D. ENTRY FORMAT: Please EMAIL your nomination in a Word document. E. SUBMIT ENTRIES TO: Nia Hovde, Director of Marketing & Communications at nia@ifea.com F. QUESTIONS: Please contact: Nia Hovde – nia@ifea.com +1-208-433-0950 ext: 3 To view a complete list of past inductees and their stories go to the Industry Awards / Hall of Fame section on www.ifea.com.
Nominations should be submitted no later than 5:00 PM (MST) Monday, June 15th, 2015
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1995 - 2015 2015 IFEA / Haas & Wilkerson
20 Y E ARS of PINNACLES
Pinnacle Awards Competition Call for Entries
Gain the recognition your event deserves…
E
ach year, the International Festivals & Events Association recognizes outstanding accomplishments and top quality creative, promotional, operational and community outreach programs and materials produced by festivals and events around the world, with the Haas & Wilkerson Pinnacle Awards Competition. This prestigious awards competition strives for the highest degree of excellence in festival and event promotions and operations, and in doing so, has raised the standards and quality of the festivals & events industry to new levels. From events large or small, cities, festivals, chambers, universities, parks & recreation departments, vendors & suppliers, and everything in between, events and promotions of nearly every type and size will have the opportunity to be recognized, as entries are categorized into organizations with similar sized budgets. From best Event Poster, T-Shirt, Hat, Promotional Brochure, Website, TV Promotion and Social Media site to best Volunteer Program, Green Program, Sponsor Follow-Up Report and Media Relations Campaign, there’s a place for almost every element of your event to be recognized. The IFEA / Haas & Wilkerson Pinnacle Awards have provided many outstanding examples of how event producers can use innovation and creativity to achieve a higher level of success. One of the goals of the IFEA is to promote the professionalism of our members and the festivals and events industry as a whole. Therefore, to add further impact to the winning organizations, the IFEA will provide your organization with a press release template for you to distribute to your media list explaining the award and the competition. Your organization will be recognized for taking part in raising the level of professionalism throughout the industry, while at the same time improving your community. So what are you waiting for, gather your items, fill out the entry form, and send them off to be judged against the best of the best, in the festivals and events industry. Then get ready to hear your organization’s name announced at the 60th Annual IFEA Convention & Expo, Date & Location TBA. Spring 2015
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THE CONTEST DEADLINES • EARLY BIRD ENTRY DEADLINE: 5:00 p.m. (MST), MONDAY, JULY 15, 2015 ❍ Entries received on or prior to July 15, 2015 will receive the Member early bird rate of $30 per entry or $75 per Grand Pinnacle entry or the Non-Member early bird rate of $60 per entry or $150 per Grand Pinnacle entry depending on IFEA Membership status. • FINAL ENTRY DEADLINE: 5:00 p.m. (MST), MONDAY, JULY 20, 2015 ❍ Entries received between Tuesday, June 16, 2015 and Monday, July 20, 2015 will receive the Member final entry rate of $35 per entry or $100 per Grand Pinnacle entry; or the Non-Member final entry rate of $75 per entry or $200 per Grand Pinnacle entry depending on IFEA Membership status. ELIGIBILITY • Entries must have been produced and / or used for the first time between July 22, 2014 and July 20, 2015. • Entries must be submitted in their original format unless previously approved. For Questions Contact: Nia Hovde, nia@ifea.com. • Payment in full must be received with entries for entries to be deemed eligible. • Entries and entry forms must be submitted in English. • Font size for any written text must not be smaller than 10pt. • To receive the member rate for Pinnacle entries you must be an IFEA member in good standing. • Each entry form submitted must be completed in its entirety in order for items to be judged eligible. • Entry must be received at the IFEA Office by the above dates to be eligible. • Please consider the processing of your credit card or the cashing of your check for your Pinnacle entries, notice that your entries were received and processed. IMPORTANT NOTES • Items submitted are NOT able to be returned. • Judges will not refer to items in other categories, nor will they transfer items already judged in other categories (the number of entries must equal the number of categories entered). • A separate entry form must be submitted for each entry (copy as necessary). • Multiple entries or categories on a single form will not be accepted. • For all entries, please paper clip/bull clip entry form to item. Please do not glue or tape form to item. • Multiple entries within the same notebook/ bound format/ CD/ USB Drive, will not be accepted. Please separate entries. • Entries required to be submitted in a “notebook” (Categories 1, 38-68) means that the entry should be submitted in some sort of bound format in order to keep all the materials together. For example, a 3 ring binder; spiral bound; in a report cover or a bound publication with hard/soft covers. Please do not staple or paper clip your entries together. • UPDATED: If submitting categories 1 or 38-68, in addition to the printed entry you submit, please also submit each entry as a single pdf document (including all supporting materials within that single document.) Please submit PDF on a USB ThumbDrive or Disk. If submitting one or more entries from categories 1 or 38-68, please include all entries on a single USB Thumbdrive/Disk and attach to overall payment form. • When submitting your total entries, please also submit a high resolution copy of your organization or event logo. Please email to nia@ifea.com – subject “Logo for 2015 Pinnacle Entry – and your event/organization name.” A HOW TO GUIDE • All categories are listed on the left side of each page • Entry information required for each category is listed under the 70
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specific category on the left (if applicable). This information is unique to that specific category. • Any supporting questions and supporting material requirements needed for each category or group of categories, is listed on the right side of each page (if applicable.) THE JUDGES The judges are recognized professionals in the areas of graphic design, promotions and public relations; broadcast, print and online media; and special event planning and management. SCORING SYSTEM • Categories 1, 38-68 will be judged using a point system for each individual entry. Each entry is scored separately. Scores will not be combined. • A possible total of 100 points may be awarded to each entry. • Be sure to answer and include all necessary information for each entry. • If a required element within an entry is not applicable to your event, please state so within your entry to avoid being marked down on points or indicate what element you have instead. • The scoring system is not applicable to TV, Radio, Multimedia, Print & some Merchandising categories. • We are unable to provide you with the points awarded for each of your entries. • Failure to meet all requirements or answer / provide all necessary information will result in a deduction of points. THE WINNERS • All finalists for the IFEA / Haas & Wilkerson Pinnacle Awards will be notified by email the last week of August, 2015. Notification will go to the primary IFEA Member in addition to the contact listed on the Awards entry form. • The 2015 IFEA / Haas & Wilkerson Pinnacle Award winners will be announced at the 60th Annual IFEA Convention & Expo, Date & Location TBA.. • If you are not present at the Awards Presentation to accept your award(s), they will be mailed to you after the Annual Convention. Expect 3-4 weeks for delivery. If shipping costs for your award exceeds $15 USD, you will be sent an invoice for the shipping charges. • Organizations submitting entries for the Grand Pinnacle category must register at least one person for the 60th Annual IFEA Convention & Expo, Date & Location TBA. or arrange for a representative to accept any award won on your behalf. • Gold winning entries will be on display during the 60th Annual IFEA Convention & Expo. • Winning entries will also be available to view at www.ifea.com shortly after the 60th Annual IFEA Convention & Expo. RELEASE & USAGE • By submitting your entry to the IFEA / Haas & Wilkerson Pinnacle Award Competition, you automatically grant the IFEA the right to use any materials and / or photos from your entries for editorial, analytical, promotional or any other purpose without additional compensation or permission. In addition, you acknowledge your entry/ies are not returnable. Your entry into the competition is acknowledgment of these terms. SHIP ENTRIES TO: IFEA Pinnacle Awards Competition International Festivals & Events Association 2603 W Eastover Terrace, Boise, ID 83706, USA Phone: +1-208-433-0950 ext: 3 • Please try to avoid using packing peanuts/popcorn when shipping your entry. • For packing tips, go to www.ifea.com and then Industry Awards / Pinnacle Awards / 2015 Pinnacle Awards
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS As you prepare your entries, you will have many questions. To help answer many of your questions, we have posted our most frequently asked questions on the IFEA website at www.ifea.com / Awards / Pinnacle Awards / 2015 Pinnacle Awards, check back often as we’ll continue to post questions and answers as they come in. If you have any further questions about the IFEA/Haas & Wilkerson Pinnacle Awards, please contact Nia Hovde at +1-208-433-0950 Ext 3 or nia@ifea.com. Go to www.ifea.com to find answers to common questions such as: • When you ask for entries in the original format, what does that apply to? • What do you mean when you say, please provide entries in a ‘notebook’ or ‘bound format’? • For the more in depth entries (categories 1, 38-68) do I have to answer or provide information for all the criteria and requirements listed under the category? • Referring to the above question, what if something in a specific category that is required, either does not apply to our event, or we are unable to provide the information required. • Certain entries ask for budget information, however we aren’t able to reveal certain elements of that information as it is not public knowledge. How can I answer the required information if I’m not able to provide it? • On certain entries, it says we can only provide 5 examples of supporting materials . . . how can I possibly only provide 5 examples!? • Why do we need to provide certain entries on disk or Thumbdrive? • Referring to the above question, am I able to save all of the entries I’m submitting on one disk/Thumbdrive, instead of saving each individually? • Are we able to enter the same event into multiple categories? • Are we able to enter multiple items (that are different) in the same category, for the same event? • I’m not a member of the IFEA, am I still able to enter? • Can I pay for my entries via a wire transfer? • How are the Pinnacle Award Entries Judged? • Why do you not publish the points awarded for each entry in the list of winning entries? • Who judges the Pinnacle Entries? • Why aren’t we able to know the names of the judges? • It looks like there’s even more requirements for some categories . . what specifically do I need to answer for categories 1, 38-68? • For the above listed categories . . . what order should I list my entry in, in response to the requirements?
• For categories 1, 38-68, that require written information and are also required to be put into a ‘notebook’ or ‘bound format’ be sure to submit the information in that category in the order that it is asked so it’s easier for the judges to compare one entry to another. • When saving your entry to a disk or Thumbdrive to go along side your individual entry, be sure to save your entry as one document – instead of multiple documents. • When putting together categories 1, 38-68 that require a lot of work to create . . . if you have time, make 2 copies! What better way to keep a record of what you did each year not only at your event, but also for the next year’s Pinnacles! • Remember the eligibility period for the pinnacles. Entries must have been produced and/or used for the first time between July 22, 2014 and July 20, 2015. So if you produced an event during that time, or any materials for your event were produced during that time (even if the actual event was outside of that time frame) it’s eligible! • If you are required to write something for your entry, make sure it is well written and easy to read. • The more organized your entries are, the easier it is to understand your message. • With all entries, guide the judges to what you want them to see. Highlight the important parts. • Don’t overwhelm the judges with too much information. Summarize the statistics and only display your best footage/news clippings. Quantity is not always quality. • On categories 1, 38-68 (categories that have a lot of requirements), be sure to have someone that is not closely tied to your event read through your entry to see if everything makes sense. Sometimes you may be too close to your event and you may not include certain information, since it may be too obvious to you. But it may be a vital piece of information. If your entry makes sense to an outsider to your event, it should make sense to the judges. • Many of the judges may not know anything about your event, so make sure your explanations are clear enough so they feel like they have just attended/participated in your program. • Proof, Proof, Proof!! Yes, we do mark you down for typos! • When in doubt – ASK. If you’re not sure on something, please contact Nia Hovde +1-208-433-0950 ext: 3 or nia@ifea.com. QUESTIONS? • Contact: Nia Hovde, Director of Marketing & Communications at Phone: +1-208-433-0950 ext: 3 or Email: nia@ifea.com • For additional information and FAQ’s, go to www.ifea.com/ Industry Awards / Pinnacle Awards
TIPS AND POINTERS Never participated in the Pinnacle Awards Program before? Looking for some helpful tips and pointers on how to enter? Below are just a few tips to hopefully point you in the right direction. Be sure to also review the Pinnacle FAQ’s and the Pinnacle Packing Tips. • Start Early! • Don’t wait until the deadlines are almost here to get your entries submitted! If you have time to work on your entries early, do so and then get them in early! • We will start accepting entries as soon as you want to start sending them in! • Do not mount any of the merchandise on poster board/foam core/card board etc. It’s much easier for the judges to pick up, look at and perhaps try the items on, if they are standing alone. • Be sure to read and follow all the criteria and requirements for each entry. The criteria and requirements are always being updated, so be sure to review the changes before you start.
