Ie volume 29 issue 3

the business of international events

ie Magazine is sponsored by:

Jean McFaddin

1942 - 2018

the business of international events

63rd Annual IFEA Convention, Expo & Retreat How to Increase Sponsorship Revenue: Getting Creative with Benefits Does the Location of Your Festival DEFINE Your Festival?

www.Kaliff.com

Proud to be an IFEA Association Endorsed Partner

the business of international events

F E AT U R E S

63rd Annual IFEA Convention, Expo & Retreat How to Increase Sponsorship Revenue: Getting Creative with Benefits Does the Location of Your Festival DEFINE Your Festival?

On the Cover: The 2018 Philadelphia Federal Credit Union (PFCU) Kensington Derby and Arts Festival is co-organized by New Kensington Community Development Corporation (NKCDC) and the East Kensington Neighbors Association (EKNA).

Photograph by Napoleon Suarez.

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Your Vacation Request Has Been Denied! Keep Working Until You Reach Burnout

by Steve McClatchy

32

Does the Location of Your Festival DEFINE Your Festival?

by Keli O’Neill Wenzel

42

Cutting-Edge Tech Trends: The Attendee Experience in 2018

by Sean O’Shea

82

How to Increase Sponsorship Revenue: Getting Creative with Benefits

by Kim Skildum-Reid

94

The E-Newsletter is Not Dead - 10 Tips for an Effective Newsletter

by Erin Fortune

104

Shifting Volunteer Trends

by Florence May with Ben Reno-Weber

DEPARTMENTS 8

IFEA Presidents Letter

10

IFEA World Board

18

The Sponsor Doc

22 #EventPermit 23

2018 Expo Brochure

36

The Digital Life

40

The Un-Comfort Zone

45

Leadership at All Levels

48

Adelman On Venues

52

2018 IFEA Hall of Fame Winner

55

63rd Annual IFEA Convention Brochure

78

Foundation Auction

86

Festivals Without Borders

89

2018 Volunteer of the Year Award Winner

92

Safely Does It

97

Leadership Legacy

100 English 101 106 May I Help You 110 Everyone is Invited 113 2018 IFEA Webinar Series 120 Marketplace Fall 2018, Volume 29, Issue 3 “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.

IFEA PRESIDENTS LETTER

BY STEVEN WOOD SCHMADER, CFEE

PERCEPTION = REALITY =

CHANGING PERCEPTIONS

We have all heard that ‘perception = reality’. What we see, hear and experience, most certainly effects how we act, respond and engage with others. And just as we perceive or accept the realities that others aim at us (and us at them), we are also influenced by our own internal perceptions…how we see and imagine ourselves or our events…which may do more to impact our success, or our stress, than any other factor.

We have all watched the U.S. and global political fronts in recent months and years, with a combination of fascination and concern at just how easy it seems to be to influence and control entire groups of people; to sway them away from accepted ethics and norms; and to risk undoing what took (in some cases) centuries to build. All through the purposeful creation and presentation of false perceptions as reality.

In recent weeks, we have also seen the highly positive side of this equation, as a 25-year-old soccer coach used his influence to create a perceived reality among young students trapped for weeks in a cave in Thailand; filling with rising waters and quickly depleting an already low oxygen supply; in the dark; with virtually no food or fresh water supplies; to remain calm and believe that everything was going to be alright. Similarly, their eventual rescuers, had to alter their own perception of a very dire and unlikely procedure, to believe in their odds of success that became their reality.

When industry icon Jean McFaddin, CFEE whom we sadly lost this year, stepped into her role as the Producer of the Macy*s Thanksgiving Day Parade in the 1970’s, her perception of the parade was one of great respect, but also one of an event that needed a long-overdue facelift. She clearly defined a perception in her mind of what it should/could be and spent nearly 25 years working toward that. During that same timeframe the annual audiences that lined the streets of New York and tuned-in to watch on television across the nation, held their own perception of awe and wonder and magic to be looked-forward to every Thanksgiving. But for Jean, it wasn’t until she stepped away from 8

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her role as producer, that she got to perceive her event from the vantage point of others, and to realize that her own perception had indeed become a reality under her watch.

We spend much of our careers creating perceptions and, in-turn, realities for our communities, our cities, our countries and our world. We work to understand what is important to our audiences, our sponsors, our volunteers, our boards, our staffs, our entertainers, our vendors, and each of our stakeholders, so that we may work to turn their perceptions into realities. And as we succeed, the perceptions of what is possible change, and we start again to build toward even greater realities.

But along that journey, we have to remember to step back once in-a-while to view what we have accomplished from the vantage point of those we touch. To be reminded of how far we have come. To ensure that we are leveraging the perceptions that others have of us and our events to build even stronger realities and legacies that will last well-beyond ourselves.

I invite you to take that all-important step back by joining your global industry peers for the 63rd Annual IFEA Convention, Expo & Retreat this October 1-3 (with CFEE and Advanced Education courses September 28-30) in beautiful San Diego, California, USA. A step back that will allow you to perceive your successes and your events from the perspective of those who understand what you do. To gain fresh perspectives on both challenges and opportunities that make us all better at what we do. And to imagine new perspectives, together, that might allow the events of our industry to bond our world closer together.

Gene Cernan, the Commander of Apollo 17 and the last man to walk on the moon, noted in his memoirs as he looked back on the earth: “I see the world without any borders; without any fighting; without any fear. And isn’t it the way we perceive things, that makes them what they will be?”

I wish you all grand perceptions and even greater realities. We look forward to seeing you in San Diego in October.

Don’t let an accident ruin your day. hwins.com

Independent agent representing ACE Group Programs Division. Most insurance products are underwritten by insurers within the ACE Group of Insurance Companies.

Take a proactive approach instead. Our event experts can help identify your risks and provide creative solutions that protect your organization from accidents.

For a comprehensive review of your coverage and exposure, call 1-800-821-7703.

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IFEA WORLD BOARD

W

ith the 63rd Annual IFEA Convention, Expo & Retreat in San Diego, CA just ahead and our own Portland Rose Festival wrapping up in June, it is traditionally a time of reflection and evaluation. As I look out our office window, I am reminded that summer has just started and we are in the middle of festival season around the country and the world.

Our home base at Tom McCall Waterfront Park in downtown Portland, Oregon hosts a multitude of events throughout the season. As I write this today, the largest music event in Portland just ended, and the largest beer festival in the state is getting set to take over Portland’s home of summer events.

I look at the IFEA Convention as a major part of the event calendar. It comes at a time where many of us are in different phases of our planning and implementation cycles. No matter what the time, these few days matter and have proven essential to our industry. For me personally, the IFEA Convention is the perfect time to not only self-reflect but to share those reflections with others who have similar experiences or are planning for them. It’s a good time to refresh and consider Changing Perspectives.

The IFEA Convention, to use a sports metaphor, is the All-Star break during the season when we all can take a time-out, head into the locker room and talk about what we did and what we want to do coming back out. Does your own perspective need a refresh? Are you happy with how you are doing 10

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BY JEFF CURTIS

business, growing your event or staying up with current events and trends?

The 63rd Annual IFEA Convention, Expo & Retreat, held in San Diego, CA, October 1-3, will give you a chance to elevate your perspective by providing many points of view in changing technologies, trends and issues. The IFEA Convention is designed to provide networking and educational opportunities to share and grow your professional experiences and expertise. This is a good time to bring your staff, volunteers and key influencers to meet industry experts and take advantage of this great opportunity to prepare for, and respond to, the changing perspectives that are influencing our industry.

Sometimes even a subtle shift in perspective can allow us to see new options and possibilities. Join us at the Convention this October in San Diego and see what Changing Perspectives can do for you. Thanks for making the IFEA a part of your professional resource pool. Collectively, all of us are making a difference in growing our industry forward!

Jeff Curtis 2018 IFEA World Board Chair CEO Portland Rose Festival Foundation Portland, OR

PRODUCTION SERVICES SET CONSTRUCTION RENTAL SOLUTIONS DESIGN ATOMICDESIGN.TV

LITITZ, PA • LOS ANGELES • NEW YORK MIAMI • FRANKFURT

IFEA VISION A globally united industry

Publisher & Editor

that touches

Steven Wood Schmader, CFEE, President & CEO Assistant Editor

lives in a positive

Nia Hovde, CFEE, Vice President Director of Marketing & Communications

way through

Advertising Kaye Campbell, CFEE, Director of

celebration.

Partnerships & Programs Art Director Craig Sarton, Creative Director Contributing Writers Steve Adelman, Gail Lowney Alofsin, Robert Baird, Mark Breen, Cassie Roberts Dispenza, Jeff English, Bruce Erley, Erin Fortune, Laura Grunfeld, Florence May, Steve McClatchy, Rene Michaely, Sean O’Shea, Ben Reno-Weber, Kim Skildum-Reid, Keli O’Neill Wenzel, Robert Wilson Photography Napoleon Suarez Mark VanderSys

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 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.

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http://www.ifea.com

Fall 2018

IFEA’s ie: the business of international events

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YOUR VACATION REQUEST HAS BEEN

DENIED! KEEP WORKING UNTIL YOU REACH

BURNOUT

By Steve McClatchy An updated study by the jobsite Glassdoor revealed some startling statistics about vacations in America.

Have you taken a vacation in the last 12 months?

54% of Americans have not. Do you work while you’re on vacation? 66% of Americans do. These statistics have been steadily going up over the past four years since the study began. Why have we stopped taking vacations? When we finally do take a vacation why can’t we unplug and stop working? People pass it off as dedication and perceived indispensability, 14

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but it actually has more to do with fear.

There were four major reasons cited as to why people who are given paid vacations don’t use their vacation time.

• They don’t want to fall behind at work.

(34%) • They are concerned that others won’t do as good a job as they would do while they are away. (30%) • They are afraid of a reputation of not being fully committed. (22%) • They fear missing out on something while they are away. (21%) Not vacationing and working while on your vacation are decisions that are rooted in fear. We are prioritizing the consequences we face, and/or might face, over the benefits. Are there benefits to a vacation to both the employer and the employee? Do they outweigh the costs?

We need to consider them in order to see if organizations and bosses should support disconnected vacation time and if employees should take it.

The first benefit of a vacation is it helps to keep us from feeling burned out. You’ve been there, right? Burnout is a feeling we get when there is an absence of excitement for too long. When we close a big deal, earn a promotion or a raise, win an industry award, nail a big presentation, get a new job, or solve a problem that has been bothering us, we don’t feel burned out. We are excited. The feeling of excitement preempts the feeling of burnout.

Desire is the emotion that drives the decisions which lead to excitement. Let me give you an example. I desire delivering a great presentation, so I prepare really hard, I nail the presentation, I receive the benefits of doing a great job, and then I feel accomplishment and excitement.

Driving all of this hard work is the desire to enjoy these benefits. Fear, on the other hand, is the emotion that leads us to decisions that prevent consequences.

Driving our decision to pay our bills is our fear of the consequences that will come from not paying them. Too much time days/weeks/months/years) spent preventing consequences and not enough time gaining benefits leads to burnout.

The costs of vacations include the non-revenue-producing vacation time incurred by an employer and the actual price of a vacation for an employee. A business decision has to be made by weighing those actual costs against the benefits produced by taking time off to re-balance and re-charge and have something to be excited about. The weapon we

have against fear is desire. Vacations are exciting, that’s why we desire them. If you go too long without excitement and desire in your life you’ll end up burned out. What happens when a working professional gets burned out? * They fall behind on their work. * The quality of their work suffers. * People see them as not being committed. * They miss out on opportunities at work because they don’t care about them.

Compare these outcomes to the reasons cited as to why people don’t take vacations. They are exactly the same. In essence we create the very results we fear by not taking a vacation.

In the survey 80% of respondents said if their boss/organization actively encouraged vacations that they would take them. Why would a boss not encourage a vacation? It’s a short-sighted decision prioritizing a short-term cost over a longterm gain of a more engaged employee.

There are lots of studies that approximate the cost to a business of having a burnedout employee but we don’t really need a study to tell us that. We have all reached burnout and been disengaged from our work. That’s when we slow down, we cut corners, and we do the minimum. We don’t go above and beyond, initiate improvements, introduce ideas, communicate effectively, or even just say thank you. We feel resentful and unappreciated. We don’t feel recognized or valued.

So here are the reasons to take a vacation: 1 It helps you balance the fear and worry in your life with excitement and desire so you don’t burn out.

2 It’s a payoff for all your work to be able to enjoy time with the people you love.

We sometimes have to take a step back and remember why we are working so hard and enjoy the fruits of that work with the people we care about most.

3 It’s really silly not to. Not taking a week of paid vacation time which you have earned is just giving that money back to your employer by working for a week for free.

4 Taking a break allows you to be more creative. Allowing your subconscious mind to reset and think about your business and your life while you are at play helps you to be more creative, more innovative, and more effective.

5 The productivity surge you experience before you go on vacation has great benefits. As the excitement of the vacation approaches you stay focused, your speed increases, you avoid chitFall 2018

chat and small talk, you don’t go down rabbit holes, drift on the web, or check social media. You see things through to completion so you are not bothered on your vacation and so you don’t come back to unfinished work.

6 You lead by example by demonstrating that your family (or the significant people in your life) is a priority by defending time with them and being willing to fall behind on work because of them. When you don’t take a vacation what you are saying to the people you care about the most is I fear the consequences of going on vacation more than I desire to spend time with you.

If you are in a leadership role and you consider the cost of a burned-out employee, the cost of losing a great employee, and the cost of a vacation, then your least expensive option is to support that your employees take vacations and then don’t bother them with work until they get back.

Steve McClatchy is a keynote speaker and author of the award-winning New York Times Bestseller Decide: Work Smarter, Reduce Your Stress & Lead by Example. Decide has enjoyed global success and has been translated into 10 languages including Chinese, Russian, Japanese and Spanish. In every keynote speech and workshop Steve weaves insight, interaction, and actionable content with humor, inspiration and motivation. Over the past 16 years Steve has worked with the most prominent organizations in the world including Google, Under Armour, Disney, John Deere, Microsoft, NBC Universal, Accenture, HP, Tiffany’s, Wells Fargo, Campbell’s Soup and many teams in the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB. He speaks frequently at Harvard, Wharton and Chicago Booth. He has appeared on CNBC, ABC, CBS, Fox News, WSJ TV and NBC’s The Today Show and has been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, WebMD, Oprah Magazine, Entrepreneur and Investor’s Business Daily. Steve’s passion is for continual improvement and believes that when we stop growing, learning, gaining experience and achieving goals we stop living.

For more information about Steve, visit: www.alleer.com.

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EXHIBITOR SPOTLIGHT

Give us your ‘elevator pitch’ about your product/service.

EXPOCAD® event management software products are used worldwide by event and festival organizers managing and selling space indoors and out such as flea markets and fairs or along a river bank like the Riverbend Festival in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Over $1 Billion in space is managed by clients utilizing EXPOCAD®.

Organizers maintain complete control of event inventory, statistics, financial development, sales, sponsorship and exhibitor /vendor data that is completely integrated with our intelligent layout design tools for indoor floor plans and outdoor spaces. Easy to use by anyone in sales, finance or operations departments along with optional features to suit organizational needs.

EXPOCAD® is an unparalleled system completely unique in design and development and fully integrated with unique web-based sister marketing solutions used to promote and provide vendors with maximum exposure.

Go straight to print with our unique mini maps that are small enough to fold into a pocket or larger used by attendees for easy on-site navigation with extra space for sponsors (and more revenue!).

How has your company grown over the years?

EXPOCAD® has grown over 32 years from a few guys “working out of a garage” to include sales offices around the world.

We have been exclusively working on the EXPOCAD® products for about 30 years and those include several versions of our online floor plan, EXPOCAD® Contractor, EXPOCAD® Desktop/OnDemand, ELI Security and our CRM links.

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What areas do you serve with your product/service?

EXPOCAD® is a global company serving the events industry on 4 continents, including the largest tradeshows in the world and events of all sizes. In the US we have offices in Chicago and Atlanta and remote offices in Madison, WI and Dallas, TX. What new or improved product/service do you have to offer that IFEA audiences need to know about?

Our latest release is our ELI event security program. It allows event managers and security personnel to notify each other of either security threats or operational concerns and their location via SMS using our geo-location services.

What sets your product/ service apart from your competitors?

EXPOCAD® is the only dimensionally accurate software exclusively serving the events industry. We have been in business for more than 30 years and are the leader in exposition management technology. Our software is used exclusively by general service contractors to create initial designs/ layouts of events, and by organizers to manage the operations and sales of events; also to publish online floor plans for exhibitors/vendor and attendees to view on their laptops and mobile devices.

How many festivals and events do you work with on an annual basis?

Many of EXPOCAD’s customers learn to use our software and go on to use it for years for multiple events and we don’t know how many events or who is even

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using it. In general, we know that about 8,000 events a year are generated on our software based on general service contractor numbers. A small portion of that would be festivals in the pure sense.

What advice would you offer to festivals and events searching for your type of product/service?

Look for software that plays well in the sandbox with other software. If you can buy best of class (or at least a product that serves your primary needs) then connect it to other programs that serve your other needs, this will give you the best outcome rather than using a software that tries to do everything.

What is your customer service philosophy?

EXPOCAD’s customer service mission is to demonstrate exemplary patience, understanding, and provide clear instructions. We aim to create a friendly environment where we make our customers feel valued. We empower EXPOCAD® users through direct contact with support, as well as online self-help options. We treat our users as we wish to be treated.

CONTACT INFORMATION Wendy Freiwald EXPOCAD by A.C.T. 69 S. LaSalle St. Aurora, IL 60505 630-896-0084 wendy@expocad.com www.expocad.com

Location Based Security Technology

by EXPOCAD

®

Developed for First Responders, Show Management, Building Personnel and Security Teams to Immediately Convey a Security Breach or a Custom Show Management Alert. Teams Communicate Simultaneously to Identify the Targeted Area.

In Emergencies, Provides First Responders Accurate Location Data • Applicable for Non-Emergencies Such as an Exhibitor Violations • Discreet Method of Communication • Available for Indoor or Outdoor Uses • Easy Set Up & Implementation

• • • •

Uses Standard Smart Phones Any Custom Notification No APP Required Affordable

CONTACT: luv@expocad.com or +1 630-896-2281 •

www.expocad.com

EXPOCAD® is a Registered Trademark of A.C.T. Inc. EST 1986 All Rights Reserved ELI is Patent Pending

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THE SPONSOR DOC

WITH BRUCE L. ERLEY, APR, CFEE

THE CARE AND FEEDING OF

SPONSORS

Dear Sponsor Doc: The upside…we’ve sold more sponsors this year that last! The downside…it feels like there are endless amounts of moving parts and benefits to have to manage. Do you have any tips for managing my sponsor fulfillment needs?

R.A.M. State College, PA Dear R.A.M. I’m glad you are tuned into the importance of effectively meeting and managing the fulfillment of sponsors’ rights and benefits. I see far too many event producers drop the ball, and go on autopilot with their sponsors once they have a signed agreement.

I always try to keep top of mind that the better we meet and exceed our sponsors’ expectations, the more likely they are to renew following our event. Any sales person will tell you that it is far easier to keep a current customer happy that to lose them and have to start all over again to find a replacement.

Here are a few of the key steps CSG takes to assure “the proper care and feeding of sponsors.”

1. Assign a Point Person: You need someone to focus on sponsor benefits fulfillment and service. Often it may not be the person who “sold” the sponsorship. They need to be a “people person” who will be customer service oriented. Someone who is an organized and detailed person, a good communicator, and a problem solver.

2. Create an Internal Fulfillment Program: The key questions you need to answer is “How will you keep track of sponsor benefits fulfillment?” We create a Benefits Fulfillment checklist that provides a detailed review of each sponsor’s promised benefits from logo/trademark placement to advertising and promotional benefits & deadlines to onsite displays and recognition, to hospitality benefits. It is essential to check the details and check again.

3. Communicate, Communicate, Communicate: You need to be in touch with your sponsors on a consistent and ongoing basis from the time the agreement is set until well after the event is over.

Your communications need to be clear and timely. Set clear and reasonable deadlines and send reminders but don’t badger.

4. On Site Management: When it comes to taking good care of your sponsors, this is where the rubber meets the road. Make 18

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sure you are there for sponsor onsite set-up. We are always ready to help lend a hand. Trouble shoot and help resolve problems. Our goal is to over deliver on service!

5. Immediate Follow-Up: This is often the hardest part to remember. In the hours and days following your event, you are dog tired and still working hard to wrap-up your event. But, you really should have a thank you ready to email within 48 hours.

Further, we make a call within five days to get our sponsor’s immediate thoughts, comments and concerns. Finally, we strive to respond to any issues in a timely manner.

Certainly, there are more things you can do including special receptions, sponsor gifts and other amenities. But, if you can successfully accomplish the above tasks, you are significantly improving sponsor satisfaction and renewal.

The Sponsor Doc With more than three decades in sponsorship sales and consultation, Bruce L. Erley is the President and CEO of the Creative Strategies Group, a full-service sponsorship and event marketing agency based in Denver, Colorado he founded in 1995. Accredited in Public Relations (APR) by the Public Relations Society of America and a Certified Festival & Events Executive (CFEE) by the International Festivals and Events Association, Erley is a highly-regarded speaker on event marketing and sponsorship having spoken on the topic around the world in such places as Dubai, Vienna, Beijing, Toronto and New York.

Contact Info: Bruce L. Erley, APR, CFEE President & CEO Creative Strategies Group Phone: +1-303-558-8181 Business Email: berley@csg-sponsorship.com Column Enquiries Email: bruce@sponsordoc.com

EXHIBITOR SPOTLIGHT

The first iteration of the platform was built in 2003 for the Des Moines Arts Festival here in Iowa (where we’re headquartered).

The founder of our company, Brian Hemesath, was asked by the festival director at that time to build a technology that would help her recruit 350+ volunteers into jobs and shifts for the three-day event. It worked like a charm that first year – and we’re proud to say that the Des Moines Arts Festival is still a client of VolunteerLocal (15 years later!).

In 2007, the Hy-Vee Triathlon came to town (a USAT sanctioned event).

The organizers of the triathlon used VolunteerLocal and fell in love with its ease-of-use and functionality. That led to an introduction to USA Triathlon, which was the launch-pad for our company.

Today, we are one of several fantastic technology partners to USA Triathlon.

In the last three years, we’ve experienced tremendous growth – especially in the world of festivals and fairs. We’ve found that our system is a terrific solution for this market. With VolunteerLocal, our volunteer coordinators can add locations to shifts throughout the festival grounds, password protect jobs or shifts to reserve them for charity partners or special groups, use the on-site check-in/out tool to track volunteer hours, and even send text messages to volunteers in real time, no matter where they might be stationed.

Give us your ‘elevator pitch’ about your product/service.

VolunteerLocal is a volunteer registration and scheduling platform for festivals and events of all types and sizes, all over the world. Our system allows the volunteer coordinator to build (and publish) a list of jobs and shifts the event needs filled – volunteers can then self-schedule on the sign-up page.

For the event director and volunteer coordinator, we provide a full summary of jobs and shifts filled (an interactive report), a communication broadcast tool to send reminder and thank-you emails, and an on-site check-in/out to capture volunteer hours (individuals and groups). We also 20

offer text messaging, a flagged volunteers list, and on-site credentials (name badges) with volunteer profile pictures.

Our platform makes it easy for volunteers, too. We don’t require them to create a username or a password to register for any event. That’s why we call it “happy volunteering” – it’s just one simple step.

How many employees does your company have?

We have a team of four (4) full-time employees based in Chicago, Illinois, and a staff of ten (10) contract writers across the country. We have two part-time salespeople based in Des Moines, Iowa, in addition to our technical founder, Brian Hemesath, and the other shareholders of our business, Brad Dwyer and Jeremy Harrington.

How has your company grown over the years?

We’ve seen fantastic growth in the last three years. Our developers have added key features to our offering, designed specifically for festivals – on-site volunteer credentials (name badges), a flagged volunteers list, an event import tool and our mobile app (available on both Apple and Android devices). We’ve augmented our team to include a few key hires, like Lucy Williams and Jamaal Sanders in Chicago.

Our customer base has significantly increased and expanded to include events of increasing diversity and size: from small chamber organizations hosting fundraising barbeques, to large, multi-day international festivals. We can attribute much of this growth to our partnership with the Inter-

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national Festivals and Events Association (IFEA) and our word-of-mouth referrals from happy customers all over the world.

What new or improved product/ service do you have to offer that attendees need to know about?

We are building out a robust credential system that allows volunteer coordinators to print individual and group badges by job, shift, location or event-wide. These badges can be customized to match the design of the event branding, and can include specific details about each volunteer’s job and shift information.

Last year, we rolled out text messaging (SMS) for easier, more efficient on-site communications – these are especially useful in crisis or emergency situations.

Our product is uniquely catered to match each customer’s specific needs.

We provide unlimited and unparalleled customer support – our customer success team works with each client individually to ensure the program has been built to solve pain-points, increase registration and lower the no-show rate on-site.

What sets your product/service apart from your competitors?

Our user-friendliness and customer support.

VolunteerLocal is incredibly intuitive.

There is no learning curve when new volunteer coordinators find our product, set-up their first event and go live to their volunteers. We like to bring this aspect of our value proposition front-and-center by showing potential customers around our product through a live demo.

We offer unlimited support and training, through email, live chat and by phone.

Every customer receives their own account manager, and we often lead live tutorials and publish YouTube videos to our channel online.

How many festivals and events do you work with on an annual basis?

We work with thousands of festivals and events every year, and we’ve pushed over 1.6 million unique volunteers through

our program since we began this journey in 2012.

What advice would you offer to festivals and events searching for your type of product/service?

Keep your volunteers front-and-center when you’re shopping for a volunteer scheduling, registration and management solution.

Every volunteer program is unique, so make sure that the system you’re evaluating will serve your unique needs (and pain-points) before moving ahead with the purchase. This always mean walking through a live demo of the product, and understanding how the experience will impact both your volunteer

coordinators and captains, in addition to your volunteers.

Ask about support.

Be sure that the company you choose will provide real people to help support your efforts, every step of the way – especially in the days and weeks leading up to your big event. Both phone and email support are excellent, but if you can get live-chat and some tutorial videos to help guide your team on YouTube as well, that’s terrific.

What is your customer service philosophy?

The customer is core to everything we do and everything we build at VolunteerLocal. We promise less-than 24 hour response time on emails, but all

of our customers are assigned account managers (with direct phone lines) to support them throughout the process.

We offer weekend support, live-chat and (coming soon!) a customer forum where our volunteer coordinators and festival directors can share best-practices and insight to move our industry forward.

CONTACT INFORMATION Kaylee Williams VolunteerLocal 3317 W. Fullerton Ave Chicago IL 60647 USA 800-909-7370 hello@volunteerlocal.com www.volunteerlocal.com

Grab a coffee and connect with both old friends and new here in the heart of the 63rd Annual IFEA Convention, Expo & Retreat!

Sponsored by

October 1-3, 2018 San Diego, CA U.S.A. Fall 2018

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#EVENTPERMIT

WITH RENE MICHAELY

5 SIMPLE WAYS TO MEASURE

I

THE IMPACT OF EVENTS

n a previous column (ie: July 2017), I reviewed some of the primary reasons why permitting—specifically event permitting—is important for a community; for example, permitting can reduce liability, improve health & safety, and minimize the impact of events on a community and its environment. But there are many more ways in which an Event Office and Event Organizer can use the permit process to their advantage. An Event Office can measure the overall impact of events on their community, and in turn, Event Organizers can leverage this data to help build a business case for things such as: additional funding; event expansion; and measuring their economic and social impact in the community.

We all have more data than we know what to do with, but I would encourage Event Offices to focus on collecting some baseline information. This will help demonstrate the benefit of events on their community (especially to Council and the community-at-large), and help monitor the growth of events, year over year.

Here are some examples of information that an Event Office can collect that may ultimately help grow event tourism:

some unavoidable disruption during the event.

1. Economic Diversification Economic diversification is intrinsic at most levels of government, and usually rooted in growing employment and different types of industry. By adding a question on your Event Permit Application form that asks how many local full-time, part-time and casual positions will result from the event each year, you will start to build a picture of job growth as a direct result of event tourism.

If possible, Event Offices should encourage or require events (especially larger events) to coordinate an independent economic impact study so both the hosting town or city and the Event Organizer can learn more about their attendees. This only needs to be completed periodically (e.g. every other year) and may include questions about travel, accommodation, length of stay, spending, and likelihood of returning to the location as a future visitor.

5. Process Efficiencies Aside from asking each Event Organizer to rate your Event Office’s level of service post-event, you could also consider measuring: • the time it takes for each approving agency to approve a permit application (e.g. liquor licensing branch, local police, health authority); • the time it takes to complete an Event Permit Application (a feature of some online application solutions); and • the time it takes to issue a permit from start to finish (e.g. measured in days from the date an application is received to the date the permit is issued).

Again, make sure to follow-up with each Event Organizer and ask them for feedback. And don’t forget to ask for suggestions – this is a really effective way to improve customer service and reduce overall administrative costs.

2. Attendance It sounds simple, but it’s surprising how many Event Offices don’t collect information about an event once it has come and gone. By sending each Event Organizer a simple post-event wrap-up survey, you can gather reasonably accurate information about the actual impact of an event, including ticket sales and overall attendance.

3. Community Participation & Donations More than just volunteerism, community participation is a way for an event to build community support, contribute back to the community, and involve the community in their event at a grassroots level. Add a question to your event application, or post-event wrapup survey, asking about any community programs hosted at the event or donations made to the community. For example, maybe the event partnered with a local youth club to help run the bike valet, redirecting donations to the club. Or perhaps leftover materials and equipment were donated to a local charity. This type of information is invaluable when demonstrating the long-term benefits of an event, especially when a community may be expected to endure 22

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4. Eco Initiatives Event Organizers and Event Offices have been pushing for more sustainability and zero waste initiatives for years, yet very few communities are measuring the scale and impact of these initiatives.

Some Event Offices require the bare minimum of on-site recycling, and others enforce zero waste policies that disallow the sale or use of any non-biodegradable materials during the event (including promotional materials and all forms of plastic). Developing a multi-tiered program that educates, informs and measures these efforts will see the greatest results. Consider adding a question to your application process that asks each event to list a minimum of two initiatives, and then add a follow-up question in your post-event wrap-up survey that requests final numbers (e.g. number of items recycled, number of items deflected from landfill). It may be more effective to include events (and other activities like filming) in your environmental policies to ensure events adopt eco initiatives.

At times, event permitting can feel arduous both for the Event Organizer and for the approving Event Office. However, if the application process can focus on capturing and sharing meaningful information, both parties will be better equipped to measure the impact of an event and grow event tourism.

Rene Michaely is the founder and chief visionary of eproval, a software platform designed to automate and streamline complex application and approval processes including event permits. Based in Vancouver, BC Canada, his team has an intimate understanding of government permitting and approval processes through their experience working with and for event offices. Rene has also been a product manager at an event registration startup and founder of a web development firm specializing in event websites and complex applications.

You can reach Rene at rene@eproval.com, learn more about eproval at www.eproval.com, or follow @eproval.

201 8 E XP O October 2 & 3, 2018

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WHY EXHIBIT AT THE IFEA EXPO? EXHIBITOR TYPES

TOP REASONS FOR EXHIBITING Reach Decision-Makers in Your Target Market

Accessibility Solutions

Build and Enhance Brand Recall

Costumes & Mascots

Cash Management Services

Showcase New Products or Services Expand Your Professional Network Gain Insights & Inspiration!

Credentials & Ticketing Entertainment Acts Event Management Software Fencing & Barricades Fireworks & Lasers

TOP REASONS PARTICIPANTS VISIT

Float Decorations & Event Props Food & Beverage Products Inflatables

To see new products and services

Insurance

To compare products and services

Marketing Services

To help make purchasing decisions

Merchandise

To keep up on trends and technologies

Point of Sale Systems

To connect with current suppliers

Portable Restrooms

To develop relationships with new suppliers

Rentals

To qualify for onsite-only exhibitor discounts

Staging

Signage & Banners Tents and Portables Structures

To qualify for onsite-only IFEA purchase incentives

And much more!

IFEA is by far the most friendly event in which I have ever participated. I exhibit alone at many tradeshows and never worry about being lonely at IFEA! The attendees are very welcoming of the exhibitors and treat them as an important part of the group. –Wendy Freiwald, EXPOCAD by A.C.T. 24

IFEA’s ie: the business of international events

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WHO CAN YOU EXPECT TO SEE AT AN IFEA EXPO? INDUSTRY SEGMENTS 43% FESTIVAL & EVENT ORGANIZATIONS 26% INDUSTRY SUPPLIERS 19% CITIES/MUNICIPALITIES 5% TOURISM ORGANIZATIONS 4% OTHER 3% EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS IFEA was such a wonderful experience and led to many great connections.

–Chelsey Panchot, Up with People

GLOBAL REACH

PARTICIPANTS FROM NON-U.S. LOCATIONS Australia Bahamas Brazil Canada China Denmark France Germany Iceland India Ireland Mexico New Zealand Poland Qatar Republic of Korea Saint Lucia Singapore Slovenia South Africa The Netherlands United Arab Emirates The United Kingdom

Fall 2018

IFEA’s ie: the business of international events

25

WHO CAN YOU EXPECT TO SEE AT AN IFEA EXPO? GENDER

57

%

FEMALE Very well organized at a terrific resort. IFEA was very helpful to exhibitors. Nice, friendly atmosphere.

