Festivals Without Borders

WITH ROBERT BAIRD

NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS

Every year at about this time, most of us make up a list of New Year’s Resolutions: these are usually the things we would like to change to address as we move forward in the calendar into what we like to think of as a “clean slate”. This year, given the state of the pandemic, perhaps it is time to consider our New Year’s Resolutions, not as things we’d like to change in ourselves, but to propose things we’d like to see change in the new world order. So, here’s my list of New Year’s Resolutions for a Festival World of 2022.

1. Increase our Footprint

Festivals will make every effort to reach out to the “whole” community they serve in as many creative ways as possible: Using the internet, developing community events to advertise events, making alliances with as many organizations as possible in the community. A network increases our reach and our strength.

2. Increase our Visibility

Festivals will not just be the real estate where the event takes place: it will become any and all real estate throughout its geographical placement that will make people appreciate the existence and importance of the festival. Our festival will be known for its “flash-mob” forays in our community.

3. Eliminate Them Versus Us

Our Festival will make every effort to reach out to our competitors and try to work together to create win-win situations. We will admit to our vulnerabilities and ask for help and cooperation to create bridges between community organizations. We will not hesitate to share our resources with other organizations and work with them not against them.

4. Emphasize People

Our Festival will make a point of recognizing the distinct uniqueness of everyone in our sphere: employees, volunteers, visitors, through the simple policy of requiring name tags for everyone. We want to know who our people are, by name, and we want everyone else to know who we are, by name. We might even want to personalize the name tag even more than the obvious by adding some unique identifier or qualities that will help to embed each person in our memory.

5. Excel Through Teamwork

Our Festival will assemble great teams for every aspect of our work and then we will give each member of the team the freedom and confidence to excel at what they do by allowing them to develop their ownership of their work. We will encourage all staff to participate fully and contribute to the best of their ability to improve the organization.

6. Learn from the Best

Our Festival will make it a point to seek out the best Festivals in the world and learn from them. We will incorporate the best lessons and policies we can find from anywhere and not try to re-invent the wheel when there are Festivals out there who have successfully created systems we can adopt.

7. Festivals will Pivot

Our Festival will be ready to adapt immediately when things go wrong or when things need to be re-considered in the light of reality or practice. WE will not cling to policies or procedures that do not work.

8. Share Our Enthusiasm and Passion

Everyone at our Festival is an Ambassador for the Festival, sharing their enthusiasms for the organization and the work it is doing in the community.

9. Learn From Our Mistakes

Our Festival will acknowledge and admit when it goes wrong and will learn how to do things better. We will not be afraid to say we made a mistake and we are working to correct it.

10. Nurture the Next Generation

Our Festival has a nurturing succession policy that will provide for continuity in what we do and train the next generation to take over and improve the work of our organization moving forward. Happy New Year!

Robert Baird is President of BAM! Baird Artists Management Consulting in Toronto, Canada and an acknowledged expert in international touring including visas, withholding and taxation. He offers free advice to artists, agents, managers and venues and has an international clientele. He served for many years on the Executive Board of Festivals and Events Ontario (FEO) and is a former Vice-President of that organization. He can be reached at: P: 1-800-867-3281 E: robert@bairdartists.com or for more information go to: www.bairdartists.com

www.kaliff.com