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THE GRAND PINNACLE 1) GRAND PINNACLE The Grand Pinnacle is the highest award given by the IFEA in recognition of those Festivals and Events* who have a balance of all the elements necessary to ensure a successful event. (*Of those events who enter and judged within each of the four separate budget categories.) ENTRY INFORMATION: For entry, please provide a detailed description to each section requested within: 1. Introductory Information 2. Additional Requirements 3. Supporting Materials 4. Supporting Questions • Submit entire Grand Pinnacle Entry within one (1) notebook (2 or 3 ring binder; spiral bound; report cover; bound publication etc.) • In addition to the required printed entry, please also provide a pdf document of your entire entry (as 1 (one) document) on a CD or Thumbdrive. Attach CD or Thumbdrive to overall payment form. (Okay to submit all of your Pinnacle entries on 1 (one) CD or Thumbdrive.) • Please submit your entry in the order listed here. • Points will be awarded to the individual sections of your entry, in addition to the overall Judges Criteria points. 1. Introductory Information: (10 points) Within a maximum of 4 pages (total), provide an overview of your event, stating your event’s: a. Event Dates b. Purpose / Mission c. History/Description of Event d. Types of Activities Included Under the Festival / Event Umbrella e. Overall Revenue and Expense Budget f. Estimated Economic Impact g. Attendance Numbers & Demographics h. Volunteer Count & Demographics i. Staffing Numbers and Positions j. Founding / Incorporation Date and Management System (i.e.: 501(c)3 non-profit staff & volunteer board; city managed; profit-making partnership, etc.) 2. Additional Requirements: (40 Points) Include a detailed overview of each of the sections listed below (a-e*) for your festival / event, using no more than two (2) pages for each section. • Make each section a separate tab in entry in order for the judges to clearly identify them. • If your festival/event does not include one or more of the sections listed below, please provide an overview as to why your event does not include that element, or what you provide instead, so as not to lose points. a. Promotional/Marketing Campaign & Media Outreach (Includes but not limited to: What was your overall message/ slogan/image that you projected for your event this year? What was your target population, who received the message, what types of mediums did you utilize and who promoted your message. ) b. Website / Social Media / Multi-Media Program /Campaign c. Overall Sponsorship Program (Provide an overview of your overall sponsorship program – how many sponsors, who are they and what do they sponsor and total sponsorship funds.) d. Critical Component Programs *Provide up to a one (1) page description for each of the following programs (if not applicable, please state as such and/or what your festival/event has in its place.) • Volunteer Program • Green Program 72
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• • • •
Educational Program Children’s Program Food & Beverage Program Entertainment Program (music, artists, theatre, performers etc.) • Merchandise Program • Community Outreach Program • Emergency Preparedness Program e. Descriptions of any other Special Programs unique to your event. 3. Supporting Materials: (10 Points) • Please also include any necessary supporting materials for the festival/event - limiting materials to no more than 5 examples for each area in the 2.) Additional Requirements section (if applicable) (a-e). • Supporting materials may be placed within a specific section of the entry, or at the end. 4. Supporting Questions: (10 points) Please answer the following questions. (Maximum of 1 page per question) a. What did you do to update / change the event from the year before? Were your updates / changes successful? ❍ If the event is a new event, please answer the following question instead: • “What challenges / obstacles did you foresee / encounter in creating the event, and how did you handle them?” b. Please provide measurable results / examples for question (a). c. What makes the event stand out as an internationally recognized event? d. Why should the event win the IFEA / Haas & Wilkerson Grand Pinnacle Award? Judging Criteria: (30 points) The Grand Pinnacle Entry will be judged based on the following criteria. Please refer to the Entry Information for further details. The following Judging Criteria is applicable to both the individual entry and the overall event. • Is the entry / event well organized? • Is the content professional? • Is the message clear? • Is the entry / event designed and laid out well? • Is the event creative and / or unique? • Does the entry relay the image of the event? • What is the overall impression? • Have all supporting materials and measurable results been provided? • Does the entry match the purpose / mission for the event? • Have all requirements been met? Additional Notes: • Be sure to answer and provide information for every section and area listed in the entry requirements. Failure to provide information for each section / element will result in a deduction of points. If a required element is not applicable to your event, please state as such and/or what your festival/event has in its place. • This entry is separate from all other categories and divisions. Judges will not refer to, or transfer items from other categories. • Organizations submitting entries for the Grand Pinnacle category must register at least one person for the 60th Annual IFEA Convention & Expo, Date & Location TBA. or arrange for a representative to accept any award your behalf.
CATEGORIES TELEVISION & RADIO ENTRIES 2)
BEST TV PROMOTION
3)
BEST FULL LENGTH TV PROMOTION
4)
BEST FULL LENGTH TV PROGRAM
5)
BEST EVENT VIDEO
6)
BEST RADIO PROMOTION
(Ad Spot or PSA)
(Local Programming)
(National Promotion / Syndication) (For Sale)
(Ad Spot or PSA)
ENTRY INFORMATION FOR CATEGORIES 2-7: • All TV/video entries should be encoded for Region 1 or Region 0 DVD capabilities. Submit entry on a DVD or Thumbdrive. Entry should be viewable in Windows Media Player or QuickTime. (Please do not submit Blu-Ray Disks.) • All Radio entries should be submitted on a CD or Thumbdrive (not a DVD) Entry should preferably be submitted as a wave file or MP3 file. • Label DVD / CD / Thumbdrive and attach entry form to case. • Only one video/radio spot per DVD / CD / Thumbdrive. Submit EACH entry SEPARATELY. DO NOT combine multiple entries on DVD / CD / Thumbdrive. • These are standalone items and no written information is required. • Make all DVD’s / CD’s set to Auto Play. Judging Criteria: • Does the entry relay the image of the event? • Is the item creative and / or unique? • Is the message clear? • Is the item organized? • What is the “Usability” factor? • What is the overall impression?
MULTIMEDIA ENTRIES 7)
BEST EVENT WEBSITE
8)
BEST ORGANIZATION WEBSITE
9)
BEST EVENT / ORGANIZATION E-NEWSLETTER
(Submit web address only – clearly print website address on entry form under section 3.) (Submit web address only – clearly print website address on entry form under section 3.)
(Clearly print or type a link to download materials on entry form under Section 3. Submit 3 consecutive issues.)
10) BEST MISCELLANEOUS MULTIMEDIA
(Includes, but is not limited to items such as: Screen Savers, Live Web-casts, Electronic Billboards, etc. Submit in format used. Preferable method for Videos is a YouTube link. Only one multimedia item per entry. Clearly print or type link on entry form under Section 3 - type on separate sheet of paper if necessary - or submit on Thumbdrive.)
ENTRY INFORMATION FOR CATEGORIES 7-12: • For categories 7, 8, 11 & 12 site will be reviewed online by judges. • Be sure to make the website link go to exactly where you wish the judges to go first. • Refer to any additional entry information listed next to each category. • These are standalone items and no written information is required. Judging Criteria: • Does the entry / item relay the image of the event? • Is the item creative and / or unique? • Is the message clear? • Is the entry / item organized? • What is the “Usability” factor? • What is the overall impression?
11) BEST SOCIAL MEDIA SITE
(Submit Social Media Site Address – clearly print address on entry form under section 3.)
12) BEST FESTIVAL / EVENT MOBILE APPLICATION
(Submit web address or instructions on how to obtain the App, clearly print address on entry form under Section 3.) Spring 2015
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CATEGORIES PROMOTIONAL PRINTED ENTRIES 13) BEST EVENT PROGRAM 14) BEST NEWSPAPER INSERT / SUPPLEMENT 15) BEST PROMOTIONAL BROCHURE 16) BEST EVENT / ORGANIZATION NEWSLETTER (Submit three consecutive issues.)
17) BEST MISCELLANEOUS PRINTED MATERIALS (MULTIPLE PAGE)
(Includes but not limited to: direct mail brochures, cookbooks, annual reports, etc. - One item per entry.)
18) BEST MISCELLANEOUS PRINTED MATERIALS (SINGLE PAGE)
(Includes but not limited to direct mail pieces, rack cards, fliers, maps, etc. Only one item per entry. Mounting on Poster board, optional)
19) BEST COMPANY IMAGE PIECES
(Includes but is not limited to: Letterhead, envelopes, logo, etc.). (One item per entry)
20) BEST COVER DESIGN
(Submit cover only – mounted on poster board. Covers of Magazine, Newspaper, Brochures, Programs all acceptable.)
21) BEST SINGLE NEWSPAPER DISPLAY AD (Submit entry mounted on poster board.)
22) BEST SINGLE MAGAZINE DISPLAY AD (Submit ad mounted on poster board.)
23) BEST AD SERIES
(Submit a maximum of 5 ads.) (If possible, mount all ads one same poster board.)
24) BEST PROMOTIONAL POSTER
(For posters not for sale at Festival or Event but used for promotional purposes to promote event) (Do not mount. Submit in poster tube.)
25) BEST COMMEMORATIVE POSTER
(For posters specifically for sale at festival or event.) (Do not mount. Submit in poster tube.)
26) BEST EVENT PROMOTIONAL PHOTOGRAPH
(Promotional photograph for your event) (Photo Dimensions: 8 inches x 10 inches. Submit photo mounted on Poster board - 2 inch margins.)
27) BEST OUTDOOR BILLBOARD
(Submit photo or print out of billboard, mounted on poster board.)
28) BEST EVENT INVITATION
(Single or Multiple Page. Do NOT mount this category on
poster board.)
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ENTRY INFORMATION FOR CATEGORIES 13-17: • These are stand alone items and no written information is required. • Submit each entry in original format if possible • Submit categories 13-17 with the entry form securely paper clipped/bull clipped to the back. • Do not mount on display board. Judging Criteria • Does the entry relay the image of the event? • Is the item creative and / or unique? • Is the item designed / laid out well? • Is the message clear? • Is the item organized? • Is the item usable / functional? • What is the overall impression? ENTRY INFORMATION FOR CATEGORIES 18-28: • Submit categories 18-23, 26-27 each mounted on a single, black display board with a maximum of 2 inch margins. • Submit categories 24-25 each rolled up in a poster mailing tube. Do not fold the poster. Do not mount the poster on poster board. • Only one entry per board. • These are standalone items and no written information is required. Judging Criteria • Does the item / entry relay the image of the event? • Is the item creative and / or unique? • Is the item designed / laid out well? • Is the message clear? • Is the item organized? • Is the item usable / functional? • What is the overall impression?
CATEGORIES EVENT DÉCOR & AMBIANCE ENTRIES 29) BEST STREET BANNER
(Submit photo or printouts of banner only, mounted on poster board. Do not send actual banner.)
30) BEST MISCELLANEOUS ON-SITE DECOR
(Includes but is not limited to: directional signage, stage backdrops, entryways, flags, inflatables, etc.) (Submit only one decor item per entry.) (Submit photo of decor, mounted on poster board.)
ENTRY INFORMATION FOR CATEGORIES 29-30: • Submit categories 29-30 each mounted on a single, black display board with a maximum of 2 inch margins. • Only one entry per board. • These are standalone items and no written information is required. Judging Criteria: • Does the item / entry relay the image of the event? • Is the item creative and / or unique? • Is the item designed / laid out well? • Is the message clear? • Is the item organized? • Is the item usable / functional? • What is the overall impression?
MERCHANDISE ENTRIES For merchandise sold at Festival / Event / Organization. 31) BEST T-SHIRT DESIGN
(Does not include Tank Tops, Long-Sleeve T-Shirts or Collared/Polo Shirts)
32) BEST PIN OR BUTTON
(Please mount pin on poster board with 2 inch margins maximum.) (For single pins only, no pin sets.)
33) BEST HAT 34) BEST OTHER MERCHANDISE
(For merchandise other than T-shirts, pins, hats etc. that you have for sale at your festival/event.)
35) BEST MISCELLANEOUS CLOTHING
(i.e. - jackets, sweatshirts, long-sleeve t-shirts, polo shirts, tank tops, socks, scarves, etc.)