–Gary Todd, Deltronic Labs

82%

43

%

MALE

OF ATTENDEES ARE THE KEY DECISION MAKERS IN PURCHASING AND/OR HAVE DIRECT INFLUENCE IN PURCHASING DECISIONS

INFLUENTIALS

TITLES REPRESENTED WITHIN INDUSTRY SEGMENTS

34% DIRECTOR/MANAGER/ADMINISTRATOR/SUPERINTENDENT 28% CEO/PRESIDENT/EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OWNER/PRINCIPAL/FOUNDER 16% OTHER (EDUCATOR, CONSULTANTS, STUDENTS, BOARD ETC.) 12% VICE PRESIDENT/CFO/COO/CMO 10% ASSISTANT/COORDINATOR/SPECIALIST

26

IFEA’s ie: the business of international events

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2018 IFEA EXPO PACKAGES INCLUDES:

EXHIBITOR

FULL EXPERIENCE

Black & White Advertisement in Convention Program

1/4 Page

Full Page

Exhibitor Listing in Convention Program (Enhanced Listing includes: company name, logo, overview (150 words or less), contact information, and highlighted booth numbers.)

Standard

Enhanced

$1095 $1395

$1695 $1995

One 8’ deep x 10’ wide Booth space + 1 Exhibitor and 1 Additional Booth Worker

Inclusion in IFEA’s Online Virtual Trade Show Pre-Convention & Post Convention Mailing Lists IFEA Expo Lunches (2) Entrance to the dfest® Hospitality Suite Entrance to the IFEA Foundation Night Party & Auction Full Page Exhibitor Spotlight feature in IFEA’s “ie” Magazine (Based on IFEA Questionnaire provided on sign-up) An interview style Exhibitor Spotlight feature will be included within “ie” Magazine in one of the remaining issues in 2018. Exhibitor is responsible for submitting requested information for Spotlight by issue deadlines.

Exhibitor Spotlight Listing in the IFEA Update Newsletter (company logo, tagline and link to your website) 3-Day Convention Registration INCLUDES: All Educational Sessions during the main convention; All Coffee Breaks at Connections Cafe; Entrance to the dfest ® Hospitality Suite; Entrance to the IFEA Awards Luncheon & Pinnacle Awards Presentation; Entrance to the IFEA Expo in addition to the Lunches at the Expo and IFEA Foundation Auction Night Event

IFEA MEMBER RATE NON-MEMBER RATE

EXHIBITOR PACKAGE ADD-ONS:

IFEA MEMBERS

NON-IFEA MEMBERS

$150

$250

Prime Booth Location (subject to availability)

$175

$275

2nd or more Convention Registrations

$495

$695

Attendee Bag Promotion Item

$500

$750

Additional Booth Worker (1 Day) Includes meals and social activities for days of the Expo

Sponsorship & Additional Advertising Please contact Kaye Campbell kaye@ifea.com or (208) 433-0950 x8150

Fall 2018

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27

WHAT EXHIBITORS NEED TO KNOW EXPO LOAD IN Monday, October 1st, 2018 2:00 p.m.- 5:00 p.m.

Tuesday, October 2nd, 2018 8:00 a.m.- 10:00 a.m.

EXPO HOURS Tuesday, October 2nd, 2018 11:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m.

Wednesday, October 3rd, 2018 11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. (both include lunch)

EXPO LOAD OUT Wednesday, October 3rd, 2018 1:00 p.m.- 4:00 p.m.

WHERE

Town & Country, San Diego, California USA

BOOTH SPECIFICS & DETAILS Booth Space – Booth spaces are 8’ deep x 10’ wide and come with a standard 8’ high back, 3’ high side wall drapes, and a Company ID Sign with your booth number. Larger spaces are available upon request.

Booth Selection – Booth selection is determined by when each registration is received. The earlier you register, the sooner you’ll be able to pick your booth. IFEA sponsors and members receive priority selection.

Furnishings/Electrical/AV – Exhibitors requiring additional items (tables, chairs, electrical, etc.) may order/purchase from our Expo service company, Shepard Exposition Services. Shepard Exposition Services will send a detailed package to all registered exhibitors in August.

Live Performances – Live entertainment and demonstrations, while encouraged, must not disturb adjacent exhibitors and their patrons. Musical instruments and PA systems may not be used in the Expo unless prior consent has first been given the IFEA Expo management.

Rules & Regulations – By submission of the exhibitor registration form, exhibitor agrees that you have read the rules and regulations below and agree to abide by them as a condition of your participation.

Cancellation Policy: Fee are non-refundable.

Insurance: Applicant exhibits at his/her own risk. Neither the International Festivals & Events Association (IFEA), nor its employee, and/or its agents, either jointly or individually, is responsible for liability insurance coverage for bodily injury and property damage for Exhibitor’s operation. All exhibitors are required to furnish a certificate of insurance to the IFEA prior to booth occupancy. Coverage must be for General Liability with a combined single limit of $1,000,000, and on an occurrence policy. The IFEA must also be named as an additional insured on the certificate.

Liability: 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 the 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 the IFEA (promoter) shall return to the exhibitor payment made by deducting where Promoter expenses occurred to that date.

Permissions: By registering for and attending the IFEA Convention & Expo, you provide the IFEA express permission to use your name, photo and/or likenesses in any and all promotional and/or advertising materials in any medium, including the internet.

Right of Refusal: As a not-for-profit 501(C)6 organization, the IFEA reserves the right to request the removal of any items, which in its sole judgement do not conform to show guidelines. Failure to comply is just cause for removal of an exhibitor from the show. The IFEA also reserves the right to refuse or cancel the registration of any individual or organizational attendee/membership of any individual or organization, who, at its sole discretion, may represent/ display unprofessional, unlawful, unethical, unsafe, or other actions/positions deemed contrary to the best interests of the IFEA and our global industry.

To make a reservation or for more information contact:

Kaye Campbell, CFEE, Director of Partnerships & Programs • kaye@ifea.com • +1-208-433-0950 ext 8150 • www.ifea.com 28

IFEA’s ie: the business of international events

Fall 2018

E X P O B OOTH

R E G I S T R AT I O N October 2-3, 2018 PLEASE SEND CONTRACT AND PAYMENT TO:

IFEA World Headquarters • 2603 W. Eastover Terrace, Boise ID 83706, USA • kaye@ifea.com • Fax: +1-208-433-9812 1. List how you would like your organization to appear in the convention program and online: Company/Organization: _______________________________________________________________________________________ Exhibitor Name: _______________________________________ First Name for Badge: __________________________________ Title: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Address: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ City: _________________________________________________ State/Province: ________________________________________ Zip Code: ____________________________________________ Country: ______________________________________________ Phone:_______________________________________________ Mobile: _______________________________________________ E-mail: _______________________________________________

Website: _____________________________________________

2. Contact information if different from above for all correspondence: ❍ SAME AS ABOVE Contact Name:_______________________________________________________________________________________________ Address: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ City: _________________________________________________ State/Prov.: ___________________________________________ Zip/Postal Code: ______________________________________ Country: ______________________________________________ Phone:_______________________________________________ Mobile: _______________________________________________ E-mail: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ 3. EXHIBITOR CATEGORIES All paid 2018 exhibitors will receive a complimentary listing in IFEA’s Convention & Expo Program and online at www.ifea.com.

Please check up to 5 general categories below that you would like your company name to appear in.

Fill in up to 5 categories: ❍ Attractions ❍ Audio/Visual Equipment ❍ Badges/Credentials ❍ Banners/Flags ❍ Barricades/Fence ❍ Communications ❍ Concessions/Catering ❍ Consulting ❍ Costumes/Mascots ❍ Crowd Measurement

❍ Décor/Displays/Backdrops ❍ Entertainment/Talent ❍ Equipment Rental ❍ Event Management Software ❍ Fireworks ❍ Fundraising ❍ Inflatables ❍ Insurance/Risk Management ❍ Lasers ❍ Lifestyle ❍ Marketing

❍ Merchandising ❍ Mobile Apps ❍ Novelties ❍ Performing Artist ❍ Permit Processing ❍ Pins/Emblems ❍ Point of Sale Solutions ❍ Printing ❍ Production Company ❍ Restrooms ❍ Safety & Security

❍ Special Effects ❍ Sponsorship ❍ Staging ❍ Tents ❍ Ticketing ❍ Travel Planning ❍ Video Production ❍ Volunteer Management ❍ Weather Monitoring ❍ Other___________________

4. PROGRAM LISTINGS Company Description (25 words or less) _____________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

E X P O B OOTH

R E G I S T R AT I O N October 2-3, 2018 EXHIBITING COMPANY NAME: _____________________________________________________________________________ 5. PACKAGE SELECTION MEMBER

NON-MEMBER

EXHIBITOR PACKAGE

❍ $1095

❍ $1395

x _________ Booths $ ______________

FULL EXPERIENCE PACKAGE

❍ $1695

❍ $1995

x _________ Booths $ ______________

Prime Booth Location (subject to availability)

❍ $175

❍ $275

x _________ Booths $ ______________

2nd or More Convention Registrations (after a first has been purchased)

❍ $495

❍ $695

x _________ People $ ______________

Additional Booth Worker ❍ $150 (Includes meals and social activities for the days of the Expo.)

❍ $250

x ________ Workers $ ______________

Attendee Bag Promotion Item

❍ $750

________________ $ ______________

6. EXHIBITOR PACKAGE ADD-ONS:

❍ $500

All prices are in U.S. Dollars

❍ TOTAL Enclosed $ ______________

Payment in full must be received with registration form.

7. 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) 8. RULES & REGULATIONS ❍ I have read the rules and regulations under “Booth Specifics & Details” and agree to abide by them as a condition of participation.

To make a reservation or for more information contact:

Kaye Campbell, CFEE, Director of Partnerships & Programs • kaye@ifea.com • +1-208-433-0950 ext 8150 • www.ifea.com

ADDITIONAL B OOTH WOR K E R

AN D /OR ATTE N D E E S S A M E O R G A N I Z AT I O N ORGANIZATION: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2 BOOTH WORKER AND/OR ATTENDEE nd

Name: _______________________________________________________________ Name for Badge: _______________________________________________ Position Title: _________________________________________________________ First IFEA Convention

Yes

No

Address: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ City, State/Province, Zip Code: __________________________________________ Country: _____________________________________________________ Phone: _______________________________________________________________ Mobile: ______________________________________________________ E-mail: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 3 BOOTH WORKER AND/OR ATTENDEE rd

Name: _______________________________________________________________ Name for Badge: _______________________________________________ Position Title: _________________________________________________________ First IFEA Convention

Yes

No

Address: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ City, State/Province, Zip Code: __________________________________________ Country: _____________________________________________________ Phone: _______________________________________________________________ Mobile: ______________________________________________________ E-mail: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 4 BOOTH WORKER AND/OR ATTENDEE th

Name: _______________________________________________________________ Name for Badge: _______________________________________________ Position Title: _________________________________________________________ First IFEA Convention

Yes

No

Address: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ City, State/Province, Zip Code: __________________________________________ Country: _____________________________________________________ Phone: _______________________________________________________________ Mobile: ______________________________________________________ E-mail: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 5 BOOTH WORKER AND/OR ATTENDEE th

Name: _______________________________________________________________ Name for Badge: _______________________________________________ Position Title: _________________________________________________________ First IFEA Convention

Yes

No

Address: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ City, State/Province, Zip Code: __________________________________________ Country: _____________________________________________________ Phone: _______________________________________________________________ Mobile: ______________________________________________________ E-mail: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 6 BOOTH WORKER AND/OR ATTENDEE th

Name: _______________________________________________________________ Name for Badge: _______________________________________________ Position Title: _________________________________________________________ First IFEA Convention

Yes

No

Address: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ City, State/Province, Zip Code: __________________________________________ Country: _____________________________________________________ Phone: _______________________________________________________________ Mobile: ______________________________________________________ E-mail: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Fax: +1-208-433-9812 • Mail: 2603 W. Eastover Terrace, Boise, ID 83706, U.S.A. • Phone: +1-208-433-0950 Fall 2018

IFEA’s ie: the business of international events

31

DOES THE LOCATION OF YOUR

FESTIVAL…

DEFINE

YOUR FESTIVAL?

By Keli O’Neill Wenzel

32

IFEA’s ie: the business of international events

Fall 2018

Have you ever thought about changing the location of your festival? Yes, I am talking about picking up and moving – lock, stock, tent and barrel – the festival that you have literally built from scratch, to an entirely new geography. The festival you have spent pain staking hours assessing and tweaking crowd flow, exit strategies, staging areas, optimal viewing areas; finding the absolute perfect location for the portable toilets so vendors and sponsors don’t get mad at you for putting them next to the toilets!

Can you imagine moving the festival that your patrons already know where to park, watch their favorite act, take their annual picture and find their favorite vendor? The very thought can be daunting, disturbing and, well, mind-blowing! After all, you are part of the team that engineered that festival to perfection. Well almost perfection, because we know there are always ways to update, improve and make things feel fresh.

Has your festival become part of the fabric of its location? Most likely you, or those before you, selected that location for some defining reasons. They found the very place that would be welcomed by their customers, that had opportunity for growth and even had unique features that were not replicated anywhere else. Over the years, this location has probably woven itself into the genetics of your festival.

So you may be asking, why are we even talking about this? “There is no way I would ever want to, or ever need to

change my location” you say. “The venue loves the festival and the people love the space. It sounds like a lot of work, worry and the possibility of ruining everything we have worked so hard to build. If that day comes, we will deal with it then...”

Don’t get me wrong, if things are going well, NONE of us would ever want to move our festival, unless you are into self-torture! But should we? And, if so, how and when? There are a lot of things that could happen that could force you to take a closer look at this question.

1. You have reached capacity for the space and growth is not possible.

2. Your landlord wants to charge you a LOT more.

3. The local government changes zoning designations and code requirements 4. The businesses in the area are fed up and don’t want to mess with it anymore.

5. The site infrastructure physically changes, with new construction or grounds reconfiguration.

6. Politics!

7. Scheduling issues.

All of these things have a very real possibility of happening to your event. Do you want to wait until you are faced with the “have to move” question, or do you invest some time now, when you don’t have the pressure?

In the 20 years that I have been producing events, I will admit that I have dismissed the idea of moving an established event or even wanting to discuss it – until reality came to call and I could not avoid the challenge any longer.

Fall 2018

I was lucky enough to be a part of the planning team that created a Kansas City festival called “Boulevardia” in 2014.

We created Boulevardia to be an urban street fair, featuring craft beer, live music, local pop culture and crafts…and beer. A pop-up nation, if you will, full of surprises and not like anything else people had experienced. Selecting the location was probably our most critical factor. We wanted to find an urban location that emulated the brand and provided surprise and wonder around every corner. We quickly realized that we would most likely need to find a space that was not entirely known. After months of researching, we found the perfect place. We started the festival in the historic West Bottoms of Kansas City. The West Bottoms is an industrial area immediately to the west of downtown Kansas City, at the confluence of the Missouri River and the Kansas River.

One of the oldest areas of the city, the looming 19th century warehouse buildings there are known for antique shops, haunted houses and art galleries. Urban grit and iconic architectural buildings and sweeping 100-year-old bridges made us fall in love with the space. After six months of selecting the location we opened the doors of the first Boulevardia. It was an instant success, with close to 35,000 people showing the first year. At a time when the millennial mind was seeking new, off the beaten path adventures, Boulevardia was the perfect formula.

We did build the festival with the intent that it could be moved; after all, it was

IFEA’s ie: the business of international events

33

a pop-up nation. However, as time and success continued, we feared change.

Why? The space had become so much a part of the fabric of the festival. How could we replicate this somewhere else? And let’s be honest, why go through all that work when it was not broken? After three years of growth and success, we knew if 34

we were going to make the change, we needed to do it before the space became the festival. We were also faced with growing costs in the area and challenges of growth. Our team took a leap and began seeking out spaces. We found an area just to the south of our current space that was called “The Stockyards District,” near the City’s mothballed former large-venue area. The area had new hope of growth with the sale and repurpose of

IFEA’s ie: the business of international events

Fall 2018

the area and several new restaurants.

After six months of studying and preparing the new location, we opened Boulevardia gates in the new area in year four. Despite a lot of nerves and hard work to make the move, the festival move was welcomed and loved by our patrons. We had record attendance and only glowing reviews from the move.

Going through this experience I learned so many things, that it made me look at all of the festivals we produce. Can they survive a move? What measures should we be taking with all festivals to make sure that their existence is not dependent on the physical location.

So if you are about to start a festival or you have a festival that any of the factors listed above could be in play, I would suggest the following: Have a planning team exercise that talks through the very idea of moving your physical location or altering your current location. Try to get your team in a mind-set

of optimism. It is so easy to think that it is impossible, rather than looking at a change as an opportunity. Walk your team through the following questions: 1. What Opportunities Does Your Festival Have If It Were to Move Locations? a. Has your festival become a bit stale?

Have you exhausted all options to change to keep it fresh due to space limitations? Would a new location offer a fresh start and new space for additions to the event? b. Are you looking for new audiences?

Would a new location open you up to new audiences? c. Is there a new location in town that offers better amenities than what you have? d. Is there a developer, district, neighborhood or organization courting you to leave your current location? If not, could there be?

2. What Threats Does Your Current Location Have That Might Make Your Festival Vulnerable for Relocation? a. Have you reached capacity for the space, and growth is not possible? b. Is your venue/landlord increasing costs that threaten festival financial viability? c. Are the voices in the neighborhood getting louder? Is there general resistance and growing complaints from the businesses or residents? d. What development or construction could be in the near future? Roads, buildings, street cars, venue repair, area redevelopment? e. What politics are brewing that could prove to be challenging for the festival or the area you serve? f. Is your date flexible? If it is not (i.e. your festival is a holiday celebration) Are there any potential date change threats that, if forced, could be detrimental to your festival?

3. Does Your Space Define the Festival? If so, what measures can you begin to take to make sure that your festival identity can be moved easier? a. What defines your location? Is it a river, a park, buildings, urban, bridges, proximity to something? If you don’t identify with your space or venue, then move should not be as much of a challenge, other than finding space that can accommodate. If there are aspects of the location that do define you, then you need to identify those

aspects and ask the other questions below, keeping these in mind. b. Do you have features that can be moved with you so that patrons recognize and feel the familiarity of the festival? If not, what features can you start including that build your identity but can move with you. When we built Boulevardia, we decided to have a Ferris wheel (because at a beer festival it would be unexpected). We placed it next to the stage and it quickly became the iconic image of the festival. The good news, a Ferris Wheel can move. And we make sure that we keep the Ferris Wheel next to the stage where ever we go. c. Clearly identify the aspects of your space that you find most challenging to replicate. d. Clearly identify the aspects of your space that can be replicated in another space.

4. What Other Areas of the City/ Town Could We Move To? It is very important for you to realize your options. a. List out all the locations in your area that might be options. Don’t overthink at this stage, simply list your options. b. List pros and cons of the top three locations you have identified. Note potential costs and date options and/or challenges. Provide this as homework to your team, if there are unknowns.

Make sure to address key factors from 3a. that define your festival and determine how these locations would address the identity issues. c. Take each location and compare it to the list where you identified the most challenging aspects to replicate from your current space. Discuss if those are challenges or opportunities in the new selected locations. d. Review the list of challenges in your current space and see if any of the new spaces solve those issues. e. Identify the overall opportunities that come with the changing to each of the locations. f. Identify overall challenges that you will need to overcome with changing to each of the location.

Hopefully by the end of the exercise, you will not feel so daunted by the threat of moving your event. After all, we are engineers of fun. Our spaces should not define us….we should be defining our space. If Fall 2018

you can believe it, after only one year in the Old Stockyards District, Boulevardia was forced to change our footprint again, due to the construction of an apartment building on the parking lot that accommodated our main stage. So once again we find ourselves reimagining in year five. Boulevardia, while we did not imagine it, has become part of the eco system for the city’s development.

My advice, don’t start a “pop-up nation” festival. It is exhausting!

Keli O’Neill Wenzel is the President & CEO of O’Neill Events & Marketing. Keli is the creator and orchestrator of many of Kansas City’s most successful civic, corporate and entertainment events. She has a true and deep understanding of the city and a lifetime of experience working around – and managing – special events and attractions.

She serves as the founding Executive Director of the Kansas City Irish Fest. She is co-founder and Producer of Boulevardia (craft beer & music festival) and KC Riverfest (City’s largest Independence Day celebration). Other projects include Co-chair of 2015 Kansas City Royals Parade and Rally, Event Coordinator of the 2016 Grand Opening of the KC Streetcar Celebrations, planning and management for the centennial commemorations of WWI for the US.

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35

THE DIGITAL LIFE

WITH SAFFIRE

THE IMPORTANCE OF YOUR BRAND

IN THE DIGITAL AGE

C

onsumers move fast these days—like really fast. You can talk, text and email all at once. You can order your groceries while getting your hair cut. It may seem like with this fast-paced lifestyle that people pay less attention to the brands which they are buying from. If customers don’t even have time to go to the grocery store, then how will they have time to pay attention to messaging from your festival?

As it turns out, building your brand is more important than ever, mainly due to this newfangled concept that consumers have in abundance…the element of choice. Never have people had so many options when deciding how and where to spend their money. The rise of ecommerce, and more recently mobile ecommerce, means customers are more educated and you have more competition to earn a customer’s dollar. A strong brand is actually one of your best defenses to keep customers coming back. Here are a few things you can focus on: • Consider Your Image in EVERY Post – Do you ever go to an Instagram account and think to yourself, “WOW these people really have it together! It’s so pretty and I want to be a part of it!” THAT is what you want for your brand—you achieve that by making sure everything you post adheres to the standards you’ve set for yourself in terms of quality & content of your images & videos. Don’t post something that has bad colors or allow your logo to be partially cut off. Don’t stand for blurry pixelated images. Your brand is tied to those elements, and they tell a big part of your story online. If you don’t adhere to your own brand guidelines, it’s not likely that the media or your sponsors will either. If you don’t have a brand guide, develop one! It’s a great place to start in making yourself look good online & elsewhere.

• Get Involved in Your Community – Sometimes “going viral” requires getting your boots dirty on your home turf first.

If you need more volunteers, consider taking time for your staff or board to donate their time around town. Pick a cause that is relevant to what you do and give back. This is especially important to millennials and Gen Z’s when they are deciding where to spend their money. Younger generations tend to

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support brands that “do good”. Younger customers also care about what their peers think of a brand more than older generation. If a few millennials post about how awesome you are on snapchat, you can bet you’ll win the business of some of their friends.

• Don’t Be Afraid of Change – Just as soon as you get that brand guide built, it’s likely that you’ll want to update it. Resist the urge to change without giving it a lot of consideration. After all, this is the brand you have worked so hard to establish!

That logo that you feel is “tired” or “so last year” may be something your customers are just getting used to. It typically takes 6-7 exposures to a brand before it is really absorbed by a customer. On the other hand, change and growth is crucial to survival in the digital age. Think about Amazon—they used to only sell books and Compact Discs. Can you imagine if that was their only business plan? They would have gone the way of Blockbuster & other brands that couldn’t survive the digital age. Adapt to your surroundings. One of the BEST things about your marketing campaign trending digital is you probably have more data than ever before on what’s working for your brand and what’s not. Use your analytics to your advantage.

Listen to what your customers want and adapt to the masses.

The digital age doesn’t mean all bad things for your brand.

If you follow these guidelines, your digital assets will help your brand grow! Keep in mind that you can cast a wider net to more targeted followers than ever before. It may be faster than word about your brand, but don’t let that allow you to treat it with any less regard. Your brand is still your strongest asset!

Cassie Roberts Dispenza is the Senior Partnership & Marketing Director at Saffire and has extensive experience with online marketing and event planning. She started working with Saffire in 2011 and since then, the company has grown from supporting a few great organizations in Texas to partnering with hundreds of events, venues and destinations across the country. Cassie lives in Austin, TX, and if you’re looking to visit, can rival any tour guide in the city!

“

The Pointsmap app was a match made in heaven for Riverbend Festival. With 5 stages over 8 days and 100 artists, the interactive map made planning a breeze for Riverbend Festival music lovers. Our patrons praised the ease of plotting their experience and having it all in the palm of their hands. The Pointsmap app had a it all covered…from when their favorite band was on stage, how to get there, and where to find concessions along the way.

- Amy Morrow, Riverbend Festival

”

PointsMap puts your entire festival in the palm of your visitors hands.

Add as many points to your map as you want including photos, descriptions, links to videos, websites and PDF’s. Your PointsMap Customized App helps users find out what’s happening, who’s performing, find the stages, tokens, restrooms and concessions and navigate to them. You easily update the information using your desktop PointsMap and the changes are instantly updated in your App!

Try out these Free Apps on your Phone

PointsMap® is affordable, easy to build and easy to update.

Try it yourself! Create your own point on a map and see it in the App instantly. Visit Tryit.PointsMap.com

Call today for your IFEA Special Pricing.

423.894.2677 www.PointsMap.com © 2016 by Video Ideas Productions, Inc., Chattanooga, TN ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

EXHIBITOR SPOTLIGHT

TicketSauce is a 5-yearold company based in San Diego, CA that has decades of experience in working with a variety of US and International companies from media, to associations to venues to event organizers.

Our mission is to make it possible for event organizations of all sizes and types to have their own easy-to-use Event Management Solution. We offer: a new way to collect data, a new way to gain audience, a new way to grow revenue, and a new way to expand reach.

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How has your company grown over the years?

Our company has been fortunate to have doubled our staff and tripled our revenue within the past 5 years.

Give us your ‘elevator pitch’ about your product/service.

We are a private label comprehensive event platform. We put your brand first, we never sell your data and we help you drive more revenue for your events. Handle single and multi-day events, and multitudes of ticket options with TicketSauce’s flexible software.

What areas do you serve with your product/service?

We serve companies locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. We have clients across the US, Australia, Canada and Europe.

What new or improved product/ service do you have to offer that attendees need to know about?

Ticketsauce is continuously improving and adding new features based on customers and industry needs. Currently, we added a new enhanced schedules and activities feature that incorporates a shopping cart functionality, as well as the ability to customize service fees by ticket type and merchandise items.

What sets your product/service apart from your competitors?

Our platform is flexible and customizable to each client’s need and brand. Our

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team of experts truly place our clients first, from working on site at check- in, to assisting with set-up, to creating new products together.

How many years have you exhibited at the ifea expo?

This is our 2nd year exhibiting at the IFEA Expo.

Why did you decide to exhibit at the 63rd Annual IFEA Convention, Expo & Retreat?

The IFEA has a stellar reputation in the event space. We are thrilled to be new members.

What is your customer service philosophy?

Customers are always first and the very reason for our existence. We value customers and work hard to exceed their service and experience expectations. Our clients and partners consistently mention that Ticketsauce’s customer service and flexible software platform truly set the company apart from competitors.

CONTACT INFORMATION Travis Fisher President TicketSauce 9255 Towne Center Dr., Suite 380 San Diego, CA 92121 888-704-1309 sales@ticketsauce.com www.ticketsauce.com

THE UN-COMFORT ZONE

WITH ROBERT WILSON

FREE YOUR MIND

FROM WORRY Stuck in a Worry Loop? Here’s How to Break Free.

I

have had some friends and relatives who worry all the time. About all sorts of things. Most of which never come to pass. The problem for me, is that all the exposure to their negative thinking is contagious. And, then I find myself worrying about things.

I have on occasion had some serious things to be concerned about, but I’ve found that when I worry, I lose sleep which in turn causes me to get less accomplished. So, I try to keep my problems in perspective.

I recall a friend’s grandmother saying, “Worry is like a rocking horse; it consumes time and energy, but gets you nowhere.”

Worry stems from our fear of the unknown. It is the anticipation of potential negative outcomes. We get anxious when we have invested time and effort into some endeavor; and it is reasonable to have expectations of the future. Worry in small doses is normal. It is tied to our sense of caution, and it helps us make plans, anticipate problems, and accomplish goals.

Too much worry, however, creates stress; and stress shuts down our ability to think creatively. When we can’t think creatively, we can’t solve the problem we were worried about to begin with.

I like the term: Future-Tripping because it aptly describes what we do when we worry. We stop living in the present; because we are spending all our time living in our mind hashing out the various possible scenarios the future may bring.

Shantideva, an 8th-century Indian Buddhist monk, put it this way, “If the problem can be solved then why worry? If the problem cannot be solved worrying will do you no good.”

We can stop those thoughts by asking ourselves, “What is below the anxiety? What am I most afraid of? For me the recent economic recession would 40

occasionally send me into near panic as I watched my business slow down.

The things I feared were months away, and could only come true if absolutely nothing changed in my life. Life however is constantly changing, and new opportunities arise every day.

I find I can control my negative thoughts by bringing them down to that which I can work on today. If my worry is really out of control, I will only focus on what I can accomplish over the next hour.

Sometimes I find mundane yard work helps me break the worry pattern - because like riding a rocking horse - it burns time and energy, but at least I’m accomplishing something. For me, the repetitious nature of mowing the grass or raking leaves has a meditative effect.

The purpose is to change your perspective. Others activities which help do this include, walking, hiking, biking, skating, working out in the gym. You want to shift your thoughts from negative to positive.

Exercise makes you feel good which in turn leads to good thoughts.

Go to Bed; Take a Bath; Ride a Bus. These relaxing activities encourage daydreaming. Many times it is in a moment of repose that we find the solution to the thing that is worrying us.

It was while relaxing in a bath that, Archimedes, the Greek mathematician and inventor, solved the problem of how to determine the density (mass per unit volume) of an object by measuring the amount of water it displaced.

Albert Einstein, who had been working on his theory of relativity for a long time, finally solved it by going to sleep. His equation E=MC2 came to him in a dream.

He said he dreamed he had fallen off a mountain, and that as he sped faster and

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faster toward the ground, he looked up at the stars and saw that their appearance became altered as he approached the speed of light.

Kent Boxberger, an Atlanta-based business coach, says, “If you’re feeling worried, you’re not feeling free. You feel encumbered by something. You can’t be worried and find a solution at the same time. To get out of worry-mode you have to think some different, ‘better-feeling’ thoughts, so that emotions can change direction. Continuing to look at the problem is like quicksand - the more you struggle with it - the worse it gets.”

“The first step is to realize what you are doing, and become conscious of the worry.

The second step is understanding that the solution is not found by continuing to look at or think about the problem. The third step is to focus your thoughts on something else that makes you feel good. It is when you release enough resistance that an idea, toward solving the problem, will come.”

If you are finding it difficult to shift your thoughts, Kent suggests, “Take a nap to stop the momentum. It’s the most powerful thing you can do. It’s like a reset button.”

And, remember, if you’re feeling overwhelmed, it is always cool to ask for help.

Robert Evans Wilson, Jr. is an author, humorist/speaker and innovation consultant. He works with companies that want to be more competitive and with people who want to think like innovators. Robert is the author of The Annoying Ghost Kid, a humorous children’s book about dealing with a bully. He is also the author of the inspirational book: Wisdom in the Weirdest Places. For more information on Robert, please visit www.jumpstartyourmeeting.com.

WITH SEAN KING

ASSOCIATION ENDORSED PARTNER

ASSOCIATION ENDORSED PARTNER

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.

Interested in becoming an Association Endorsed Partner?

Contact Kaye Campbell, Director of Partnerships & Programs (208) 433-0950 ext. 8150 or kaye@ifea.com

Cutting-Edge Tech Trends:

IN 2018 THE ATTENDEE EXPERIENCE

By Sean O’Shea

Apps lighting up according to how the audience answers polling questions. Source: www.vividsydney.com

Technology in the event space has long since graduated from slideshows and online registration. Now there’s an expectation of advanced, creative technology to be integrated into the attendee experience, especially with the use of mobile apps, even if your event isn’t necessarily technology-focused. People are out-doing themselves every year with the most innovative, most visionary installments and apps. Consequently, expectations of attendees have changed and it’s clear that it will only continue to move in that direction.

Welcome to the new era of digital engagement. This is now the standard of how attendees are interacting with one another and with your brand at your event or conference. Everyone has a smartphone nowadays and will be glued to it whether or not they’re looking at your branded content, and brands have been reacting accordingly. Keeping your 42

community engaged is key. We’ve already seen the widespread use of things like in-app chat bots, social media displays and live-streaming to immerse attendees and encourage a greater dialogue. While these are great tools, let’s take it outside the box. Interaction17 had an exhibit called “Data Futures” where the event’s app was also used to poll the audience during a keynote speaker’s presentation and aggregate the data in real-time. Suddenly, the audience became a participant in the lecture itself rather than just a spectator.

After the audience became comfortable answering basic questions like where they’re from and what music they like, the app began to flash different colors based on what you answered. Their answers are now being publicly exposed and they’re even more involved in the experience of this lecture. Then, naturally, the questions got a bit more challenging. As people were forced to shed their anonymity, the

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audience was made to stand behind their answers and forced to relate to one another on a deeper level. Technology is always accused of keeping people from connecting and socializing how we used to, but that doesn’t have to always be the case. If it’s used creatively, it can absolutely foster greater engagement, participation and solidify your community.

Now let’s take it outside the lecture hall.

In the age of 8-second attention spans, interactive entertainment at events is a necessity, which is where a lot of experiential, innovative tech comes into play.

People want the wow-factor, they want to see something they haven’t seen before.

And as technology progresses, each year someone seems to up the ante. At Design Miami, Audi created an installation where a three-dimensional LED surface had real-time graphics as people walked over it with a path that their newest self-driving car was following through the middle. The

idea was to show how self-driving cars and people would interact, and it was quite the success. This is the crossroads where a fun, digital installation can serve both to entertain and to connect people to your brand in ways that will have them talking about it for months on end.

Then there’s the use of gamification: a subset of the idea of bringing entertainment value to your event that will have people associate a positive, exciting experience with your brand. Take, for example, a digital scavenger hunt around your exhibits using beacons that connect to your event app. (Beacons, for those who don’t know, are small hardware devices that are able to submit a signal to your phone within a certain range.) The Consumer Electronics Showcase is one of the largest tech conferences and in recent years set up such a digital scavenger hunt around their exhibition. Attendees got badges as pop-up notifications while they walked through the exhibits and got in range of the beacons with the promise of an iPad for the winners. They had great participation and managed to get attendees to explore all of the different exhibits at their event in a fun, engaging way. Not only was CES successful in branding themselves as incredibly forward-thinking technologically, but they enhanced their attendee experience by ensuring they saw all the exhibits that they had to offer.

