What a Great Line-Up

One of my favorite jobs as Executive Director of TFEA is working with the program committee to establish a curriculum and line up speakers for the Annual Conference I owe a special thanks to Barry Box and Kay Wolf who served on this year's committee.

Throughout the year, I listen to member conversation and take cues about their learning needs and expectations. Putting together the conference is how we respond to that conversation. Sometimes it is by placing a topic that is receiving lots of buzz on the agenda. Often times it is inviting a member to conference as a speaker to share their incredible creativity. To me, both are enormously satisfying.

With technology tools changing moment-by-moment, many sessions this year will be dedicated to helping our members better understand and use these tools. Sheila Scarborough, Tourism Currents, will offer a full day social media session. And Enrique Garza, BIBISI Corp, will demonstrate the tidal wave of mobile media applications to use before, during and after our events.

During my travels, I also get to see talented people outside of Texas and invite them to come share with us. This year, Alex Moorshead with Canada's Word on the Street Festival, will demonstrate a process for brainstorming ideas and then distilling them into measureable and trackable festival management documents. Joelle Baugher with The 500 Festival in Indianapolis will join us to share ideas on building volunteerism and educational components within a festival. And Megan Hundahl, who recently moved back to Texas after a stint as a producer for CNN, will teach us how to cut through the clutter and pitch ourselves memorably to the media.

People from outside our industry are also a valuable component of learning. Corpus Christ Police Chief Troy Riggs, who formerly held the same position in Louisville, KY, will share ideas for working in partnership with local emergency management officials. Teri McCarthy, who owns a wonderful green printing company in Austin, will offer tips for saving a bundle on printing. Our friend Roger Hanagriff, Ph.D., will be back with a simple to use methodology for assessing event economic impact.

But perhaps my favorite sessions come from within the ranks of our own membership. Mark Avelar and Scott Carrigan with the Buccaneer Commission attended TFEA for the first time in 2009 and used what they learned to make sweeping changes to the event with great success. Don't miss their story. Tony Alvarado, President of the Fiesta Flambeau Parade Association will offer building blocks for parades of any size. Plus many more.

Our industry is so creative and so willing to share ideas, energy and fun. Over the years I have said countless times that I have never asked a TFEA member for help and received what I wanted and its TRUE! I have always received even MORE than for what I asked! Make plans to attend TFEA this year and see what it is all about. The cost is only $200, which includes all the sessions, 5 meals, talent showcases, the trade show, and great networking activities. It is an investment you'll be glad you made.

It All Comes Back to the Experience

By Penny C. Reeh, CFEE

Today I was reading a research-based article in eMarketer which showed that an old-fashioned, face-to-face recommendation was still the most powerful tool to motivate a potential customer to start an online search for a product or service.

The article made me smile. Maybe the art of personal, in-the-flesh communication is not losing ground entirely. Don't get me wrong. I love social media and all of its associated opportunities and applications. And I fervently believe that the festival community must get on-board or be left behind.

However, we must never forget the power of a personal recommendation and always remember that the single most effective way to garner that precious recommendation is the delivery of an outstanding customer experience.

We must ask, "What can I do at my event that makes an unforgettable connection with the customer?" Then we must replicate the answer to that question and embroider it into everything we do. It all comes back to taking a customer-centric approach to event planning.

Who knows what the next new communication gadget will be? But rest assured it is still people who drive our business.

Finding the Best Tent Company for Your Festival

Tents are an important element of the infrastructure of most festivals. The following tips will help you select a tent supplier that can best meet your needs.

1. Experience. This speaks for itself. When planning your event, does your Tent Rental Company have the experience to truly understand your needs? Have you seen pictures of tents they have installed? Do they have a web presence that shows their work? Do they have references to substantiate their experience with your type of event? This can make a tremendous difference.

2. Can they tell you when your tent will be set up? Do they have the GPS tracking device to assure you the status of your tent setup? Having the peace of mind to know that your setup will be done on time will enable you to take care of the important details and not delay your event!

3. Do they have the knowledge and experience to design the type tent and other related equipment it will entail including dealing with environmental conditions, and knowledge of local permitting issues to insure your event will be comfortable and safe for your guests.

4. Can they provide the tent(s) you need within your budget? An experienced company will assist you with the correct tent for your event staying within the guidelines you require.

5. Can the Tent Company be creative and accommodate special needs for your event? Are you planning a Corporate Fundraiser needing a runway with a dance floor or do you want something to simulate a tropical island setting? Do you have a wedding planned in a chapel in the mountains? The tent company you choose should be creative with your ideas! Keep the cost reasonable and setup your event on time!