ENTRY INFORMATION FOR CATEGORIES 31-37: • Submit actual merchandise items for categories 31- 37 as is. • These are standalone items and no written information is required. • Do not mount merchandise items on poster board – except Best Pin or Button. Judging Criteria: • Does the entry / item relay the image of the event? • Is the item creative and / or unique? • Is the message clear? • Is the entry / item organized? • What is the “Usability” factor? • What is the overall impression?
36) BEST NEW MERCHANDISE
(New merchandise to your festival/event/organization within the past festival season.)
37) BEST SPONSOR GIFT
(A gift a festival/event gives to a sponsor of their festival/event.)
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CATEGORIES SPONSORSHIP ENTRIES 38) BEST TARGETED SPONSOR SOLICITATION PROPOSAL
(Actual Sponsorship Proposal that was used to target a specific sponsor for your festival/event.) 1. Overview Information: Please provide a detailed overview explaining the following using no more than one (1) page per section: a. Introduction and description of main event. b. Name of Sponsor c. Introduction, effectiveness and success of Sponsor solicitation package
2. Supporting Materials: a. Please provide a sponsor solicitation package that was actually used to target a specific sponsor. • Provide in the format used to present to the sponsor and with any other additional materials that were sent with the proposal. (Okay to substitute name of sponsor for generic name for confidentiality, however please make it clear on your entry you are doing this.)
39) BEST INDIVIDUAL SPONSOR FOLLOW-UP REPORT
(Actual Follow-Up Report that was generated for a specific sponsor for your festival/event.)
1. Overview Information: Please provide a detailed overview explaining the following using no more than one(1) page per section: a. Introduction and description of main event. b. Name of Sponsor c. Introduction and effectiveness of Sponsor follow-up report 2. Supporting Materials: a. Please provide a sponsor follow-up report that was actually sent to a specific sponsor. • Provide in the format used to present to the sponsor and with any other additional materials that were sent with the report. (Okay to substitute name of sponsor for generic name for confidentiality, however please make it clear on your entry you are doing this.)
40) BEST SPONSOR PARTNER
(Entry should highlight a specific sponsor that stands out above all others.) 1. Overview Information: Please provide a detailed overview explaining the following using no more than one (1) page per section: a. Introduction & description of main event b. Name of Sponsor c. Description of sponsor; level of sponsorship (cash/in-kind); details of benefit package and length of sponsorship/ partnership d. Quantity and quality of support to event by sponsor e. Goals and success of relationships for both event and sponsor f. How the sponsor stands out over all other sponsors. g. Activation of Sponsorship by Sponsor ENTRY INFORMATION FOR CATEGORY 40: • Submit category 40 within one (1) notebook (2 or 3 ring binder; spiral bound; report cover; bound publication etc.)
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ENTRY INFORMATION FOR CATEGORIES 38-39: • Submit category 38-39 each within one (1) notebook (2 or 3 ring binder; spiral bound; report cover; bound publication etc.) • Please submit your entry in the order listed. • In addition to the required printed entry, please also provide a pdf document of your entire entry (as one (1) document) on a CD or Thumbdrive. Attach to overall payment form. (Okay to submit all of your Pinnacle entries on one (1) CD or Thumbdrive.) For each entry, please provide detailed information to the following: 1. Overview Information (20 points) Please provide the required information listed under the specific category to the left. 2. Supporting Materials: (50 points) Please provide materials listed under the specific category to the left. Supporting materials should be placed at the end of the entry. 3. Judging Criteria: (30 points) No information required. Your entry will also be judged based on the below criteria. • Is the item / entry well organized? • Is the content professional? • Is the message clear? • What is the overall impression? • Have all supporting materials and measurable results been provided? • Have all requirements been met? • Would you recommend or support this opportunity if in a position to do so?
• Please submit your entry in the order listed. • In addition to the required printed entry, please also provide a pdf document of your entire entry (as one (1) document) on a CD or Thumbdrive. Attach to overall payment form. (Okay to submit all of your Pinnacle entries on one (1) CD or Thumbdrive.) For each entry, please provide detailed information to the following: 1. Overview Information (70 points) Please provide the required information listed under the specific category to the left. 2. Judging Criteria: (30 points) No information required. Your entry will also be judged based on the below criteria. • Is the entry well organized? • Is the content professional? • Is the message clear? • What is the overall impression? • Have all requirements been met?
CATEGORIES SPONSORSHIP ENTRIES 41) BEST SINGLE NEW SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITY
(New activity / program within an Event created specifically to recruit a new sponsor or created after a new sponsor came on board.) 1. Overview Information: Please provide a detailed overview explaining the following, using no more than one (1) page to explain each section: a. Introduction & description of main event b. Name of Opportunity and Sponsor c. Description and purpose of New Sponsorship Opportunity d. Description of the targeted sponsor for the opportunity and why the sponsor was targeted e. Explain the synergy between the event and sponsor f. Overall effectiveness / success of the sponsorship 2. Supporting Question - Answer question listed to the right, here 3. Supporting Materials - Place at the end of the entry.
42) BEST SPONSORSHIP PROGRAM FOR INDIVIDUAL SPONSOR
(Activity or program within a Festival or Event created for a specific sponsor.)
1. Overview Information: Please provide a detailed overview explaining the following, using no more than one (1) page to explain each section: a. Introduction & description of main event b. Name of Program and Sponsor c. Description and purpose of event/program being sponsored d. Description of sponsor; level of sponsorship (cash/in-kind); details of benefit package and length of sponsorship/ partnership e. Overall effectiveness / success of the program 2. Supporting Question - Answer question listed to the right, here 3. Supporting Materials - Place at the end of the entry.
43) BEST OVERALL SPONSORSHIP PROGRAM
(Entry should focus on the entire sponsorship program for all sponsors for the entire event.)
1. Overview Information: Please provide a detailed overview explaining the following, using no more than one (1) page to explain each section: a. Introduction & description of main event b. Description of overall Sponsorship Program c. List of all current sponsors for event; levels of support; longevity of each d. Available benefit packages and valuation formulas e. Description of sponsor research targeting and sales process f. Description of sponsor service team and steps taken when new agreement is signed. g. Describe current sponsor renewal process & retention rate h. Overall effectiveness / success of the program i. Supporting Materials: Please provide a copy of Sponsor Agreement Sales Packet / Proposal; a copy of Sponsorship Follow Up Report and a sample of Sponsor Agreement 2. Supporting Question - Answer question listed to the right, here 3. Supporting Materials - Place at the end of the entry.
ENTRY INFORMATION FOR CATEGORIES 41-43: • Submit category 41-43 each within one (1) notebook (2 or 3 ring binder; spiral bound; report cover; bound publication etc.) • Please submit your entry in the order listed. • In addition to the required printed entry, please also provide a pdf document of your entire entry (as one (1) document) on a CD or Thumbdrive. Attach to overall payment form. (Okay to submit all of your Pinnacle entries on one (1) CD or Thumbdrive.) For each entry, please provide detailed information to the following: 1. Overview Information (50 points) Please provide the required information listed under the specific category to the left. 2. Supporting Question: (10 points) • What did you do to update / change this program from the year before? Were your updates / changes successful? Please provide measurable results / examples. • If the program is a new program, please answer the following question instead: “What challenges / obstacles did you foresee / encounter in creating the program, and how did you handle them?” 3. Supporting Materials: (10 points) Please also include any necessary supporting materials for the program. Supporting materials should be placed at the end of the entry. Please limit your supporting materials to those actually sent / used with sponsor: • Printed materials (brochures / programs etc.) • Promotion / marketing / media materials • Supporting photographs • Measurable results: tangible & intangible 4. Judging Criteria: (30 points) No information required. Your entry will also be judged based on the below criteria. • Is the program / entry well organized? • Is the content professional? Is the message clear? • Is the program / entry designed and laid out well? • Is the program creative and / or unique? • What is the overall impression? • Have all supporting materials and measurable results been provided? • Have all requirements been met? • Would you recommend or support this opportunity if in a position to do so?
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CATEGORIES FESTIVAL & EVENT CRITICAL COMPONENT ENTRIES 44) BEST VOLUNTEER PROGRAM
ENTRY INFORMATION FOR CATEGORIES 44-45:
(For overall Volunteer Programs at an Event/Festival/ Organization)
1. Overview Information: Please provide a detailed overview explaining the following, using no more than one (1) page to explain each section, together with applicable examples: a. Introduction and background of main event b. Description and purpose / objective of Volunteer Program c. Target audience / attendance / number of participants d. Duration of program (start to finish) and years program has been part of event e. Volunteer demographics (age, gender, individuals, charities, schools etc.) f. Volunteer job descriptions g. Recruitment methods / materials / applications h. Communication methods / materials i. Training guides / programs / handbooks / materials j. Organization & schedule information / materials k. Volunteer perks / benefits l. Appreciation / recognition methods/ materials m. Retention methods / materials n. Description of sponsor / charity / volunteer / school / other group involvement with program and benefits to each (if applicable) o. Overall revenue/expense budget of program p. Overall effectiveness / success of program q. Measurable results: ratio of volunteers to guests; # of volunteers; # of volunteer hours; # of volunteers in database; estimate of the financial value of your volunteers. 2. Supporting Question - Answer question listed to the right, here 3. Supporting Materials - Place at the end of the entry.
45) BEST GREEN PROGRAM
(For festivals/events with implemented green/recycling programs at their event.)
1. Overview Information: Please provide a detailed overview explaining the following, using no more than one (1) page to explain each section: a. Introduction and background of main event b. Description and purpose / objective of Green Program c. Target audience / attendance / number of participants d. What “Green” initiatives were used at event (i.e. – recycling; alternative methods of transportation; renewable energy etc.) e. How were initiatives promoted to the public? Include marketing materials. f. Education programs pertaining to green program (for public, sponsors, volunteers etc.) g. How was green program enforced / encouraged, tracked, and staffed? h. Who assisted green program (vendors, volunteers etc.) i. Measurable results – how much was recycled; savings / cost of Green program; carbon footprint reduction j. Non-tangible results: education; awareness; involvement etc. k. Duration of program (start to finish) and years program has been part of event l. Description of sponsor / charity / volunteer / school / other group involvement with program and benefits to each (if applicable) m. Tie-in of program to main event n. Overall revenue/expense budget of program o. Overall effectiveness / success of program 2. Supporting Question - Answer question listed to the right, here 3. Supporting Materials - Place at the end of the entry. 78
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• Submit categories 44 & 45 each within one (1) notebook (2 or 3 ring binder; spiral bound; report cover; bound publication etc.) • Please submit your entry in the order listed. • In addition to the required printed entry, please also provide a pdf document of your entire entry (as one (1) document) on a CD or Thumbdrive. Attach to overall payment form. (Okay to submit all of your Pinnacle entries on one (1) CD or Thumbdrive.) For each entry, please provide detailed information to the following: 1. Overview Information (50 points) Please provide the required information listed under the specific category to the left. 2. Supporting Question: (10 points) • What did you do to update / change this program from the year before? Were your updates / changes successful? Please provide measurable results / examples. • If the program is a new program, please answer the following question instead. • “What challenges / obstacles did you foresee / encounter in creating the program, and how did you handle them?” 3. Supporting Materials: (10 points) Please also include any necessary supporting materials for the program - limiting materials to no more than 5 examples for each area listed below (if applicable). Supporting materials should be placed at the end of the entry. • Printed materials (brochures, handbooks, Recruiting materials, evaluation forms, signage, etc.) • Promotional / marketing / media materials • Merchandise materials (photographs accepted) • Information provided to participants / volunteers / sponsors / students / charities etc. • Supporting photographs • Measurable results: tangible & intangible 4. Judging Criteria: (30 points) No information required. Your entry will also be judged based on the below criteria. • Is the entry / program well organized? • Is the content professional? Is the message clear? • Is the entry / program designed and laid out well? • Is the program creative and / or unique? • What is the overall impression? • Have all supporting materials and measurable results been provided? • Have all requirements been met?