Any technology that has a connection

CES’s event app with scavenger hunt notifications. Source: https://blog. beaconstac.com

to location-based prompts are great for events, since they connect the physical movement of your attendees in your event space to their digital experience.

Maybe the biggest trend in how events are using technology is AR and VR, or Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality.

As these technologies become more advanced, they can be used to bring a unique element to your attendee’s experience. You’re essentially bringing them into a different world and allowing them to visualize an experience that you may have not been able to provide for them otherwise. It opens up the possibilities of what you can offer attendees to be essentially limitless. Most people understand VR, but AR is interesting in that it combines the physical reality of the user with virtual elements added to it.

Coachella’s app is one of the best uses of AR, where they had recognized brand elements (like their ferris wheel, roller coasters and a hot air balloon) appear on their welcome package when you point the Coachella VR app on it. Then while at the festival, attendees were able to hunt for certain location-based AR activations on the festival grounds while using their app. You can imagine how much social media traffic this produced for them, making the app not only an effective tool to create an on-site experience but also to encourage online activity that promotes your event.

Audi’s self-driving car driving between attendees. Source: http://kollision.dk

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Two event attendees experiencing Budweiser’s VR brewery tour. Source: https://vrscout.com

barriers of the event experience and leveraging the newest innovations to bring their attendee experience into 2018.

What’s a common thread you see them using? Mobile technology. Mobile is the enabling feature of almost all of the latest trends in how technology is transforming the event experience. We’ve moved far past listing speakers and RSVPs in event apps. With more and more mobile users each year, your event’s mobile capabilities are clearly the foundation of how technologically advanced your event can be. From social media, to digital engagement and participation, to creating virtual experiences, mobile is a key factor in how empowered your brand is to be an industry leader in the event industry.

Coachella’s AR app looking onto the festival grounds.

Source: https://mobile-ar.reality.news VR, or Virtual Reality, can go one step beyond that. Brands have used it to promote products that aren’t able to be showcased easily in person or to give people the opportunity to engage with them from afar if they’re unable to attend the event in person, effectively expanding the reach of your event well beyond who’s able to travel to your on-site location. Imagine you were able to give any experience to people no matter where they’re located. At South by Southwest, Anheuser-Busch set up a virtual reality tent where attendees got a tour of their brewing facilities using VR, and even the added 44

effects of cold air being blown on them when they enter the freezer and waving hops in front of their noses when they’re starting the brewing process. The element of VR enabled users to visit their facilities and see how their product is made from thousands of miles away, empowering their brand to engage with their customers more effectively and immerse them in their brand’s experience. Now just imagine what kind of experience you could create for your attendees using VR. With industry leaders moving into more advanced technologies and more creative uses of it, they’ve been challenging

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Sean O’Shea co-founded Majestyk Apps in 2012 and now serves as President. Previously, he created successful mobile applications for a diverse set of industries, which is why he also oversees all of our projects as our Tech Lead. He brings together years of technical expertise and client-facing experience to ensure the success of every partnership Majestyk engages in. He can be reached at: sean@majestykapps.com.

LEADERSHIP AT ALL LEVELS

WITH GAIL LOWNEY ALOFSIN

“The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.”

William James

GOT

I

STRESS?

f there is one thing that I have learned in over three decades in business, especially in the deadline driven event business, is that we have control over our stress. There will always be more emails than we can possibly read, unexpected visitors, fire drills, distractions, change and disruptions. Living in a pattern of constant, high level stress is unhealthy – for your emotions and physical health. As you address the stress in your life, it will assist you with being more productive and healthier.

So, how can you manage the stressful situations that seem to fill your day? Let’s review a few tips – you have more control than you think!

It Starts with YOU! Stress management starts with your mindset. What are you putting into your head? What feelings are you carrying with you? It’s time to take charge and realize that you control your days and your decisions.

As Bob Dimuccio, President of Amica Mutual Insurance, professes; “Always be the calmest person in the room.” When you are confronted with a situation that is disturbing or disheartening – take a breath and remember there are two, if not more, sides to every story.

Be Open to Learning There is an adage – the more you know, the more you realize how much you do not know. It may be time to consider the way you have “always” done it and try something new.

Bless and Release If there are negative people in your life who cause you stress with their negative attitude, it may be time to bless and release them out of your life or limit your time with them. Surround yourself, as best you can, with people who possess a positive attitude, strong work ethic, integrity and a more than a semblance of gratitude. Likes attract likes – do your best to avoid negative clusters of people or situations. Avoid people and conditions that stress you out!

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall?

What is the cause of stress in your life? Is it your job, colleagues, home, spouse, or certain friends? Are you “stressed out” all the time by your family, boss, clients? Do you blame this stress on others? Do you thrive on stress? Take a good look in the mirror – could you be the source of your own challenges?

Perhaps it is time to take responsibility for your own stress. Keep a journal and track the causes of stress - in addition to who and what you are surrounding yourself with.

Busy is NOT A Contest!

There is a way to say “no” that does not make the person asking feel insulted or hurt. We have all had times in our lives when we have said “yes” to many things, making our plate very full. While a full plate is attractive, and perhaps in a sense, comforting, we only have so much time in a day. We want to do our best to avoid “buyer’s remorse,” regretting that we signed up for an activity or program that we do not have time for. Set your boundaries and recognize your limits!

When you do say “no”, say “no” nicely without a dissertation on how busy you are. No one cares how busy you are – busy is not a contest! We all know people who rant on and on about what they are doing. Nobody cares how “busy” you are!

Get Your ZZZ’s.

Make sleep a priority. Aim for 8 hours or whatever amount of time you feel that you need. Maintain an exercise schedule, ideally on a daily basis. Physical activity will serve to relieve stress – even a 10-minute walk will do wonders for your health.

Instead of enjoying a coffee or cocktail with a friend, plan a “walk and talk.” Stock up on healthy foods – be conscious of what you put in your body – including your head! Make sure you schedule enough “you time” with activities that relax you and bring you joy.

Relationships Value the people in your life who make you feel good about you. The people who champion and appreciate you are a gift in your life. Cultivate these relationships and make time for them.

It can be so easy to take people for granted, especially the ones we are closest to. Spending time with people who are interesting to be with and interested in your life, will serve to relieve your stress.

Gail Lowney Alofsin is a keynote speaker, author, adjunct professor and business executive. Her 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. She can be reached at 401-640-4418 and gail@ gailspeaks.com. Follow her on twitter: @gailalofsin and visit her website: gailspeaks.com.

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EXHIBITOR SPOTLIGHT

Founded in 2013 by Mitch Thrower, a financier, entrepreneur, author and 22x Ironman triathlete, events.com was formed around recognized challenges and opportunities emerging for event planners.

Give us your ‘elevator pitch’ about your product/service.

We’re changing the world of events.

With our passion and drive for the event industry, our mobile-friendly online event registration system is helping event organizers worldwide better manage, market, and monetize everything from simple pancake breakfasts to complex marathons.

Our online registration software bridges the gap between event organizers and event goers, giving the global events ecosystem a better solution to event planning and event discovery.

Events.com provides a solution for events that solve for the three main pillars of event production: marketing, participant management, and sponsorship. Through our tools, we help events get more people through the gates, manage the participant journey from start to finish, and build additional revenue streams.

integrations to remain competitive in a fiercely competitive event market.

What areas do you serve with your product/service?

Events.com serves the local, regional, national, and international areas.

What new or improved product/service do you have to offer that IFEA audiences need to know about?

Robust registration / ticketing platform coupled with sponsorship automation technology and supplemental digital marketing agency capabilities focused on conversions – not just impressions.

How many employees does your company have?

Events.com employs over 50 team members across offices located in San Diego and Ottawa.

What sets your product/ service apart from your competitors?

Events.com takes a doesn’t stake claim to participant data, nor do we cross-market other events to your participant list. We also take a holistic approach to event technology by solving for the ‘trifecta’ of event management needs (participant management, marketing, and sponsorship).

How has your company grown over the years?

Innovation at events.com is driven by our very best customers. They challenge us to deliver best in class technology and

How many festivals and events do you work with on an annual basis?

Events.com works with hundreds of event organizers who operate tens of

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thousands of events worldwide. We power many of the greatest events on the planet, with a 95% retention rate!

What advice would you offer to festivals and events searching for your type of product/service?

Look for a partner who can deliver a robust, end-to-end solution. This way, they do the bulk of the heavy lifting and busy work so that you (the event producer) are able to refocus efforts and resources back to producing a successful event.

What is your customer service philosophy?

Events.com helps organizers realize the full potential of their event through industry leading best practices delivered through a customer success approach. We act as an extension of an events’ team to ensure that they are able utilize our technology to its full potential.

CONTACT INFORMATION Eric Mugol Events.com 12250 El Camino Real, Suite 210 San Diego, CA 92130 858-257-2775 emugol@events.com www.events.com

EXHIBITOR SPOTLIGHT

Degy Entertainment was started as a management firm in 1996. After several years of successful label signings, publishing signings, and licensing, Degy choose to enter the booking world. In September of 2001, Degy Booking International, Inc. launched as the booking arm of Degy Entertainment, and quickly grew to a client base of nearly 100 music acts. Over time, the company developed specialties in the college and military booking fields and became one of the most prominent agencies in the world for such niche bookings.

How has your company grown over the years?

We have expanded into new markets and are working with more people and events every year with exponential growth.

Our talent buying and the availability of our exclusive roster of entertainment for markets such as Festivals, the US Military, sports teams, PAC’s and colleges allow us to offer value and variety to our customers.

The addition of our operations division has made a huge difference in helping our clients save time and money.

Give us your ‘elevator pitch’ about your product/service.

Counting hundreds of companies, colleges, festivals, fairs, PACs and the US Military as our clients; Degy Entertainment is one of the largest talent-buying agencies in the country. Our company handles over 2,000 events a year with the biggest names in the music, speaker & comedy space.

Recent events feature artists such as Imagine Dragons, Luke Bryan, The Chainsmokers, FL GA Line, Trevor Noah, Kendrick Lamar, Gabriel Iglesias, Little Big Town, Bob Dylan, Spike Lee, and many more. With our leverage, not only can we help deliver our clients the biggest names in entertainment, we also take a first-hand, 360 approach from the start of the search through the day of show execution. Starting from researching the right artists for your budget, helping negotiate riders, hiring outside production companies, to the on-site activation, Degy will help you handle every step of the event!

Here’s what our customers say about our services!

“With Degy Entertainment you get a team of seasoned professionals who will make your success their highest priority.”

Stephen King Des Moines Arts Festival “Working with Degy is such a RELIEF! As a concert planner, I love that I can make one call for all my entertainment needs. They help to navigate the confusing world of negotiating contracts for celebrity entertainment which is truly an art.”

Amy Zediana Dearth CSEP, Consider It Done Special Events, LLC What new or improved product/service do you have to offer that IFEA audiences need to know about?

In addition to being a top level talent buying agency, we have some exclusive relationships. We are currently working with the world’s largest bounce house, Big Bounce America, to festivals across North America in 2019. https://thebigbounceamerica.com/ What advice would you offer to festivals and events searching for your type of product/service?

I would say, have a conversation about your goals for your event and make sure that you are comfortable that the talent buyer will represent your event in the Fall 2018

best light. Acquiring talent and putting together a great lineup is a tough process at times, you need to make sure that you are confident that the talent buyer is representing your best interests.

What sets your product/ service apart from your competitors?

What sets Degy apart is the desire to represent our clients in the best way possible. We are hired by the festival to help navigate the waters of the talent industry and represent them, and that is what we are best at. We have a staff of the most knowledgeable, experienced talent buyers and operational staff you will find, and they can acclimate to working with volunteers and professional staff as well. This business is built on relationships and we want to make sure there is a comfort level there to develop that longterm relationship.

What is your customer service philosophy?

Transparency is key and honesty essential.

CONTACT INFORMATION Jeff Hyman Degy Booking International, Inc 9826 Montpellier Drive Delray Beach, FL 33446 USA 732-818-9600 x2 jeff@degy.com www.degy.com

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ADELMAN ON VENUES

MEET

I

SELENA

t is important to attach lofty principles to real people. This is Selena. I met her at a conference I attended last month.

She was hired to operate the video camera to record the presentations.

The conference was held in a very nice hotel in a major metropolitan area. Judging from number and size of meeting rooms, they do this sort of thing all the time. I would guess they are familiar with videographer requirements.

What could go wrong?

I stopped to chat with Selena the first morning, as attendees rushed out the doors to grab break food before it was taken away.

I commented that her camera position seemed to be crammed into a narrow space between two exit doors from the main conference room. She explained that she could easily have set up her equipment closer to the stage, which would have avoided all the foot traffic, but only if the conference organizers would have killed a few seats in the last couple of rows. That obviously didn’t happen.

I then noticed that the legs of her camera tripod were not roped off to create separation from passing human legs. Selena cheerfully confirmed that several people had already kicked the tripod as they sped past her, which made for some choppy video, but otherwise didn’t seem like a big deal to her. I asked if someone couldn’t at least put high conspicuity tape on the floor around her position to increase attendees’ awareness of this trip hazard (and the pleasant young woman clinging to it). She thought that was a fine idea, but doubted it would happen that day.

When I hung my head to lament the sense of powerlessness Selena apparently felt to speak up for her own safety, I saw the platform on which she was sitting. It didn’t give her much room to move around - actually, none. Then I saw that someone figured they would reduce the risk of the camera operator falling off the too-small platform by using duct tape to fasten her chair to the platform. As I was about to comment on the creative battle between order and chaos, I realized that the chair next to her platform was put there intentionally so Selena could climb down. I guess in the entire conference center, nothing with steps or a handrail was available.

As is often the case, even simple situations have layers of complexity. In this instance, my first reaction was that whoever had MacGyver’ed this setup was a mad genius who I wanted to meet. I immediately put that thought out of my head and became angry at the hotel supervisor who approved it. That thought remains. But my final thought was for Selena herself.

She recognized that she had been put in harm’s way, both by her location and by the eclectic combination of equipment she was 48

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given to use - but she didn’t feel like she could speak up or do anything about it. This made me feel worst of all.

Empowerment Coincidentally, shortly after I returned from this conference, an industry peer sent me a comprehensive government report regarding various terrorism threats. I don’t doubt the authors’ good intentions - I think any effort to better understand and mitigate the risks of third party violence is worthwhile. But I was disturbed by this line: The solution to ... terrorism is a coordinated organizational response, where police, fire and EMS personnel plan, train, and operate side-by-side.

WITH STEVEN A. ADELMAN

Organizations certainly should work together. But notice who’s missing from this coordination - people like Selena, and everyone else who might want to know in advance what they might do during a terrorist incident. As I read the report, it seemed to suffer from the same sort of top-down, need-to-know mindset that so many people rightly find disempowering in other parts of their lives. (I’m getting on a plane tomorrow - I would happily forego yet another seatbelt demonstration in favor of showing us how the exit doors work.)

At least when it comes to protecting myself and the people immediately around me, I generally prefer to trust, but verify.

I’m happy to leave big, complicated issues like terrorism to the experts in that field. For everything else, safety is a group exercise, not a spectator sport. Put another way, if more people decide that they can, and should, participate in their own wellbeing, that safety isn’t an issue only for “the authorities,” then people like Selena will know that they can point out the insanity of duct-taping a chair to a too-small platform set up between two exit doors. Wouldn’t that be an improvement?

When I last saw Selena, she was climbing the chair-step up to her perch. I don’t think she said anything to management. She deserved better. We all owe it to the people we care about to teach them that their safety matters enough to speak up for themselves.

Learning by Example In addition to inspiring this edition of Adelman on Venues, Selena and her predicament influenced me in a more constructive way that I hope you will soon see. At the Event Safety Alliance, we are creating a shiny new web site, and I am one of the drafters of new content. As we thought about ESA’s mission statement, we tried to not only say what we stand for, but also to use the letters E, S, and A. Here is what we came up with: MISSION STATEMENT The Event Safety Alliance is a non-profit membership organization.

ESA’s mission is to make event professionals and our guests: • Empowered, • Safe, and • Aware of the reasonably foreseeable risks around them.

ESA works to achieve our mission through: • Education, • Skills training, and • Advocacy.

In order to make safety the highest priority at live events, one must not only know what to do to stay safe, but also how to inspire others to work and live safely, and why safety matters at every phase of every event.

ESA’s ultimate goal is a culture in our industry that puts life safety first. We hope you’ll join us.

If you know someone like Selena, or if you are someone like Selena, organizations like ESA stand ready to help. Because the best person to think about your own safety is you.

Postscript After I first wrote this piece, a couple of readers were critical of what they perceived was my failure to do more to help Selena.

Here is the rest of the story.

My goal was to empower Selena to speak up for herself, or to at least recognize that she wouldn’t be crazy to do so. I spoke on her behalf with the one person with the event who I knew, an associate of one of the conference organizers, but he was not running the event nor did he have a relationship with the hotel management, so he did nothing of which I’m aware. I could have tracked down a hotel manager, but Selena gave me the impression she preferred not to make waves, at least not on this assignment -- I gather this hotel was a regular gig for her and she needed the money.

With some reluctance, but mindful that paternalism is often well-intentioned but equally often unwelcome, I chose not to do more at that time. Given my inability to help Selena directly, I wrote about her situation in an effort to sensitize readers to risks, and the people subject to them, who often go unnoticed. Next time you walk through an event site, I hope you’ll talk with people like Selena – they’re all around us, and they deserve our attention.

Steven A. Adelman is the head of Adelman Law Group, PLLC in Scottsdale, Arizona and Vice President of an international trade association, the Event Safety Alliance. His law practice focuses on risk management and litigation regarding safety and security at live events throughout North America, and he serves as an expert witness in crowd-related lawsuits. Steve Adelman is widely recognized as an authority on live event safety and security. He writes the monthly “Adelman on Venues” newsletter, he teaches “Risk Management in Venues” at Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, and he frequently appears in national and local media for analysis of safety and security incidents at public accommodations. Steve Adelman graduated from Boston College Law School in 1994. He can be reached at sadelman@adelmanlawgroup.com.

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EXHIBITOR SPOTLIGHT

We know what it feels like to be overcharged and underappreciated.

A couple friends started TicketSpice because they were frustrated with the ticketing solutions on the market. It seemed like the ticking solutions were all focused on their own success, instead of their customer’s success. We wanted to create an online ticketing platform that looked good, worked well and didn’t cost an arm and a leg. From the beginning our focus has been on making our customers successful, not on showcasing our own brand. We get it. Events are hard, ticketing software shouldn’t be.

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Give us your ‘elevator pitch’ about your product/service.

Our passion is your success! At TicketSpice we want to help you do more, make more and keep more. Over the past 10 years we’ve helped over 20,000 organizations just like you. We often hear people say “you guys are the best kept secret in the events industry.” That’s because we focused on helping you succeed, not building our own brand. We’ve been in your shoes, and we get it… you can’t sell tickets on your own and online ticketing platforms are a hassle.

Our pricing is simple (and affordable) at 99 cents per ticket. You can also set your own ticketing fee, and you keep it!

How many employees does your company have?

We have less than 30 employees here, so it’s a much more personal experience.

If you look around at TicketSpice reviews you’ll see most rave about our staff. We are all passionate about helping our customers succeed.

How has your company grown over the years?

We’re growing a ton and having a blast!

Everyday we’re helping customers make a ton of extra money on their events. We’ve processed almost $2 billion dollars for customers just like you.

What areas do you serve with your product/service?

About 90% of our customers are based in the U.S. and Canada. However, we can support events worldwide.

What sets your product/service apart from your competitors?

We do things differently at TicketSpice.

One of the biggest differences is that we allow you to set the ticketing fee, and YOU keep it! We’ve helped customers make millions with this simple feature. We just charge 99 cents per ticket, but you set

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the ticking fee at whatever you’d like… and it’s all yours to keep! Our credit card processing rate is 2.99% and we have real time payouts, so your funds are in your account within a few days.

How many festivals and events do you work with on an annual basis?

We’re the best kept secret in the events business! We’ve helped over 20,000 customers process almost $2 billion dollars.

What advice would you offer to festivals and events searching for your type of product/service?

Don’t sign a long-term agreement for online ticketing! We talk with so many frustrated promoters who want to switch but can’t because they are locked into an agreement with another provider.

It’s crazy to do that in 2018 and some providers still require you to be a hostage to them for multiple years. We believe a good partnership only works when our customers use our service because they want to, not because they are forced to.

What is your customer service philosophy?

We treat people the way we’d want to be treated. It’s really that simple. We value each customer we have large or small.

Our team is passionate about helping our customers succeed. A lot of us have run events, and we think you deserve a ticketing partner who puts you first.

CONTACT INFORMATION Shadi Hayek TicketSpice / Webconnex 455 Capitol Mall Suite 604 Sacramento, CA 95814 916-400-0737 shadi@webconnex.com www.ticketspice.com

Find Out Why Your Professional Peers Value Their IFEA Membership.

Click Here to Watch Video

Jeff Curtis, CEO • Portland Rose Festival Foundation • 2018 IFEA World Board Chair

The Portland Rose Festival Was One of 14 Founding Members of the IFEA in 1956.

THE REST IS HISTORY.

2018

IFEA

the honor of a lifetime The International Festivals & Events Association is pleased to announce the induction of one of the festival and event industry’s finest professionals into its prestigious IFEA Hall of Fame – William O’Toole, CFEE, Event Development Specialist of Event Project Management System, Pty., Ltd., Bondi Beach, NSW, Australia.

William O’Toole, CFEE Event Project Management System, Pty., Ltd. Bondi Beach, NSW, Australia 52

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Known as the association’s 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 and a profound difference in the communities they serve. Induction into the Hall of Fame is considered the highest of industry honors. Selected from a group of his industry-peers, Bill joins the prestigious ranks of 59 others inducted into the hall over the past 27 years.

Bill will be honored at the 63rd Annual IFEA Convention, Expo & Retreat, in San Diego, CA, U.S.A., where he will be presented with his award during the IFEA Awards Luncheon on Monday, October 1, 2018.

One of the most globally connected and influential professionals in the festivals and events industry today, Bill O’Toole’s unusual career path could be titled ‘The Accidental Tourist.’

With events nowhere on his radar, Bill graduated with a Pure Mathematics degree in 1972 from the University of Sydney. He could see clearly his future as an accountant or statistician and, as a result, wisely decided to pursue music.

While at the University of Sydney, Bill used his still undefined event skills to organize treks for his fellow students through the Australian bush, while also forming numerous bands to play for campus dances. With music in his blood, he moved to England in 1977 to attend the London Guildhall University and learn the art of instrument making, where he formed the dance band, Blowzabella. Looking for how to stand out from the crowd, literally, Bill reinvented the English bagpipe and put the band on stilts…a walking stage. Blowzabella performed successfully

at numerous fairs and festivals around England. Bill proudly points out that the band is still going strong, touring Europe and celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2018, having now released over 14 albums.

In the early 1980’s Bill moved back to Australia, where he met his future wife Ruth and started a family. Not veering far from his now musical roots, Bill formed the band Sirocco and toured the world, including some 30 countries, laying the foundations for his fascination with international cultures. During that time, he served not only as performer (playing the tin whistle or whatever was needed at the time), but as band management, logistics planner, tech roadie, and merchandise sales manager. Marketing a unique style and genre that were unusual in most musical circles, Bill started creating and producing their own gigs, concerts and events to ensure employment…his first official acknowledgement of events becoming a recognized focus in his career.

His signature event was a concert in the Wetlands of Australia, a nine-hour drive from the closest city, broadcast live to Asia and the Pacific from the middle of a swamp in the outback. The broadcast, CD and video of that event helped the local farmers save over 900 square miles of wetlands and bird habitats and brought attention to the problems of water supply in Australia.

The power of events was now clear to Bill.

Expanding upon his now growing skillset, in 1987 he formed a performing arts agency called the Larrikin Booking Agency and started pitching event and festival concepts to shopping malls, main street associations, government departments and the corporate world. He constantly looked for new opportunities and created work instead of waiting for it to come to him, developing a broad range of World Music festivals, Children’s festivals, Jazz festivals, Magic festivals and several Arts and Heritage festivals.

His constant search for new event opportunities and his love of travel led to some unusual gigs in places such as such as Papua New Guinea; Vladivostok, Borneo; Urumqi in western China; Nepal; Northern India; and a ‘Salute to Australia’ festival in Houston, Texas. When his band, Sirocco, arrived in Houston their equipment had mistakenly gone to Hawaii, so at their first gig Bill thought to ask the audience to help find musical instruments the band could use. The audience scattered and within half-an-hour all they needed (and more) arrived on stage!

In the jungle of central Borneo, Bill

worked with the local Dayaks to create an event for the local mining company.

The miners in these regions were being murdered by the locals and Bill suggested that a celebration in music and dance may help establish a new friendship between the locals and the company. He was right and recognized again the power of events to change people for the positive.

Bill likes to point out that, interestingly, and perhaps reflective of his career path, almost all of the places he toured were hidden by the binding in his old school atlas. Hidden gems in the most unexpected places.

In an effort to organize the exponentially increasing chaos in his life, Bill began learning the skills of project management and wrote his own software programs to meet his organizational needs. In 1996 he attended a course in event management at the University of Technology, Sydney.

It was the first year of the course and they needed a person with direct event experience. Bill ‘fit the bill’ and he started the teaching and training part of his career.

In 1999 Bill returned to his alma mater at the University of Sydney and created a series of event management courses online as part of a Masters in Project Management program. Simultaneously, he gained his own Masters of Engineering in Project Management with a thesis on the application of project management as it relates to the delivery of events and festivals. As a result, he co-authored one of the global industry’s first event textbooks, Festival and Special Events Management, adapting project management, logistics and risk management to the production of events and festivals.

Recognizing an increasing need to professionalize the now expanding and growing global festivals and events industry, Bill struck upon the idea of developing an Event Management Body of Knowledge (EMBOK), to collect and classify the knowledge and skills needed to create and manage events of all genres.

In 2000 he wrote a paper on the topic, that was taken up by Julia Rutherford Silvers, an educator with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and Janet Landey, with the Institute of Event Management in South Africa and now the President of IFEA Africa. Janet organized a number of professional conferences on the EMBOK project in South Africa. The EMBOK was codified by Rutherford Silvers and taken up by the Canadian government, the South African government and the worldwide conference industry. It is being tested today by IFEA Africa and the South Fall 2018

African government, through the Skills Village 2030 project, for broader release by the IFEA and other professional, government and educational institutions in the future.

While all this was going on, Bill made time to travel to his first IFEA convention in Anaheim, California in 2003, where he met with the leadership of many top U.S. and other global festivals and events.

This interaction inspired him to assist in establishing IFEA event training programs around the world.

Bill’s second textbook on Event Project Management, released in 2001, catapulted him further overseas to consult with organizations and governments in the development of their events and the training of their event teams.

He started in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, working with the governments Tourism and Marketing Department to develop and build the potential for festivals and events as part of their 2020 World Expo vision. This created a centre in Dubai for people to come from all over Africa, Europe and the Middle East for training in events, project and risk management.

Private companies such as Jack Morton, Deloitte, Hewlett Packard and thousands more sent their staff for training.

In all the many countries where he has worked (including Jordan; India; Pakistan; the United Arab Emirates; Kenya; Uganda; Malaysia; Singapore; Hong Kong; Taiwan; Laos; Vietnam; the Philippines; Indonesia; Sri Lanka; and New Zealand, among others) developing event strategies and training event management professionals, Bill emphasised the need for their events and festival teams and government organizations to link to the IFEA. This resulted in the delivery of the IFEA’s CFEE professional certification program in Dubai in 2011 for the Dubai government, and to the IFEA’s involvement in the Middle East Event Awards and other regional training programs. Bill helped open the doors and advise on the provision of event conferences and/or professional training in many countries, with direct participation

by IFEA leadership, at many of those.

Bill’s career then took him to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for a long-term project to explore and develop the potential of events in that country. At the same time his previous efforts were resulting in recognition by the European Commission and the United Nations of the power of events to efficiently and effectively heal countries after war, while also assisting in their economic and social development. In partnership, they sent Bill to parts of the world he hadn’t yet

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worked in, including Liberia (on the west coast of Africa), Sudan, Uganda and Jordan. His global industry awareness and influence were continuing to grow.

Bill’s work in Saudi Arabia started in 2004 and culminated with a nationwide Tourism Events strategy, which became part of the exciting and dynamic opening and development of Saudi Arabian festivals and events that we are witnessing today and which the IFEA is playing a central training role in.

This work on event strategies resulted in his third textbook: Events Feasibility; from Strategy to Operations. His books have now been translated into five languages and provide the foundation for university and professional training courses around the world.

Since 2013 Bill has been a pivotal member of the teaching team for the IFEA/NRPA Event Management School at Oglebay National Training Center in West Virginia, where he oversees and directs the second-year event-city challenge experience and has worked closely with IFEA President & CEO Steve Schmader to create the new CFEA designation as a pathway to the full CFEE professional certification.

For the past few years Bill has limited his travelling primarily to working in Paris, France and the United States, allowing him time to revisit and rework the national handbook for the Australian Government on ‘crowded places’ and to co-author and edit an all-new textbook on Crowd Management: Security, Risk and Health.

Bill has served actively on the IFEA World Board of Directors, the IFEA President’s Council and the IFEA Global Roundtable and continues to serve as one of the industry’s top global advisors and conduits as we look to the future.

Please help us congratulate our 2018 IFEA Hall of Fame inductee, William O’Toole!

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63rd Annual IFEA Convention, Expo & Retreat October 1-3, 2018 • Town and Country Hotel • San Diego • California • U.S.A. CFEE Classes September 28 - 30, 2018 Presented by

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C HANG I NG PERSPEC T I V ES Presented by

The 63rd Annual IFEA Convention, Expo & Retreat

IT DEPENDS ON YOUR PERSPECTIVE OUR PERSPECTIVES CAN BE SHAPED

BY AN ENDLESS LIST OF FACTORS. Our upbringing; age; education; cultural ties; relationships; politics, religion and other beliefs; financial risk; personal buy-in and responsibility; hierarchies; health; values; physical or mental capabilities and barriers; exposure to media and messaging; experience (professional and personal); and many, many others. Given the list of considerations that can influence our perspectives, it is remarkable that anything gets accomplished in our world. Now add to that consideration the fact that perspectives change constantly, as we (and all those around us) change and grow and move through the spectrum of the many elements noted above, and the exponential possibilities of keeping up with everything can seem quite daunting.

OUR INDUSTRY AND EVENTS ARE NO DIFFERENT. Our internal perspectives are shaped by our own realities – event age, staff size and experience, financial scenarios, target audiences, et al. while we must constantly be aware of, and respond accordingly to, the constantly changing external perspectives of our attendees; community leadership; sponsors; media; volunteers; vendors; and even those that would do us harm.

TO BETTER INFORM OUR OWN PERSPECTIVES AND TO UNDERSTAND THE PERSPECTIVES OF OTHERS, WE MUST DO OUR BEST TO STAY AHEAD OF THE CURVE. From programming to risk management; city partnerships to volunteer management; marketing/messaging to sponsorship activation; accessibility to operational expectations; educational theory to hands-on reality; and everything in-between.

THE 63rd ANNUAL IFEA CONVENTION, EXPO & RETREAT IS DESIGNED TO INFORM AND ELEVATE ALL OF YOUR PERSPECTIVES; providing access to many points-of view; increasing awareness of changing technologies, trends, issues, opportunities and risks; and extending educational and networking opportunities to share and grow your professional experience and expertise.

WE HOPE THAT YOU WILL PLAN NOW TO JOIN US with your staffs, boards, key volunteers, city representatives, sponsors and vendors as we welcome the world’s top events, host markets and industry experts, for an unforgettable opportunity to evaluate, prepare for and respond to the many critical and changing perspectives that are influencing our industry and all those that we depend on.

WE PROMISE THAT YOU WILL LEAVE WITH MULTIPLE FRESH PERSPECTIVES OF YOUR OWN.

CAN YOU AFFORD TO MISS IT?

IT DEPENDS ON YOUR PERSPECTIVE *Note: The 63rd Annual IFEA Convention footprint will run through 5:30pm on Wednesday, October 3rd, 2018. Certified Festival & Event Executive (CFEE) Professional Certification education classes, and other Advanced Education Workshops, will be scheduled in the days leading up to the convention – September 28th, 29th & 30th, 2018. Separate Registration is Required. For more details, Click Here.

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CONV ENT ION OPENING & CLOSING The 63rd Annual IFEA Convention & Expo officially opens on Monday, October 1st at 9:00 a.m. Including welcomes from IFEA industry leaders and an unforgettable performance by the internationally acclaimed Sultans of String, we will set the stage for our time together over the coming days, from all perspectives, as we look to the future and explore the growing and important roles that the events and industry we are all a part of continue to play in our cities, communities and the world around us.

OPENING ENTERTAINENT

The IFEA is pleased to welcome 3–time JUNO Award nominees and Billboard charting band Sultans of String.

Helping us to get things off with a memorable musical perspective, Sultans of String creates “Energetic and exciting music from a band with talent to burn!” according to Maverick Magazine. Thrilling their audiences with their genre-hopping passport of Celtic reels, flamenco, gypsy-jazz, Arabic, Cuban and South Asian rhythms, the group celebrates musical fusion and human creativity with warmth and virtuosity. Fiery violin dances with rumba-flamenco guitar, while bass and percussion lay down unstoppable grooves. Acoustic strings meet with electronic wizardry to create layers and depth of sound, while world rhythms excite audiences to their feet with the irresistible need to dance. A perfect fit for the broad-ranging festivals and events of our global industry!

OPENING KEYNOTE SPEAKER CREATING NEW PERSPECTIVES: THE STRATEGY OF EVENT AND PLACE BRANDING Monday, October 1st, 2018 9:00 a.m.

JEANNETTE HANNA Chief Strategist, Trajectory

No business, no organization, no place, no event succeeds alone.