6. Do you think you want to plan something for next week or next year? Being capable of providing the tent and related equipment you need in the time frame allotted is very important. Get started early with your planning.

Source: PartyPop

Bridging the Generation Gap Among Volunteers

By Penny C. Reeh, CFEE

Kids these days, they just don’t want to work! How can I lead when the old guard won’t let me? Do either of these sound familiar to you? It’s because they represent the classic generation gap that many festivals are encountering as they seek to create a volunteer experience that engages both the seasoned volunteer and new, and often younger, volunteer.

Conflict between generations is certainly not a new phenomenon, but it is fair to argue that the lightning pace of technological change and the impact it has on generational perceptions has created a more distinctive, and potentially explosive, generational divide than ever before. The best way to bridge this divide is for festivals to create an organizational culture that welcomes each of today’s generational cohorts, uses their unique talents wisely, and encourages understanding and patience among all.
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City of Hidalgo Announces State Farm as New Arena Sponsor

The City of Hidalgo is proud to announce State Farm Insurance as the new name
sponsor for the arena. Effective immediately, the largest event and concert venue in South Texas has a new name: State Farm Arena.

“State Farm is thrilled to introduce the State Farm Arena to the Rio Grande Valley,” said Mike Hargis,State Farm Agency Vice President, Texas Zone. “This is the first arena in the country that bears the State Farm name. This investment reaffirms our commitment to the Rio Grande Valley – where our agents and employees live, work and give back through our philanthropic endeavors.”

For six years the Arena has been the number one concert and event venue in South Texas. Ranked 31st out of the top 100 arenas in the world and number 5 in the United States in venues its size. Over 2.6 million people have come through the arena to enjoy concerts, shows and sporting events.

State Farm Arena is the home of the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees and The Rio Grande Valley Vipers. In 2010 we continue to make history, marking the beginning of a new era of entertainment in the Rio Grande Valley. We are taking a step forward to better serve our fans and will continue to provide the best entertainment in South Texas.

Three Trends in Corporate Sponsorship and What They Mean For You

By Gail S. Bower, Bower & Co. Consulting
www.gailbower.com

Undoubtedly, the last 18 to 24 months have been a challenge for your organization and events. Congratulations; you made it through.

Now, it's a new year, and time for a new perspective. While the economic conditions are gradually improving - and let's choose to remain optimistic - I'd like to draw your attention to conditions in the marketplace you may have missed.

If you represent an important cause with a strong corporate sponsorship program, now is an excellent time to partner with the corporate sector. Yes, you read me correctly; I said 'an excellent time.'

Thanks to the recession, the bailouts, the bloodletting, and a barrage of other bad news, consumers have grown weary of the corporate sector. Trust has decreased, and reprioritizing has, well, become the priority. Consequently, corporations, especially in the financial sector, have their work cut out for them to rebuild trust and brand loyalty.

Consumer research shows that sponsorship of a nonprofit organization or cause, vs. sports or even the arts and culture, would contribute positively to consumers' increased approval of corporations.

Businesses are getting the message. Did you know that Pepsi pulled its Superbowl ad dollars and instead launched a cause and social marketing campaign?

Disney's in on the action. So is Seventh Generation. And a blogger with Fast Company wonders whether philanthropy is the new marketing. So, are you taking advantage of this and other opportunities?

Considering numerous economic and cultural conditions, I've spotted a few other corporate sponsorship trends, and here's what they mean for you:

1. Generic is out. So is superficial. If you're peddling a typical Gold/Silver/Bronze or other generic proposal as a form of marketing-driven corporate sponsorship, you're off the mark. Your sales pitch will sound increasingly irrelevant.

You're doing a disservice to your organization by offering low value to your corporate partner and failing to build leverage for your cause. You're also losing out on significant dollars.

Social media has changed the way we interact and engage with audiences. The proliferation of media over the last 35 years has had a broad effect, including contributing to increasingly niche audiences. We are not a monolithic mass audience. We don't market that way to consumers, and it doesn't work that way in a B2B setting either.

Sending out generic proposals to people and businesses you don't know sends a signal that you and your organization are inexperienced and unsophisticated. It's the quickest way for your materials to wind up in the trash.

Industries are all different, and businesses within those industries have unique needs. Your job is to learn more about them and develop your offerings specifically for that prospective partner.