FESTIVAL & EVENT CRITICAL COMPONENT ENTRIES 46) BEST EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM
(For festivals/events who have a specific educational component built into their programming.) 1. Overview Information: Please provide a detailed overview explaining the following, using no more than one (1) page to explain each section: a. Introduction and background of main event b. Description and purpose / objective of Educational Program c. Target audience / attendance / number of participants d. Provide a detailed description of the education program / curriculum e. Who provided the education and in what setting f. Involvement by local educational institutions and professional education (if any) g. What was the take-away for attendees / participants? h. Duration of program (start to finish) and years program has been part of event i. Tie-in of program to main event j. Overall revenue/expense budget of program k. Description of sponsor / charity / volunteer / school / other group involvement with program and benefits to each (if applicable) l. Overall effectiveness / success of program 2. Supporting Question - Answer question listed to the right, here 3. Supporting Materials - Place at the end of the entry.
47) BEST CHILDREN’S PROGRAMMING (For festivals/events who have specific programming for Children) 1. Overview Information: Please provide a detailed overview explaining the following, using no more than one (1) page to explain each section: a. Introduction and background of main event b. Description and purpose / objective of Children’s Program c. Target Audience / main target age group d. Attendance / number of participants e. Activities /entertainment provided f. Local School involvement g. Tie-in of program to main event h. Overall revenue and expense budget of specific program / event i. Description of sponsor / charity / volunteer / school / other group involvement with event / program and benefits to each (if applicable) j. Duration of program (start to finish) and years program has been part of event k. What makes the program unique and creative? l. Overall effectiveness / success of program 2. Supporting Question - Answer question listed to the right, here 3. Supporting Materials - Place at the end of the entry.
48) BEST COMMUNITY OUTREACH PROGRAM
(Programming done throughout the year to benefit and help include all parts of the community, while enhancing the image and brand of your event/organization throughout the year.) 1. Overview Information: Please provide a detailed overview explaining the following, using no more than one (1) page to explain each section: a. Introduction and background of main event b. Description and purpose / objective of Outreach Program c. Target audience / attendance / number of participants d. Impact program had on the community e. Tie-in of program to main event f. Duration of program (start to finish) and years program has been part of event g. Overall revenue/expense budget of specific program h. Description of sponsor / charity / volunteer / school / other group involvement with program and benefits to each (if applicable) i. Overall effectiveness / success of program 2. Supporting Question - Answer question listed to the right, here 3. Supporting Materials - Place at the end of the entry. Spring 2015
ENTRY INFORMATION FOR CATEGORIES 46-48: • Submit categories 46, 47, 48 each within one (1) notebook (2 or 3 ring binder; spiral bound; report cover; bound publication etc.) • Please submit your entry in the order listed. • In addition to the required printed entry, please also provide a pdf document of your entire entry (as one (1) document) on a CD or Thumbdrive. Attach to overall payment form. (Okay to submit all of your Pinnacle entries on one (1) CD or Thumbdrive.) For each entry, please provide detailed information to the following: 1. Overview Information (50 points) Please provide the required information listed under the specific category to the left. 2. Supporting Question: (10 points) • What did you do to update / change this program from the year before? Were your updates / changes successful? Please provide measurable results / examples. • If the program is a new program, please answer the following question instead. • “What challenges / obstacles did you foresee / encounter in creating the program, and how did you handle them?” 3. Supporting Materials: (10 points) Please also include any necessary supporting materials for the program - limiting materials to no more than 5 examples for each area listed below (if applicable). Supporting materials should be placed at the end of the entry. • Printed materials (brochures, handbooks, Recruiting materials, evaluation forms, signage, etc.) • Promotional / marketing / media materials • Merchandise materials (photographs accepted) • Information provided to participants / volunteers / sponsors / students / charities etc. • Supporting photographs • Measurable results: tangible & intangible 4. Judging Criteria: (30 points) No information required. Your entry will also be judged based on the below criteria. • Is the entry / program well organized? • Is the content professional? Is the message clear? • Is the entry / program designed and laid out well? • Is the program creative and / or unique? • What is the overall impression? • Have all supporting materials and measurable results been provided? • Have all requirements been met?
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BEST EVENT / PROGRAM WITHIN AN EVENT TO BENEFIT A CAUSE
(Entry may include fundraising programs as well as awareness programs.) 1. Overview Information: Please provide a detailed overview explaining the following, using no more than one (1) page to explain each section: a. Introduction and background of main event b. Description and purpose / objective of Event/Program c. Description of selected cause and why/how it was selected d. Target audience / attendance / number of participants e. Tie-in of program to main event f. Duration of program (start to finish) and years program has been part of event g. Overall revenue/expense budget of specific event/program h. Description of sponsor / charity / volunteer / school / other group involvement with event / program and benefits to each (if applicable) i. Overall effectiveness / success of program 2. Supporting Question - Answer question listed to the right, here 3. Supporting Materials - Place at the end of the entry.
50) BEST EVENT (WITHIN AN EXISTING FESTIVAL) (Entry to highlight a specific event that is held during the course of a larger festival/event.) 1. Overview Information: Please provide a detailed overview explaining the following, using no more than one (1) page to explain each section: a. Introduction and background of main event b. Description and purpose / objective of Event within Festival c. Target audience and attendance / number of participants d. Overall revenue/expense budget of event e. Tie-in of program to main festival f. Duration of program (start to finish) and years program has been part of event g. Description of sponsor / charity / volunteer / school / other group involvement with event and benefits to each (if applicable) h. What makes the event unique & creative? i. Overall effectiveness / success of program 2. Supporting Question - Answer question listed to the right, here 3. Supporting Materials - Place at the end of the entry.
51) BEST EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS & RISK MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR AN EVENT
(Entry to focus on the overall risk management / emergency preparedness plan for a specific festival/event.) 1. Overview Information: Please provide a detailed overview explaining the following, using no more than one (1) page to explain each section: a. Introduction and background of main event b. Description and purpose / objective of Risk Management Plan c. Target audience / attendance / number of participants d. Overall revenue and expense budget of specific program / event e. Duration of program (start to finish) and years program has been part of event f. Description of sponsor / charity / volunteer / school / other group involvement with event / program and benefits to each (if applicable) g. Overall effectiveness / success of program 2. Supporting Question - Answer question listed to the right, here 3. Supporting Materials - Place at the end of the entry. ❍ Please submit a detailed documentation of the security plan used at your event
52) BEST FOOD & BEVERAGE PROGRAM
(Entry to focus on the overall food and beverage opportunities available during the course of a specific festival/event.) 1. Overview Information: Please provide a detailed overview explaining the following, using no more than one (1) pages to explain each section: a. Introduction and background of main event b. Description and purpose / objective of Food & Beverage Program c. Number and types of vendors d. Site Plan (i.e.: Food Courts, Crowd Flow etc.) e. Cash Management Process f. Fee Structures g. Alcohol Beverage Training/Control h. Vendor Application Process i. Festival/Event Controlled Products & Services (i.e.: Festival-only controlled product sales, Vendor required product use, etc.) j. Promotional activities to drive business k. Power/Water Access l. Waste Disposal 2. Supporting Question - Answer question listed to the right, here 3. Supporting Materials - Place at the end of the entry.
ENTRY INFORMATION FOR CATEGORIES 49-52: • Submit categories 49, 50, 51, 52 each within one (1) notebook (2 or 3 ring binder; spiral bound; report cover; bound publication etc.) • Please submit your entry in the order listed. • In addition to the required printed entry, please also provide a pdf document of your entire entry (as one (1) document) on a CD or Thumbdrive. Attach to overall payment form. (Okay to submit all of your Pinnacle entries on one (1) CD or Thumbdrive.) For each entry, please provide detailed information to the following: 1. Overview Information (50 points) Please provide the required information listed under the specific category to the left. 2. Supporting Question: (10 points) • What did you do to update / change this program from the year before? Were your updates / changes successful? Please provide measurable results / examples. • If the program is a new program, please answer the following question instead. ❍ “What challenges / obstacles did you foresee / encounter in creating the program, and how did you handle them?” 3. Supporting Materials: (10 points) Please also include any necessary supporting materials for the program - limiting materials to no more than 5 examples for each area listed below (if applicable). Supporting materials should be placed at the end of the entry. ❍ Printed materials (brochures, handbooks, Recruiting materials, evaluation forms, signage, etc.) ❍ Promotional / marketing / media materials ❍ Merchandise materials (photographs accepted) ❍ Information provided to participants / volunteers / sponsors / students / charities etc. ❍ Supporting photographs ❍ Measurable results: tangible & intangible 4. Judging Criteria: (30 points) No information required. Your entry will also be judged based on the below criteria. • Is the entry / program well organized? • Is the content professional? Is the message clear? • Is the entry / program designed and laid out well? • Is the program creative and / or unique? • What is the overall impression? • Have all supporting materials and measurable results been provided? • Have all requirements been met?
CATEGORIES FESTIVAL & EVENT CRITICAL COMPONENT ENTRIES 53)
BEST NEW EVENT
(For festival or event created from scratch within the past year.) 1. Overview Information: Please provide a detailed overview explaining the following, using no more than one (1) page to explain each section: a. Introduction and background of main event b. Description and purpose / objective of New Event c. Target audience and attendance / number of participants d. Overall revenue/ expense budget of event e. Duration of program (start to finish) f. Description of sponsor / charity / volunteer / school / other group involvement with event and benefits to each (if applicable) g. What makes the event unique & creative? h. Overall effectiveness / success of event 2. Supporting Question - Anwser question listed to the right, here. 3. Supporting Materials - Place at the end of the entry.
54)
BEST NEW PROMOTION ACTIVITY
(Entry should focus on a specific promotion done by festival/event/vendor/supplier to promote a product, service, event, company, entertainment etc.) 1. Overview Information: Please provide a detailed overview explaining the following, using no more than one (1) page to explain each section: a. Introduction and background of main event/organization b. Description and purpose / objective of Promotion c. Description of what was being promoted (merchandise, event, company, entertainment; etc.) d. What makes this promotion different from any other promotions? e. Target audience for promotion f. Attendance / number of participants (if applicable) g. Tie-in of promotion to main event/organization h. Overall revenue and expense budget of specific promotion i. Duration of promotion (start to finish) j. Description of sponsor / charity / volunteer / school / other group involvement with event/ organization and promotion and benefits to each (if applicable) k. Overall effectiveness / success of promotion 2. Supporting Question - Anwser question listed to the right, here. 3. Supporting Materials - Place at the end of the entry.
55)
BEST NEW ATTENDEE SERVICE
56)
BEST MONEY-MAKING IDEA
(Any product or service designed with the intent of enhancing the attendee experience at a festival or event.) 1. Overview Information: Please provide a detailed overview explaining the following, using no more than one (1) pages to explain each section: a. Description of new product or service b. Goals & objectives of product or service c. Application of product or service at an event d. Overall effectiveness of product or services e. Target market for product or service f. Measurable results: tangible & intangible 2. Supporting Question - Anwser question listed to the right, here. 3. Supporting Materials - Place at the end of the entry.
(Entry should focus on a specific idea implemented at a festival/event that generated revenue.) 1. Overview Information: Please provide a detailed overview explaining the following, using no more than one (1) page to explain each section: a. Introduction & description of main event b. Description of money-making idea c. Target audience (if applicable) d. Attendance / number of participants (if applicable) e. Mediums used to promote idea (if applicable) f. Tie-in of promotion to main event/organization g. Overall revenue and expense budget of specific idea h. Overall effectiveness / success of idea 2. Supporting Question - Anwser question listed to the right, here. 3. Supporting Materials - Place at the end of the entry.
ENTRY INFORMATION FOR CATEGORIES 53-56: • Submit categories 53, 54, 55, 56 each within one (1) notebook (2 or 3 ring binder; spiral bound; report cover; bound publication etc.) • Please submit your entry in the order listed. • In addition to the required printed entry, please also provide a pdf document of your entire entry (as one (1) document) on a CD or Thumbdrive. Attach to overall payment form. (Okay to submit all of your Pinnacle entries on one (1) CD or Thumbdrive.) For each entry, please provide detailed information to the following: 1. Overview Information (50 points) Please provide the required information listed under the specific category to the left. 2. Supporting Question (10 points) • What challenges/obstacles did you foresee/encounter in creating the program/activity/idea, and how did you handle them? 3. Supporting Materials: (10 points) Please also include any necessary supporting materials for the program - limiting materials to no more than 5 examples for each area listed below (if applicable). Supporting materials should be placed at the end of the entry. • Printed materials (brochures, handbooks, signage, etc.) • Promotional / marketing / media materials • Merchandise materials (photographs accepted) • Information provided to participants • Supporting photographs • Measurable results: tangible & intangible 3. Judging Criteria: (30 points) No information required. Your entry will also be judged based on the below criteria. • Is the entry / program well organized? • Is the content professional? Is the message clear? • Is the entry / program designed and laid out well? • Is the program creative and / or unique? • What is the overall impression? • Have all supporting materials and measurable results been provided? • Have all requirements been met?