In a world of interdependence, it’s the connections you create, the communities you engage, and the collaborations that you enable that drive real value and that come together to form the perspectives and the lenses that others view you through.

Jeannette Hanna, Co-Founder and Chief Strategist for Toronto-based Trajectory, has spent her career helping events, cities and organizations to present themselves from the best possible perspective. To rethink, re-imagine and reposition themselves in the world; elevating their game; influencing stakeholders; changing the dialogue; and inspiring new possibilities.

‘INSPIRE THE INDUSTRY’ SPEAKER

CLOSING KEYNOTE SPEAKER

CHANGING PERSPECTIVES: BUILDING A BETTER EVENT LEADER – BRINGING THE INDUSTRY AND ACADEMIA OF EVENT MANAGEMENT TOGETHER

UNTETHERED PERSPECTIVE: THE POWER OF EVENTS TO SHAPE A CITY AND BUILD COMMUNITY

Tuesday, October 2nd, 2018 8:30 a.m.

Director, Ottawa 2017 Celebration

DONALD GETZ, PHD Professor Emeritus, The University of Calgary

As we look to the future and sustainability of our industry, from all creative, business, marketing, and financial vantage points, we have come to understand that the natural evolution of our industry necessitates changing perspectives; one in which the professional and academic sides of the equation must grow closer together through new partnerships and the creation of new opportunities to help us all support, encourage, train and build better event leaders for the future.

The IFEA is proud and pleased to welcome one of the leading global academic authorities in our field to help us define that route and prepare for new journeys that lie ahead. Donald Getz, PhD., Professor Emeritus, University of Calgary, Canada, is a highly-respected researcher and industry consultant; a leading international tourism and event-studies scholar; and the author or co-author of well over 100 refereed journal articles, as well as a series of bestselling books, including his most recent and just-released new title, Event Evaluation: Theory and Methods for Event Management and Tourism (2018 Goodfellow Publishers) and upcoming titles Event Stakeholders (with Mathilda Van Niekerk) and Event and Tourism Impact Assessment.

Wednesday, October 3rd, 2018 4:15 p.m.

GUY LAFLAMME

Helping us put a fitting cap on our 63rd Annual IFEA Convention, we are very pleased to welcome Guy Laflamme, Director of the spectacular Ottawa 2017 year-long calendar of extraordinary events, which served as the centrepiece of Canada’s 150th sesquicentennial year celebration and left over 11 million attendees with memories to last a lifetime.

2016 Chair of the IFEA World Board, few professionals in our industry have imagined, produced and experienced the intense scope and scale of events that effectively changed how Canada’s capitol and other global event cities around the world now think of the power of events.

Guy Laflamme specializes in the creation, production and marketing of cultural, recreational and tourism products, with 25 years’ experience in the field. He has attended festivals and events in over 25 different countries, providing a global perspective on best practices in the industry. He is an instructor on Event Management at the University of Ottawa.

Sponsorship & Revenues

PROFESSIONAL EDUCAT ION “We can always count on the IFEA to track and identify the issues that we need to be paying attention to - often before they become a reality in our own market - and then to provide ready access to the leading resources and solutions available to our industry as we craft our own response. We have been pleased to serve as an active link in the IFEA network through multiple generations of KDF leadership.”

– Mike Berry, CFEEPresident & CEO Kentucky Derby Festival

It has been said that “If you don’t like something, change it; if you can’t change it, change the way you think about it.” The industry’s top professionals understand the difference that education, knowledge, a continuing global dialogue, and exposure to new and differing perspectives make between leading the parade or marching in place. Changing your perspective, changes the experience, for everyone.

For 63 years the IFEA has provided the festivals and events industry with the very best in professional education and training; a wealth of differing and successful perspectives; a tradition that continues this year. The IFEA prides itself on presenting up to 90% new topics and/or speakers each year, drawing upon the insights and input of active industry leadership from around the globe. We work to ensure that attendees at all levels - first-timers and repeat attendees, new to the industry or seasoned professional - can all find the answers and creative new ideas that you are looking for. A sampling of this year’s topics and perspective changers, presented by the top leaders in our global industry, include*, among others: (* subject to change)

• Sponsorship Then & Now: The Things That Never Change and the Things That Already Have • 45 Sponsorship Activation Ideas in 45 Minutes…Plus Some of Your Own • Calculating the Social Capital of Events • Fresh Perspectives: The Changing World of Non-Traditional Revenue, Sponsorships and Partnerships • Utilities: Why We Sponsor What We Sponsor • The Art of Sponsorship • Revenue the Traditional Non-Profit Way – Creating a Development Effort • Maximizing Returns from Effective Alcohol Service • Lessons Learned from a Career in Sponsorship • Creative Perspectives: Ignite! Idea Generator Session • Strengthening Our Partnerships with Concessionaires • Food Trucks vs. Food Vendors: What Makes Sense for Your Event • Enhanced Perspective: The Future of Festivals & Cannabis

Technology, Creativity and Innovation • • • • • •

Controlling the Message: Creating a Social Marketing Plan Creative Perspectives: Ignite! Idea Generator Session Joy & Wonder: Reimagining the Future of Parades Strengthening Our Partnerships with Concessionaires Food Trucks vs. Food Vendors: What Makes Sense for Your Event Protected Perspective: Insuring Your Data and Use of Other’s Information in a Privacy-Focused World • Creating a Better Community Festival Experience • The IFEA City-Event Project Challenge (Participative Team Challenge) • Zero Waste Management for Events

Operations & Risk Management • Rising Awareness: What are We Learning about How to Keep Our Events Safe?

• Insuring Against the Unthinkable: Terrorism & Acts of Violence Insurance Coverage • Festival, Event & Host City Interactive Risk Management Table Top Exercise (Special Extended Session) • Proactive Prospective: Preventing Sexual Harassment/Assault at Events (#MeToo) • Changing Perspectives: The Quickly Evolving Event Roles, Expectations and Challenges of Global Host Cities • Developing an Operations ‘Bible’ for Your Event • Uprooted: Inside a Decision to Move Your Event to a Different City or Site • Strengthening Our Partnerships with Concessionaires • Food Trucks vs. Food Vendors: What Makes Sense for Your Event • Zero Waste Management for Events • Critical Assets: Volunteer Management Best Practices for Mid-to-Large Scale Festivals & Events • Creative Perspectives: Ignite! Idea Generator Session

Marketing, Branding and Media Relations • Controlling the Message: Creating a Social Media Marketing Plan • Changing Aspirations: Revisiting & Strengthening Your Event Brand • Changing Perspective: The New World of Newspapers and Community Events • The Changing Event Roles of Parks Departments and How to Maximize the Partnership • Event Evaluation: Theory & Methods for Event Management & Tourism • Media Training for You, Your Board and Your Staff • Enhanced Perspective: The Future of Festivals & Cannabis • Adding Dimension to Your Event: Maximizing Diversity & Inclusion • Creating New Perspectives: The Strategy of Event & Place Branding • Creative Perspectives: Ignite! Idea Generator Session

Leadership & Management • Creating New Perspectives: The Strategy of Event & Place Branding • The IFEA City-Event Project Challenge (Participative Team Challenge) • Building a Better Event Leader – Bringing the Industry & Academia of Event Management Together • Balancing the Value & Liabilities of Large Events for Host Cities • Common Ground: What Events, Chambers & Tourism Agencies Can Learn from One Another • Getting the Right People on the Bus: Effective & Practical Board Recruitment, Governance & Development • Inside Perspectives: The Event Cities of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Rotterdam, The Netherlands • Inside Perspective: The Event Cities/Markets of Seattle, Washington and New South Wales, Australia • Changing Dynamics: The Power of Events to Shape a City and Build Community • Creative Perspectives: Ignite! Idea Generator Session • Calculating the Social Capital of Events • Proactive Prospective: Preventing Sexual Harassment/Assault at Events (#MeToo) • Enhanced Perspective: The Future of Festivals & Cannabis • Protected Perspective: Insuring Your Data and Use of Other’s Information in a Privacy-Focused World • Creating a Better Community Festival Experience • Zero Waste Management for Events • Insuring Against the Unthinkable: Terrorism & Acts of Violence Insurance Coverage • Festival, Event & Host City Interactive Risk Management Table Top Exercise (Special Extended Session) • Evolving Perspectives: The Quickly Growing Event Roles, Expectations and Challenges of Global Host Cities • Event Evaluation: Theory & Methods for Event Management & Tourism • Media Training for You, Your Board and Your Staff • New World: An Inside Look at the Dynamic Changes Within Saudi Arabia’s Event, Entertainment and Tourism Industry

Host City Partnerships • The IFEA City-Event Project Challenge (Participative Team Challenge) • Balancing the Value & Liabilities of Large Events for Host Cities • Inside Perspectives: The Event Cities of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Rotterdam, The Netherlands • Inside Perspective: The Event Cities/Markets of Seattle, Washington and New South Wales, Australia • Changing Dynamics: The Power of Events to Shape a City and Build Community • Calculating the Social Capital of Events • Enhanced Perspective: The Future of Festivals & Cannabis • Zero Waste Management for Events • Insuring Against the Unthinkable: Terrorism & Acts of Violence Insurance Coverage • Festival, Event & Host City Interactive Risk Management Table Top Exercise (Special Extended Session) • Evolving Perspectives: The Quickly Growing Event Roles, Expectations and Challenges of Global Host Cities • Event Evaluation: Theory & Methods for Event Management & Tourism

SPEAKERS AND NETWORKING LEADERS at this year’s convention include many of the top professionals (past, present and future) and internationally recognized industry organizations in the world, including*, among others: (*subject to change) • Portland Rose Festival Foundation • Philadelphia Flower Show • Event Project Management Systems (EPMS.NET),Australia • Temple University • Genoways Events • Pasadena Tournament of Roses • Memphis in May International Festival • Sausalito Art Festival • Trajectory • Newport Harbor Corporation • Event Safety Alliance • Adelman Law Group, PLLC • VolunteerLocal • Saffire • Des Moines Arts Festival • The Parade Company • National Cherry Blossom Festival • Bautista Event Specialist Team • Creative Strategies Group • City of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada • Watauga County (NC) Tourism Development Authority • Degy Entertainment • Dfest (Dixie Flag Event Services Team) • High Point University • Rotterdam Festivals, The Netherlands • Beale Street Music Festival • Artsquest / Bethlehem Music Festival • Kaliff Insurance • Norfolk Festevents • International Association of Event Hosts, United Kingdom • University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada • U.S. Department of Homeland Security • San Diego Union Tribune • UpBeat Parade Productions • Bonneville International Radio • County of San Diego Dept. of Parks & Recreation • Saudi Arabia General Entertainment Authority

• National Independent Concessionaries Association • San Diego Gas & Electric • Columbus Arts Festival • National Food Truck Association • RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) • Fraser Communications Group • Haas & Wilkerson Insurance • City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Kentucky Derby Festival • FiG Solutions • Fanfare Attractions • University of Minnesota • San Bernardino, California, County Fair • City of Seattle, Washington • New South Wales, Australia Department of Premier and Cabinet • Canadian National Exhibition • City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Ottawa 2017 Bureau, Ontario, Canada • (Indianapolis) 500 Festival • Chicago Festival Association • Safety Set Consulting, New Zealand • World Championship BBQ Cooking Contest • Kentucky Derby Festival • California State University, Chico • Event Risk Management Solutions, LLC • Skills Village 2030, South Africa • National Cherry Festival • Chattanooga Riverbend Festival • SunFest of Palm Beach County • IFEA World Festival & Event Cities • IFEA Global Affiliates • …and Many More

“INSPIRE THE INDUSTRY” GENERAL SESSIONS Our “Inspire the Industry” general sessions, beginning each day, are built around the goal of providing targeted presentations, led by selected industry professionals, with a focus on topical trends, issues or creative inspiration that we can all take home and put to use in our own careers, events and communities. From leadership and creativity, to global trends and city partnerships, and everything in-between, our “Inspire the Industry” presentations are sure to do just that. (Tuesday, October 2nd, 8:30 -9:30 a.m. and Wednesday, October 3rd, 8:30 -9:30 a.m.)

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SPECIAL FOCUS OPPORT UNIT IES “Ours is but a single (and often limited) perspective. Our successes, our experience, our education, our budgets, et al., do not change that. It is our openness and exposure to other perspectives that expand our creativity, our imaginations, our understanding, our relationships, our experiences and our future successes. The world changes when we change our perspective.”

– Steven Wood Schmader, CFEE President & CEO IFEA World

“AFFINITY GROUP” SESSIONS IFEA Convention attendees have a unique opportunity to share “common ground” conversations with professional peers, discussing current trends, issues, challenges and opportunities, during our popular “Affinity Group” Sessions (Monday, October 1st, 2:15 p.m. – 3:45 p.m.), including those for: • CEO’s • Sponsorship • Cities & Municipalities • Tourism Agencies • Arts Events • Parades • Young Professionals (for those 40 and under) • Event Education • Volunteer Programs • Operations • Marketing & PR Bring your questions and input to these valuable open-topic exchange sessions, scheduled early in the convention program to allow the opportunity to expand your conversations beyond the sessions. (*All sessions are subject to change.)

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY TABLE-TOP EXERCISE PROGRAM As a Sector Specific Agency of the Outdoor Events Subsector for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the IFEA is fortunate to have this unique opportunity to provide an expanded 4-hour sector-specific, interactive, table-top exercise program.

This detailed and participative workshop will cover many of the primary risk and safety threats facing our global industry today. Led by a team of DHS experts, this invaluable session will serve as an important planning and response tool for event leaders, host cities, and those responsible for risk management and the safety of your internal and external stakeholders.

THE IFEA CITY-EVENT CHALLENGE (PARTICIPATIVE TEAM CHALLENGE) What could we accomplish if we pooled our expertise with that of our global peers? Here’s your opportunity to find out, to test your creative skill-set against a real-world challenge, and to spend some formal and informal time strengthening your professional network.

Participants will be divided into teams (selected randomly on Day One of the convention) and presented with a specially-selected host city challenge, to be solved using the power of events. Teams will then have the remainder of the convention (days and evenings) to meet, research, brainstorm, and plan the ultimate answer to the assigned task-at-hand.

Presentation of solutions will be on the final afternoon of the convention and judged by an impartial panel of industry and host city professionals. For a combination of fun, education, professional networking and…perhaps…bragging rights, you won’t want to miss the IFEA City-Event Challenge!

ON THE RIGHT TRACK IFEA educational sessions are selected to ensure that we cover a wide range of important topical areas. For those who are interested in following a specific track/focus of sessions, those will be broken out for you in our official convention program to make scheduling your time easier. Tracks will include: • Sponsorship & Revenues • Operations & Risk Management • Marketing, Branding and Media Relations • Technology, Creativity and Innovation • Leadership & Management • Host City Partnerships (*All sessions are subject to change.)

FIRST-TIMER’S CONVENTION COMPASS Before you hit the ground running, stop by to meet some new IFEA friends on Sunday evening, September 30th, from 5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m., at our ‘First-Timer’s Convention Compass’ session. We look forward to welcoming our first-time convention attendees and to sharing some valuable tips and advice on how to maximize your convention experience. Then, join us for Happy Hour in the dfest®/ Dixie Flag Event Services Team Hospitality Suite to meet more new friends, find some dinner partners, and let the networking conversations begin!

“There is no better connection to our industry’s global professional network, and the experience and wisdom that lies within, than the IFEA.” - Johan Moerman, Managing Director Rotterdam Festivals, The Netherlands 2012 IFEA Hall of Fame Inductee

IFEA Awards

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CELEBRAT ING SUCCESS AND ACHIEVEMENT

2018

2018 Celebrating and recognizing the outstanding achievements of friends and peers, whose confidence and careers have expanded our creative and professional horizons for more than six decades, is a big part of what makes the IFEA Annual Convention both valuable and memorable. As we celebrate our own 63rd Annual Edition of the IFEA Convention & Expo we are confident that these exemplary individuals, organizations and cities will continue to inspire and guide us all for decades to come.

IFEA AWARDS LUNCHEON There are few things that mean more than being recognized by your professional peers. Don’t miss the 2018 IFEA Awards Luncheon (Monday, October 1st, 12:30 – 2:00 p.m.), as we pause to pay tribute to the people who have made/make our industry great and continue to light the way through their commitment and creativity.

Join your global peers as we: • Recognize our 2018 CFEE (Certified Festival & Event Executive) Graduates, who continue to raise the bar for everyone in our industry (the CFEE Professional Certification Program is sponsored by IFEA Association Endorsed Partner Kaliff Insurance); • Award the 2018 IFEA Volunteer of the Year Award, recognizing the contribution of all volunteers to the success of our global events; • Recognize the Recipients of our 2018 IFEA World Festival & Event City Award, recognizing outstanding city/event partnerships around the world; and • Pay tribute to our 2018 IFEA Hall of Fame Inductee(s), the highest honor bestowed in our field, in acknowledgment of their tremendous dedication to and impact on the festivals and events industry.

(For more information about all of the above awards go to www.ifea.com.)

“There is no greater honor than to be recognized by those who understand what you do.”

- Karen Scherberger, CFEE CEO Norfolk Festevents, Ltd. 2014 IFEA Hall of Fame Inductee

IFEA / HAAS & WILKERSON INSURANCE PINNACLE AWARDS Join us as we put a memorable cap on the first day of the convention (Monday, October 1th, 4:00 - 6:00 p.m.) with the most anticipated event of the year. The IFEA / Haas & Wilkerson Insurance Pinnacle Awards pay tribute to both creativity and excellence in multiple categories, from marketing to merchandise; operations to sponsorship; all leading up to the presentation of the coveted Grand Pinnacle Awards. This is the Academy Awards Ceremony for the festivals and events industry.

The IFEA / Haas & Wilkerson Insurance Pinnacle Awards, recognizing festival and event excellence for 24 years, are proudly sponsored by Haas & Wilkerson Insurance. Don’t miss this unopposed special event as we all wait to hear… “And the Pinnacle Award goes to…”

(Note: The IFEA/Haas & Wilkerson Pinnacle Award final entry deadline is July 16th. For more information go to www.ifea.com.)

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INFORMAL GA T H E R I N GS “The ready access to the best in our business, not only in sessions, but in every hallway, reception, and hospitality suite, is unprecedented. Our staff looks forward to the IFEA Convention each year and consider the IFEA as part of the team that helps ensure our success.”

– Diana Mayhew President National Cherry Blossom Festival

One of the best parts of any professional convention is the chance to spend some dedicated time with friends and peers reconnecting, looking ahead, planning that next great idea, sharing a laugh, a challenge, or a special memory. The 63rd Annual IFEA Convention, Expo & Retreat provides plenty of opportunities for those special informal and memorable gatherings and conversations.

The 63rd Annual IFEA Convention, Expo & Retreat Presented by

“CONNECTIONS CAFÉ” “Connections Café,” sponsored

by VolunteerLocal, is the center of IFEA daytime gatherings and conversations.

Located near the heart of the convention sessions and activities, “Connections Café” is open every day throughout the convention, providing coffee and a relaxing atmosphere conducive to doing business one-on-one or simply catching up with friends. Promoting human connections – while cyber ones are accessible too - this comfortable venue is always a popular hang-out, providing the perfect venue for strengthening those personal connections that are so important to everyone’s success.

dfest ® / DIXIE FLAG EVENT SERVICES TEAM HOSPITALITY SUITE

The dfest® / Dixie Flag Event Services Team Hospitality Suite, co-sponsored by long-time IFEA supporter dfest®, is as much a part of the IFEA Convention as our breakout sessions, and we look forward to extending a warm San Diego welcome to everyone! Open Sunday night, September 30th (beginning at 6:00 p.m.) to meet up with old friends and new, before dinner, Monday night, October 1st (beginning at 9:00 p.m.) and Tuesday night, October 2nd (beginning at 10:30 p.m.), the dfest ® Hospitality Suite provides convention attendees with a time and a place to unwind, relax and connect outside of scheduled sessions and functions. Historically, the dfest ® Hospitality Suite is recognized as the hub of the IFEA’s convention networking system.

A FREE EVENING OF DINING AND NETWORKING IN BEAUTIFUL SAN DIEGO Monday evening, October 1st, offers the perfect opportunity to join up with your IFEA friends and professional peers, for an opportunity to explore some of the nearby San Diego city and dining highlights. With dining and relaxation opportunities of their own, the Town & Country San Diego, our host hotel, is located just steps (or a complimentary shuttle ride) from the Fashion Valley Mall, the largest shopping center in San Diego County, and the light rail trolley, giving you easy access to Old Town, the Gaslamp District, Little Italy, Downtown and Tijuana, Mexico.

DINNER GROUPS For those looking to join-up with a group of peers you may not otherwise connect with, we invite you to sign-up for one of our IFEA Networking Dinner Groups. Hosted (*cost of dinner is the responsibility of each participating individual) by local friends and IFEA Board members, you’re sure to enjoy a memorable and valuable evening of fun and professional networking! Sign-up sheets will be available at the IFEA Convention Registration Desk.

RIVERWALK GOLF CLUB ‘Fore’ those looking to hit the golf course with your friends, the adjacent 27-hole, championship Riverwalk Golf Club offers special discounted fees to guests of the Town & Country San Diego and the resort offers a complimentary hotel shuttle service between the two locations.

ONE ON ONE OPPORTUNITIES The 63rd Annual IFEA Convention, Expo & Retreat offers all attendees the unique opportunity, in one place and at one time, to be exposed to global industry leaders from festivals and events, large and small;

host cities and municipalities; tourism organizations; corporate and media representatives; academic institutions and more.

WHO WILL YOU MEET AT THE IFEA CONVENTION? • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Seasoned Festival & Event Professionals Those New to the Festivals & Events Industry Festival & Event Board Members Host City Leadership Key Volunteers Festival & Event Sponsors/Sponsorship Agencies Suppliers to the Festivals & Events Industry Industry Consultants The Creative Sparks Behind IFEA Award-Winning Events & Cities Tourism Organizations, CVBs, and Chambers of Commerce Parks & Recreation Staff Educational Institutions/Faculty/Students Media Representatives Representatives from Allied Industry Associations Professional ‘Experience Management’ Peers from Around the World All those with an Interest/Stake in the Festivals & Events Field

Start building and adding to your professional network today.

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IF EA EXPO

T HE GATEWAY TO CREAT I V E PART NERSHIPS BET WEEN EV ENTS AND INDUST RY SUPPLIERS

“Personal relationships are the most important key to good business. You can buy mailing lists; you can’t buy friendships. And the most valuable personal relationships are best built face-to-face.

For 63 years the IFEA has been bringing our industry together face-to-face.”

– Pete Van de Putte, CFEE CEO Dfest ® / Dixie Flag Event Services Team

The most successful festivals and events in our industry share an important commonality; an understanding that the suppliers and vendors who support our industry are a critical part of keeping our events innovative, fresh, dynamic and part of the ‘leading edge’.

They are among our most committed stakeholders. They share their experience and skills with us, help us to meet new challenges with cost-effective solutions, and partner with us to turn our creative ideas and visions into successful realities. They help us to elevate the event experience for our attendees and our communities and provide us with new perspectives that make them a critical part of our success.

“What limits us most in life is the picture in our head of how it is supposed to be vs. what could it be.”

– Guy Laflamme Director, Ottawa 2017 Celebration The IFEA Expo trade show is one of the most important components of our convention. Geared specifically to festival and event innovators and decision-makers, the IFEA Expo features the most creative and leading edge ideas, products and services for all things imaginable, including: merchandise, insurance, giant parade inflatables, parade floats, children’s performers, food and beverage products, cash management services, marketing and web support, fencing and barricades, sponsor gifts, decorations, safety and security support, fireworks, lasers, professional education and support resources, sand sculptures, portable restrooms, bleachers, entertainment and attractions, ticket control, generators, tents/venues, awards, radios, sponsorship software and services; volunteer management programs; photography, publications, costumed mascots, staging, lights and sound, and much, much, more; usually at special convention pricing! Bring your list, your creativity, and your challenges and you will find many of the answers you are looking for (and often not expecting) at the IFEA Expo!

New Hours: The IFEA Expo will be open on Tuesday, October 2nd, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and Wednesday, October 3rd, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and is unopposed by any other sessions or activities, ensuring that you have the quality time you need to explore that next great idea and negotiate your best deals!

• Lunch will be served and available in the Expo on both days.

• Connections Café coffee service will be available within the Expo while the trade show is open.

• Winning IFEA/Haas & Wilkerson Insurance Pinnacle Award entries will be on display during the IFEA Expo as part of the trade show exhibit on both days.

SPECIAL INCENTIVE: Get $100 off your 2019 IFEA Convention Registration when you spend $100 or more in NEW business with an IFEA exhibitor! Maximum discount credit of $500 per organization.

Offer is good through 11/30/18.

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RAISE T HE CONFIDENCE BAR Pre-Convention Education Opportunities

“Never stop raising the bar. The future belongs to those who continue to grow their knowledge base, expand their professional network, and stretch new boundaries of creativity.”

– Jim Holt, CFEE President & CEO Memphis in May International Festival Beale Street Music Festival World Championship BBQ Cooking Contest 901 Fest / Great American River Run

CFEE FastTrack© PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATION CLASSES

Sponsored by IFEA Association Endorsed Partner Kaliff Insurance the IFEA’s Certified Festival & Event Executive (CFEE) FastTrack© program allows festival and event industry professionals to complete their professional certification and all required program components in one year and at special pricing that represents a substantial savings over class-by-class scheduling.

CFEE classes, a required component toward the achievement of professional certification, are taught by leading professionals in our field and are open to all who desire to attend. Three of the six required core curriculum classes are offered each year leading into the convention on a rotating basis. New 2018 CFEE participants can potentially complete all of their required classes, electives, and written/speaking obligations in time to receive their CFEE Professional Certification at the 2019 Convention!

And those who started in 2017 may be receiving yours in San Diego! (Note: Those completing all six CFEE core curriculum classes will receive a CFEA (Certified Festival & Event Associate) Certificate recognizing your educational accomplishment.

THE 2018 FULL-DAY CFEE SEMINARS INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING: Project Management Friday, September 28th, 2018 • 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Project management is the management of the project to deliver the event. It concerns integrating all the areas of management such as marketing, design and operations so they efficiently use the event resources and satisfy the objectives of the event takeholders.

It produces an accountable system used to report to the event stakeholders, delegate tasks to the event team and establish a control timeline. In particular it employs the tools of project management to manage the phases of the event from the concept through the planning and preparation to the event close down.

Presented by: William O’Toole, CFEE, Events Development Specialist, Event Project Management System PTY., Ltd., Bondi Beach, New South Wales, Australia

Sponsored by

IFEA Association Endorsed Partner

Operations & Risk Management Saturday, September 29th, 2018 • 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

The most basic element of the industry is operations/ risk management for one simple reason – any festival or event is a large gathering of people. The top priority of any organizer is to ensure that gathering is conducted in the safest possible manner. This area of instruction is designed to look at the basic elements of event/festival operations and risk management from both the philosophical and practical approaches, providing a sound foundation of knowledge in the subject area.

Presented by: Ira Rosen, MA, CFEE Assistant Professor/Director of the Event Leadership Executive Certificate Program, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA

Non-Sponsorship Revenue Programs Sunday, September 30th, 2018 • 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

While many areas of professional education deal with sponsorship, the major portion of revenue generated by many event organizations comes from more traditional sources – items such as tickets, food and beverage, and merchandise. This area of instruction is designed to look at such items and other components of non-sponsorship revenue sources.

Presented by: Becky Genoways, CFEE, Genoways Events, Rockford, IL

ADVANCED EDUCAT ION WORKSHOP

THE FUNDAMENTALS OF RISK MANAGEMENT FOR FESTIVALS & EVENTS Sunday, September 30th, 2018 • 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Presented by: Peter Ashwin, Principal, Event Risk Management Solutions Boise, Idaho, U.S.A. and Gold Coast, Australia PETER ASHWIN is the principal and founder of Event Risk Management Solutions (ERMS), a consulting practice committed to enhancing organizational resilience through practical and effective risk management and security solutions.

Peter is a former Australian Army special forces officer who has been consulting in the major events environment for over 15 + years. He has supported a wide range of international major events including six Olympic Games, the 2015 European Games (Azerbaijan), the ICC 2015 Cricket World Cup (Australia & NZ), the 2010 G8/G20 Summit (Toronto), and special events across North America including Calgary Stampede, Memphis in May International Festival, Philadelphia Flower Show and the Pasadena Tournament of Roses. Peter is also a director on the International Festivals and Events Association (IFEA) World Board, and a lecturer on risk management and event security at the IFEA/NRPA Event Management School and the IAVM Academy of Safety and Security. Peter is based out of Boise, Idaho.

Follow Peter’s latest blogs and insights @ www.facebook.com/ermsglobal

YESTERDAY’S INCIDENT IS TOMORROW’S RISK™ As professionals in the festivals and events industry, we find ourselves operating in an uncertain world with evolving risks from homegrown violent extremism, cybersecurity threats, severe weather events, and competing programs within a saturated market. Today, more than ever, it is essential that cities and local organizing committees adopt a proactive approach to managing risk, so they are better prepared to manage and recover from adverse events, both financially and reputationally.

WHY ATTEND This one-day workshop presented by Event Risk Management Solutions (ERMS) will provide you with a working knowledge of international and industry best practices for enterprise risk management, combined with practical tools & techniques to develop and implement an industry focused enterprise risk management program.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND Event planners and managers from local organizing committees, municipality and city special events staff, city Police Departments and private security companies responsible for special event security.

This workshop is also relevant for senior leaders looking for insight into enterprise risk management and organization resilience.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN This hands-on workshop promotes an interactive experience for sharing industry experiences and perspectives between attendees and the workshop facilitator.

• International & industry best practices for enterprise risk management • How to identify, assess, prioritize & mitigate risks to festivals & events • Champions of Risk - tools & techniques for developing, implementing & leading a risk management program • Secure by Design - principles for enhancing security for events & festivals • The nexus between risk management & operational readiness – a risk based approach for preparing your team to manage adverse events.

WHAT YOU WILL TAKEAWAY A working knowledge of the fundamentals & principles of risk management, templates to prepare a Special Event Risk Management Plan (SERMP) & Operational Risk Register, and the ERMS risk library, categorizing 90 + industry risks.

• Bonus: Includes 12-week post workshop bi-weekly follow-up to support your risk management journey

HOW TO REGISTER Registration is separate from the IFEA convention and limited to 40 attendees • Separate Registration - $325 for IFEA Members, $395 for Non-Members; includes all workshop materials, templates & lunch • For more program information contact Peter Ashwin at peter.ashwin@ermsglobal.com • Click Here to register (This is a separate registration to the 63rd Annual IFEA Convention)

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‘SURF’S UP!’ I F E A F O U N DA T I O N 2 5 th A N N I V E R S A R Y PA R T Y A N D AU C T I O N

INTERNATIONAL FESTIVALS & EVENTS ASSOCIATION

Our primary, annual fundraising event, celebrating the IFEA Foundation’s 25th Anniversary in 2018, is an all-important source of support that allows us to confidently provide convention scholarships to many young professionals who will become the next generation of industry leadership and to those deserving organizations working to build a solid and successful foundation for their festivals, events and communities. The funds raised also support our capabilities to provide and host top-quality industry presenters, speakers and programming, helping us to raise the bar for everyone in our global industry.

SILENT AUCTION This year’s IFEA Foundation ‘Silent Auction’ will take place over the course of our first two convention days (October 1st & 2nd) in the Golden Foyer near the Convention Registration Desk. Bidding will begin at 8:00 a.m. and close promptly at 6:00 p.m. each day, with checkout at the IFEA Convention Registration Desk. Items will change each day, so be sure to check out all the great items and deals! Bid high and bid often!

‘SURFS UP!’ IFEA FOUNDATION PARTY & LIVE AUCTION Surrounded by the retro-ambiance of the Town & Country’s Grand Plaza, including sparkling swimming pools, fountains and the Tiki Pavilion, complete with the surf and sun music of the 1960’s, this year’s IFEA Foundation Party promises to be a fun, laid-back and memorable evening with good friends, for a great cause.

With an ‘Opening Reception’ from 7:00 – 7:30 p.m., followed by a sit-down, interactive dinner with special friends from around the world, this special evening will be interspersed with bidding on a selected menu of once-in-a-lifetime experience packages, helping us to reach our annual goal of exceeding the previous year’s success.

Best of all, the IFEA Foundation Party is included at no extra charge as part of your convention registration! So, mark your calendar, grab your flip-flops and plan to be there for a special and memorable evening!

Note: The IFEA Foundation encourages you and/or your event/organization to donate a special item, experience package, travel opportunity, or product / service / dining package to be included in the IFEA Foundation Auctions. Help support the IFEA’s educational mission and the future of our industry along with your professional peers from around the world. For more information call +1-208-433-0950 and talk to any IFEA staff member or go to the Foundation section of the IFEA home page at www.ifea.com.

RET URN-ONINV ESTMENT

We are so confident you will return home from the 63rd Annual IFEA Convention, Expo & Retreat with at least one idea, approach, relationship, or renewed energy and enthusiasm, that is worth at least the value of attending (and you actually did attend), that we are willing to guarantee a return on your investment. If not, you can write to us (with a “cc” to your board) explaining how you did not receive a return on your investment and we will refund your full registration fee.

The IFEA understands that Return-On-Investment (ROI) is and should be a primary consideration of every leader – events, sponsors, municipalities, tourism organizations and others. With that at the forefront of our minds and conversations, we have designed the IFEA 63rd Annual IFEA Convention, Expo & Retreat to provide the highest level of return possible, from every perspective – time, resources, information, creativity and access to the strongest network of professionals in our global industry.

Whether you are a first-time or a long-time IFEA Convention & Expo attendee, it won’t be difficult to recognize the virtually limitless opportunities provided through professional conversations and networking; our all-inclusive registration, with no separately-ticketed events; our beautiful and welcoming San Diego, California location; amazing hotel values at the Town & Country San Diego Resort; convenient access to professional certification courses and other advanced education opportunities prior to the official start of the convention (as your schedule may allow); and much more, including a professional plethora of educational sessions; daily keynote general sessions; discussion and direct participation groups; and ready access to IFEA Expo vendors and suppliers, convention speakers and other global industry leaders who, together, are the foundation of the IFEA experience and the core of our global industry conversation.