ACTION: Do your research. Learn more about your partners' and prospective partners' businesses and industries so you have something meaningful to them to talk about. Develop programs for your partners that provide value in support of their specific business goals.

2. Be clear: marketing or philanthropic support? Are you interested in partnering in support of business goals or are you asking for a donation?

In the last 5 to 10 years, you've no doubt noticed shifts and changes in your work with the for-profit sector. More corporations have been asking for "benefits" in exchange for their "gifts," which changes the whole dynamic of the corporate giving model. You may have tried to respond to these sorts of requests but felt confused nonetheless. Philanthropy offices don't reduce that confusion.

Here's some clarity. Marketing-driven corporate sponsorship is a different model than the corporate giving model. It's a marketing medium designed to address business or marketing goals of the corporation. If you are in a discussion about corporate sponsorship dollars, you need to be asking questions about the company's business goals, marketing goals, and the ROI the company seeks.

The recession caused everyone - businesses, nonprofits, state and local governments, individuals - to question expenditures. (Everyone, it seems, but the federal government!) With uncertainty, we all want to know that how we spend our money will have a return and be meaningful in our businesses and lives. This trend is unlikely to stop in 2010. Your partners will want to know that an investment in your organization will move the needle for them.

If you're really seeking a donation, consider whether you really need to offer the kind of marketing value your marketing partners want, but that corporate foundations may not need or be interested in. Find out what's important.
Conversely, perhaps some combination of marketing and philanthropic dollars could be leveraged to meet multiple strategic interests. Think big. How can you really engage the corporation from both angles? How will that engagement propel your own strategic interests?

ACTION: Develop a clear strategy with each prospective corporation you're working with. How do you envision your partnership? How are you trying to engage with them? What is the business case you need to make? What's in it for both of you?

3. Corporate philanthropy offices will face increased pressure to show a measurable return and support of corporate strategic goals. As mentioned above, budgets have been placed under microscopes, and ROI, return on investment, is of utmost importance. Corporate leaders want to know that their limited dollars are invested wisely. Philanthropic dollars may contribute to corporations' reputation management, community quality of life issues, workforce development goals, as well as to other corporate social responsibility initiatives, both short- and long-term.

ACTiON: Make a business case about how the investment in your organization, perhaps coupled with dollars from other departments or initiatives, such as human resources, PR, marketing, corporate social responsibility, etc., can help fulfill broader strategic goals. The more departments you can integrate, the better. Why? Because your partner will be more engaged; you'll generate more dollars; and, together, your plans will yield a greater impact in the world.

Most events and nonprofit organizations have a great deal to offer the right marketers. If you're not taking advantage of these trends, of heightened consciousness to support social causes, you're missing important opportunities to galvanize support for your mission, your cause, your passion, and your constituency. You're also leaving money on the table.

To learn about other sponsorship trends and what they mean for you, check out the 1-hour long mp3 recording, 10 Trends in Sponsorship. Also, to learn more about the effects of the last year on sponsorship and what steps you can take now to improve your program, operation, and approach with new and existing sponsors, pick up a copy of Gail Bower's guidebook, How to Jump-start Your Sponsorship Strategy in Tough Times, called "the Bible for anyone securing sponsorships" by a reader who signed a five-figure title sponsorship for a new event by applying what she learned in the book.

So what are green events anyway?

For at least two years, event planners have likely been asked, "what are you doing to make your event more green?" And the answer to that question is all over the board - from simple recycyling and composting programs to event-owned venues producing their own bio-fuels from event waste.

As events work toward eco-friendly solutions to lessening their impact, there are still a lot of unanswered questions. How do I measure my event's impact? Are we truly becomming greener, or doing things just for the sake of doing things?

According to ClimatePath.com, a company that specializes in carbon neutral planning, as much as 90 percent of an event's carbon footprint is realized in attendee travel getting to the gathering. For events with a more local or regional audience, this percentage is likely smaller, but remains the largest impact. In Texas, where mass transit is not common, this may be a difficult factor to mitigate.

ClimatePath offers the following summary of how an event can measure its environmental impact so that a plan can be created for reduction.

Scope 1 emissions are those directly occurring "from sources that are owned or controlled", such as work vehicles.

Scope 2 emissions are emissions generated in the production of electricity consumed by the event organizer's activity. This also includes energy generated at the event location.

Scope 3 emissions are all the other indirect emissions that are a consequence of the activities of the event, but occur from sources not owned or controlled event organizer. These include air and ground travel, hotel stays, emissions of the production and transportation of purchased goods; outsourced activities; and so forth.