CATEGORIES FESTIVAL & EVENT CRITICAL COMPONENT ENTRIES 57) BEST OVERALL MERCHANDISING PROGRAM
(Entry should focus on the entire merchandising program for the entire festival/event/organization.) 1. Overview Information: Please provide a detailed overview explaining the following, using no more than one (1) page to explain each section: a. Introduction & background of event b. Description of merchandising program c. Overall revenue and expense budget for merchandise lines d. Target market for merchandise program (population / location) e. Marketing efforts tied to merchandise program f. Community support in selling / distributing merchandise g. Measurable results (Including number / variety of items; number of outlets selling items, etc.) h. Overall effectiveness of merchandise program 2. Supporting Question - Answer question listed to the right, here 3. Supporting Materials - Place at the end of the entry. ENTRY INFORMATION FOR CATEGORY 57: • Submit category 57 within one (1) notebook (2 or 3 ring binder; spiral bound; report cover; bound publication etc.) • Please submit your entry in the order listed. • In addition to the required printed entry, please also provide a pdf document of your entire entry (as one (1) document) on a CD or Thumbdrive. Attach to overall payment form. (Okay to submit all of your Pinnacle entries on one (1) CD or Thumbdrive.) For entry, please provide detailed information to the
58) BEST VENDOR / SUPPLIER
(Entry should highlight a specific vendor or supplier to the festival/event that stands out above all others.) (Festival or Event must submit this entry)
1. Overview Information: Please provide a detailed overview explaining the following, using no more than one (1) pages to explain each section: a. Description of vendor / supplier b. How the vendor / supplier stands out over all other vendor / suppliers c. Quantity and quality of service and support to event by Vendor / Supplier d. Length of relationship between vendor and event e. Tangible benefits of relationship to both event and vendor. ENTRY INFORMATION FOR CATEGORY 58: • Submit category 58 within one (1) notebook (2 or 3 ring binder; spiral bound; report cover; bound publication etc.) • Please submit your entry in the order listed. • In addition to the required printed entry, please also provide a pdf document of your entire entry (as one (1) document) on a CD or Thumbdrive. Attach to overall payment form. (Okay to submit all of your Pinnacle entries on one (1) CD or Thumbdrive.) 82
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following: 1. Overview Information (50 points) Please provide the required information listed under the specific category to the left. 2. Supporting Question: (10 points) • What did you do to update / change this program from the year before? Were your updates / changes successful? Please provide measurable results / examples. • If the program is a new program, please answer the following question instead: “What challenges / obstacles did you foresee / encounter in creating the program, and how did you handle them?” 3. Supporting Materials: (10 points) Please include a sample selection of actual merchandise items available. • Also include photographs of all merchandise items available in your merchandise program. • Supporting materials should be placed at the end of the entry. 4. Judging Criteria: (30 points) No information required. Your entry will also be judged based on the below criteria. • Is the entry / program well organized? • Is the content professional? • Is the message clear? • Is the entry / program designed and laid out well? • Is the program creative and / or unique? • What is the overall impression? • Have all supporting materials and measurable results been provided? • Have all requirements been met?
For entry, please provide detailed information to the following: 1. Overview Information (70 points) Please provide the required information listed under the specific category to the left. 2. Judging Criteria: (30 points) No information required. Your entry will also be judged based on the below criteria. • Is the entry well organized? • Is the content professional? • Is the message clear? • What is the overall impression? • Have all requirements been met?
CATEGORIES MEDIA RELATIONS ENTRIES For effective media campaigns that generated news coverage, instead of paid or donated advertising time. 59) BEST PRESS / MEDIA KIT
(For festivals/events/organizations to not only provide actual press/media kit used, but to demonstrate its effectiveness and use.)
1. Overview Information: Please provide a detailed overview explaining the following, using no more than one (1) page to explain each section: a. Introduction & background of campaign / event b. Provide actual media kit used to send out for your event c. Target audience / demographics for the media d. Target location (communities / cities / states) for media e. Types of mediums used for media outreach f. Measurable results indicating: • Number of publications / cities / states targeted • Percent of distribution that covered news • Longevity of media coverage • Increase / decrease in media from previous years 2. Supporting Question - Answer question listed to the right, here 3. Supporting Materials - Place at the end of the entry.
60) MOST CREATIVE / EFFECTIVE NEWS STUNT (For Festivals/Events/Organizations who generated publicity through a media stunt to promote their event/cause etc.)
1. Overview Information: Please provide a detailed overview explaining the following, using no more than one (1) page to explain each section: a. Introduction & background of campaign / event b. A detailed description of the news stunt c. How did the news stunt fit in to the overall media campaign for your event? d. Sponsor / charity involvement (if any) and why e. Was there an increase in media coverage for your event as a result of the stunt? 2. Supporting Question - Answer question listed to the right, here 3. Supporting Materials - Place at the end of the entry.
61) BEST MEDIA RELATIONS CAMPAIGN (Entry should focus on the entire media relations campaign for a specific festival or event.)
1. Overview Information: Please provide a detailed overview explaining the following, using no more than one (1) page to explain each section: a. Introduction & background of campaign / event b. Purpose / objective of the media relations campaign c. A detailed outline of your entire media relations campaign for your event. d. Target audience / demographics for the media e. Target location (communities / cities / states) for media f. Types of mediums used for media outreach g. Measurable results indicating: ❍ Number of publications / cities / states targeted ❍ Percent of distribution that covered news ❍ Attendance results based on media outreach / campaign ❍ Income results based on media outreach / campaign ❍ Longevity of media coverage ❍ Increase / decrease in media from previous years. h. Overall effectiveness of the campaign 2. Supporting Question - Answer question listed to the right, here 3. Supporting Materials - Place at the end of the entry.
ENTRY INFORMATION FOR CATEGORIES 59-61: • Submit categories 59, 60, 61 each within one (1) notebook (2 or 3 ring binder; spiral bound; report cover; bound publication etc.) • Please submit your entry in the order listed. • In addition to the required printed entry, please also provide a pdf document of your entire entry (as one (1) document) on a CD or Thumbdrive. Attach to overall payment form. (Okay to submit all of your Pinnacle entries on one (1) CD or Thumbdrive.) For entry, please provide detailed information to the following: 1. Overview Information (50 points) Please provide the required information listed under the specific category to the left. 2. Supporting Question: (10 points) • What did you do to update / change this promotion from the year before? Were your updates / changes successful? Please provide measurable results / examples. • If the promotion is a new promotion, please answer the following question instead. • “What challenges / obstacles did you foresee / encounter in creating the promotion, and how did you handle them?” 3. Supporting Materials: (10 points) Please also include any necessary supporting materials for the program - limiting materials to no more than 5 examples for each area listed below (if applicable). Supporting materials should be placed at the end of the entry. • Printed materials (press releases, news clippings, etc.) • Promotional materials • Video / audio documentation (Please limit to 1 example – provide written explanation of further examples) • Supporting photographs 4. Judging Criteria: (30 points) No information required. Your entry will also be judged based on the below criteria. • Is the entry / campaign well organized? • Is the content professional? • Is the message clear? • Is the entry / campaign designed and laid out well? • Is the campaign creative and / or unique? • What is the overall impression? • Have all supporting materials and measurable results been provided? • Have all requirements been met?
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CATEGORIES EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS OFFERING EVENT MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS 62) BEST EVENT MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATE DEGREE
1. Overview Information: Please provide a detailed overview explaining the following, using no more than one (1) page to explain each section: a. Introduction & History of School/University b. Purpose / objective of Event Management Associate Degree c. Date degree/program was founded & time frame the course is offered d. Number of staff members & student to staff ratio e. Number of students enrolled / number graduated f. Tuition costs / Financial assistance offered g. Overall revenue and expense budget of program h. Writing/Speaking/Testing/Research requirements for students i. Practical event experience required (internships/assigned event management etc.) j. Overall effectiveness of degree/program - Alumni success (what are alumni of program doing now?) 2. Supporting Question - Anwser question listed to the right, here. 3. Supporting Materials - Place at the end of the entry.
63) BEST EVENT MANAGEMENT BACHELOR DEGREE
1. Overview Information: Please provide a detailed overview explaining the following, using no more than one (1) page to explain each section: a. Introduction & History of School/University b. Purpose / objective of Event Management Bachelor Degree c. Date degree/program was founded & time frame the course is offered d. Number of staff members & student to staff ratio e. Number of students enrolled / number graduated f. Tuition costs / Financial assistance offered g. Overall revenue and expense budget of program h. Writing/Speaking/Testing/Research requirements for students i. Practical event experience required (internships/assigned event management etc.) j. Overall effectiveness of degree/program - Alumni success (what are alumni of program doing now?) 2. Supporting Question - Anwser question listed to the right, here. 3. Supporting Materials - Place at the end of the entry.
64) BEST EVENT MANAGEMENT CERTIFICATION PROGRAM
1. Overview Information: Please provide a detailed overview explaining the following, using no more than one (1) page to explain each section: a. Introduction & History of School/University b. Purpose / objective of Event Management Certification Program c. Date degree/program was founded & time frame the course is offered d. Number of staff members & student to staff ratio e. Number of students enrolled / number graduated f. Tuition costs / Financial assistance offered g. Overall revenue and expense budget of program h. Writing/Speaking/Testing/Research requirements for students i. Practical event experience required (internships/assigned event management etc.) j. Overall effectiveness of degree/program - Alumni success (what are alumni of program doing now?) 2. Supporting Question - Anwser question listed to the right, here. 3. Supporting Materials - Place at the end of the entry.
ENTRY INFORMATION FOR CATEGORIES 62-64: • Submit categories 62, 63, 64 each within one (1) notebook (2 or 3 ring binder; spiral bound; report cover; bound publication etc.) • Please submit your entry in the order listed. • In addition to the required printed entry, please also provide a pdf document of your entire entry (as one (1) document) on a CD or Thumbdrive. Attach to overall payment form. (Okay to submit all of your Pinnacle entries on one (1) CD or Thumbdrive.) For entry, please provide detailed information to the following: 1. Overview Information (50 points) Please provide the required information listed under the specific category to the left. 2. Supporting Question (10 points) • What did you do to update/change the Degree from the year before? Were your updates/changes successful? Please providw measurable results/examples. • If the Degree is a new program, please answer the following questions instead: • What challenges/obstacles did you foresee/encounter in creating the program and how did you handle them? 3. Supporting Materials: (10 points)
Please also include any and all of the following Supporting Materials. Supporting materials should be placed at the end of the entry. • Student recruiting materials • Student application materials • Marketing materials for program • Complete outline and syllabus of course(s) • Reading requirements list for students • Sample testing Materials 4. Judging Criteria: (30 points) No information required. Your entry will also be judged based on the below criteria. • Is the entry / program well organized? • Is the content professional? • Is the message clear? • Is the entry / program designed and laid out well? • Is the program creative and / or unique? • What is the overall impression? • Have all supporting materials and measurable results been provided? • Have all requirements been met?
CATEGORIES EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS OFFERING EVENT MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS 65) BEST ONLINE EVENT MANAGEMENT TRAINING PROGRAM 1. Overview Information: Please provide a detailed overview explaining the following, using no more than one (1) page to explain each section: a. Introduction & History of School/University b. Purpose / objective of Online Event Management Training Program c. Date degree/program was founded & time frame the course is offered d. Number of staff members & student to staff ratio e. Number of students enrolled / number graduated f. Tuition costs / Financial assistance offered g. Overall revenue and expense budget of program h. Writing/Speaking/Testing/Research requirements for students i. Practical event experience required (internships/assigned event management etc.) j. Overall effectiveness of degree/program - Alumni success (what are alumni of program doing now?) 2. Supporting Question - Anwser question listed to the right, here. 3. Supporting Materials - Place at the end of the entry.