“The Portland Rose Festival was one of 14 founding members of the IFEA in 1956 and we continue that involvement today.

There are very few partnerships where the return-on-investment can be so easily justified for more than six decades. The IFEA is the clear leader in our field when it comes to professional networking, resources, education and representation.”

– Jeff Curtis CEO, Portland Rose Festival Foundation 2018 IFEA World Board Chair

CONVENTION SCHOLARSHIPS Since its’ founding in 1993, the IFEA Foundation has provided scholarship assistance to over 300 students, new professionals and financially challenged events, allowing them to attend the annual IFEA Convention, CFEE programs, and other special programs. Scholarship recipients are able to return home with new ideas, information and motivation to take their own events and careers to the next level.

Nineteen IFEA Foundation Legacy Scholarships are available each year to those who meet the qualified criteria. If you are interested in applying for an IFEA Foundation scholarship, more information and applications are available in the Foundation section of the IFEA home page at www.ifea. com. Application deadline for Legacy Scholarships is Friday, June 29th, 2018.

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63 rd Annual I FEA Convention, Expo & Retreat - Schedule At-A-Glance TIME

Fri., Sept. 28

Sat., Sept. 29

CFEE FastTrack© Breakfast

CFEE FastTrack© Breakfast

Sun., Sept. 30

Mon., Oct. 1

CFEE FastTrack© Breakfast

Silent Auction 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Tue., Oct. 2

Wed., Oct. 3

7:00 a.m.

7:30 a.m.

8:00 a.m.

8:30 a.m.

9:00 a.m.

9:30 a.m.

10:00 a.m.

10:30 a.m.

CFEE FastTrack© Class

CFEE FastTrack© Class

11:00 a.m.

CFEE FastTrack© Class and IFEA Risk Management Workshop

Convention Opening & Keynote Speaker

Educational Sessions

11:30 a.m.

12:00 p.m.

12:30 p.m.

Lunch on Own

Lunch on Own

Lunch on Own

1:00 p.m.

1:30 p.m.

2:00 p.m.

2:30 p.m.

3:00 p.m.

CFEE FastTrack© Class

CFEE FastTrack© Class

3:30 p.m.

CFEE FastTrack© Class and IFEA Risk Management Workshop

IFEA Awards Luncheon

First-Timer’s Convention Compass Session

5:00 p.m.

5:30 p.m.

Educational Sessions

Educational Sessions

IFEA Expo Trade Show and Lunch

(Plus IFEA/Haas & Wilkerson Insurance Pinnacle Award Winners Display)

IFEA Expo Trade Show and Lunch

(Plus IFEA/Haas & Wilkerson Insurance Pinnacle Award Winners Display)

Educational Sessions

IFEA/Haas & Wilkerson Insurance Pinnacle Awards

Closing Session and Speaker

Free Time

6:30 p.m.

Attendee Free Evening

Attendee Free Evening

7:30 p.m.

dfest® Hospitality Suite Happy Hour Welcome

Attendee Free Evening of Dining and Networking

8:00 p.m.

IFEA ‘Foundation Party & Live Auction

8:30 p.m.

9:00 p.m.

9:30 p.m.

Attendee Free Evening

10:00 p.m.

Departure or Free Time

dfest ® Hospitality Suite

10:30 p.m.

EDUCATION

‘Inspire the Industry’ General Session

Educational Sessions

6:00 p.m.

7:00 p.m.

‘Inspire the Industry’ General Session

Affinity Group Sessions

4:00 p.m.

4:30 p.m.

Silent Auction 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

dfest ® Hospitality Suite NETWORKING/SOCIAL

CONTINUING EDUCATION

FREE TIME

AWARDS PROGRAMS

EXPO TRADE SHOW

* Connections Cafe is open all day during most convention hours for coffee breaks and networking.

Trade Show Setup, Tuesday October 2, 2018, 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. • Trade Show Tear Down, Wednesday, October 3, 2018, 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

REGISTRATION FORM HOTEL INFORMATION: The Town and Country Hotel in San Diego, California, U.S.A. will serve as the headquarters for the IFEA Annual Convention. By staying at the IFEA designated hotel, you help us to keep our other convention costs down. For hotel reservation information, go to: www.ifea.com. Once registered, you will receive an email confirmation of your paid convention registration.

Payment Form: Please complete this form for all those attending the Convention from the same organization, using the 2nd page for 2nd, 3rd, 4th etc. attendees from your organization. Be sure to complete sections 1, 2, 3, (4 & 5 optional) and 6.)

Return To: Fax: +1-208-433-9812 • Mail: IFEA 2603 W. Eastover Terrace, Boise, ID 83706, U.S.A. • Phone: +1-208-433-0950 1. AFFILIATION Organization: _________________________________________________________________________________ Promo Code: _______________________ Name

Mr.

Ms.

Mrs.: _____________________________________________ Name for Badge: ____________________________________________

Position Title: _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Address: _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ City, State/ Province, Zip Code: ________________________________________________________________________ Country: __________________________ Phone: __________________________________________________________ Cell Phone: _____________________________________________________ E-mail: __________________________________________________________ Website: _______________________________________________________ First IFEA Convention

Yes

No

2. ORGANIZATION CATEGORY: Please indicate which category you/your organization falls into from the list below: (Please check only one).

Affiliate Chapter Association Chamber of Commerce Event Planner for Hire Event Planner single organization Parks & Recreation PR List Sponsor Student

Consultant Convention & Visitors Bureau Educational Institution Fair Festival Foundation Government Entity Individual Tourism University Vendor/Supplier Venue

3. REGISTRATION FEES IFEA (Please submit all monies in U.S. Dollars only.)

IFEA Member

1st Attendee Rates: Special Early Bird Rate – 1st Attendee (by July 9, 2018) 1st Attendee Rate (between July 10th - August 31st, 2018) 1st Attendee Rate (after August 31st, 2018) Additional Attendee Rates: Please add the details of additional attendees from the same organization on the 2nd page.

2nd, 3rd, 4th Attendee (Same Organization) 5th Attendee or More (Same Organization)

Qty. _____ x Qty. _____ x

Additional Registration Types: Full Time Student (Current Class Schedule Required) Qualified Volunteer (Contact IFEA for Definition) Spouse/Guest (Social Activities Only. Does not include educational sessions.)

Event Internet

Event Facility Marketing

Event Planner Media

Non-Member

$695 $795 $895

$895 $995 $1095

$ __________ $ __________ $ __________

$595 each $495 each

$795 each $695 each

$ __________ $ __________

$345 each $345 each $345 each

$545 each $545 each $545 each

$ __________ $ __________ $ __________

REGISTRATION FEES INCLUDE: All Educational Sessions during the main convention; All Coffee Breaks at Connections Cafe; Entrance to the dfest ® Hospitality Suite; Entrance to the IFEA Awards Luncheon & Pinnacle Awards Presentation; Entrance to the IFEA Expo in addition to Lunch at the Expo on both days; IFEA Foundation Auction Night Event; and IFEA Convention Program Book & Convention Attendee List.

Registration does not include CFEE Certification Classes, Fundamentals of Risk Management for Festivals & Events Workshop or Expo Exhibitor Registration. Seperate registration required for each.

If registering for CFEE Core Classes or Fundamentals of Risk Management for Festivals & Events Workshop or an IFEA Expo Booth, please use the separate registration forms found at www.ifea.com.

4. 63rd ANNUAL IFEA CONVENTION & EXPO COLLECTORS LAPEL PIN By purchasing a pin you will be entered into the ‘50/50 Raffle’ drawing at the IFEA Foundation Night Party & Auction.

Qty. _____ x

$10

$10

$ __________

5. “FUND FOR THE FUTURE" CAMPAIGN DONATION: “Fund for the Future” is a joint fund-raising campaign of the IFEA Foundation and IFEA World Board of Directors to strengthen our programs and to ensure that the IFEA will continue to lead, serve and support our industry, for many years to come. Donations to the “Fund for the Future” Campaign and the IFEA Foundation are tax deductible. A donation receipt letter will be sent for your records. For more details about the IFEA Foundation /“Fund for the Future Campaign, go to www.ifea.com.

• Donation Amount (USD): Amount $25 $50 $100 $250 $500 Other Organization Gift: $ __________ Promo Code:____________

TOTAL AMOUNT ENCLOSED: $ __________

6. PAYMENT: All fees are payable in U.S. Funds. Your registration form CANNOT be processed until payment is received. To ensure that you are pre-registered for the 63rd IFEA Annual Convention & Expo, return your signed registration form with full payment by Friday, September 14th, 2018. After that, please call Beth Petersen to make sure your registration has been received at +1-208-433-0950 ext: 8160.

Select method of payment:

VISA

MasterCard

American Express

Discover

Check (make check payable to IFEA)

Print Cardholder Name: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Signature: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Credit Card Number:_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Expiration Date: _________________________________________________________ CVN Code: _____________ (MC/Visa-3 digit code back) (AMX-4 digit code front) 7. CANCELLATION POLICY: Full refunds will be provided for cancellations made prior to 5 p.m. (Mountain Time), Fri, Aug. 31st, 2018. A 50% refund will be provided for cancellations made between 5 p.m. (MT) Fri, Aug 31st, 2018 and 5 p.m. (MT) Mon, Sept 17, 2018. After 5 p.m. (MT), Mon, Sept 17th, 2018, there will be no refunds or cancellations made. Please contact Kathleen Bassick for questions or cancellations (kathleen@ifea.com or call +1-208-433-0950, Ext. 8120).

As a not-for-profit 501(C)6 organization, the IFEA reserves the right to refuse or cancel the registration of any individual or organizational attendee, who, at its sole discretion, may represent/display unprofessional, unlawful, unethical, unsafe, or other actions/positions deemed contrary to the best interests of the IFEA and our global industry. Additionally, the IFEA does not discriminate on any basis including race, sex, age, religion, national origin, sexual orientation or disability. For the complete Code of Ethics, visit www.ifea.com.

By registering for and attending the IFEA Convention & Expo, you provide the IFEA express permission to use your name, photo and/or likenesses in any and all promotional and/or advertising materials in any medium, including the internet. Additionally, by registering, providing complete contact information and attending the IFEA Convention, consent is provided from all registrants for the IFEA to send emails to the email address listed on this form for each registrant, in addition to listing the complete name and all contact information for each registrant on this form, on the IFEA Convention Attendee List.

ADDITIONAL ATT E N D E E S

S A M E O R G A N I Z AT I O N ORGANIZATION: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2nd ATTENDEE / GUEST / SPOUSE Name

Mr.

Ms.

Mrs.: _____________________________________________ Name for Badge: ____________________________________________

Position Title: _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Address: _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ City, State/ Province, Zip Code: ________________________________________________________________________ Country: __________________________ Phone: __________________________________________________________ Cell Phone: _____________________________________________________ E-mail: __________________________________________________________ Website: _______________________________________________________ First IFEA Convention

Yes

No

3 ATTENDEE / GUEST / SPOUSE rd

Name

Mr.

Ms.

Mrs.: _____________________________________________ Name for Badge: ____________________________________________

Position Title: _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Address: _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ City, State/ Province, Zip Code: ________________________________________________________________________ Country: __________________________ Phone: __________________________________________________________ Cell Phone: _____________________________________________________ E-mail: __________________________________________________________ Website: _______________________________________________________ First IFEA Convention

Yes

No

4 ATTENDEE / GUEST / SPOUSE th

Name

Mr.

Ms.

Mrs.: _____________________________________________ Name for Badge: ____________________________________________

Position Title: _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Address: _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ City, State/ Province, Zip Code: ________________________________________________________________________ Country: __________________________ Phone: __________________________________________________________ Cell Phone: _____________________________________________________ E-mail: __________________________________________________________ Website: _______________________________________________________ First IFEA Convention

Yes

No

5th ATTENDEE / GUEST / SPOUSE Name

Mr.

Ms.

Mrs.: _____________________________________________ Name for Badge: ____________________________________________

Position Title: _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Address: _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ City, State/ Province, Zip Code: ________________________________________________________________________ Country: __________________________ Phone: __________________________________________________________ Cell Phone: _____________________________________________________ E-mail: __________________________________________________________ Website: _______________________________________________________ First IFEA Convention

Yes

No

6th ATTENDEE / GUEST / SPOUSE Name

Mr.

Ms.

Mrs.: _____________________________________________ Name for Badge: ____________________________________________

Position Title: _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Address: _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ City, State/ Province, Zip Code: ________________________________________________________________________ Country: __________________________ Phone: __________________________________________________________ Cell Phone: _____________________________________________________ E-mail: __________________________________________________________ Website: _______________________________________________________ First IFEA Convention

Yes

No

Fax: +1-208-433-9812 • Mail: IFEA 2603 W. Eastover Terrace, Boise, ID 83706, U.S.A. • Phone: +1-208-433-0950

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IFEA’s ie: the business of international events

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EXHIBITOR SPOTLIGHT

Our co-founders, Michael Bleau and Jamie Nassar, have previous experience working on the sponsor side of event management, producing marketing tours nationwide for a variety of brands and consumer product categories, including Chase Bank, United Airlines, Pepsi, Disney, Eureka Organic Bread and Gogo Squeez. During their time booking hundreds of events, they realized a need for a web-based platform to communicate with event organizers, as well as a need for a centralized resource to find great events for experiential activations. This, combined with Michael’s experience producing Imagine Yoga and Music Festival, led to the development of a platform that would encompass both aspects: a streamlined exhibitor management platform for event organizers, and a marketplace where exhibitors can research and book events.

Give us your ‘elevator pitch’ about your product/service.

Events locker is an exhibitor management platform for live event organizers, plus a nationwide event space marketplace. Organizers can easily manage exhibitor applications, payments, paperwork and logistics through a clean, intuitive dashboard that also enables batch updates and messaging. They receive new sales leads through an Airbnb-styled, multi-media rich marketplace listing.

Rather than trying to do a little bit of everything just okay, the events locker founders seek to do one thing- exhibitor sales and management, better than anyone else. They believe that the foundation and basis for an event CRM should be the relationship between organizers and exhibitors, and our platform is built around the goal of making it as easy as possible for organizers to grow strong relationships with their vendors.

What new or improved product/service do you have to offer that IFEA audiences need to know about? a. We are the first exhibitor management platform to offer: digital and customizable event applications, a payment model that allows events to collect money directly to their own bank accounts using payment gateways such as PayPal, Stripe and Authorize.Net, a document manager for receiving and approving paperwork (COIs, food permits, contracts), a logistics portal for sending exhibitor

load in info and onsite contacts, and an advanced messaging system that allows organizers to quickly communicate with one, several, or all of their exhibitors. b. Our nationwide marketplace of exhibitor space and sponsorships is the first of its kind. Featuring the largest population of marathons, food and wine festivals, holiday events and retail space in one centralized location.

How has your company grown over the years?

We’ve grown very fast over the past couple years, from working with only a couple of early adopters back in 2016, to now working with hundreds of events ranging from the California Wine Festival to the New York City Marathon, and retail properties like Simon using our marketplace and management platform.

What sets your product/ service apart from your competitors? a. Unlike some live floor plan based platforms, and consumer focused ticketing platforms where payments process through them and have a percentage taken, our system allows payments to go directly into the organizers’ bank accounts. b. A lot of event management software out there tries to cover every aspect of producing an event, and do mostly “OK” in several areas. We believe in perfecting one area first; exhibitor management is one of the larger pain points in an Fall 2018

event life cycle, and has great potential to be simplified and streamlined.

What advice would you offer to festivals and events searching for your type of product/service?

Do your homework: talk to current customers, research if the platform is flexible enough to fit your needs, and when determining the cost of a solution to justify its purchase, make sure to factor in your expected opportunity cost savings from increased efficiency, and reduced labor hours.

What is your customer service philosophy?

We believe that customer “service” is reactive and not enough- that our focused needs to be on customer SUCCESS. This means doing everything we can to help our customers have successful events. In real-world terms, we do this by providing help via live chat, email and phone support, to both organizers AND their exhibitors, as well as curating a help center and creating educational content.

CONTACT INFORMATION Sarah Haight events locker 18611 Collins Street, Ste. E30 Tarzana, CA 91356 310-405-9447 sarahh@eventslocker.com https://eventslocker.com

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25th ANNIVERSARY INTERNATIONAL FESTIVALS & EVENTS ASSOCIATION

Surf ’s Up 25th ANNI V ERSAR Y FOUNDAT ION PARTY & AUCT ION Tuesday, October 2, 2018 • The Town and Country San Diego EVENING SCHEDULE: 7:00 p.m. Cocktail Reception 8:00 p.m. Welcome and Drawing of IFEA Live Auction Raffle Winner 8:00 p.m. Sit-Down Dinner & Live Auction

FEATURING: T HE SW INGING SURF SOUNDS OF T HE

60’s

The IFEA Foundation Party is included at no extra charge as part of your convention registration!

Annual Auction Donation Form TUE., OCT. 2, 2018 • SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA 2603 W. Eastover Terrace • Boise, ID 83706 U.S.A. phone: +1-208-433-0950 • fax: +1-208-433-9812 www.ifea.com

RETURN COMPLETED FORM TO: KAYE@IFEA.COM DONATION FORM DUE on/before: 9/10/18

PLEASE PRINT CLEARLY DONOR NAME/ORGANIZATION: ______________________________________________________________________ ITEM OR PACKAGE NAME: ___________________________________________________________________________ ITEM OR PACKAGE DESCRIPTION (Write a description of your item or package that will appeal to a buyer and include everything they can expect to receive. Please be thorough. Include dates and/or locations when applicable. See examples on page 3.): Note: We will need a display item for the auction tables and/or Power-Point slides if you are contributing a certificate or tickets (i.e. brochures, photos, props, etc). ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Annual Auction Donation Form TUE., OCT. 2, 2018 • SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA 2603 W. Eastover Terrace • Boise, ID 83706 U.S.A. phone: +1-208-433-0950 • fax: +1-208-433-9812 www.ifea.com

RETURN COMPLETED FORM TO: KAYE@IFEA.COM DONATION FORM DUE on/before: 9/10/18

TERMS & CONDITIONS (This is a bulleted list that details any specific terms and conditions associated with this item or package (i.e. restricted dates, times and other special considerations). Please be thorough. See examples on page 3.) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________

YOUR ESTIMATED VALUE (Please do not put 'Priceless.' Estimate a fair market value to a reasonable buyer.) $ ___________________________________ WHOM DO WE THANK? PLEASE PRINT ❍ MR

❍ MS

❍ MRS

NAME: _______________________________________________________________________

ORGANIZATION: ______________________________________________________________________________________ MAILING ADDRESS: ___________________________________________________________________________________ CITY: _____________________________________________

STATE/PROVINCE: ________________________________

ZIP CODE: ________________________________________

COUNTRY: _______________________________________

PHONE: __________________________________________

EMAIL: ___________________________________________

WEBSITE: ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ❍ ITEM WILL BE SHIPPED (to arrive no later than 9/10/18) TO: IFEA FOUNDATION AUCTION: Attn. Kaye Campbell 2603 W. Eastover Terrace • Boise, ID 83706 U.S.A. ❍ ITEM WILL BE DELIVERED AT CONVENTION The IFEA Foundation is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization and all or part of your contribution may be eligible for a tax deduction in the United States. Check with your accountant to determine if any restrictions may apply.

Tax ID # 91-1560821 WE THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR CONTRIBUTION

Auction Item and Package Examples What can you donate? Think of something that you would be excited about bidding on yourself. If it peaks your interest, then it’s likely to appeal to others too! Here are a few examples of past items: • • • • • • • • •

Specialty Trips and Travel Packages (African safari, guided rafting/gourmet trip, wine tasting weekend, guided bicycle tour, vacation home get-aways) Airline Tickets (round-trip) Hard-To-Get Tickets / In-Demand Items (for festivals, theaters, concerts, sporting events, one-ofa-kind experiences) Unique Gift Items to Give to Friends and Family of ALL Ages (American Girl Dolls, tulip bulbs, sportsman sets, jewelry and accessories from your local artisans) Collectable Pieces (limited edition artwork, pens, décor items) Electronics (laptops, tablets, watches, FitBits, game systems) Office Items (printers, planners, fun desk accessories, laptop roller bags) Everyday items that people need or want (coffee, restaurant and movie gift cards; Camelback style water bottles or travel mugs, backpacks, apparel) Hobby related items (gardening, camping/hiking, biking, foodie, craft beer enthusiast)

Sample Package Description DUBAI AND THE DUBAI SHOPPING FESTIVAL

MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT GOLF WEEKEND

The trip of a lifetime! Travel to the beautiful city of Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, for a five (5) day visit to one of the world’s great cities and the remarkable Dubai Shopping Festival! Couples or family encouraged.

A golfer’s dream package, don’t miss this opportunity to feel like a pro!

PACKAGE INCLUDES: • Two (2) Round Trip Tickets to Dubai (economy class) • Transfers from and to the airport • 5 days in the beautiful city of Dubai at a minimum 4-star hotel (standard room – double occupancy) • Vouchers to Spa & Shopping & Dining worth $1,500 USD TERMS & CONDITIONS • Winner must share passenger details prior to October 5th 2013 (Mandatory) • DFRE (Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment) will issue Travel Visas • Travel dates must be during the Dubai Shopping Festival (January 15th to February 2nd, 2015) EVENT DATES: Travel dates must be during the Dubai Shopping Festival (January 15th to February 2nd, 2015)

PACKAGE INCLUDES: • Two (2) week-long Tournament badges • Access to the City of Dublin Hospitality Villa on the 1st Fairway, with complimentary meals & beverages • Two (2) Spots in the Nicklaus Cup Invitational at the Country Club at Muirfield Village (not the Championship Course) • Two (2) Spots in the Nicklaus Academies Golf School • Invitation to the CBS Appreciation Reception • VIP dinner with the Mayor of Dublin • Hotel Accommodations for 3 nights (double occupancy) • Airfare not included EVENT DATE: May 30 – June 2, 2015 DONORS: City of Dublin, Ohio & the Memorial Tournament

DONOR: Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment – Saeed Mohammed Measam Al Falasi

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How to Increase Sponsorship Revenue:

GETTING CREATIVE WITH BENEFITS

By Kim Skildum-Reid You want more sponsorship revenue. Everyone does. The problem is that you only have so many benefits to offer, so if you want more money, you have to figure out a way to divvy up your benefits pie into smaller pieces, while simultaneously charging more for them.

Common sense dictates that this won’t work, and it doesn’t. But that doesn’t stop management and boards from continuing to increase sponsorship targets and expecting financial miracles.

What we’re talking about are “hygiene benefits” – the basic benefits that have historically formed the backbone of a sponsorship offer: • Logos and/or ads on things • Tickets to things • Hospitality • Official designation And, depending on the type of property you’re selling, maybe…

• Expo stand or other display space • Athlete or other appearances

These aren’t the most important, valuable, or leverageable benefits you could offer, by a long shot, but the problem is that they are still the only benefits offered by a huge majority of sponsorship seekers.

Think about it like a toolbox and a hammer.

All good toolboxes have a hammer, but if all your toolbox has in it is a hammer, it’s really not very useful. A sponsorship offer that only has hygiene benefits is exactly the same. It’s going to be of very limited use – and have very limited value – to a sponsor.

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Sponsorship seekers have literally hundreds of options for things you could provide to the right sponsor at the right price, but most of you aren’t using any of them, and as long as you don’t, you won’t be anywhere near maximising sponsorship revenues. Building, and learning to use, your full inventory of benefit options is a critical step to increasing your sponsorship fees.

Below, I’ve listed the rationale for shifting to this vastly more flexible approach, and at the end of this article, provided the two ways to come up with your own creative inventory of benefits.

Hygiene Benefits Reduce What You Offer to a Commodity If 90% of sponsorship seekers are offering only hygiene benefits – and I may well be estimating low – that means you are offering the exact same benefits as virtually every sport, museum, charity, expo, festival, or whatever that’s out there looking for sponsorship. You’ve commoditised yourself, when what you offer actually has more meaning and relevance to people than any other marketing media.

A best-practice sponsor is looking for meaningful connections, meaningful ways to demonstrate their alignment with fans and customers, and meaningful ways to add value to fan and customer

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relationships. Why your fans love you, what your fans care about, how a sponsor can align, and how a sponsor can add value is completely different between a festival, the opera, and a soccer team. It’s completely different from one festival to another, or one soccer team to another! If you voluntarily commoditise yourself by offering only hygiene benefits, you are draining the lifeblood out of your real value to sponsors.

You have diamonds, but you’re selling coal.

Offering Creative, Bespoke Benefits is Worth More Money Following on from the previous point, selling sponsorship like it’s a commodity makes proposal evaluation a numbers game. How many logos and tickets for how much money? This approach invites bargain thinking, and this is not the game you want to be playing.

Think of it like deciding on what roofing material to use on your new house. You could go with a tile roof for $X per square metre, installed, while a Colorbond roof will cost a bit more. You could ring around and find someone offering a deal on installation or on some particular colour, but whichever way you go, it’s a commodity.

Your roof will look exactly like a bunch of your neighbours, and cost will have been a primary decision-making factor.

Or, you could look at Tesla roof tiles.

Yeah, they’re more expensive, but have a look at these babies! Look what they do, and all the money you’ll save in the long run! And what does it say about you that you’ve gone with solar tiles? Green?

Trend-setter? Visionary?? Tesla has elevated what was a boring commodity into a statement of personal values and coolness, and that’s worth more money.

The thing about sponsorship is that, just like Tesla, every single sponsee can elevate themselves out of the morass of commodity offers. Every sponsorship seeker is different and mean something different to your fans.

And the plain, flat truth is that providing something creative and meaningful and different is worth a lot more to sponsors.

Creative Benefits Are in Almost Limitless Supply As I said at the start, the common thread with hygiene benefits is that you only have a finite amount of each of them to offer.

That means, if you’re trying to grow your revenue, you’ll need to slice the same pie into smaller pieces, and somehow justify charging more for each piece. Newsflash: Sponsors can see right through that crap.

When you get creative with benefits, you’ll find that not only will you have literally dozens or hundreds more options for benefits you can provide, most of them won’t be in limited supply, so you can offer them at whatever scale, or however many times, makes the most sense for your organisation and the sponsors.

You can offer sponsors influence they can pass through to their target markets, added value experiences, special privileges. You can offer ways for sponsors to offer customised experiences, memories, or more for the fans. You can include a sponsor’s customers in what you’re doing in a meaningful way or create compelling ways for sponsors to celebrate the compelling content that fans create. And speaking of content…

CONTENT!! The list goes on and on and on (and there is an actual list at the end of this article!).

Getting Creative With Benefits Gives Every Sponsor a Unique Angle to Work If all of the sponsors are getting basically the same, boring benefits, there’s no ownership of angles or ideas or fan wins.

They’re all leveraging the same, crowded platform, with the result being that they’ll either diminish the fan experience in an all-out battle for share-of-voice or languish in a miasma of apathy and checklists.

If you’ve got an inventory of hundreds of creative benefits, you can pick and choose exactly the right combination to meet every sponsor’s needs and to give every sponsor a unique, leverageable platform.

You could have dozens of sponsors, but instead of competing with each other for share of voice, they will all be connecting with the fans in different ways, adding value in different ways, aligning with fans in different ways.

Creative Benefits Support Creative Leverage Ideas We’ve all seen sponsors phone it in on leverage. They run an uninspired promotion on social media for some tickets or whatnot. They might set up a stand at your festival, where their reps can try to sell people insurance on a Sunday afternoon.

They issue a press release. Yawn.

You really want your sponsors to be inspired to do the kind of leverage that makes the fan experience better, engendering advocacy and loyalty and preference. You want sponsors to be inspired to leverage in a way that’s seamless and feels natural and welcome.

You want them to be inspired to think big and see the scope of what they can accomplish both on-site and with all of your fans that might not be able to attend in person.

But, if you want them to be inspired, you need to be prepared to give sponsors the raw materials that support their big ideas.

You need to be flexible and creative and start from a position of “why not”.

Creative Benefits are Easy to Leverage for all Kinds of Fans One of the big issues with hygiene benefits is that they focus primarily on your fans who are engaging in person. Following on from the previous point, sponsors want to be able to leverage a sponsorship against a range of target markets, of which this is just a sample: • Fans who attend in-person • Fans who are unable to attend, but love what you do and pay attention through other channels • Any grassroots organisations, teams, etc. that may be affiliated with you • Their consumer/end-user markets • Their intermediary, enterprise, and other VIP markets • Their staff These are all very different markets and will be influenced in different ways. The very narrow channel of leverage engendered by providing only hygiene benefits isn’t going to work for most of them.

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If, however, you have a huge range of creative benefits, you can find benefits that will help a sponsor translate your local event into results across their regional or national markets, or make an arts sponsorship add value to their staff relationships or launch a new product across your extensive network of remote fans.

The Upshot The upshot of all of this is that if your sponsorship offers are made up primarily or entirely of hygiene benefits, you need to stop whatever you’re doing right now – don’t pitch another proposal, don’t send another prospectus (for oh so many reasons) – until you’ve reassessed what you can actually offer. I guarantee, what you could be offering is far more robust and compelling to sponsors than what you’re offering now.

For a huge running start, download a copy of my Generic Inventory template.

This comprehensive template is one of many from my book, The Sponsorship Seeker’s Toolkit 4th Edition, and it’s my gift to you. (If you like it, you’ll probably like the rest of the book, as well!)

The template is generic, so you will have to customise it, but in most cases, you’ll get as many ideas for things you can add as you will remove from the list. And putting a possible benefit on the list – like naming rights – isn’t committing you to anything. It just means that for exactly the right sponsors, at the right price, you’d be willing to consider offering that benefit.

That’s the Million Dollar Rule: If the perfect sponsor rocked up with a million dollars, would you consider offering that benefit. If so, keep it in your inventory.

Kim Skildum-Reid is one of the sponsorship industry’s most influential thought leaders. She has a blue chip list of consulting and training clients spanning six continents, is author of global industry bestsellers, The Sponsorship Seeker’s Toolkit and The Corporate Sponsorship Toolkit, and commentates to major business media around the world.

She is the brains behind industry hub, PowerSponsorship.com, and offers sponsorship consulting, training, speaking, and coaching.

Kim can be reached at: Email: admin@powersponsorship.com | Phone AU: +61 2 9559 6444 | Phone US: +1 612 326 5265 or for more information, go to: http:// powersponsorship.com/.

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WHAT ARE ”HYGIENE BENEFITS”?

“Hygiene benefits” are the basic benefits that have historically formed the backbone of a sponsorship offer: • logos and/or ads on things • Tickets to things • Hospitality • Official designation And, depending on the type of property you’re selling, maybe...

• Expo stand or other display space • Athlete or other appearances Think about it like a toolbox and a hammer. All good toolboxes have a hammer, but if all your toolbox has in it is a hammer, it’s really not very useful. A sponsorship offer that only has hygiene benefits is exactly the same. It’s going to be of very limited use­and have very limited value- to a sponsor.

Six reasons you need to look way past hygiene benefits and get creative!

1. Hygiene benefits reduce what you offer to a commodity Sponsorship is more meaningful and relevant than any other marketing media, but offering the same benefits as 90% of other sponsorship seekers drains its lifeblood and its value.

2. Offering creative benefits is worth more money When something is both amazing and a perfect fit for you, you’ll pay more money for it. By packaging creative benefits (amazing) into bespoke packages (perfect fit), it’s worth more money to sponsors.

3. Unlike hygiene benefits, creative benefits are in almost limitless supply You only have so many hygiene benefits, so increasing revenue means trying to cut that same, small pie into smaller pieces and charging more for them. Getting creative gives you exponentially more benefits to choose from, and most aren’t in limited quantities.

Early access to tickets (before they go on sale to the general public)

4. Getting creative with benefits gives every sponsor a unique angle to work More, and better, benefits give every sponsor room to create something special for the fans, their customers, and their brand.

5. Creative benefits support creative leverage ideas Sponsors want to get creative with their leverage- what they do with a sponsorship to turn it from an opportunity into a result for their brand. They need benefits with the creativity and scope to match.

6. Creative benefits are easy to leverage for all kinds of fans Fans who attend, remote fans, customers, VIPs, staff, and every other target market a sponsor might have, will all be receptive to different kinds of leverage, and the very narrow channel for leverage provided by hygiene benefits isn’t going to suit most of them.

Want to create your own creative inventory of benefits?

Download the Generic Inventory template from PowerSponsorship.com

Creation of an event, day or program specifically for employees

Access to event, parking, or merchandise discounts for customers or a specific customer group (for example, frequent flyers, Gold Card holders) Participation in the event by employees or shareholders Coupon, information or premium (gift)

Preferred supplier status

Category exclusivity as a supplier or seller at the event

Category exclusivity among sponsors at or below a given level

Use of sponsor venue for launch, main event, or supporting event

Supporting sponsorship

Creation of an employee donation or volunteer program Merchandising rights (the right to create co-branded merchandise to sell) Right for retailer sponsor to involve vendors in sponsorship-driven in-store promotions

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Input in venue, route and/or timing

Donation of a percentage of ticket or product sales to charity

Major sponsorship logistical assistance, including technical or creative expertise

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Presenting sponsorship

Right for sponsor to on-sell sponsorship benefits to

Opportunity to provide sponsorship- or industry-oriented questions on event research. an event, area Access to or creation of what-money-can’t-buy experiences Links to sponsor website from sponsee website Opportunity to sell product on-site (exclusive or non-exclusive Distribution of employee recruitment information

Access to discounts, merchandise or other sponsorship-oriented perks Naming rights or presenting sponsorship of a day, weekend or week at the event Naming rights or presenting sponsorship of a related or subordinated event Access to pre- and/or post-event research event)

Category exclusivity in event-driven advertising or promotional media Right for retailer sponsor to on-sell sponsorship benefits to vendors in

Discounts for multi-year contracts

Design and/or production of key sponsor events (hospitality, awards etc.)