66) BEST FESTIVAL & EVENT MANAGEMENT MASTERS PROGRAM 1. Overview Information: Please provide a detailed overview explaining the following, using no more than one (1) page to explain each section: a. Introduction & History of School/University b. Purpose / objective of Festival & Event Management Masters Program c. Date degree/program was founded & time frame the course is offered d. Number of staff members & student to staff ratio e. Number of students enrolled / number graduated f. Tuition costs / Financial assistance offered g. Overall revenue and expense budget of program h. Writing/Speaking/Testing/Research requirements for students i. Practical event experience required (internships/assigned event management etc.) j. Overall effectiveness of degree/program - Alumni success (what are alumni of program doing now?) 2. Supporting Question - Anwser question listed to the right, here. 3. Supporting Materials - Place at the end of the entry.
67) BEST FESTIVAL & EVENT MANAGEMENT PHD PROGRAM
1. Overview Information: Please provide a detailed overview explaining the following, using no more than one (1) page to explain each section: a. Introduction & History of School/University b. Purpose / objective of Festival & Event Management PhD Program c. Date degree/program was founded & time frame the course is offered d. Number of staff members & student to staff ratio e. Number of students enrolled / number graduated f. Tuition costs / Financial assistance offered g. Overall revenue and expense budget of program h. Writing/Speaking/Testing/Research requirements for students i. Practical event experience required (internships/assigned event management etc.) j. Overall effectiveness of degree/program - Alumni success (what are alumni of program doing now?) 2. Supporting Question - Anwser question listed to the right, here. 3. Supporting Materials - Place at the end of the entry.
ENTRY INFORMATION FOR CATEGORIES 65-67: • Submit categories 65, 66, 67 each within one (1) notebook (2 or 3 ring binder; spiral bound; report cover; bound publication etc.) • Please submit your entry in the order listed. • In addition to the required printed entry, please also provide a pdf document of your entire entry (as one (1) document) on a CD or Thumbdrive. Attach to overall payment form. (Okay to submit all of your Pinnacle entries on one (1) CD or Thumbdrive.) For entry, please provide detailed information to the following: 1. Overview Information (50 points) Please provide the required information listed under the specific category to the left. 2. Supporting Question (10 points) • What did you do to update/change the Degree from the year before? Were your updates/changes successful? Please providw measurable results/examples. • If the Degree is a new program, please answer the following questions instead: • What challenges/obstacles did you foresee/encounter in creating the program and how did you handle them? 3. Supporting Materials: (10 points)
Please also include any and all of the following Supporting Materials. • Supporting materials should be placed at the end of the entry. • Student recruiting materials • Student application materials • Marketing materials for program • Complete outline and syllabus of course(s) • Reading requirements list for students • Sample testing Materials 4. Judging Criteria: (30 points) • Is the entry / program well organized? • Is the content professional? • Is the message clear? • Is the entry / program designed and laid out well? • Is the program creative and / or unique? • What is the overall impression? • Have all supporting materials and measurable results been provided? • Have all requirements been met?
CATEGORIES JUST FOR FUN 68) BEST PROMOTION PUBLICIZING AN IFEA / HAAS & WILKERSON PINNACLE AWARD WIN
ENTRY INFORMATION FOR CATEGORY 68: • Submit category 68 within one (1) notebook (2 or 3 ring binder; spiral bound; report cover; bound publication etc.) • Please submit your entry in the order listed. • In addition to the required printed entry, please also provide a pdf document of your entire entry (as one (1) document) on a CD or Thumbdrive. Attach to overall payment form. (Okay to submit all of your Pinnacle entries on one (1) CD or Thumbdrive.)
1. Overview Information: Please provide a detailed overview explaining the following, using no more than one (1) page to explain each section: a. Describe the promotion that took place to celebrate your IFEA/Haas & Wilkerson Pinnacle Award win.
For entry, please provide detailed information to the following:
(No Charge to enter this Category) Were you recognized for your outstanding accomplishments with an IFEA/Haas & Wilkerson Pinnacle Award last year? Gain further recognition for your award and event by promoting your Pinnacle Win, and then share with us what you did!
2. Supporting Questions: Please answer the following supporting questions, using no more than one (1) page for each question: a. What has winning an IFEA / Haas & Wilkerson Pinnacle Award meant to your event? b. How have you used winning an award(s) to your advantage? c. How has winning an award(s) enhanced your presence within your community? d. How has winning an award(s) increased leverage / funding / sponsorship for your event? 3. Supporting Materials: Please also include any and all of the following supporting materials – limiting it to no more than 5 examples of each: • Promotion materials used to promote award • Media clippings from promotion • Examples of IFEA / Haas & Wilkerson Pinnacle Winner logo placement
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1. Overview Information (50 points) Please provide the required information listed under the specific category to the left. 2. Supporting Question: (10 points) Please answer questions listed under specific category to the left. 3. Supporting Materials: (10 points) Please provide materials listed under the specific category to the left. Supporting materials should be placed at the end of the entry. 4. Judging Criteria: (30 points) No information required. Your entry will also be judged based on the below criteria. • Is the entry / promotion well organized? • Is the content professional? • Is the message clear? • Is the entry / promotion designed and laid out well? • Is the promotion creative and / or unique? • What is the overall impression? • Have all supporting materials and measurable results been provided? • Have all requirements been met?
ENTRY FORM REQUIREMENTS
• Please submit one overall entry form with total payment - list all en-
2015
AWARDS
tries submitted on this form. (Be sure to complete sections 1 & 4.)
• Please also submit TWO copies of each individual entry form •
RELEASE AND USAGE
By submitting your entry to the IFEA / Haas & Wilkerson Pinnacle Awards, you automatically grant the IFEA the right to use any materials from your entries for editorial, analytical, promotional or any other purpose without additional compensation. In addition, you acknowledge your entry / ies are not returnable. Your entry into the competition is acknowledgment of these terms.
• •
– one to be attached to each individual entry – and one to be submitted with payment and overall entry form. (Complete sections 1, 2, 3 on each entry form.) Be sure payment information is NOT filled out on these copies. If one organization is entering items for multiple events produced, please submit a separate payment form / overall entry form for each event to allow for proper credit to be given to that event. Please be sure to PRINT your organization, event, sponsor or program name clearly and correctly - as this is how it will appear on any award if won. NEW - Please email a high resolution copy of your organization or event logo to nia@ifea.com - subject “2015 Pinnacle Entry Logo” & Your Event / Logo Name.
Sections 1, 2 and 3 must be completed twice for each entry. One copy attached to each individual entry, and one copy attached to payment form. 1. ENTRANT INFORMATION (Required for each entry) (Tip: Complete Section 1. Then make copies to complete form for each entry.) How you list your organization / event name will be how it is listed on any award won. PLEASE PRINT CLEARLY. Organization: ________________________________________________________________________ Membership #: ____________________________ Name of Event (if different from organization): ________________________________________________________________________________________ Name of Specific Program and/or Program Sponsor (applies to Categories 38-68): ________________________________________________________ Address (Do not list P.O. Box): ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ City: ____________________________________ State: _____ Zip Code: _____________________ Country: __________________________________ Contact Person: _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Phone:______________________________________________ E-mail: ____________________________________________________________________ Website: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2. BUDGET INFORMATION (Required for each entry) Organization’s Event Expense Budget: (USD, include all cash outflows). Each entry category is divided into the budget categories below. Gold, Silver and Bronze Awards will be given in each budget category unless the number of entries warrants budgets to be combined, or as determined by the judges. under $250,000
$250,000 - $749,999
$750,000 - $1.5 million
over $1.5 million
3. ENTRY INFORMATION (Required for each entry) Category Name (required): _____________________________________________________________ Category Number (required): ________________ Entry Description: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (Provide brief identifying description for each entry or Name of your specific Program being entered, Sponsor Name, web address etc.) Complete section 4 ONCE. Attach payment for all entries combined.
4. PAYMENT INFORMATION
Total Categories Entered: List which categories you are entering and how many of each. This is so we can account for all of your entries when they arrive. (e.g. 1, 2, 2, 3, 5, 7…): ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Entries received with payment by 5:00 p.m. July 15, 2015 (MST) will receive the Member early bird rate of $30 per entry or $100 per Grand Pinnacle Entry; or the Non-Member early bird rate of $60 per entry or $150 per Grand Pinnacle entry, depending on IFEA Membership Status. Entries received between June 16, 2015 and July 20, 2015 will receive the Member final entry rate of $35 per entry or $100 per Grand Pinnacle entry; or the Non-Member final entry rate of $75 per entry or $200 per Grand Pinnacle entry, depending on IFEA Membership Status. Questions: Contact nia@ifea.com. Early Bird Member Rates (Before July 15, 2015)
Final Entry Member Rates (June 16 - July 20, 2015)
Early Bird Non-Member Rates (Before July 15, 2015)
Final Entry Non-Member Rates (June 16 - July 20, 2015)
Grand Pinnacle:
$75 x _____= $_______
$100 x _____= $_______
$150 x _____= $_______
$200 x _____= $_______
Pinnacle Entries: (Categories 2-67)
$30 x _____= $_______
$35 x _____= $_______
$60 x ______= $_______
$75 x ______= $ _______
Category #68: $ 0 x _____ = $_______ (Just for Fun Category) TOTAL NUMBER OF ENTRIES: __________________________ TOTAL AMOUNT ENCLOSED: $ _____________________________________ Check (Make checks payable to IFEA)
Visa
MasterCard
American Express
Print Cardholder Name: __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Signature: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Credit Card Number:_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Expiration Date: _____________________________________________ CVN Code: ______________________(MC / VISA-3 digit code back) (AMX-4 digit code front) DID YOU REMEMBER TO Include your payment for total entries along with 1 overall entry form listing each category number entered Include 2 individual entry forms for each item – one Include each entry (as requested) on a disk or Thumbdrive attached to payment form. with item, one with payment, do not list payment details on these forms Email organization / event logo to nia@ifea.com Review all rules for entry submission – go to: Pinnacle Awards section at www.ifea.com for more info. International Festivals & Events Association • 2603 W Eastover Terrace • Boise, ID 83706 U.S.A. • phone: +1.208.433.0950 • fax: +1.208.433.9812 • web: www.ifea.com
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The importance of volunteers to our industry cannot be overestimated. Whether the individual acts as a volunteer administrator of an event or contributes his or her time and resources in support of a larger, multi-event organization with a paid staff, the efforts that are put forth deserve our heartiest congratulations and recognition. It is for that reason that the IFEA/Zambelli Fireworks Volunteer of the Year Award was created. Nominations are currently being accepted for the 2015 IFEA/Zambelli Fireworks Volunteer of the Year Award. The award recognizes those outstanding event volunteers whose unselfish and dedicated service to a member festival or event has made a significant difference in their community and mirrors the commitment to success in our professional ranks. A panel of impartial judges from within the IFEA organization will select the Volunteer of the Year winner from all of the candidates submitted. That individual will be honored at the 60th Annual IFEA Convention & Expo location and date TBD. As the guest of the IFEA the winner will receive an all expense* paid trip to the convention to accept their award. All participants in the program will be promoted through local and national media releases, available on request. The finalist will be featured in a future issue of “ie� magazine, and each semi-finalist will receive a certificate of recognition. Volunteer nominations submitted for the 2014 Award may be carried over into the 2015 competition with the permission of the nominator. The nominator will have the option to re-write the nomination if desired. Please direct all nomination materials and questions to Nia Hovde, Director of Marketing & Communications at nia@ifea.com or +1-208-433-0950 ext. 3.
* Includes hotel and airfare only. To view a complete list of past winners and their nominations, go to the Industry Honors section on www.ifea.com
NOMINATION CRITERIA 2015 CALL FOR NOMINATIONS Please submit the following information for your nomination.