Merchandising (sponsor selling dual-branded products) First right of refusal for renewal at conclusion of contract

Category exclusivity among sponsors at any level

Proofs of purchase for premium item (for example: people can trade three proofs of purchase for a free program) Opportunity to set up an employee recruitment station at your event Dedicated space to carry out on-site leverage activities

Sponsor profile on sponsee website

Product endorsement (your event or organisation endorsing the sponsor’s product).

Promotion of relevant sponsor leverage activities through sponsee’s social media activities, e-newsletter, and/or website Opportunity for sponsor to provide media value, in-store/in-house Naming rights or presenting sponsorship of a section, area, entry or team Ability for sponsor to add value to sponsee fans/followers via sponsee-controlled social media Demonstration display opportunities

Block of tickets, parking etc. that the sponsor can provide to loyal customers.

Access to information, statistics, photos, video clips, autographs, Q&As, etc for creation of new, exclusive,” ownable” content

Can be provided with or without naming rights to that section

Promotion or contest on sponsee social media, e-newsletter, and/or website Access to venue, athletes, celebrities, artist, curator

Provision of online ‘events’ (for example, online chat with a star, webcast, webinar)

Naming rights or presenting sponsorship of an event-driven award, trophy or scholarship Opportunity for sponsor to provide access to discounted media, travel, printing, or other products or services in trade for part of sponsorship fee

Access to event, parking or merchandise discounts, or other perks for customers

Provision of a celebrity or spokesperson for meet-and-greets or employee motivation Fall 2018

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FESTIVALS WITHOUT BORDERS

WITH ROBERT BAIRD

BOOKING

FOREIGN ARTISTS

Contract Basics When Booking Foreign Performers Welcome to my new column in “ie” Magazine. This column is designed to make the booking for foreign artists for your festival much more possible and much easier. As a former booking agent, NAPAMA (North American Performing Arts Manager and Agents) President and FEO (Festivals and Events Ontario) Vice-President I am very familiar with the festival world and my expertise and knowledge has assisted organizations and artists, both domestic and foreign, in crossing borders. Over the next few issues this column will present a wealth of information on contracting foreign artists, dealing with visas and withholding for foreign artists, avoiding border crossing woes, understanding taxation issues, resolving border crossing issues and more. I am available to anyone who has any questions or concerns and offer free advice on these and many other topics. Happy reading.

Contracts represent the summation of an agreement between two parties. This column will focus on the requirements for a contract between a festival and a foreign artist or foreign artistic company. When you are negotiating to contract foreign performers for your festival, there are many considerations that need to be taken into account.

Cultural and Language Considerations There may be language problems, or cultural differences. Be sure you are clear on what is being said or written and know that some cultures may not respond as quickly as necessary, especially when the time to obtain a work permit or entry visa has to be factored in to the preparations for the performance. It is a good idea to have contracts finalized in plenty of time to allow for the processing of paperwork required to enable the artists to enter the country and perform.

Work Permits and Visas No foreigner can work in the United States without a work permit, referred to as a “visa’ but not to be confused with the visa required to enter the country. The former is obtainable only from United States Citizenship and Immigration and the latter only from the U.S. State Department through its Consulates abroad.

Getting this paperwork in order requires a knowledge of the pertinent regulations and application standards and is often done by experts in the field but is a necessary prologue for foreign artists to perform in the United States. You need to determine who is going to apply for required visas, work permits, etc. and who is responsible for the costs. The process is fairly expensive and will be a factor in contract negotiations for either side: since 86

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a work permit requires an American petitioner, artists may expect the employer, in this case, the festival, to arrange for and pay the application fees; festivals may feel that the obtaining of this requisite paperwork is the artists’ sole responsibility. Be sure this matter is clarified to ensure that all required documents are obtained so that booked artists can cross the border and work in the United States legally.

Currency and Payment Issues In North America (and elsewhere), with the fluctuating American dollar, a decision has to be made as to which currency should be used for payment of the terms of a contract and even what rate of exchange will be used and when it will be applied to the payment. In addition, how the payment will be made is important: will it be by cash, wire transfer, money order, check or cheque? In the latter case it may be impossible or expensive to cash a check or cheque drawn on a bank in another country, and this needs to be clarified. If there are processing fees, who will pay them?

Travel and Accommodation Costs Who will be paying the artist’s travel costs and accommodation? International flights can be expensive and there are always in-country expenses for ground transportation. These costs should be addressed in the contract negotiations.

Transportation Costs Who will pay for the transportation, especially for larger performing groups, of such items as sets, costumes, props, etc.?

Often freight containers need to be scheduled well in advance of performance and the logistics need to be detailed in any contract.

Additional Services A festival may expect performers to do more than just perform.

Perhaps they envision a reception for festival donors or the festival board at which the artists might perform. These expectations should be made part of the contract and absolutely specified.

From Meet and Greet to promotional appearances, all additional services should form part of the contract.

Liability Insurance More and more often, festivals are requiring artists to provide their own liability insurance. It is possible that the festival can add the artist to an existing festival insurance policy through a TULIP (Tenant User Liability Insurance Program) and this should be discussed.

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Jurisdiction and Dispute Resolution Contracts are often negotiated, signed and then filed until there is an egregious breach of a contract clause and then the parties are forced to examine their agreement to see how to resolve these issues. How disputes are to be handled should be specified in the contract, along with a specified jurisdiction to avoid having to fight a legal battle in another country.

In general, clear and constant communication will make life a lot easier for anyone negotiating contract terms.

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

Automated Ticket Dispensers!

Withholding Anyone in the United States hiring a non-resident alien (a foreign artist, for example) is required by law to withhold 30% of any fees paid to that person. This comes as a shock to many performers and a revelation to many festivals. This withholding can be ameliorated in various ways and festivals need to know what is acceptable since failure to withhold can make them liable to the I.R.S. for any subsequent unpaid assessed tax liability.

Touch Screen Scanning

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EXHIBITOR SPOTLIGHT

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National Event Services is a barometer of the times. When times are good, we grow.

When times are tough, we slow, but events exist rain or shine. 2015 was a great year for us, and 2016 has been even better!

What is your newest product/ service that you have to offer that attendees need to know about?

We have brand new luxury restroom trailers that are so nice, you’ll forget you’re not in an actual restroom!

What areas do you serve with your product/service?

National Event Services serves 79 metro areas nationwide.

What is different about your product/service vs. your competitors?

Our service is second to none, and we offer fencing and barricades to more areas of the country than any of our competitors.

Give us your ‘Elevator Pitch’ about your product/service National Event Services has been partnering with concerts, festivals, air shows, sporting events, marathons, golf tournaments, the Olympics, Presidential inaugurations and more for over 50 years.

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How many years have you exhibited at the IFEA’s Expo?

National Event Services has exhibited at the IFEA Expo for many years and is happy to be a part of this year’s expo.

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What do you hope to get out of exhibiting at this year’s Expo?

As with every show we attend, we are looking to strengthen current relationship and create new business opportunities for years to come.

What is the best sales advice you’ve ever received?

Don’t ever “sell” to anyone. Inspire and help others along the way and the rest will follow.

What is your customer service philosophy?

Treat people the way you want to be treated.

CONTACT INFORMATION Scott Barley National Event Services 15319 Chatsworth St Mission Hills, CA 91345, USA 800-352-5675 info@rentnational.com www.rentnational.com

2018 The International Festivals & Events Association is pleased to announce Jean A. Lawler from the North Carolina Azalea Festival as the recipient of the 2018 IFEA Volunteer of the Year Award.

As this year’s winner, Jean was the guest of the IFEA at the IFEA’s 63rd Annual Convention, Expo & Retreat, October 1-3, 2018 in San Diego, CA. She was recognized and presented with her award during the IFEA Awards Luncheon on Monday, October 1, 2018.

Please help us congratulate our 2018 IFEA Volunteer of the Year Award Winner, Jean A Lawler.

Jean A. Lawler

Nominated by the North Carolina Azalea Festival Wilmington, NC, U.S.A. Jean A. Lawler has served the North Carolina Azalea Festival in almost every way imaginable. She began her Festival journey in 1960- and has since given over fifty years of continual service to the Azalea Festival. For many years she served as committee chair for the Festival’s Souvenir Book, and thereafter served as Concerts Ushers chair for numerous years. In 2014 Jean stepped onto the Board of Directors, where she eventually held the role of Azalea Festival President in 2017. Jean continues sharing her legacy by staying involved in the Festival, even as a Past President. We continue to see Jean at every event… she’s always up-front smiling and cheering everyone on! Not only that, after her presidency Jean has volunteered as chauffeur for our Princess, driving her in various regional Parades.

Additionally, Jean continues to support the Festival financially as a Patron.

In her life Jean has made an impact throughout Wilmington, not only within the Azalea Festival. Jean was one of the first female sales representative in Wilmington.

She is the Vice President of Wilmington WWII Home Front Coalition. Always

helping others, she was the volunteer coordinator for 4 WWII Honor Flights from Wilmington, NC to the WWII Memorial in Washington, DC. Jean also is a proud Seahawk Club Member and former president of the Seahawk Club for the University of North Carolina Wilmington. She was awarded the William J. Brooks Distinguished Service Award by UNCW. The Daughters of the American Revolution awarded her an “Excellence in Community Service” award. She was also inducted into the “Order of the Vikings” for her volunteerism at John T. Hoggard High School. She is also an American Red Cross VIP Blood Donor. She has served on numerous boards with Bradley Creek Marina, Hanover Seaside Club, and Cape Fear Museum to name a few. Jean was a founding organizer and chair of the inaugural “Enchanted Airlie,” a holiday light show at historic Airlie Gardens, now in its 14th year. Jean also supports the Parrot Head Club, Step up for Soldiers, Toys for Tots, and is a mean shagger!

Within the Azalea Festival, Jean served as committee chair of two of our larger committees. She first began as Souvenir Book chair. In this role she was tasked with selling advertising and the creation of a bound, commemorative souvenir book. She had to work under very tight deadlines and with many people whose Fall 2018

financial support was crucial to the Festival. The Azalea Festival Souvenir Book later grew to become an IFEA Pinnacle Award winner. Jean also worked for many years as the chair of the Concerts Ushers committee. This committee has seen many transformations throughout the years. With the dawn of online ticketing in the 2000’s, Jean had to retrain her front entrance volunteers to use ticketing scanners and new technology. In 2013, Jean and her team had another huge transition when the Azalea Festival moved the Concerts from an inside, reserved seating coliseum to an outdoor, general admission standing room venue. Additionally, at this outdoor venue we introduced alcohol sales for the first time. Jean and her team, again, had to re-configure their roles to include managing more attendees (3x more attendance) and dealing with all the pleasantries that go into managing an outdoor, open-standing venue with alcohol present.

In 2014 Jean stepped in to fill a vacancy on our Board of Directors, and continued on the board until 2017 when she became the 70th President of the North Carolina Azalea Festival. During this time on the board she was an avid supporter of all volunteers and staff, always offering to stop by the office or show up to any event early to help setup. It was during this time we really saw Jean as a servant leader

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– she always puts the needs of others first and encourages us all to perform as highly as possible. Jean makes it a point to welcome everyone she can to our events.

As Board President, she stood at the front entrance of our Volunteer Appreciation party and literally thanked every person who entered. Jean doesn’t care if a person gives 100 hours or 1 hour to the Festival; all deserve to be thanked and appreciated.

Jean’s lasting impact on the Festival is most easily seen through this love and support of her fellow volunteers. During her Presidential year, the Azalea Festival established an Emeritus Chair Program, in large part due to Jean’s calling to thank the hardest workers of the Festival. This was the Festival’s way to honor volunteers who served 10 or more years in a chair or co-chair capacity on an Azalea Festival committee. To date we have 22 Emeritus volunteers who will forever be honored… not to mention the many more Emeritus members to come in future years. Immediately after Jean gave up her presidency, we named the Emeritus Program the Jean A. Lawler Emeritus Program in her honor not only as a volunteer herself, but for

her inspiration in creating this program. A few months after Jean’s presidency, the Azalea Festival won the North Carolina Governor’s Medallion Award for Volunteer Service, another nod to all the efforts Jean led to honor our volunteers.

After 50+ years of volunteering, it is safe to say Jean excels in dependability!

She has served under 50+ Presidents, under 50+ Boards, with multiple staff and team members, and alongside 50+ years of committee chairs and co-chairs.

Jean’s dependability comes with her easy, care-free attitude. She truly will work with anyone who wants to see the Azalea Festival be a success.

Jean’s dependability is most shown through her un-wavering support of others.

The first Festival with a full-time staff (a major change for our volunteers) was also the same year the Festival hosted Carrie Underwood’s first concert outside of American Idol. This was a sold-out show, and for new staff, hosting a 3,500 reserved seating show was daunting to say the least. Jean, as Concerts Ushers chair, helped and encouraged staff throughout that whole night. She was

right there when any issue with seating came up, and staff and volunteers worked together to solve all issues. She and her team were such a big support system… helping a young, fresh staff team succeed. #jeantakethewheel Jean has an infectious laugh and eternal positivity. Jean did not enjoy the accolades that came from being Festival President; she was quick to always give her team (volunteers and staff) the credit they deserved for the work they put in – and let them share the stage. By the time Jean joined the Board of Directors, she had volunteered in a committee role on the Festival for over 50 years. Many who served on the Board with Jean were many years her junior. As a “finale” prank for her Festival year, the Board members and staff donned gray wigs and hobbled on canes …as a tribute to her many, many years serving the Festival. Jean’s infectious laugh could be heard all around North Carolina that day; she was crying she was laughing so hard. She even begged us to show video of this prank to all her Festival volunteer friends and family. This spirit epitomizes Jean A. Lawler!

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ASSOCIATION ENDORSED PARTNERS

INTERNATIONAL FESTIVALS & EVENTS ASSOCIATION

Interested in Becoming an IFEA Sponsor?

Contact Kaye Campbell, Director of Partnerships & Programs (208) 433-0950 ext. 8150 or kaye@ifea.com

SAFELY DOES IT

OPENING OUR EYES TO THE

WORLD AROUND US The world is an evil place. There are people who want to cause others harm and more and more of them seem to be choosing to do so at events and locations where crowds gather.

I recently attended a week-long course in the UK entitled Event Counter-Terrorism Risk Management, which sought to equip attendees – event managers and people with responsibility for keeping crowds safe – with the skills to effectively risk assess attack / terrorism threats for their events.

It was an enjoyable course and one that I think holds great value for those of us running events the world over.

This column isn’t an advertisement for the course itself, per se, but is more of an exercise in maybe opening some eyes to the world around us and the threats we need to be considering when planning our events.

The Context Recent years have seen an increase in attacks on high-profile events in high-profile locations. It is this proliferation of attacks that has shone a light on our planning and management systems, asking whether we effectively mitigate against them in our work.

Consider the following: • In June of 2015, a crowd in France celebrating Bastille Day was attacked by a man driving a rented cargo truck. He killed 86 people and wounded hundreds.

• In December 2016, 12 people were killed with almost 50 others injured when a truck ploughed into a crowd at a Christmas market in Berlin, Germany.

• In March and June of 2017, the United Kingdom saw vehicle and knife attacks perpetrated in London, seeing 13 people killed, including a police officer.

• In May of 2017, a suicide bomber killed 23 people and wounded 139 at an Ariana Grande concert at the Manchester Arena in the United Kingdom.

• In August of 2017, a man killed 14 people and injured over 100 when he drove a van along Las Ramblas, a heavily-touristed area in Barcelona, Spain.

• In October of 2017, a man opened fire on a crowd at Route 91 Harvest Music Festival in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, killing 58 people and injuring over 800.

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There are more examples in the last few years too.

Can any of us as event managers / organisers really say that an attack on our event(s) wasn’t foreseeable? In light of how many events ARE being attacked, are we remiss in our duties if we don’t consider that ours may be the next one targeted?

Attack Methodologies As is clear from the sample of incidents above, people can attack crowds in a variety of ways. Some require immediate proximity and an up-close-and-personal type of attack, while others can be perpetrated from further away.

Vehicles can be used as effective weapons. Suicide bombs can be carried into crowds. Bullets can be rained down on crowds from a relative safe distance. Water systems can be purposely polluted. Weapons can be used for close-quarter attacks.

Chemicals can be used to devastating effect. IEDs can be planted on your event site in advance. Our ticketing and payment systems can be compromised through cyber / hacking attacks.

We (our events and our attendees) are vulnerable in a wide variety of ways.

A Different Mind-Set There’s no denying that those who perpetrate these types of attacks operate from a different mind-set to most ‘normal’ people.

What the EvCTRM course reinforced for me though was that, to combat those would-be attackers, WE also need a different mind-set.

We need our events red-teamed and tested for vulnerabilities.

This is different to our normal Risk Assessment process and should probably be done by someone experienced and qualified and who has NOT been involved in the planning of the event.

This type of exercise is one we now undertake for others running events. We bring in people to do it on ours too, rather than us doing it ourselves. While we have the skillset, having successfully completed the EvCTRM course, we agree with our instructors – this is best done from a neutral position.

The instructors on the EvCTRM course are recently retired Police Officers and are the same people that still train the UK Police CT SecCOs, who are those officers charged with liaising with event organisers to advise on counter-terrorism measures.

WITH MARK BREEN

Their understanding of the attack methodologies and mitigation techniques is both extensive and current.

Real Risks V Topical Threats I’d be accused of being inconsistent if I didn’t include mention of my worry that our industry is in danger of focusing TOO much on ‘topical threats’ to the detriment of more ‘real risks’ that are far more likely to impact on our events.

Attacks should be considered but not at the expense of more ‘real risks’ arising out of potential fires or the usual interaction between vehicle and pedestrians or severe weather etc.

A measured approach is required.

Conclusion When we DO consider attacks, then we need to do so effectively. The EvCTRM course, run by Storm 4 Events in the UK, is one way of helping us do so effectively.

I have found the techniques and insights gained on the course to be extremely helpful during the planning and management of our own events.

Whether the course is something you might consider or not, I suggest the likelihood of your event(s) being a target for an attack is definitely something you need to consider.

Mark Breen is Director of Safe Events as well as Cuckoo Events based in Dublin, Ireland. He is an award-winning event Safety Officer and one of the most experienced and qualified event & crowd safety practitioners in Ireland. He is a Specialist Member of IIRSM, as well as being a member of IOSH, EPS and ESA. He writes and speaks regularly on all things event-related, particularly event & crowd safety. He is a Graduate Member of the Marketing Institute of Ireland and holds a Postgraduate Diploma in PR & Event Management. He is currently among a small class pursuing the world’s first MSc in Crowd Safety and Risk Analysis, and already has specialist qualifications in Spectator Safety Management and Crowd Science.

Mark and the Team at Safe Events and Cuckoo Events are passionate about helping people run safer events and devote a lot of time to doing so. Mark is very active on Twitter @ mark_breen, @SafeEventsIE and @CuckooEvents. The multiple award-winning Cuckoo Events website can be found at cuckoo.ie and the Safe Events website is at safeevents.ie.

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If your Festival or Event is not regularly communicating with your subscribers, you may be missing out on a great opportunity. We all have a variety of marketing tactics at our disposal, but the versatility of the e-newsletter cannot be denied. Deciding to incorporate an e-newsletter in your marketing plan may seem daunting, but it doesn’t have to be.

ortune F n i r E y B

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E-newsletters can be useful in driving traffic to your website, in growing website visitor loyalty, building brand equity, and increasing your brand’s power through increased name recognition and affinity, which ultimately leads to more ticket sales and attendance at your events.

One of the best things about the e-newsletter is that it’s flexible, from the frequency in which you send it and the type of content you feature, to the style you decide to use – there is no one set way to do it. The secret to success is to find what resonates best with your audience. These 10 tips can fast track you to landing on a formula that works for you.

1. Build Your Subscriber List Step one is to make sure you are building a list to send your e-newsletters.

A great place to start is with your current opt-in subscribers. You’ll want to make sure that as always, there’s a way for them to unsubscribe in any of your communications. (This is one of the basic requirements of the CAN-SPAM Act. If you aren’t familiar with the requirements, make sure you research this first to make sure you are compliant in your email communications.) You might also consider building a particular segment for your e-newsletter, and send an email to your current subscribers allowing them to opt-in to receive your e-newsletter or keep their current subscription settings of receiving periodic emails. Building preference centers and allowing your current subscribers to choose how often and what types of email they would like to receive is a great way to keep subscribers who may be thinking about unsubscribing if they are receiving too many emails from you. Once you have decided how you are going to handle your current subscribers, you will also want to add a place on your website’s homepage where people can sign up to receive your e-newsletter so you can gain additional subscribers. If you have a following on Facebook and Twitter, you might also consider running a promotion or offering something of value to those who click to sign-up for your e-newsletter on those platforms.

2. Determine Your Frequency There’s no one size fits all solution for e-newsletters, but you’ll want to pick a frequency in which you will send your e-newsletter and stick to it. Some send their e-newsletters once per week, every other week, monthly, or quarterly. One thing to consider is how often you are sending any different types of emails to the

specific segment of your audience that will be receiving your e-newsletter. Looking at your email program as a whole is vital to making sure you aren’t over-communicating or under-communicating with your audience. The decision on how frequently to send an e-newsletter is entirely up to you, but if you’re looking for a suggestion to start, try monthly at first. The key will be to pick a frequency and then do some testing for a few months. Pay attention to the number of unsubscribes that are occurring, as well as your open rates to see how your audience is responding, and then once you find what works best for your audience, be consistent with when and how often you are sending your e-newsletter, so your subscribers know what to expect.

It’s always a good idea to keep an eye on the trends of your open rates and unsubscribes, even after your initial testing period. Overtime, the behavior of your audience may change, and monitoring your email analytics will enable you to be able to make changes as appropriate.

3. Repurpose. Repurpose.

Repurpose A great e-newsletter takes content that you already have produced and curates it all together to send out to your subscriber list. Do you have team members producing videos that you showcase on social media? Videos are great to include in e-newsletters. While some email service providers now allow you to embed a video directly into your HTML emails, it’s still straightforward to incorporate video if you are using an email service provider without that capability. Just take a screenshot of your video (make sure it’s an excellent thumbnail!) and then upload the image and link to your YouTube or Vimeo video. When I do this, I like to layer a play button on top of my video image, so it’s clear to the reader at a glance that it’s video content to click. Other great pieces of content that you can share in your e-newsletters are blogs that have been posted on your website over the last month.

4. Keep it Short and Sweet It’s no secret that our attention spans are shorter than ever. Make sure that any article you have in your e-newsletter is short and concise with the goal to get the reader to click to read more if interested.

The e-newsletter should be set up for users to be able to skim to get a sense of what’s going on with your Festival or Event, allowing them to click to read more of the articles and topics that genuinely interest them. Think of the e-newsletter as Fall 2018

the vehicle for your content to land in your subscribers’ inbox, but the real goal is to hook them enough that they click through and read more on your website.

5. Optimize for Mobile Every year the number of people reading emails from a mobile device gets higher, and these days it is necessary to make sure the templates you are using for any email communication, and particularly your e-newsletter, is optimized for the best mobile viewing experience. Are any callto-action buttons easy to click on a phone or tablet? Are your photos displaying as beautifully in mobile as they do on the desktop? According to email analytics company, Litmus, 51% of emails were opened on a mobile device in 2017.

6. It’s Not All About You While an e-newsletter could be a great place to promote ticket sales, your e-newsletter should not be 100% promotional.

People don’t want to hang out with the friend who is continually trying to sell them something. Strike a right balance of at least 70-80% educational and informative articles/videos in your e-newsletter with only 30-20% focused on selling. The point of the e-newsletter isn’t to sell, sell, sell.

Think about your audience, what can you help them with? What would make them want to engage with you? Add value.

7. Sender Name People like to connect with people. We have experienced success and increased open rates by having the e-newsletter (as well as other email communications) coming from an actual person at our organization rather than just our company name or generic marketing@ type email.

Not only did I see the increased open rates when I made this switch, but it’s also pretty fun to meet some of the subscribers at the event when they notice your name and then say “oh hey, you’re the one who sends me all of those emails!”

8. Test. Test. Test… and Then Test Again While these tips can help you get started with an e-newsletter, or help you breathe some new life into your existing one, not every tip will work for your audience. The best part about the e-newsletter is that you will know exactly what resonated with your audience, by making sure you are looking at the analytics of what they are clicking on. Try leading with different types of content, play with fun versus serious subject lines,

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keep testing until you find what works best for your audience and your workflow.

9. Learn from Others As crazy as my inbox can get, I like to sign up for e-newsletters from all different types of industries and companies because some of my best ideas and tweaks to our e-newsletter have been sparked by something I saw in an e-newsletter that hit my inbox. If it caught the attention of a marketing professional who gets more than 300 emails a day, I know that it’s pretty effective. Retail giants spend a lot of time and money on their emails, so I always like to skim emails that I receive for inspiration. It only takes a few seconds to glance through any emails I receive, delete the ones that don’t interest me and file away the ones that I love. I keep an entire folder of “email inspiration” from my inbox, and anytime I want to create a new template or tweak an existing template, I spend some time going back

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through emails I saved that I liked.

10. Simple, Easy-To-Update Template In my earlier days of creating e-newsletters, I had some awful templates to work with. I’ve lost track of how many hours of my life I’ve lost fighting with a three column layout having to cut words and make tweaks to try to get all of my columns in my template to align correctly. If your template is difficult to work with and making you miserable, take the time to change it! If you don’t have great email templates built into the email client you are using, or don’t have the technical knowledge to code one yourself, invest in hiring a designer who can help you – it will save you so much time in the long run to have a template that you don’t have to fight with every time you want to add a new article or swap out an image.

No matter what type of Festival and Event you are – chances are an e-newsletter can help add value and build

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a lasting connection with your audience, keeping the lines of communication open year round. Yes, getting an e-newsletter up and running is going to take a little time and planning in the beginning. But once you have a template, your subscribers, and a plan, it can be a really easy way to share content that you’ve already been producing and sharing through other mediums. Remember – the best part of the e-newsletter is its flexibility. So experiment and make it work for you!

Erin Fortune is the Director of Sponsorships at Music for All. In her previous role as Marketing Manager, she produced Music for All’s Pinnacle Award Winning monthly organization e-newsletter and the Daily Buzz e-newsletter for the Music for All Summer Symposium.

International Festivals & Events Association

IFEA World

LEADERSHIP LEGACY

RECOGNITION PROGRAM The I F EA Leadership Legacy Recognition Program recognizes individuals who have made a significant impact through their work and accomplishments in the festivals and events industry within their own town/city/community. Someone who may not necessarily have the international impact that the I FEA Hall of Fame Award calls for, but has accomplished great things within their own town/city/community.

Throughout the year, up to four Leadership Legacy recipients will be selected by their peers from nominations received. Each recipient will be recognized through a feature in an issue of I FEA’s “ie” Magazine – specifically in January, April, August and October. This is an ongoing recognition program throughout the year, nominations can be accepted at any time. “ie” magazine deadlines can be found at www.ifea.com.

Leadership Legacy Nomination Criteria Leadership Legacy nominees must represent a current or past IFEA Member. Nominees can be retired and/or represent any facet of our industry (i.e.: vendor, supporter, event profession, senior professional, etc.)

Please Submit the Following Information for a Leadership Legacy Nomination.

Nominees may have someone else submit a nomination on their behalf, or are able to nominate themselves.

Leadership Legacy Nominee Contact Information Name, Title Organization Address, City, State, Zip, Country Phone, Fax, Email Leadership Legacy Nominee Questions Please answer each of the following questions citing specific examples using no more than 500 words per answer.

1. Explain the impact through and accomplishments the has made in the festival industry within the local

their work candidate and event community.

2. Describe the level of involvement the candidate has had with the IFEA during their career.

3. Submit a general overview of the candidate’s career including organizations worked for, positions held, titles, awards etc.

Entry Format: Please email the nomination in a word Document.

Submit Entries to: Nia Hovde, CFEE, Vice President/Director of Marketing & Communications at nia@ifea.com.

Questions: Please Cont act Nia Hovde, C F E E, Vice President/Director of Marketing &Communications at Email: nia@ifea.com or Phone: +1-208433-0950 ext: 3.

Deadline: Nominations may be submitted at any time during the year. Leadership Legacy Recipients will be featured in the January, April, August and October issues of IFEA’s “ie” Magazine. “ie” Magazine deadlines can be found at http://www.ifea.com/p/ resources/iemagazine/publishingdeadlines.

EXHIBITOR SPOTLIGHT

Aggreko was founded in the Netherlands in 1962 and moved to Scotland in 1973. In 1986 Aggreko purchased a local company in Louisiana and quickly opened depots in Los Angeles, Texas, Alabama, Florida and San Francisco. In 1988 Aggreko started a group of specialists, Aggreko Event Services, whose sole focus was to specialize in the event industry. Since then, Aggreko and AES have done hundreds of thousands of events ranging from the New Jersey state fair to the Olympics to high profile weddings and worldwide broadcasts.

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Give us your ‘elevator pitch’ about your product/service.

From Glastonbury and Cirque du Soleil, to the Commonwealth Games and the Olympics, we’re proud to power the world’s most exciting events. We’ve been working on events for more than 30 years, so we know how to put on a spectacular show. We dedicate as much enthusiasm to planning your backstage power and temperature-control as you put in to organizing things front of house.

We work quietly behind the scenes, making sure the lights are powered, the sound checks run smoothly and activities are broadcast worldwide.

So, whether you’re entertaining an audience of one, or broadcasting to millions worldwide, we’ll take care of the details – leaving you to take center stage.

As well as front of house and field of play, your power systems need to support many things behind the scenes, including security, medical, broadcasting, ticketing and retail. Setting up power and temperature-control for these services can be complex, and equipment often needs to fit within a tight space or be installed a long way from your event.

Our engineers are experienced in meeting these challenges. If your venue’s tight on space, we can engineer our equipment to fit, and if we need to install it away from your event we can bring in cabling and/ or air ducting to get the power, heating, cooling and air to where it’s needed. What’s more, we can adapt quickly if the scope of your event changes during planning.

How many employees does your company have?

Aggreko has over 7000 employees in 240 locations around the globe.

How has your company grown over the years?

Aggreko is always innovating. From being the first to develop truly portable generators and accessories to making sure our equipment met and exceeds requirement from Tier 4 engines, UL listed electrical distribution and natural gas engines, Aggreko strives to be the market leader always.

How many festivals and events do you work with on an annual basis?

Thousands of events from small to large.

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What new or improved product/ service do you have to offer that IFEA audiences need to know about?

Our generators are tier 4 compliant meaning less emissions (i.e. greener). Our safety standards exceed the industry standards and our training is the best in the business What sets your product/service apart from your competitors?

Quality – all our power equipment is built in house to our exacting standards.

Reliability – Aggreko is the only rental company with ARM, Aggreko Remote Monitoring which allows us to keep an eye on the performance of the equipment while its on site and head off a vast majority of issues before they become problems. Our training of technicians includes mandatory safety training and adherence to protocol.

We send professional, not casual labor making your site the safest possible.

What advice would you offer to festivals and events searching for your type of product/service?

Look for a professional company with a strong reputation. Anyone can own equipment and rent it to you but the service side is a differential. Think beyond the “great deal” price from the guy down the street.

Ask yourself “what happens if…” Look for people who know the event industry not the guy who rented a backhoe to the construction site across town and now has your event’s success in his hands.

What is your customer service philosophy?

With a live event, there’s only one chance to do it right. From planning and needs development to delivery, deployment and execution to leaving the site as we found it as we leave, Aggreko does it right.

CONTACT INFORMATION George Long Aggreko Event Services/Aggreko LLC 36 N. Marrs Point Rd. Wales, ME 04280-3019 508-397-0300 George.Long@aggreko.com www.aggreko.com

helping you protect those whose leadership you depend on… …for the best price in the industry.

IFEA Member Directors’ and Officers’ Insurance

2009 NW Military Hwy • San Antonio, TX 78213 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

ENGLISH 101

WITH JEFF ENGLISH, CFEE

ACTUALLY IMPLEMENTING

T

THAT STRATEGIC PLAN YOU’VE WRITTEN

he Kentucky Derby Festival spent most of 2017 writing a strategic plan with the goal of actually using it! As I wrote in the fall 2017 edition of i.e. magazine, the process fleshed out three pillars on which our organization would focus: • Enhance the volunteer program • Broaden the revenue base • Orient the organization on collecting, utilizing, and reporting more actionable data Working through a process of a SWOT analysis, forced rankings and engaged group discussion our strategic planning committee settled on these three topics. It was a very productive exercise and allowed for an introspective look at the health of our organization.

But it was only half the battle. Once the presentation to the board was concluded and the committee disbanded, the hard work of actually implementing the plan had to take hold. It meant ensuring the entire hierarchy of KDF was committed to the principles of the plan. From the President & CEO to the members of the event committees, everyone needed to have a stake in making sure we focused on these core objectives. We have found that the beauty of the plan is its simplicity. By focusing on only three areas, we have allowed our team the ability to develop their own ideas and run with them! Below is an example of how the Volunteer Committee met and discussed the plan and decided on a course of action moving forward. It’s a good example of how a committee came together to brainstorm and make decisions based on the overall directive.

Strategy: Enhance the Volunteer Program What: KDF Needs a Strong Pool of Volunteers to Produce our Events.

We have an opportunity to enhance the over-all program and grow our volunteer base so that we can continue to support current and future events. There are three key actions that we need to take in order to grow our volunteer base: • Recruit the next generation of volunteers • Continue to build upon our robust volunteer pipeline • Understand why we have had a hard time attracting committed volunteers.

Why: Volunteers are a Huge and Valuable Resource for the Festival • Volunteer hours translate to a large financial resource for KDF estimated at a value of over $750,000 each year • KDF has a tenured volunteer base of individuals with high retention however, the base is aging and we need to attract new volunteers and engage the younger generation • We struggle with getting volunteers for some of our events.