A. INDIVIDUAL SUBMITTING NOMINATION INFORMATION: Name • Organization • Address • City • State • Zip • Phone • Fax • Email B. NOMINATION INFORMATION: Name • Address • City • State • Zip • Phone • Fax • Email C. NOMINATION QUESTIONS: Please provide a 2 paragraph response for each of the questions below, indicating which question you are answering. Please include specific examples for each. Points will be awarded for each question. Points awarded are listed below. 1. Explain your volunteer’s significant depth of involvement. (20 points) 2. Show specific examples of your volunteers roles and responsibilities. (10 points) 3. Describe how your volunteer has provided significant enthusiasm, organizational assistance and specific expertise. (10 points) 4. Explain how your volunteer has shown initiative and leadership in his or her efforts. (20 points) 5. Tell how your volunteer has exemplified his or her dependability. (10 points) 6. Describe your volunteer’s positive attitude. (10 points) 7. Describe how your volunteer has made a difference to the festival or event. What impact has your volunteer had on your festival/event? What void would there be without him or her as a volunteer? (20 points) D. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: If your nominee is selected, we will need the following information for marketing the 2015 Volunteer of the Year. Please submit the following with your nomination. (Not required at time of nomination). 1. A photograph of the volunteer you are nominating. 2. A local media list (up to 15 contacts) in order for IFEA to send Press Releases to your media. • The preferred media list submission is in an Excel format. • Please include: Name; Organization; Address; City; State; Zip; Phone; Fax; Email E. ENTRY FORMAT: • Please email your nomination in a Word document. F. SUBMIT ENTRIES TO: Nia Hovde, Director of Marketing & Communications at nia@ifea.com G. QUESTIONS: Please contact Nia Hovde, nia@ifea.com, +1-208-433-0950 ext. 3
Nominations should be submitted no later than Monday 5:00 PM (MST) June 15th, 2015 * Pixels Per Inch ** Pixels Per Centimeter
To be eligible for consideration for the IFEA/Zambelli Fireworks Volunteer of the Year Award, the nominee shall:
• Be a current volunteer of an IFEA member organization • Have provided significant enthusiasm, organizational assistance and specific expertise • Be a volunteer of the nominating festival or event for at least 3 years • Have shown initiative and leadership in his or her efforts • Have a positive attitude • Have exemplified his or her dependability • Have a significant depth of involvement • Have made a difference to the festival or event • Have received no remuneration for services directly associated with his or her volunteer duties
FOUNDATION The Value of My IFEA Membership As I sit and contemplate my membership to IFEA, I am overwhelmed with gratitude at all the benefits and opportunities this organization has provided to me. IFEA is the single thing that has made the most impact on my career. Isn’t that a powerful statement? After the second year of my event, I began contract negotiations for my continued employment with the organization. As we discussed the options, concerns and opportunity, I felt one resounding criteria was needed over and over -- education. One of the board of directors mentioned he attended a convention while at the Fiesta Bowl that proved to be a wealth of information. The convention was for the organization named International Festivals and Events Association (IFEA). Within two weeks, I became a member and was attending my first convention. I still remember how nervous I was. My goal was to meet every attendee and learn everything about the festivals they produced. A little aggressive, but are we surprised? My game plan was Mardi Gras beads. Why? Well, my intern who placed the order that year added an extra zero to the end of the quantity number. The beads had a medallion with our logo and website and, of course, the year. By the end of the first night, everyone at the party including the band, was wearing beads from my little festival. I had so many business cards by the end of my stay, yet I had taken the time to jot down the type of event each person produced on the back of each and every card. Through the years, I have continued this approach so when I was in my office in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin I could pick up the phone and contact the a jazz festival looking for the best jazz band to hire, or the expert I met from a music festival with the best process on booking bands. I knew with IFEA, I had the festival world at my fingertips at a moment’s notice. The
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festival breed is unique; not only are we willing to answer any questions and share any ideas, we offer our designs and our builders to be on your site for the project. We are a sharing industry, as we all say, “If you steal one idea its plagiarism; if you steal from many, its research.” IFEA Conventions are a huge resource for enhancing my events. Where does someone go if you are the big event in your area to learn about food and beverage, sponsorship, risk management, marketing, etc.? IFEA caters to every aspect of the events process through the classes they offer, whether you are from a large event and your position is one specific role or responsibility, or if you are from a small event and you are responsible for absolutely everything. At my first conference, I received two invitations to experience two IFEA members’ events the following week. Five days later I was off to Illinois and three days after that I landed in California. Experiencing other event producers’ festivals is one of the best forms of education and the knowledge and experience I obtained through this process was priceless. My second year, we entered some of our marketing creations, including our media kit and a commercial for one of our events into the Pinnacle Awards. I still remember sitting in the Grand Ballroom and feeling the thrill and pride of seeing our commercial on the jumbotrons. We had worked with a cable company to produce our commercial. It entailed tossing various foods in the air such as salad, shrimp, oranges, lemons, limes and more to classical music. I remember turning to one of my IFEA friends and colleagues, who was from one of the largest organizations with one of the largest budgets, and saying the expense to produce our commercial was the cost of the groceries! I tell you this to remind you the size and budget doesn’t matter when it comes to winning a Pinnacle Award. What does matter is bringing that award to your board, community, partners and volunteers. It validates the quality of the events you produce, which I only could have bettered by being a member
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of IFEA, and gives all a sense of pride to be affiliated with your organization. The Webinars offered through IFEA have also been instrumental to both myself and my team. The topics inspire dialog on how our event addresses the same topics and challenge us to think outside of the box. They are a great way to start creative dialog and camaraderie. The connections IFEA has made on behalf of all of us has also been extremely beneficial. Many of the companies that have participated in the Expo are now currently at my event adding components that were needed to enhance it. I have used everything from gaming companies to cash register devices, even my insurance carrier. On a personal level, the insurance partners even sponsored my Certified Festival and Event Executive (CFEE) classes. Some even offer discounts to IFEA members only. The CFEE experience enhances the knowledge you have obtained and takes it to a new level, but more importantly, having the letters behind your name can add many elements. Having a CFEE shows sponsors not only do you see value in being invested in yourself and your career, but also the event they are sponsoring. It can help your proposals to standout since they are coming from a professional in the field. By signing a proposal with your organization, they are signing on with an expert to market their brand and business. The conversation those proposal letters start can open doors to many different opportunities, not to mention it can elevate your resume to the top of the pile. Although I cannot address everything IFEA membership has provided me, I have saved the best for last. The relationships I have obtained through the years have developed into some of the best in my life. Some, I call if I see they have worked with a company I am prospecting or booking a band
they had at their event. Then there are others I talk with almost every day. They help me with the struggles and challenges that come to all of us. They understand, because they have been there. They have all been asked if this is a volunteer position and what they do the rest of the year. They have had the wrong logo, or wrong sponsor, or wrong date on something and had to do a rerun. They have experienced the loss of support from a municipality or Mother Nature rearing her ugly head during the event. They are the first to help celebrate when we land that big sponsor we’ve worked on for months. They know not to call the week leading
up to the event, but to text and send well wishes for great weather and a safe event. Looking back, I am sure you have your own stories of how the IFEA has made a difference both professionally and personally. While soliciting sponsors for your upcoming event, I hope you will keep these positive experiences in mind and consider adding an item for the IFEA Auction held at the IFEA Foundation Night at this year’s 60th Anniversary Convention & Expo this September in Tucson, Arizona to your sponsorship agreements. The money from the auction will continue to raise the standard
of excellence in our industry, supporting scholarships and opportunities for the upcoming leaders in the events industry.
Mary Ann Dilling, CFEE 2015 IFEA Foundation Board Chair Director of Business Development Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) Oshkosh, WI Email: mdilling@eaa.org
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your goals. So tomorrow, I challenge you not to open email until you’ve been in your office for one hour. Instead pick the most important thing you need to get done, and do it while listening to Focus@ Will for one hour. I don’t always do this, but when I do, I’m more productive, strategic and proactive. Let me know how it goes! Sleep Cycle The last tool I want to tell you about is to help you sleep and wake up better. Really, there’s an app for that! This one is called Sleep Cycle, and it’s the deal of the century at $0.99 in the app store. Let’s talk about how Sleep Cycle wakes you up first. I find that the way I wake up can have a profound effect on my day. I despise a traditional alarm clock, and my goal is to go to bed early enough so I can wake up on my own. (Hey, a person can dream!) With Sleep Cycle, you enter in a half hour window (which you can vary to be longer or shorter) of when you want to wake up. By sleeping with your phone by your pillow, Sleep Cycle senses when you’re in the lightest sleep within that period (by how much you move and whatever other trickery they utilize), and it starts playing very gentle sounds (which you can choose) at that time. These sounds get louder if you don’t turn it off, but let me tell you. If you have been using the BUUUUZZZZZZZ of a traditional alarm, then you haven’t lived until Morning
Mist or December Moon gently pull you toward wakefulness.) You can customize whether you want your phone to vibrate, allow snooze, to turn off on weekends and more. You can even have it track your heart rate, tell you the weather when you wake and make your morning coffee. (See what I did there? I was seeing if you were paying attention… which you would be if you slept better!) I’m pretty sure we can all get on board with waking up more gently. But here’s where I may lose you if you don’t have trouble sleeping. When you set an alarm in Sleep Cycle, it asks you for any “Sleep Notes” – these are things you’ve done in the day that might affect sleep – exercise, caffeine, alcohol, electronics before bed, sleep medicines you’ve taken, etc. Then as you sleep, it tracks your sleep length and quality, so that over time, you can see how your behaviors affected your sleep. It’s pretty amazing to see over time how your lifestyle choices affect sleep so that you can actually change them to sleep better! It even gives you a sleep quality percentage so the goal-oriented among us can aim for higher numbers! One more thing about Sleep Cycle. You can go to sleep with white noise type sounds if you like, which I recommend. You can even have them fade out when you fall asleep… because it knows when that is! I know Sleep Cycle may sound like TMI – Too Much Information! But if you think about it, technology is probably quite literally keeping us up at night.
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I’ve even seen a recommendation to wear those blue blocker glasses they used to have infomercials for, to block out blue light from phones and TVs that keep us up at night. So why not use technology to do the opposite and actually help you sleep! There you have it – three apps that can help you slow your brain, focus and sleep better. I hope you will give at least one of them a try, and let me know what you think! Next time, I’ll discuss a different aspect of The Digital Life, and hopefully you’ll be focused and rested enough to read it! Be well. Kendra Wright started her career managing non-profit fundraising events. Then in 1995, as the internet came to being, she began doing online marketing, managing global Internet strategies at a Fortune 1000 technology company. In 1998, Kendra left that company to found, Wright Strategies, working with clients like KEEN Footwear, Jeep, Panasonic, Intel, Nike and Chrysler. Finally in 2009, Kendra launched Saffire Events to deliver software that makes it easy for events and venues to market themselves online. It’s been a wild ride. Kendra can be reached at: kendra@saffireevents.com and more information about Saffire Events can be found at: www.saffireevents.com.
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THE BOARD Setting Goals Every January, I start the New Year setting goals, personal and professional. My personal goals are always the same: eat healthier, save money, exercise more and get rid of the clutter (stuff and people). My professional goals change yearly. This year’s goals include: network more, learn more about and use social media, be more efficient and be more mindful when managing. Fortunately for me, Cultural Festivals recently hosted a workshop for artists called “What Works/What Doesn’t - Behavior of Successful Artist Entrepreneurs.” I had no idea what was going to be presented with a workshop with a title like that, or if it would pertain to me (I do not consider myself an Artist!) As I sat listening, I kept thinking this would work for the Saint Louis Art Fair. Wow! This will work for any event! This is easy to understand and the end result is something of substance! With that being said, I have to share. The workshop was all about setting goals and spending the time to actually set meaningful and attainable goals. I realized we (Saint Louis Art Fair staff) hadn’t actually sat down and itemized the specific goals we, as a team, wanted to accomplish. I then wondered if other event driven organizations spend actual time setting goals. Do you set goals for your event? Do you write them down? Do you share the goals with your board and your staff/ team mates? Writing them down is hard. In your head you think you know how and where you want the event to go, but how clear is that goal to others? Can you express it in words and are you willing to commit to it by writing it down and letting others know the goal . . . making you accountable? In the workshop, they had us go through some exercises that helped clarify our goals. Let’s take a moment to walk you through the exercises. Grab your pencils! Success First we looked at Success. How do you define success for your event? Seriously, have you sat down and listed what
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success is to your team? Is it to make the budget balance? Have “X” number of people attend? Have “X” number more new sponsors? Or is it something that only the event team members understand? Something like, “This year, success to us will be that the night before the event, the team will able to spend an evening with their families and/or friends, instead of pulling an all-nighter.” Event Assets Next, list your event’s assets. What is your event really good at, not just what you want the public to think, but what is an asset of your event? Is it location, unique programming, community support? Event Deficit What is your event’s deficit? Not just actuals dollars, but what doesn’t your event do well? Your event doesn’t have to be good at everything, you just want to know how to manage those not so good areas or things, or know how you can improve that element. Are their certain things you and/or the public endure about your event? An example for the Saint Louis Art Fair: Our attendees endure not enough free parking and long lines to purchase beverages. Are their things you and/or the public prefer about your event? Event Obituary Now this is hard. Write your event’s obituary. What do you want the public to remember about the event? What do you want your team/staff to remember? What was the event’s legacy? Put it on paper. Set Your Goals By working through these steps, you are ready to set your goals for your event. Decide on your goals. Are they attainable? Are they measurable? Are the goals expressed in terms that can be measured? Are the goals achievable? Nobody wants to set the event up for failure. ARE THE GOALS WORTHWILE? What is the end product? What is the outcome and is that outcome going to push the event to the next level of what you determined success to be?