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How: Expand Advertising for Volunteer Program • Develop a social media plan to recruit and engage a younger demographic • Develop a digital media plan to recruit and engage a younger demographic • Advertise/recruit volunteers for upcoming year during current year events (e.g. put up signs near the exits, put flyers in packets, etc.)

• Distribute goodie bags with sunscreen, snacks, and other “essential” items for volunteering.

Develop a Year-Round Volunteer Recruitment Program • Create an Ambassador Program to recruit new volunteers similar to the Marathon/miniMarathon Ambassador Program • Go on a speaking circuit and go to organizations and corporate volunteer coordinators throughout the year • Engage a team of Board members • Share specific volunteer needs • Include a volunteer recruitment piece in any KDF relevant speaking engagement • Continue to attend Volunteer Fairs and seek out new Volunteer Fairs (have attended Bellarmine and University of Louisville).

Our goal is to have every person who has a vested interest in the Festival think through and analyze how the strategic plan can be applied in their given area of work. It must permeate the culture of the organization. Every event committee meeting, staff meeting, executive board meeting should include an update on these three items: • What are you doing to recruit more volunteers?

• How are the sponsors doing? Are there ways to produce more non-sponsorship income?

• How can we collect usable data?

We’ve found it’s not a difficult thing to do! Especially since we’ve limited the scope of the plan to three key areas. It’s more about making these issues top of mind so that they are discussed and brainstormed. We’re not asking for specific boxes to be checked, but rather empowering each event committee and individual to think things through and be creative!

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 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.

Good

Great

CFEE

An Important Step in the Career Track of Industry Leaders As a professional in the Festivals & Events Industry, you know the difference between Good and Great. You’ve dedicated yourself to the “whatever it takes” approach that has become your hallmark. You understand the importance and value of continuing to hone your skills, growing your knowledge base, expanding your professional network, and surrounding yourself with others who have reached the top levels of their careers as well.

CFEE (Certified Festival & Event Executive), the IFEA’s professional certification program, provides the essential difference between good and great among professionals in our industry. It signifies the highest level of achievement. Attainment of your CFEE certification provides recognition of your commitment to excellence, experience, and to your career, placing you in an elite group of the top festival and event professionals in your field. It’s a statement of quality that you bring to the table.

For more information about the IFEA’s professional certification program, and our 2018 CFEE FastTrack® Program, contact Cindy Lerick at cindy@ifea.com or call +1-314-614-7152.

The CFEE Professional Certification Program is Sponsored by

EXHIBITOR SPOTLIGHT

In 1962 entrepreneur James Thomson (IFEA Hall of Famer) began building 3-D Displays for department stores. He met Jean Gros formerly of Macy*s and purchased his inventory and embarked on this journey of balloons.

What areas do you serve with your product/service?

We serve a global clientele.

Give us your ‘Elevator Pitch’ about your product/service.

We offer turnkey parade and event solutions. Do you need event staff or brand ambassadors? We can do that. We can bring in giant balloons with just a phone call. We can bring in world class parade floats that assemble on site and go away at the end, no storage or transportation needed. We can handle all the details and make the producer’s job easier. From small town parades to the Olympic Games, we can bring spectacular to any event.

What is your newest product/ service that you have to offer that attendees need to know about?

Optimus Prime, My Little Pony, Mr. Monopoly.

How many employees does your company have?

10 full time staff. 40-50 Event Staff.

How has your company grown over the years?

We began in the garage attached to the back of our family home and have moved into a 15,000 sqft manufacturing facility, doing events all over the world.

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What is different about your product/service vs. your competitors?

Quality Staff: the finest people work for our teams. Quality Product: we build more detail and beauty into our balloons than anyone in the world. Hassle free event experiences. We offer turnkey packages rather than pricing plus shipping, plus travel, plus build us a float, plus this and that.

Once you have our numbers you know what you will pay and what you will get. We are

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even supplying helium to more and more of our clients to take away that headache from the event producer. We know you already have enough on your mind.

How many years have you exhibited at the ifea’s Expo?

Long time vendor since the 60’s, exact date is unknown.

Why did you decide to exhibit at the IFEA’s 63rd Annual Convention, Expo & Retreat?

Tradition and relationships.

What do you hope to get out of exhibiting at this year’s expo?

Connect to build great friendships. Meet new friends and connect with old ones.

What is the best sales advice you’ve ever received?

Be genuine. Be creative and listen more than you speak.

CONTACT INFORMATION Stephen Thomson Dynamic Displays / Fabulous Inflatables 6470 Wyoming Ave. Suite 2024 Dearborn, MI 48126 313-212-1298 steve@fabulousinflatables.com www.fabulousinflatables.com

Your Event Has

IMPACT…

SHOW IT!

Commission Your IFEA Economic Impact Study Today

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: Kaye Campbell, CFEE, Director of Partnerships & Programs • +1-208-433-0950 Ext 815 • kaye@ifea.com

SH I FTI N

G

U L VO

R E E T N

TRENDS

By Florence May with Ben Reno-Weber

At a recent volunteer management conference, I noticed a common theme in every session: The volunteer world is shifting.

Several speakers were discussing a shift in the perceived role of volunteers.

According to Rick Lynch, principal consultant at Lynch Associates, the volunteer management era “grew up” when many people volunteered as an alternative to professional work, whereas today’s volunteers do so as an alternative to other leisure activities.

In addition, we shared observations that more people are choosing to volunteer in a team or group. The volunteer groups, numbering in the 10s and 100s, come from schools, clubs, associations, or even just a group of friends or family who would like to spend time together at a volunteer activity.

And this is just part of the group trend.

In this age of corporate social respon104

sibility, the groups are often employees from a local, national or even international companies. Often these groups wish to spend their leisure time helping their community. Popular group volunteer activities include solving social problems; improving the quality of life and developing sustainable environmental projects.

While studying these dramatic changes in community service and volunteer trends, I recently had the pleasure of talking with social entrepreneur Ben Reno-Weber, co-founder of MobileServe. MobileServe provides tools for organizations to measure their organization’s social impact by tracking employee volunteer activity.

FLORENCE: Ben, you are working in an exciting field with a wide variety of organizations. Corporations, Schools, Non-Profits, Community entities and

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so many others are actively engaging in social responsibility. Why are these organizations interested in matching their employees with volunteer opportunities?

What has changed?

BEN: I think there are three forces at play here. The first is an underlying part of the human condition that has not changed: people want to be of service to others.

They want to be a part of something larger than themselves. What has changed is that many institutions which previously filled that need have deteriorated. Everything from faith communities, Rotaries, Bowling Leagues, the Elks, and the PTA have seen declining memberships over the last decade. So the second force? People are looking for companies to fill that gap. And the final force is the increasing dominance of the Millennials in the workplace and the

marketplace. Milennials are now more than 50% of the workforce, and they want to work for and purchase from organizations that align with their values. They want to see how their efforts have impact, not just cut a check and trust that it will help.

So, what used to be a nice to have is now a need to have: organizations who want top talent or want loyal customers need to demonstrate how their companies contribute to their communities. Volunteering is a great way to do that.

FLORENCE: At TRS we work with a wide variety of event volunteer managers -championships, endurance sports, festivals, arts and educational programs -- they want to connect with large groups. What advice would you give to them? (Should they pay greater attention to community impact and links to social cause? Or other items?)

BEN: My best advice: build connections over time. There can transactional component, which is fine: “volunteer at this event to get free admissions or to fundraise for your group.”

But if you want a longer-term relationship, if you want volunteers to be ambassadors, if you want people connected not just to your event but to your organization, you need to offer more than just a one-time per year engagement. The highest retention and engagement we see is with groups who offer multiple on-ramps and significant autonomy to their volunteers.

Here’s an example: WeDay puts on concerts and inspirational events that fill stadiums all over the world. To even have a chance to get a ticket to attend, you have to do (and report) one domestically focused service project and one internationally focused service project. They also recognize their participants who go above and beyond with leaderboards and social-media shoutouts. It’s not complicated, but it does require investment either in people or technology.

FLORENCE: At TRS, we see this generational shift in volunteer trends is creating new challenges and new opportunities for event volunteer managers. Not just recruiting but retaining volunteers.

There seems to be an outdated view of volunteers as “unpaid labor” must change to a cultivated relationship with professionals who bring skills, collaboration and professional advice. Have I got this right?

BEN: The best book on this I’ve ever read is Daniel Pink’s Drive. He lays out what motivates people in almost any setting, not just volunteering. He says people crave

Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose, to which I would add Community. What does that mean for people engaging volunteers?

Autonomy means giving people a task or set of tasks to accomplish and let them reason through how to do it. You can give them best practices, history of approaches, inspect, and approve, but let them own it.

For Mastery, they also want to feel they are getting better. Returning volunteers might want to be “supervisors” or get first crack at different assignments. People who have invested in pre-work (ie. doing volunteer work at a pre-event or as part of something else) might get preferred assignments or increased responsibility.

To help people feel purpose, spend some time reminding people the “Why?” of what they are doing. Handing out water is about hydration, but it’s also about encouraging people to be the best they can be, picking them up when they are down, and getting them into the right headspace to finish.

And community is about connecting them to one another and to the organization. They want to know who else is with them and why they are here. I’m not just working this information booth, Alexis, Callie, Chris and I are making people feel welcome here.

FLORENCE: Event volunteer managers are eager to cultivate relationships that will evolve into recurring volunteer activity. Are the organizations focused on factors that volunteer managers need to consider?

BEN: This is the biggest area of opportunity we see. People are hungry to belong, but afraid of being trapped. They increasingly don’t want to belong to an organization, but are happy to be affiliated with a cause. They want their volunteer experience to be aligned with their values, connected to their skills, to be meaningful, and to help them connect. I recognize that’s a tall order for a volunteer manager who just needs warm bodies to get the job done.

But it’s also not as daunting as it sounds. A lot of that work can be automated, or can be done at the same time as the logistics, with a little bit of forethought. The same volunteer hungry for increased responsibility can be put in charge of volunteer culture in their little part of the event. Pre-event volunteering is a great way to select who is really motivated and capable. Keeping records of those who have been there before gives you a great chance to give shout-outs and support leaders.

Of course, I’m biased in all of this. I ran a nonprofit that grew from hosting Fall 2018

10 events to 20+ events per year and depended on volunteers for all of them.

I ended up leaving because I felt like I didn’t have the tools I needed to do that engagement well, and neither did my peers, so we went out and built them.

Ultimately, we need people to be engaged in their communities. Volunteering is not just about getting the work done, it’s about building connections that bind us together as a community and a society.

At this moment, our country needs as much that as we can get.

Give Meaning Thank you, Ben for your insightful observations. At TRS, we sense that for many volunteer managers the changes to the volunteer recruiting, training, activity and retention cycle feel dramatic. And clearly the national research and your observations reinforce the realities of this millennial shift.

We collectively see the desire for stronger participation when there are shared values. The motivation among younger (but also many older) volunteers to ‘own the movement’ or ‘make an impact’ which gives meaning to their time.

Our volunteers are asking: What’s the point? What’s in this for my personal goals? The job of event directors and volunteer managers is to create consequential connections.

I, Florence May, love volunteers.

Maybe it is the 15 years spent managing events with Visit Indy, Simply Hospitality and the United States Grand Prix (F1). Or maybe it is the 16 years delivering online volunteer management systems for many of the largest and most complex events in North America.

Over the past few years my company, TRS – The Registration System, has provided volunteer management systems for the 500 Festival, the Kentucky Derby Festival, the Republican National Convention, the Democratic National Convention, Celebrate Fairfax, the Gilroy Garlic Festival, the US Mayors Conference, the Azalea Festival, USA Special Olympics National Games and hundreds of smaller events. In the process of supporting events, I study and discuss the trends that make certain events successful while others struggle.

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MAY I HELP YOU?

WITH FLORENCE MAY

COMPETING FOR THE

MILLENNIAL VOLUNTEER Over the past few years we've seen major shifts in the volunteer world, including more competition for volunteers and a huge growth in the number of events held. There are a plethora of festivals, endurance events, school sports, charitable fundraisers and much more competing for the time of potential volunteers.

I’ve been studying The Millennial Impact Report for insight into generational trends. For many years, Baby Boomers, our growing rank of seniors, have driven our volunteer trends. We would expect that our middle age Generation X would fill the Boomers volunteer roles. But Gen X is a very small generation and there simply aren’t enough people. That means volunteer managers need to focus on the younger Millennials - the largest generation in the workforce today and our next big pool of volunteers.

Many event leaders I speak to struggle to attract and retain Millennial volunteers, so I've reached out to Cara Silletto, workforce thought leader, generational speaker, and author of “Staying Power,” to explore these challenges.

Florence May: Cara, welcome! Let’s dig right in. What should volunteer managers know about different generational expectations? Can we learn something about Millennials from the workplace?

Cara Silletto: Absolutely! My observations about keeping Millennials as employees in the workplace apply to their volunteer roles as well. Team leaders, just like any new boss, must communicate their unwritten expectations clearly. New volunteers can’t read their minds. New volunteers don’t know how things “have always been done”. They also may come with expectations of the volunteer experience that may be inaccurate. You likely clarify rules and expectations throughout your recruiting and training processes, but do you ask new volunteers what they expect to get out of their time volunteering with you? This is a great opportunity to make a strong early connection while clearing up any potential misunderstandings or missed expectations down the road.

Florence May: I often work with the leadership of events on improving their volunteer recruiting to retention cycle. Any first steps you would recommend? Are there specific questions they should be asking?

Cara Silletto: Start by asking how the volunteer discovered the organization/event. Ask what drew them to participate in the first place. And let the volunteer know you truly want candid answers about which items bring value to their volunteer time (networking, resume credits, community service hours, tickets to the event, etc.). The answers will help you understand what moti106

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vates the volunteers. The process also encourages the volunteer to gauge the value of their volunteer time. Knowing the origin of their interest can also help you calculate their anticipated renewal rates. Is this volunteer likely to return based on initial interest? Or do we need to engage further to encourage a second volunteer experience?

Florence May: Change can be difficult. If events are having trouble recruiting and retaining younger volunteers, are new management strategies necessary? Do we need to consider expectations?

Cara Silletto: Yes, yes, yes! This question gets right at the heart of the reasons people do or don’t come back. How were they treated by the managers and coordinators? What does the management-volunteer relationship look like? One of my clients was adamant that most people left because of scheduling issues, when in reality people left because they didn’t like the managers.

In fact, some suggested, “managers should have some experience doing the actual job first.” That’s great advice to anyone putting team leaders in place. Have they done the front-line work themselves before? Do they know exactly what they’re asking of others who are out in the field?

Florence May: Great points and perfect lead in to our next question. We often see organizations struggling to find recruiting, training and scheduling strategies that work for multiple generations. How do events need to evaluate their technology and communication approaches with volunteers?

Cara Silletto: When there were fewer channels for communication it was easier to reach everyone in the same ways. But today, as more channels become available with new tools and apps popping up everyday, we need to remember to go where our volunteers are - of all ages.

Just because you’ve used email successfully for 20 years doesn’t mean that will continue to work best for everyone. If you’re recruiting younger volunteers, you better be sure all your web pages are mobile-optimized, info is short and sweet, and you’re explain the WIIFM (What’s in it for me?) aspect of volunteering in your recruiting methods. But for Baby Boomers, you had better have a simplified platform that offers instructions for completion - and they prefer it looks similar to the way it did last year.

Are you texting in addition to sending e-mail reminders? Are you offering group sign-up options? And how are you letting volunteers be heard and customize their experiences working with you?

These are all things technology can help with, but there’s no silver bullet that can do it all. Organizations who will remain successful are those diversifying their approaches and using what works now and next, not just what worked five years ago!

Florence May: I’m glad you brought up volunteer groups because this will be our hot topic next issue! In all these points, you are talking about engaging the volunteer. This makes me think about the actual event experience which can be very passive. Are there good ways to actively engage volunteers during training and their on-site experience?

Cara Silletto: With the plethora of communication apps today, there’s no reason for your volunteers to feel disconnected. They should know what’s going on, get real-time updates throughout the event, and have ways to share questions and feedback with the organizers at all times. Note that some volunteers may not use these functions, but others will become increasingly frustrated without them. Plus, this is a great way to collect candid feedback and resolve issues quickly across all aspects of the event.

Florence May: You have me wondering how long should volunteer managers expect new volunteers to stay with their organizations? Is that shifting?

Cara Silletto: There’s a major shift occurring in the event/ volunteer relationship. Many people used to check the box to participate year after year because they had always done so.

Now, volunteers have many more choices of where to participate and they are evaluating every single decision that impacts their schedules.

Do I want to do this again? Did I have fun last time? Was it worth my time or could I spend it elsewhere with a better return?

For many, donating their time means more to them than donating their money, and they’re getting picky, so you have to be more attractive than ever, and evolve with their needs.

Also, it’s time to have more realistic expectations when it comes to how long you can expect to retain volunteers. People don’t stay connected to any organization as long as they used to - as workers or volunteers, so be prepared for that and maximize the time you have with each person. Don’t ever make folks “sit the bench” the first time they volunteer. They want to be put in the game, coach!

Florence May: At the end of the event, does a thank you note really mean anything? Are we looking at the right Rewards & Recognition?

Cara Silletto: It’s critical today to appreciate any and all jobs well done - even if it’s the exact job they signed up to do.

Many people expect recognition and a pat on the back when they show up (thanks to those good ol’ participation ribbons our parents, teachers and everyone else gave us as children) - even if you think that’s ridiculous. The reality is there are lots of people who don’t show up at all for things they signed up to do, so we certainly need to say “thank you” to those who do show up, and those who do a great job while they’re volunteering for us.

Remember, they have choices, so don’t take that for granted!

And to do recognition right, find out what matters to your volunteers! Some may prefer public recognition on your social media sites while others may prefer scheduling preferences for the next event. Are you asking recruits, “When we recognize your hard work and dedication to this event, in which ways would you like to be thanked?” Give them a checklist to find out what most people want and customize rewards when possible. At my events, if I give away a gift card, I give folks a choice between three online retailers and then I email the gift card of their choice.

Don’t assume everyone shops or eats at the same places!

It’s a Wrap!

As we learned from Cara, for many organizations adapting strategies for millennials will be critical to the midterm success of their events. Is your leadership looking at the average age of your volunteers? Do you have strategies in place to expand your millennial base? Have you considered how these strategies will work with your older volunteers?

At TRS, we work closely with a major event venue who has a very loyal group of older volunteers. The older volunteers were very much “this is the way we’ve always done it” and effectively drove away all younger volunteers. So the venue managers instituted a new younger Ambassador program specifically designed to attract young adults and college students.

Guess what happened? Within one year the older volunteers wanted to participate in the younger Ambassador program! If you want to attract and retain younger volunteers, you may have to design specific initiatives that challenge the establishment.

The bottom-line? Leaders and coordinators must dive into the mindset of Millennials if we want to connect with them and extend their time working with our organizations.

Would hearing more about today’s new workforce (who are or soon will be your volunteers) and ways to retain them would be helpful for your organization? Get a copy of Cara’s little guide explaining “The Millennial Mindset” free at www.crescendostrategies.com or order her new book, “Staying Power: Why Your Employees Leave & How to Keep Them Longer,” on Amazon.

I, Florence May, love volunteers. Maybe it is the 15 years spent managing events with Visit Indy, Simply Hospitality and the United States Grand Prix (F1). Or maybe it is the 16 years delivering online volunteer management systems for many of the largest and most complex events in North America.

Over the past few years my company, TRS – The Registration System, has provided volunteer management systems for the 500 Festival, the Kentucky Derby Festival, the Republican National Convention, the Democratic National Convention, Celebrate Fairfax, the Gilroy Garlic Festival, the US Mayors Conference, the Azalea Festival, USA Special Olympics National Games and hundreds of smaller events. In the process of supporting events, I study and discuss the trends that make certain events successful while others struggle.

May I Help you?

Contact me with volunteer management related questions at fmay@my-trs.com

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EXHIBITOR SPOTLIGHT

We were founded in 2007 by Joshua Dziabiak and Lynsie Campbell, initially as an event registration database. The pair later focused their efforts on creating a web-based ticketing solution after realizing the need for better ticketing.

Give us your ‘elevator pitch’ about your product/service.

ShowClix, a product of Patron Technology, is a full-service event technology provider of ticketing, marketing, and on-site operations to the live events industry.

ShowClix events include fandom conventions, museums, festivals, attractions, and consumer shows. Iconic brands such as New York Comic Con, Brooklyn Museum, The Daily Show, and PAX choose ShowClix to power their events.

How many employees does your company have?

We have 85+ event experts across the United States and Canada supporting our partners and helping them grow their businesses.

How has your company grown over the years?

We grew into a major player in the event technology industry, thanks to a client-focused team and a constantly evolving platform. We now handle ticket sales, marketing, and on-site operations for events all over the world. We crossed the $1 billion mark in processed ticket sales in early 2018, and became one of the products of Patron Technology in 2017, which served to expedite our already impressive growth.

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What areas do you serve with your product/service?

We provide the event technology and the team that powers events all over the world.

What new or improved product/ service do you have to offer that attendees need to know about?

Our Report Builder tool revolutionizes the way event organizers engage with their ticketing data, as it allows a nearly infinite customizability of reports that has never been seen before. An event organizer’s data is readily accessible, and it’s presented with unparalleled clarity and simplicity. They can make reports that are tailored to each team member’s specific needs, group different data sets together to help compare vital data, build and save report configurations for future browsing and usage, and so much more.

What sets your product/service apart from your competitors?

When you partner with us, you’ll be provided with both technology and professional services. Our Engineering and Product teams work together every day to ensure that our system stays up-todate with the latest trends, and to develop features that help event organizers save time and sell more tickets. Our Client Services, Event Operations, and Marketing Services teams will train your staff, advise

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you on best practices, and help take your event to the next level.

How many festivals and events do you work with on an annual basis?

We partner with several thousand events annually.

What advice would you offer to festivals and events searching for your type of product/service?

Not every ticketing provider is created equal. Ideally, your ticketing partner will be with you throughout the entire event lifecycle, so you need one that anticipates your needs, provides the technology and services necessary to serve those needs, and has the market knowledge to offer additional products you may not have even thought of. Find someone who is always willing to go the extra mile, because your bottom line should be their bottom line.

What is your customer service philosophy?

What truly makes a business successful is its ability to connect with their customers.

So when we designed our client-focused philosophy, we not only wanted to provide expert system support and best practices, we also wanted to add a personal touch so every customer felt heard and valued.

CONTACT INFORMATION Jonathon McCurley ShowClix, Inc. 650 Smithfield St Fl 13 Pittsburgh, PA 15222-3900 United States 516-455-0300 jonathon.mccurley@showclix.com www.showclix.com/ticketing

Remember the Helping Hands that Got You Where You are Today?

Now it’s time to lend yours. 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 orga-

nization 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.

Help us Celebrate 25 Years of Giving!

Pay It Forward with a Gift to IFEA’s ‘Fund for the Future’

Online and PDF donation forms available at IFEA.com / Foundation / Ways to Give Individual and Organizational Contributions are welcomed and encouraged.

Questions? Contact Kaye Campbell, CFEE, Director of Partnerships & Programs

at kaye@ifea.com or +1-208-433-0950, ext. 8150

EVERYONE IS INVITED INCLUDING PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

HELP YOUR VENDORS AND SPONSORS BE ACCESSIBLE PART ONE:

SERVING CUSTOMERS WITH DISABILITIES

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estival producers, have you noticed that your vendors and sponsors are not always accessible to your patrons with disabilities? Their staff may not know how to serve customers with disabilities and their booths may not be accessible. This will be a two-part series. Part one will focus on tips for serving customers with disabilities. Part two, in the next issue of this magazine, will provide information about accessible booth design.

Good Business Sense Tell your festival’s vendors and sponsors that your event is inclusive and does everything it can to accommodate its patrons with disabilities. Remind them that the Americans with Disabilities Act, a federal law, requires that businesses serving the public be accessible and that if they are not they could risk litigation.

A large part of accessibility is training staff how to serve customers with disabilities. Without training, staff may make unfortunate mistakes. Vendors and sponsors can provide their employees with the tools they need to confidently serve customers with disabilities by giving them the following information. It’s good for employee morale, good customer relations, and good for business.

3 Fundamental Principles • Treat customers with disabilities with respect and dignity. Do not talk down to or use a different tone of voice than you would when talking to people without disabilities.

• If someone appears to need assistance, ask how you may help.

Do not assume you know what to do. Listen and follow directions.

• Communicate directly with the person who has the disability.

Don’t expect a companion to represent the person with the disability.

Know Your Access Program Facts Become familiar with the event’s Access Program and the services provided for patrons with disabilities. Review the Access Program brochure and map. Identify where these features are located: • The Access Center or Information Booth for patrons with disabilities.

• The nearest accessible toilet.

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• The nearest accessible ATM. • Learn if there is a sign language interpreter available should one be needed to assist in communicating with deaf patrons.

Serving People with Mobility Disabilities If your booth is not accessible and until you “Hello. Let me tell you redesign your booth – about what products we use these techniques. have. I would be happy • Do not reach over a high to bring out anything that counter. Come around and interests you so that you hand the item to the person. may see it.”

• If the booth is not accessible and a patron is not able to enter, ask what items they would like to see and bring the items out for viewing.

• If your counter is high, have a clipboard handy for signing credit card receipts.

Serving People Who are Blind or Have Low Vision • About 80% of those who “Hello. (Touch arm lightuse a cane or guide dog ly). My name is Valerie and are legally blind have and we are WYYY, the some vision. It is very diffimedia sponsor for this cult to guess the amount of event. May I ask your vision a person has so do name?” … “I am going not make assumptions. to get you some of our • As soon as you notice that swag, but I will be back a person who is blind or in a minute. Please stand has low vision has entered by.” … “Goodbye and or approached your booth, thanks for coming. I am introduce yourself.

• Speak directly to the person stepping away now.” who is blind, not to their companion. You may lightly touch the person’s arm so that they know with whom you are talking. Ask the person who is blind for their name so that you can address the person directly from then on. There is no need to speak especially slowly or loudly unless the person is also hard of hearing.

WITH LAURA GRUNFELD

• When you are about to leave the area, let the person who is blind know so that they are not left talking to the air.

Craft Vendors • Offer to let that individual touch or hold your product when it is appropriate. Describe the products in your booth.

Talk about function, color, design, texture, how they are made, and other details.

Food Vendors • Offer to read the menu aloud. Include the price of each item. As you place each item on the counter, identify what it is. Indicate the location of each item on a plate using the face of clock as a guide.

“Hello, this is my craft booth and my name is Pat. What’s your name?” “It is nice to meet you, Max. I make hand thrown ceramic goblets that are very smooth and colorful. Would you like to hold one?”

“I’m putting a plate of fruit salad down in front of you and to your right is the cup of ice tea.”

“The tortillas are at your 3 o’clock, the guacamole is at 11 o’clock, and the salsa is at 7 o’clock.”

Making Change • People who are blind or have low vision keep track of the “The total is $12.50. You denominations of the bills are handing me a $20 they have by putting them bill.

I’ll give you $7.50 in in particular places in their change. Here is one $5 wallet or folding the bills in bill. Here are two $1 bills. certain ways. When a blind And here is 50 cents. person hands you a bill, state Thank you.” out loud what denomination it is. Then hand the change back one denomination at a time, stating what the bills are as you do so. Coins can be identified by feel so just hand them back all at one time.

Serving People Who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing • Hearing loss can range from mild to profound, and may involve one or both ears. Some people use hearing aids. Some may communicate with lip reading and gestures, others with sign language, others by writing.

• Do not shout at a deaf person.

• The person will let you know how they communicate best.

If they lip-read, look directly at the person, do not cover your mouth with your hands, speak clearly and slowly and expressively. Use a lot of body language and gestures.

• If they communicate with sign language and have an interpreter, look at the person who has the hearing loss, not the interpreter.

Do not say “Tell them the burritos are $4 each.” Simply say “The burritos are $4 each.”

• Sign language interpreters may be available through the Access Program. Find out in advance if this is a service that is provided and learn how to make the request.

Serving People Who Have a Speech Disability • Conditions such as stroke, Instead of “How do you deafness, brain injuries, take your coffee?” ask developmental or learning yes/no questions: “Do disabilities can cause a you take sugar?” “Do you person to have difficulty take milk?” speaking.

• Their response time may be delayed. Be patient and encouraging. Do not rush the person or try to fill in with words. Ask questions that can be answered with a few words or a nod of the head. You may need to repeat or rephrase your question. Offer a paper and pencil.

• A person’s ability or inability to speak clearly is NOT a measure of their intelligence.

Serving People with Service Animals • By law, people may bring their service animals with them into any area where the public is invited including vendor and sponsor booths. Note that service animals are allowed in areas where food is served.

• If a service animal is not house-trained, displays threatening behavior such as growling at or biting a person or another animal, or if it is not under the control of the person handling the animal, then the vendor may have the handler remove the animal from the booth. If necessary, call for festival security and describe the animal’s behavior. It may be necessary to remove the animal from the festival. If the animal is taken off-site, the person must be allowed to return without the animal.

Good for All Being accessible means that patrons who are living with disabilities are included in more aspects of the festival. It means that the vendors will be able to offer their food, crafts, and other wares to all who attend and that sponsors can promote their products or experiences to everyone. It is good for our community and good for business to be accessible to everyone.

Be sure to check the next issue for “Part Two: Accessible Booth Design.”

Laura Grunfeld writes a regular column helping producers make their events accessible to people with disabilities. Suggest topics to her by writing to Laura@EveryonesInvited.com.

She has worked many festivals across the nation and readers can learn more about her event accessibility consulting, training, and production company at www.EveryonesInvited. com. www.linkedin.com/in/lauragrunfeld, www.youtube.com/ lauragrunfeld. www.facebook.com/everyones.festival, www. instagram.com/everyonesfestival.

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EXHIBITOR SPOTLIGHT Big Events began around 1988 as a division of a large manufacturer of giant inflatables in San Diego, California. In 1991 the division was sold to Greg Sadler and Charles Trimble who incorporated the company in the name of Big Events, Inc. Its main business in the early days was the rental and installation of giant inflatables, both helium and cold-air. In those days, the clients included Budweiser and Disney and the jobs involved everything from installations at Disneyland, to grand openings at Walt Disney World, to taking the Budweiser “Budman on a Jetski” inflatable boats on tour. One of the highlights of those early days was taking a towering, 75 foot tall Maleficent giant inflatable on a Disney tour to 12 states and Canada over a 13 week period. It was quite a task because the inflatable Maleficent weighed in at about 3500 pounds. It took three large 220v fans for inflation and a crew of 15 to unload and load the platform trailer that she was carried on!

How many employees does your company have?

Today Big Events, has five full time employees and over 25 part time balloon supervisors that work parades and special events.

How has your company grown over the years?

Over time we have had the opportunity to build our parade balloon inventory to something valued at over 1 million dollars plus.

We have also built a reputation for building superior custom inflatables, both helium and cold-air. We are known for our great artwork, attention to detail and affordable pricing.

What areas do you serve with your product/service?

Our service area is mostly the United States and Canada where we are invited to many of the large and small parades as well as festivals and events. We like being in the large parades where we can bring out our biggest balloons, but we also love the smaller home town parades and try to have balloons that we can offer to both. We are willing to travel to almost anywhere there is a parade. We have enjoyed a good amount of international travel and have been fortunate enough to visit cities like London, Brussels, Dublin, Moscow, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Auckland, Acapulco, Mexico City, Panama City, Singapore and Tel Aviv to name a few.

Give us your ‘Elevator Pitch’ about your product/service.

Big Events, Inc. is truly a giant parade balloon company that has the world’s largest inventory of helium balloons and cold-air inflatables. We have licensed 112

characters and generic balloons for almost any occasion. If we don’t have it we can probably build it. Our prices are competitive and reliable. We carry a large liability insurance policy and have workman compensation insurance on our crews. Our parade balloon supervisors are thoroughly trained and experienced so you can depend on a successful parade.

Big Events builds custom balloons for sale and is a worldwide leader for quality inflatables and balloons. Our exciting designs and high quality artwork set the standard for the industry.

What is your newest product/ service that you have to offer that attendees need to know about?

We have a great inventory of licensed characters and generic parade balloons, both helium and cold-air inflatables. We also offer custom helium balloons and cold-air inflatables using the same expertise and quality we do for our own inventory.

What is different about your product/service vs. your competitors?

We save on helium expense by filling our balloons with the amount of helium needed to fly well, which is usually not 100% of the volume of the balloon. We then top the balloons off with air We have a large shop-warehouse where our experienced crew inspects, cleans, repairs and maintains our balloons and our customers’ balloons.

How many years have you exhibited at the ifea’s Expo?

We are a long term Expo Vendor going back too many years to count!

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Why did you decide to exhibit at the IFEA’s 63rd Annual Convention, Expo & Retreat?

I enjoy being at the Convention and Expo to see old friends and new prospects. We do most of our business on the internet and over the phone and so it is always a treat to have the opportunity to visit with people face to face.

What is the best sales advice you’ve ever received?

Listen to your customer. Sometimes we are so busy telling the client how wonderful we are that we forget to listen to what they want from us.

What is your customer service philosophy?

We treat our clients the way we like to be treated and try to be easy and fun to work with. Parade balloons should be fun and exciting and we try to bring some of that magic to each client’s parade.

There are some technical, legal and safety issues with balloons, and we try to make sure our clients are aware of and understand those issues and let them know what we can and cannot do. Mostly we want the parade balloon experience, from the organizer, to the sponsors and right down to the balloon handlers, to be something they enjoy and want to repeat.