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Can you anticipate any problems or challenges the event may encounter? Can you look at those situations and devise strategies for solving them? Think about the steps you need to accomplish these goal. Write them down. Now decide on three goals to accomplish in the short term (one year), three in three years, five years and for ten years. As you go through the above exercises, have you perhaps realized that you have one very accessible resource that can help you achieve your goals? That recourse being . . . the IFEA and the many programs and services they have available to you. One specifically that we here at Cultural Festivals take advantage of a great deal is the IFEA’s Online Webinars. Each and every Webinar offered in 2015 is full of valuable information that my team can gain knowledge from to help achieve one or more of our goals. For example: 1. GOAL: How can we design a better experience for our participants? IFEA Webinar: Designing the Best Participant Experience on Thursday, March 12, 2015 2. GOAL: How can we expand our event? IFEA Webinar: When, How, and the Challenges of Expanding your Event on Thursday, March 26, 2015 3. GOAL: How can we get better at sponsorship activation and ROI? IFEA Webinar: Strategies, Tactics and Cool Ideas for Activating Sponsorship on Thursday, April 9, 2015 IFEA Webinar: Providing Sponsors with ROI Other than on EventDays on Thursday, October 15, 2015 4. GOAL: How can we improve our financial Management? IFEA Webinar: Event Budgeting & Financial Management on Thursday, April 30, 2015 5. GOAL: How can we increase our children’s programming?
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IFEA Webinar: Beyond the Bounce Houses! Programming Children’s activities at your Festival on Thursday, November 15, 2015 Goal setting personally, professionally and for your event can be a lot easier when you take advantage of the resources available through the IFEA. We’re looking forward to getting one step closer to reaching our goals as we view the IFEA Webinars . . . I invite you to join me on the IFEA Webinars so you can do the same! I look forward to our paths crossing
soon and wish you continued success in 2015.
CINDY LERICK Chairman of the Board 2015 International Festival and Events Association Executive Director Cultural Festivals St. Louis, MO Email: clerick@culturalfestivals.com
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stylistic changes can and should be reflected in your BRAND. You must always be listening to your audience, your sponsors and other stakeholders. Surveys, first-person interactions all provide you with a sense as to the impact your brand is having. Find those few questions that reflect your BRAND and consistently measure yourself and your team’s performance on BRAND basics. BLOCK # 10 So What Can We Do Right Now to Build BRAND? Here are a few quick action items you can use as takeaways from this article for you to take your steps on your way to building a successful BRAND. Take a Survey: If you’ve never surveyed your audience, staff, volunteers or supporters on the very top level of marketing and branding, this would be a good time. We recently did a similar exercise at our organization asking questions of 30-50 individuals of how they describe the organization. What words are used? What is the organization’s impact on the community served? On a very basic level, this is the beginning of your branding process. But as I mentioned previously, now you will need to sit with staff and possibly even a facilitator to continue to keep digging below the surface of these words to get to the real truth. Audit Yourself: It’s very important to have an audit of all of your materials from your website to your social media pages to collateral materials to everything in between. As you examine your materials, are they all conveying the same message? Or is it more of a hodge-podge of different ideas at different times for different audiences? This is not meant to stifle creativity, and no organization wants to have a website circa 2004 still functioning. However,
it is important that at any point in time, there is cohesiveness to the approach in words, graphics and messaging that reflects your BRAND. If you see a few things that just don’t quite belong in the family, this is the time to remove or update so all pieces reflect the same approach and BRAND. Evaluate Touch Points: How many different ways do you interact with your supporters and attendees? While we all pay great attention to our outbound communications, there are other items from way-finding to third party engagement to sponsor activations that should be reflective of your brand and the message you are trying to deliver. As part of this audit and analysis you can have a substantive discussion with your entire team and see how each of these touch points connect with your audience. From there, decisions can be made on which items to keep, which to discard and which to add and embellish. We wish you well on taking the first steps toward building a BRAND for the long-term. And while millions of words have been written on the subject of BRAND, it’s most important that you at least get started on some of the very basic building blocks so that you can not only survive but THRIVE! Sean King has been consulting with small businesses and non-profits organizations for over 20 years. Currently, Sean is the Director of Marketing & Communications for Youth Education in the Arts (YEA!), a non-profit organization based in Allentown, PA which teaches life lessons through music. He also blogs regularly at www.artsmarketingblog.org. You can follow Sean on Twitter @skingaspire or contact him at: sking@yea.org
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performers when they are signed. You can put out multiple releases leading up to the event talking about the various performances and venue or venues. Your event itself is probably big enough to gain coverage as it takes place. After the event you can put out a release highlighting attendance (highest in 7 years, for example) number of performers, spectacular weather, or anything else which came out of the event. Then, maybe you make some community contributions with a portion of your proceeds. This is certainly worthy of a news release or two, as you present a scholarship to a student or make a contribution to a community agency. All of this builds your “bank account” of good public relations. Your goal is always to conduct yourself, your organization and your event(s) in such a way that it will build a stable of positive feelings toward the event. That way, if you get an early morning phone call one day that causes you to say “They said what???” you will have enough reserve built up to combat any negative PR that may come your way. As for the Patriots? If they win the Super Bowl, haters will say they didn’t deserve it, fans will say they overcame adversity. If they lose, detractors will say they couldn’t play with regulation footballs, and fans will say they were distracted by the adverse publicity. Just another day in the life of being a New England sports fan. May your event be free of such controversy. But, may you also be prepared, just in case. Scott Fraser is a veteran communications professional with more than 30 years’ experience. As principal of Fraser Communications Group, he provides public relations, media relations and crisis communications advice for his clients who range from small non-profits, to international corporations. He has been hired to protect the reputations of companies in crisis, and gain positive public exposure for clients ranging from an emerging high tech company to established organizations in industry and healthcare. Sought after as a public speaker, Fraser also is an adjunct professor at Salve Regina University in Newport, RI, teaching courses in Crisis Communications and Public Relations. You can reach Scott at: sfraser@frasercomm.com, (401) 647-3444 and follow him @ frasercomm on Twitter.
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MARKETPLACE BANNERS/FLAGS dfest® - DIXIE FLAG EVENT SERVICES TEAM - The ONE source for creative design, custom decorations, street banners, mascots, video marketing & installation for events. All services tailored to fit your unique needs. Contact: Pete Van de Putte Jr., CFEE, President; Address: 1930 N. Pan Am Expressway, San Antonio, TX 78208; Phone: (800) 356-4085; Fax: 210-227-5920; Email: sales@dixieflag.com; Website: www.dixieflag.com. ENTERTAINMENT BILL HALEY JR. & THE COMETS (FLASHBACK MANAGEMENT) Bill Haley has been called “The Father of Rock and Roll” and “Rock ‘n’ Roll’s first star!” Now his Son, Bill Haley Jr. & The Comets, recapture the heyday of his famous father and The Comets and carry on the tradition his father started! Re-creating the Music, the Feel, the Excitement, the Authentic Stage Costuming and the Energy, Bill Haley Jr. & The Comets will transport audiences back to the very beginning of Rock & Roll! Audiences will be on their feet, dancing in the aisles and singing along to every song during this incredible, All-Ages, Affordable Show!! Contact: Wayne Hunnicutt, Flashback Management; Address: 235 W Brandon Blvd, Brandon, FL 33511-5103; Phone: 813-610-8180; Email: wayne@wolfmanjack.com; Website: flashbackmanagement.com/Bill_Haley_Jr.html EVENT PLANNING VISTA PRODUCTIONS INC. - We are a premiere meeting & event planning, audio-visual & production staging company working with Fortune 500 companies across North America and Internationally. Contact: Angie Warnock; Address: P.O. Box 301, Harrisonville, MO 64701; Phone: 816-380-7750; Email: awarnock@vistaprod.com; Website: www.vistaprod.com FINANCIAL VISA / FESTIVALS.COM - Festival Transaction Services, a Festival Media Corporation company, brings true cashless transactions to festivals, fairs and community events through strategic partnerships with Visa and Bank of America Merchant Services (BAMS). Contact: Jim Shanklin; Address: 2033 Sixth Avenue-Ste 810, Seattle WA 98121; Phone: 206-381-5200; Email: jshanklin@festmedia.com INSURANCE HAAS & WILKERSON INSURANCE – Over 50 years experience in the entertainment industry, providing insurance programs designed to meet the specific needs of your event. Clients throughout the US include festivals, parades, carnivals and more. Contact: Carol Porter, CPCU, Broker; Address: 4300 Shawnee Mission Parkway, Fairway, KS 66205; Phone: 800-821-7703; Fax: 913-676-9293; Email: carol.porter@hwins.com; Website: www.hwins.com. 94
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KALIFF INSURANCE - Founded in 1917, Kaliff Insurance provides specialty insurance for festivals, fairs, parades, rodeos, carnivals and more. We insure the serious side of fun! Contact: Bruce Smiley-Kaliff; Address: 1250 NE Loop 410 Ste 920, San Antonio TX 78209; Phone: 210-829-7634 Fax: 210-829-7636; Email: bas@kaliff.com; Website: www.kaliff.com INSURANCE K & K INSURANCE – For 60 years, K & K insurance has been recognized as the leading provider of SPORTS-LEISURE & ENTERTAINMENT insurance products. Contact: Mark Herberger; Address: 1712 Magnavox Way, Fort Wayne, IN 46804; Call: 1-866-554-4636; Email: mark.herberger@kandkinsurance.com Website: KandKinsurance.com. INTERNET POINTSMAP® - PointsMap® has proven to be an effective and useful software for Festivals and Events. Create custom points at their exact location on your PointsMap with photos, descriptions, website links, multi-media, PDF’s and even “inside maps”. Your visitors can “PLAN” before the festival using their desktop computer, and then “NAVIGATE” the festival using their Smartphone. Visit www. PointsMap.com/SLAF and http://www.PointsMap.com/WichitaRiverFest/ to see how PointsMap is being used. It’s easy to use and extremely affordable. Contact: Jerry Waddell Address: 1100 Riverfront Pkwy, Chattanooga, TN 374022171; Phone: 423-894-2677; Email: jerryw@videoideas.com; Website: www.pointsmap.com QUICKEDGE™ (EDGEWORKS GROUP LLC) - Since 1994 our mission has been to drive more business through your website. We plan, design, build, and market successful websites by integrating customized online strategies including search engine optimization, affiliate marketing, email marketing, and more. If this kind of experience and approach is what you’re looking for, we’d love to hear from you. Address: 26361 Crown Valley Parkway, Suite 203, Mission Viejo CA 92691; Phone: 866-888-7313 x701; Email: info@edgeworksgroup.com; Website: www.edgeworksgroup.com. SAFFIRE EVENTS - Saffire is award-winning software providing events & venues with beautifully designed, online event destinations, including integrated content management, mobile, social, ecommerce, email and more. Contact: Kendra Wright, Address: 248 Addie Roy Rd, Ste B-106, Austin TX 78746-4133; Phone: 512-430-1123; Email: info@saffireevents.com; Website: www.saffireevents.com.
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