CONTACT INFORMATION Charles Trimble Big Events, Inc. 1613 Ord Way Oceanside, CA 92056 760-477-2655 charles@bigeventsonline.com www.bigeventsonline.com

2018 IFEA WEBINAR SCHEDULE

2018 IFEA WEBINAR SE R I ES

THURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 2018

Five Keys to Effective Sponsorship Activation Bruce L. Erley, CFEE, ARP, President & CEO, Creative Strategies Group, Denver, CO

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2018

Managing the Media and the Message Robert Griffin, Director of Marketing, Memphis in May International Festival, Memphis, TN

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2018

Learn Laura’s Step-by-Step Service Animal Screening System Laura Grunfeld, Founder & Owner, Everyone’s Invited, LLC Sheffield, MA

THURSDAY, MARCH 1, 2018

Plan the Work. Work the Plan. Seven Steps to a Successful Marketing Plan Sean King, Principle, Aspire Consulting Group, Allentown, PA

THURSDAY, MARCH 15, 2018

Festival Public Relations: The Do and Don’ts That Will Keep Your Message on Point and Keep You Out Of Trouble Jeff Curtis, CEO, Portland Rose Festival Foundation, Portland, OR

Bringing valuable Festival and Event industry education right to you, we’re pleased to present our Online IFEA Webinar Series.

IFEA WEBINARS ARE:

THURSDAY, MARCH 29, 2018

Private Sector Engagement to Promote Homeland Security Michael Stewart, Management & Program Analyst, Sector Outreach & Programs Division, Sports Leagues/ Outdoor Events Subsector Department of Homeland Security, Washington, DC

THURSDAY, APRIL 12, 2018

Sponsorship & Social: The Art of Partnership Promotion Jessica Bybee-Dziedzic, Partnership Director, Saffire Austin, TX

THURSDAY, MAY 3, 2018

PROFESSIONAL: 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. (If working toward your IFEA CFEE Certification, each individual paid Webinar is eligible for one CFEE Elective Credit.)

AFFORDABLE: At $59 each for IFEA Members ($99 for Non-IFEA Members), not only are you able to attend the Webinar presentation, but any and all of your co-workers can gather around to view the presentation as well, for that one low price!

CONVENIENT: Webinars are easy to attend. Let us bring the education to you . . . view and listen to the presentation online right at your computer, tablet, smartphone… wherever you may be! No Travel Expense Required.

EFFICIENT: With no travel time to and from to attend the Webinar and one easy click to log-in, give us 60 minutes and we’ll give you an hour full of valuable festival and event industry education. What better way to receive great educational information by great presenters, while saving both time and travel expenses!

VALUABLE: Get the most out of your registration fee. All paid Webinar Registrations receive access to the live 60-minute Webinar presentation, an interactive Q&A session, copies of the presentation materials and handouts, in addition to the recording of the Webinar, to view again and again for up to 14 days.

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Emergency Planning and Black Swans Steven Adelman, Vice President, Event Safety Alliance Adelman Law Group, PLLC, Scottsdale, AZ

THURSDAY, MAY 10, 2018

Diversity & Inclusion Across Your Event Jason Kingsley, BCom, CFEE, Calgary Pride President & Executive Producer Calgary, British Columbia, Canada

THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2018

Creating Excitement for Your Parade Ray Pulver, Owner, Upbeat Parade Productions, San Jose, CA

THURSDAY, MAY 24, 2018

Digital Marketing Trends & Best Practices for 2018 Bruce Lupin, Vice President, Digital Marketing New Target, Irvine, CA

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2018

Turning the Strategic Plan on Its Head Jeff English, CFEE, Sr. Vice President/General Council Kentucky Derby Festival, Louisville, KY

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2018

Protecting Yourself Against the Inevitable and Unpredictable The Latest Updates on Contingent Insurance Coverage David Olivares, Vice President of Sales and Marketing Kaliff Insurance, San Antonio, TX

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2018 Ignite! Idea Generator for 2019!

Ted Baroody, President Norfolk Festevents, Norfolk, VA

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2018

Membership Clubs – Upgraded Event Experiences to Boost Your Budget Becky Genoways, CFEE, President Genoways Events, Rockford, IL IFEA’s ie: the business of international events

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2018 IFEA PURCHASING WEBINARS 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!

• INDIVIDUAL WEBINAR COST $59 - IFEA Members $99 - Non-IFEA Members Provides access to the individual 60-minute live IFEA Webinar presentation, an interactive Q&A session, copies of the presentation materials and handouts, in addition to the recording of the Webinar, to view for up to 14 days.

On-Demand Webinars are also able to be purchased individually at $59 (IFEA Members) or $99 (Non-IFEA Members.)

• WEBINAR SUBSCRIPTION A subscription to the IFEA Webinar Series can also be purchased for those looking for year-round Festival & Event industry education. Two subscription options are available ° Live Webinar Subscription $590 – IFEA Members $990 – Non-IFEA Members Provides access to ALL 15 individual 60-minute live IFEA Webinars for the year, interactive Q&A sessions, copies of the presentation materials and handouts, in addition to the recordings for each Webinar, to view for up to 14 days.

WEBINAR SE R I ES HOW TO PURCHASE WEBINARS Webinars are available for purchase via any of the following methods: • Online at the IFEA Store • Faxing, mailing emailing the Webinar Registration Form • Calling the IFEA at +1-208-433-0950 x3 On-Demand Webinars are available for purchase online at the IFEA Store.

QUESTIONS? Contact: Nia Hovde, CFEE, Vice President/Director of Marketing & Communications at: nia@ifea.com

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

© Copyright 2018. 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.

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 2018

FIVE KEYS TO EFFECTIVE SPONSORSHIP ACTIVATION

Bruce L. Erley, CFEE, ARP President & CEO Creative Strategies Group Denver, CO Activation and measurement have become two essential components to any sponsorship. Event producers must be thinking well beyond typical rights and benefits and propose ideas that literally bring the sponsor’s brand to life. Sponsorship is an experiential marketing platform upon which you must build to achieve the sponsor’s brand, marketing, communications and sales objectives. CSG has found that there are five key criteria that you must meet to assure effective activations that can be implemented prior to, during and fulling your event. This session will be filled with many examples and ideas to get your creative juices flowing.

Bruce L. Erley is the President and CEO of the Creative Strategies Group, a full-service sponsorship and event marketing agency based in Denver, Colorado which he founded in September, 1995. Creative Strategies Group (CSG) specializes in sponsorship and event marketing consultation as well as forging partnerships between corporations and events, festivals, nonprofit organizations and other properties.

In 2012, Erley served as the World Board Chairman of the International Festivals & Events Association (IFEA). He is a 2015 inductee into the IFEA Hall of Fame. He is Accredited in Public Relations (APR) by the Public Relations Society of America and a Certified Festival & Events Executive (CFEE) by the International Festivals and Events Association.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2018

MANAGING THE MEDIA AND THE MESSAGE

Robert Griffin Director of Marketing Memphis in May International Festival Memphis, TN Over the course of a festival, a variety of situations will arise that will require successful interaction with the media. This session will provide a few methods that were employed to control the message the

media was delivering and tips on how to keep them on your team.

Robert Griffin is the Director of Marketing for Memphis in May International Festival, having taken the role in March 2017. Beginning his career in the promotions and marketing department of a large Memphis radio station, Griffin brings to Memphis in May nearly twenty years’ experience in marketing and advertising, having worked on the client-side and agency-side for a number of regional and national brands. In his current role, Griffin is responsible for all marketing and communication programs, media and public relations, merchandising, and promotions for the internationally recognized annual Festival.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2018

LEARN LAURA’S STEP-BY-STEP SERVICE ANIMAL SCREENING SYSTEM Laura Grunfeld Founder & Owner, Everyone’s Invited, LLC Sheffield, MA

Perturbed by the pets attending your gathering that are falsely presented as service or emotional support animals? Do you need clarity on the service animal laws?

When pets are brought to your gathering it can be dangerous for other attendees. In an unfamiliar environment, animals that are not highly trained sometimes become excited, scared, out of control, and even aggressive. As the host of your event it is your responsibility to do all that you can do to help protect the rights of people with disabilities and protect all of your attendees, both two and four-legged.

Laura Grunfeld of Everyone’s Invited, LLC, will help you learn more about the requirements and limitations, think about your service animal policy options, and learn a system that helps to screen out pets while registering service animals.

Laura Grunfeld, founder and owner of Everyone’s Invited, LLC, has been in business since 2004 working with event producers across the nation to help make their events more accessible to patrons with disabilities. She began her event accessibility focus when she was working with the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in the 1990s and created their award-winning Access Program. Grunfeld designed her Service Animal Screening system when she saw what a serious problem it was becoming as more and more Fall 2018

people learned how easy it was to falsely present their pet as a service animal. She has used the screening system at Bonnaroo, Outside Lands, Governors Ball, The Meadows, Life is good, TomorrowWorld, Firefly, Electric Forest, and other festivals.

THURSDAY, MARCH 1, 2018

PLAN THE WORK. WORK THE PLAN. SEVEN STEPS TO A SUCCESSFUL MARKETING PLAN

Sean King Principle Aspire Consulting Group Allentown, PA With all of the elements of traditional, digital and social media swirling about, how do you prioritize to make sure you are making the right marketing moves for your event? Learn seven steps to take to build a successful marketing plan that will keep your team on the same page and moving forward. Join us for this fast-paced webinar to help you to build your plan from timelines to budgets and content creation to media buys. As an experienced pro or a newbie to your role, you’ll walk away from this webinar prepared to implement new ideas to maximize the effectiveness of your marketing plan or learn the basics to develop a new plan from the ground up.

Sean King is a Principle at Aspire Consulting Group in Allentown, PA and has been consulting with small businesses and non-profit organizations for over 20 years. He also blogs regularly at www. artsmarketingblog.org. You can follow Sean on Twitter @skingaspire or contact him at: sking.aspire@gmail.com.

THURSDAY, MARCH 15, 2018

FESTIVAL PUBLIC RELATIONS: THE DO AND DON’TS THAT WILL KEEP YOUR MESSAGE ON POINT AND KEEP YOU OUT OF TROUBLE

Jeff Curtis, CEO Portland Rose Festival Foundation Portland, OR In today’s vastly changing and lightning quick public consumption of information, its critical to have an overall communication strategy.

This Webinar will take you behind the scenes of the Portland’ Rose

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Festival’s public communication strategy.

The audience will get a first-hand glimpse at the Rose Festival’s communication strategy, including how the Festival organizes its public messaging year-round.

Further, Jeff will provide some firsthand accounts of specific case studies involving media situations, both in crisis management situations as well as selling positive stories about the festival’s activities to the media.

The Webinar is designed to have the audience take away basic fundamentals on public communication and examining various strategies in working with the media in a way that gets your message out in the most effective way, and in a manner that tells your story the way you want it told.

Jeff Curtis is the Chief Executive Officer of the Portland Rose Festival Foundation, the nonprofit organization that produces one of the world’s top special events, the Portland Rose Festival. Originally hired as a sponsorship manager and later promoted to Director of Sales & Marketing, Jeff has served as the festival’s exec since 2004.

During Jeff’s tenure, the Rose Festival has enjoyed many notable successes both external and internal, including recognition as the Grand Pinnacle Award winner by the International Festivals & Events Association twice in a 5 year span! A strategic plan developed under Jeff’s leadership helped the festival overcome challenges and build financial resources. In 2008 the festival’s organizational model was transitioned to a 501(c)3 nonprofit, achieving a change in tax status and a new emphasis on the festival’s charitable efforts in the community.

Most recently, Jeff led the transition of the Rose Festival’s Waterfront Activities, which included engineering some significant changes to the events name and format.

Most notably, he played a major role in the creation and launch of the Portland’s newest outdoor concert venue, the RoZone.

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THURSDAY, MARCH 29, 2018

PRIVATE SECTOR ENGAGEMENT TO PROMOTE HOMELAND SECURITY

Michael Stewart Management & Program Analyst, Sector Outreach & Programs Division, Sports Leagues/ Outdoor Events Subsector Department of Homeland Security Washington, DC Michael Stewart, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Commercial Facilities (CF) Team Lead for the Outdoor Events Subsector will discuss topics which include an overview of CF, along with Domestic/Evolving threats and Active Shooter which are immediate concerns of local security professionals of their events composed of mass gatherings.

The Commercial Facilities Sector includes a diverse range of sites that draw large crowds of people for shopping, business, entertainment, or lodging. Facilities/ venues within this sector operate on the principle of open public access, meaning that the general public can congregate and move freely without highly visible security barriers. Mr. Stewart will highlight the various programs and resources across the Department of Homeland Security which are available to critical infrastructure owners/operators along with highlighting the value of the public private partnership model, particularly within the context of the Commercial Facilities Sector.

Michael Stewart has a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Homeland Security & Emergency Management with a minor in Criminal Justice. Currently, Michael is with the Department of Homeland Security, Sector Outreach and Programs Division as the lead for Sports Leagues and Outdoor Events within the Commercial Facilities Sector. Michael continues to grow body of critical infrastructure knowledge within his AOR and continuously strives to improve the program’s understanding of stakeholder needs nationwide. As subject-matter expert regarding all infrastructure of concern, Michael utilizes existing databases containing CI information to develop infrastructure analyses. It is his firm understanding that partnership engagement and the fostering of relationships between the public, private corporations and federal

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agencies leads to a more resilient posture toward homeland defense.

TH U RSDAY, APR I L 12, 2018

SPONSORSHIP & SOCIAL: THE ART OF PARTNERSHIP PROMOTION

Jessica Bybee-Dziedzic Partnership Director Saffire Austin, TX Just like most trends these days, sponsorship has shifted to a social media market. But, as advertising opportunities, algorithms, and trends in social media change, it’s hard to know where to focus your efforts when promoting your most valuable partners.

Join us, as we show you how to maximize your sponsor partnerships with shared promotions on Facebook, Instagram and even Snapchat. Learn how you can grow your event’s audience while WOWing your sponsors, all at the same time!

Jessica Bybee-Dziedzic has a comprehensive background in online marketing, social media and website strategy.

In 2007, she joined Wright Strategies, managing online projects for clients including KEEN Footwear, Nike and Frito Lay. In 2009, the Wright Strategies team created Saffire, providing events, venues and destinations with websites and ticketing in a simple integrated platform. Today, the Saffire team serves hundreds of clients nationwide.

Jessica is a Partnership Director for the company and in her free time loves to travel.

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EMERGENCY PLANNING AND BLACK SWANS

Steven Adelman Vice President, Event Safety Alliance Adelman Law Group, PLLC Scottsdale, AZ A “Black Swan” incident is an occurrence that comes as a surprise, has a major impact, which people rationalize with the benefit of hindsight. After each high profile act of violence at a live event venue, well-meaning experts rush to fit the incident into a larger pattern and suggest changes that would make everyone safer

in the future. In this context, Event Safety Alliance vice president Steven A. Adelman challenges our assumptions about what some recommended security measures might actually accomplish.

Steven A. Adelman is the head of Adelman Law Group, PLLC in Scottsdale, Arizona and Vice President of the Event Safety Alliance, an international trade association focusing on safety and security at live events. His law practice focuses on risk management and litigation regarding venues and events throughout North America, and he also serves as an expert witness in crowd-related lawsuits.

Steve Adelman is widely recognized as an authority on event safety and security. He writes the monthly “Adelman on Venues” newsletter, he teaches “Risk Management in Venues” at Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, and he frequently appears in national and local media for analysis of safety and security incidents at public accommodations. Steve Adelman graduated from Boston College Law School in 1994.

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DIVERSITY & INCLUSION ACROSS YOUR EVENT

Jason Kingsley, BCom, CFEE Calgary Pride President & Executive Producer Calgary, BC, Canada The cultural composition of society is rapidly changing, and “It is projected that the minority will become the majority in the United States by 2050.” What are the benefits of identifying the needs, wants, and desires of diverse markets? Join me while we discuss how festivals and events can explore diversity, inclusion, and cultural expression, specifically using an LGBT framework.

As a community driven leader and festival and event professional, Jason Kingsley’s experience with Calgary Pride began as a volunteer many years ago, and he has spent the last five years as the Vice President and Producer, establishing the festival as one of Calgary’s most prominent cultural events, until stepping into the role of President in January 2017. Additionally, Jason is the Vice President of Travel Gay Canada, and works on building LGBT tourism destinations and global-ready

LGBT products for the international market.

When not volunteering, Jason works as the Program Lead, Event Management for the Chiu School of Business. In this role he helps prepare a diverse student population with key business skills and an academic event management foundation. Jason received his Bachelor of Commerce degree in Entrepreneurial Management from Royal Roads University, is a Certified Festival and Event Executive (CFEE) through the International Festivals and Events Association (IFEA), and is currently completing his MSc in Events Management. He has over ten years of professional festival and event experience, and is frequently involved in community development initiatives.

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CREATING EXCITEMENT FOR YOUR PARADE Ray Pulver, Owner Upbeat Parade Productions San Jose, CA

Looking for more entries for your parade?

Something different? Find out how to research entries to add to the fun, color and excitement of your parade. This workshop discusses the entertainment value of a parade, the content to make a parade more entertaining and how to obtain fun and creative entries. There will also be discussion about parade guidelines and organization.

Ray Pulver, Owner of Upbeat Parade Productions, is an event producer and consultant, specializing in parades, with over 35 years of experience. He currently works with 17 parades in California and Nevada and has coordinated numerous others on both the east and west coasts.

Ray works on many types of parades, from small town and ethnic parades, to regionally and nationally televised parades, including America’s Children’s Holiday Parade – Oakland (PBS & AFN), Your Hometown American Parade (4th of July), Pittsfield, MA (PBS & AFN), San Francisco Chinese New Year Parade (Travel Channel), and San Jose Holiday Parade (various network affiliates). He has been a speaker on the topic of parades for not only the IFEA but also CalFest, colleges and universities, and other organizations’ seminars, conventions and classes throughout the United States.

He has also been featured in Wiley Events Fall 2018

- Event Entertainment and Production book by Mark Sonder as well as other publications distributed through IFEA and various parade related websites.

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TITLE NEEDED

Bruce Lupin, Vice President, Digital Marketing Mark Mobley, Digital Marketing Manager New Target, Irvine, CA Want to tap into the latest trends and techniques to promote your event online and reach new audiences? Digital marketing veterans at New Target will highlight the latest digital marketing trends and best practices that your team can incorporate into your event promotion.

They will cover free and paid opportunities to connect with your audience and drive event attendance. This is a must attend if for anyone involved in marketing your event online.

Bruce Lupin is the Vice President, Digital Marketing, and an industry veteran with more than 20 years marketing online. He’s been involved in online services since the 1990’s and built and sold two successful digital agencies serving a long list of high profile clients. He has been a speaker at several industry events and led workshops covering digital strategy development to web marketing trends and tactics.

Mark Mobley is a Digital Marketing Manager and been involved in web marketing for over 7 years. He manages client’s online marketing efforts to drive targeted traffic and leads. Prior to working at New Target, Mark worked at the PBS station for greater Los Angeles (PBS SoCal) for over 4 years managing social media and online content promotion including PBS outreach events.

Mark is Google AdWords certified and has experience in email marketing, blogging, search engine optimization and online paid advertising.

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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2018

TURNING THE STRATEGIC PLAN ON ITS HEAD

Jeff English, CFEE Sr. Vice President/ General Council Kentucky Derby Festival Louisville, KY Checking boxes for the next three to five years. That’s the common perception of how a strategic plan is supposed to work. Or better yet, get a group of people together for a day, come up with a book full of stuff to do, present it to the Board of Directors, have everyone clap and nod, then put it on the shelf and don’t look at it for three years until it’s time to develop the next plan. KDF needed a strategic plan, but it had to be one that we could use.

For much of 2017 we worked on one, but maybe in a different format than what most are used to seeing. Join me as I walk you through how KDF prepared a strategic plan that addresses some of our core needs and how that plan has now permeated the culture of our entire organization!

Jeff English is the Senior Vice President and General Counsel for the Kentucky Derby Festival. After graduating from Washburn University School of Law in Topeka, Kansas in 2004, Jeff worked in politics and practiced law before joining the Festival staff in 2007. He is charged with overseeing all of the Festival’s legal issues and serving as its risk management officer. He also manages the Merchandise Department and serves as the President of the Kentucky Derby Festival Foundation, the 501(c)3 charitable arm of KDF. He was named a member of the 2014 class of Louisville Business First’s Forty Under 40.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2018

PROTECTING YOURSELF AGAINST THE INEVITABLE AND UNPREDICTABLE THE LATEST UPDATES ON CONTINGENT INSURANCE COVERAGE

David Olivares Vice President of Sales and Marketing Kaliff Insurance San Antonio, TX The ever-transforming environments of Cancellation & Violence within our industry.

The unpredictable has now become the inevitable. The new question we face today is “when” will this happen to our event.

From cancellation to violence, are you doing everything you can to transfer as much of the risk as possible, both via insurance and risk management? Join David on this Webinar to learn how.

David G. Olivares joined Kaliff in 2012 as a producer and was appointed as Vice President of Sales and Marketing in 2016, and program underwriter. David’s expertise is Festivals, Fairs, Rodeos and Outdoor Music and Event Venues. A native of San Antonio, David received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of the Incarnate Word where he excelled in Academics and Track in Field. David was the Team Captain of the University’s Track and Field Team and was ranked 19th in the nation for javelin in 2008. David gives back to his community by volunteering at various San Antonio Fiesta Events as well as organizing the Fiesta Castle Hills 5K run. He currently serves on the Board of Texas Festivals and Events Association.

David, his wife, and three children are all an exemplary part of the ever-expanding family unit of Kaliff Insurance’s commitment to community-based participation and values. David’s professional background, infused with his passion for sports and entertainment, offer the perfect blend of talent that ensures proper coverage and implementation to protect Kaliff clients.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2018

IGNITE! IDEA GENERATOR FOR 2019!

Ted Baroody President Norfolk Festevents Norfolk, VA

We have the foundation for your new ideas and creative plans built and ready for you.

Experience the best of 2018 for the new year ahead. New programming, new sales and the best ways to activate your ideas, your promotions and your sponsors! Use this webinar to spark the ideas that will light up your special event!

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 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-for-profit 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 serves on both the IFEA World and IFEA Foundation Boards of Directors.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2018

MEMBERSHIP CLUBS – UPGRADED EVENT EXPERIENCES TO BOOST YOUR BUDGET

Becky Genoways, CFEE President Genoways Events Rockford, IL The upgraded hospitality or membership club experience can yield great results without requiring a lot 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 30-year veteran of the festivals and events industry, a Certified Festival & Event Executive (CFEE) and past Chair of the International Festivals & Events Association World Board of Directors. She is a leading industry consultant, educator and producer. 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. Her current projects include serving as Program Specialist for the Saint Louis Art Fair, and Memphis in May International Festivals. Genoways has presented numerous professional training seminars and Certified Festival and Event Executive programs throughout North America, in the Middle East and New Zealand and teaches at the IFEA / NRPA Event Management School annually.

Upcoming Live Webinar Presentation Registration Form REGISTRATION CONTACT INFORMATION Webinar Participant: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Webinar Participant Email: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Organization: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Address: __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ City, State/Province, Zip Code: ______________________________________________________________________ Phone: _________________________ PURCHASE INFORMATION

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Webinar Subscription Includes all 15 Live Webinars in 2018

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2018 UPCOMING LIVE WEBINARS: To register please make your selection by checking (√) from the webinars below: ❍

Thursday, January 25, 2018 Five Keys to Effective Sponsorship Activation Bruce L. Erley, CFEE, ARP, President & CEO, Creative Strategies Group, Denver, CO

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Thursday, February 8, 2018 Managing the Media and the Message Robert Griffin, Director of Marketing, Memphis in May International Festival, Memphis, TN

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Thursday, February 22, 2018 Learn Laura’s Step-by-Step Service Animal Screening System Laura Grunfeld, Founder & Owner, Everyone’s Invited, LLC Sheffield, MA

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Thursday, March 1, 2018 Plan the Work. Work the Plan. Seven Steps to a Successful Marketing Plan Sean King, Principle, Aspire Consulting Group, Allentown, PA ❍ Thursday, March 15, 2018 Festival Public Relations: The Do and Don’ts That Will Keep Your Message on Point and Keep You Out Of Trouble Jeff Curtis, CEO, Portland Rose Festival Foundation, Portland, OR ❍

Thursday, March 29, 2018 Management & Program Analyst, Sector Outreach & Programs Division, Sports Leagues/ Outdoor Events Subsector Michael Stewart, Management & Program Analyst, Sector Outreach & Programs Division, Sports Leagues/ Outdoor Events Subsector Department of Homeland Security, Washington, DC Thursday, April 12, 2018 Sponsorship & Social: The Art of Partnership Promotion Jessica Bybee-Dziedzic, Partnership Director, Saffire, Austin, TX

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Thursday, May 24, 2018 Digital Marketing Trends & Best Practices for 2018 Bruce Lupin, Vice President, Digital Marketing, New Target Irvine, CA

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Thursday, October 25, 2018 Turning the Strategic Plan on Its Head Jeff English, CFEE, Sr. Vice President/General Council Kentucky Derby Festival, Louisville, KY

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Thursday, November 1, 2018 Protecting Yourself Against the Inevitable and Unpredictable - The Latest Updates on Contingent Insurance Coverage David Olivares, Vice President of Sales and Marketing Kaliff Insurance, San Antonio, TX

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Thursday, November 8, 2018 Ignite! Idea Generator for 2019!

Ted Baroody, President Norfolk Festevents, Norfolk, VA

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Thursday, November 15, 2018 Membership Clubs – Upgraded Event Experiences to Boost Your Budget Becky Genoways, CFEE, President Genoways Events, Rockford, IL

Thursday, May 3, 2018 Emergency Planning and Black Swans Steven Adelman, Vice President, Event Safety Alliance Adelman Law Group, PLLC, Scottsdale, AZ Thursday, May 10, 2018 Diversity & Inclusion Across Your Event Jason Kingsley, BCom, CFEE, Calgary Pride President & Executive Producer Calgary, British Columbia, Canada Thursday, May 17, 2018 Creating Excitement for Your Parade Ray Pulver, Owner, Upbeat Parade Productions, San Jose, CA

Registration cost is per computer site for as many people as you can sit around your computer.

Once your registration has been submitted, you will receive an email from the IFEA confirming that you have been registered for the Webinar. The week 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, 2 days before the Webinar and 2 hours before the scheduled Webinar.

Payment must be received in full at time of registration to participate in Webinars. No refunds on webinar registration unless notified 24 hours prior to start of webinar.

If working towards your CFEE Cerification, each individual webinar is eligible for one CFEE Elective Credit.

International Festivals & Events Association • 2603 W Eastover Terrace • Boise, ID 83706 - U.S.A. Questions: Contact Nia Hovde, Director of Marketing & Communication at nia@ifea.com or Phone: +1-208-433-0950 ext: 3, Fax: +1-208-433-9812 • www.ifea.com

MARKETPLACE BANNERS/FLAGS dfest® - 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: Vanessa Van de Putte Jr., President; Address: 1930 N. Pan Am Expressway, San Antonio, TX 78208; Phone: (800) 356-4085; Email: sales@dixieflag.com; Website: www.dixieflag.com.

COSTUMES HISTORICAL EMPORIUM - Historical Emporium specializes in authentic, durable, high quality historical clothing and accessories. Victorian, Edwardian, Old West and Steampunk for men and women. Since 2003. Contact: Noel Matyas; Address: 188 Stauffer Blvd, San Jose, CA 95125-1047; Phone: (800) 997-4311; Email: amusement@historicalemporium.com; Website: www.HistoricalEmporium.com DÉCOR/DISPLAYS/BACKDROPS ATOMIC – Set construction, backdrops, rental solutions, lighting and design.

Packs small, plays BIG! Address: 1- Wynfield Dr., Lititz, PA 17543 USA; Phone: 717-626-8301; Email: info@atomicdesign.tv; Website: www.atomicdesign.tv COMMERCIAL CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS - Commercial Christmas Decorations supplies premier, easy-to-install decor and lights. As expert installers, we take pride in creating dazzling, quality displays. Contact: Gary Ludlow; Address: 5215 E. Sugarloaf Cir., Mesa, AZ 85215 USA; Phone: 480-967-1122; Email: gary.ludlow@cldaz.com; Website: www.cldaz.com EVENT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE EXPOCAD BY A.C.T - From the smallest table top to the largest shows on 3 continents, nearly $1 billion dollars in space is managed using an EXPOCAD® product. Contact: Wendy Freiwald; Address: 69 S. LaSalle St., Aurora, IL 60505 USA; Phone: 630-896-2281; Email: wendy@expocad.com; Website: www.expocad.com SCHED – Conference and festival organizers use SCHED to manage their website’s schedule of events, seamlessly integrate social networking and provide their attendees with tools like personal agenda builders, dynamic attendee directories and mobile applications. Email: support@sched.org; Website: www.sched.org INFLATABLES DYNAMIC DISPLAYS / FABULOUS INFLATABLES - Designs, manufacturers, for rent or purchase – costumes, props, floats, helium balloons, event entry ways and décor. Offers complete and flexible service packages for small towns and large international events. 50+ years of parade/event experience. Contact: Steve Thomson; Address: 6470 Wyoming St. Ste #2024, Dearborn MI 48126; Phone: 800-411-6200 Email: steve@fabulousinflatables.com; Website: www. fabulousinflatables.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 120

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Shawnee Mission Parkway, Fairway, KS 66205; Phone: 800-821-7703; Email: carol.porter@hwins.com; Website: www.hwins.com.

KALIFF INSURANCE - We insure the serious side of fun! Founded in 1917, Kaliff is celebrating 100 years of providing specialty insurance for festivals, fairs, parades, rodeos, carnivals and more. Contact: Bruce Smiley-Kaliff; Address: 2009 NW Military Hwy. San Antonio, TX 78213-2131; Phone: 210-829-7634; Email: bas@kaliff.com; Website: www.kaliff.com.

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; Phone: 1-866-554-4636; Email: mark.herberger@kandkinsurance.com; Website: www.KandKinsurance.com.

MERCHANDISING PRINTED ON SITE (Epic Legends) - Printed On Site is an on-site customized apparel decorator. We produce high-quality heat transfers to fit your needs for the event that you are holding. Contact: Stacy Hanley; Address: 588 Parsons Dr., Ste. D, Medford, OR 97501 USA; Phone: 541-601-9053; Email: printedonsite@gmail.com; Website: www.printedonsite.com

Offering quality, attractive holiday decor with exceptional service. Let us assist you in finding the right holiday decor.

480.964.4084

866.445.4449

www.commercialchristmasdecorations.com

PORTABLE RESTROOMS NATIONAL EVENT SERVICES - National Event Services has been the preferred supplier of temporary fence, barricades, portable toilets, and restroom trailers to the event industry for almost 60 years. Contact: Scott Barley; Address: 15319 Chatsworth St., Missions Hills, CA 91345 USA; Phone: 1-800-352-5675 Email: info@rentnational.com; Website: www.rentnational.com POWER AGGREKO - From Burning Man and Cirque du Soleil, to the World Cup and the Olympics, we’re proud to power the world’s most exciting events. We work quietly behind the scenes, making sure the lights are powered, the sound checks run smoothly and activities are broadcast worldwide. Contact: George Long; Address: 36 N. Marrs Point Rd., Wales, ME 04280-3019 USA; Phone: 508-397-0300; Email: george.long@aggreko.com; Website: www.aggreko.com SITE MAPPING 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 37402-2171; Phone: 423-894-2677; Email: jerryw@videoideas.com; Website: www.pointsmap.com.

TICKETSPICE (Webconnex) - Instantly Increase Ticket Revenues! TicketSpice is different, because you keep 100% of the ticketing fees and only pay 99 cents per ticket! It’s the only online ticketing platform that gives you total control of your ticketing... ticket options, pricing, convenience fees, branding, funding and more.

Contact: Shadi Hayek; Address: 455 Capitol Mall, 6th Fl., Ste. 604, Sacramento, CA 95814 USA; Phone: 916-400-0737; Email: shadi@webconnex.com; Website: www.webconnex.com TRAVEL PLANNING TRIPInfo.com - The site used by 30,000 tour operators, group leaders and travel agents each month, to book their group travel. Travel professionals spend more time on tripinfo.com than any other travel site. Address: 3103 Medlock Bridge Rd, Norcross, GA 30071-5401; Phone: 770-825-0220; Email: mark@tripinfo.com; Website: www.tripinfo.com.

WEBSITE DESIGN SAFFIRE - Saffire is award-winning software providing events & venues with beautifully designed, online event destinations, including integrated content management, mobile, social, ecommerce, email and more.

Address: 248 Addie Roy Rd, Ste B-106, Austin TX 78746-4133; Phone: 512-4301123; Email: info@saffireevents.com; Website: www.saffireevents.com.

TICKETING DELTRONIC LABS - Manufacturing and selling of ticket handling equipment that offers ticket security, and counterfeit deterrents. Contact: Gary Todd; Address: 4 Granada Ct., Newnan, GA 30263 USA; Phone: 404-307-6441; Email: gtodd@deltroniclabs.com; Website: www.deltroniclabs.com INDIANA TICKET COMPANY - Design, quality and security describe our dedication to manufacturing tickets for every venue imaginable, as well as wristbands, credentials and specialty printing. Contact: Bill Owen; Address: 645 N. Longview Pl., Longwood, FL 32779 USA; Phone: 407-788-1029; Email: bowen645@yahoo.com; Website: www.indianaticket.com SHOWCLIX - ShowClix is the full-service event technology platform that handles ticket sales, marketing, and on-site operations for conventions, museums, attractions, and festivals around the world. Contact: Jonathon McCurley; Address: 650 Smithfield St., 13th Fl., Pittsburgh, PA 15222 USA; Phone: 516-455-0300; Email: jonathon.mccurley@showclix.com; Website: www.showclix.com TICKETSAUCE - TicketSauce is a complete event platform and ticketing software solution. Our robust, easy and customizable software gives you a simple way to create events and generate new revenue! Contact: Shannon Hanes; Address: 9255 Towne Centre Dr., Ste. 380, San Diego, CA 92121 USA; Phone: 858-412-3019; Email: shannon@ticketsauce.com; Website: www.ticketsauce.com

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