The Adventures of the Festival Nomad

Festival/Event Rating ~ Cabbagetown Festival

2012-01-31T11:13:00.000-05:00

Cabbagetown Festival

TheCabbagetown Festival is located inthe heart of Toronto (Old Cabbagetown), Carlton and Parliament to be exact. Thetwo streets feature vendors, exhibits and music. If you walk east down one ofthe many side roads you’ll reach Riverdale Park and its eccentric Art Show andif you walk a little further, you’ll find the Riverdale Farm Zoo. I think oneof the most unique features of the festival is that the whole neighborhoodseemed to become involved. Many of the homes feature garage sales and privateart shows. Young entrepreneurs sell fresh homemade lemonade and treats alongthe way. (Website Link - CabbagetownFestival)

EventAdvertising & Promotion – Rating 4

Thefestival's website is a bit confusing. The main show is run by the CabbagetownBIA, but there are other events that run currently. The BIA website doespromote these events, but there are other websites that also promote. Itbecomes a little confusing. However, the BIA does produce an excellent EventGuide which explains each of the events and activities. It is comprehensive andinformative.

CurbAppeal - Rating 3

Thisis the kind of event that evokes different emotions. It depends on how you feelabout the older parts of a large city. To me, I found it quite exciting,especially when we walked through the residential part. The homes andproperties were very well cared for! The park, as with most city events wasproblematic. We did manage to find a parking spot, but it was quite somedistance away. This is a difficult problem to solve with this type of event.The best way to get to it is via public transit (TTC). The other problem waslack of signage, both directional and informational. I’m not sure if the Cityof Toronto allows directional signage for an event. If it does the committeemight consider placing some in the strategic areas.

FestivalSite & Activites - Rating 4

Perhapseveryone won’t agree with me, but I found the festival site both interestingand exciting. With the site being as large as it was, there were lots to seeand do. The music on the main street definitely added to the ambiance of theevent. With an event such as this, there was plenty of walking involved.Fortunately the weather was great, so finding shelter from the sun was not aproblem. If it had been raining, it could have been. Although there was a goodcrowd in attendance, the pedestrian flow did not seem hectic. The main streetshad been closed off, so there was plenty of room to move. Washrooms were achallenge, however, I was able to use a washroom in one of the retail stores.

FestivalTheme – Rating 5

TheTheme, of course, was Cabbagetown and the festival took place in “Cabbagetown”, so not much to criticizehere. I think that if you expand the definition to include the Cabbagetownresidents and business, I would have to say the theme was excellent! Theresidents seem to really embrace the spirit of the event. It just seemed toenhance our enjoyment!

FinalThoughts – Overall Rating 5

TheCabbagetown Festival has been entertaining visitors for many yeas and it isdefinitely worth a trip to Toronto. To make your visit as pleasurable aspossible, I have two suggestions. The first is to take public transit toCabbagetown and the second is to wear good walking shoes. If you heed both ofthese, you will have a great time!

NOTE ~ A word ofcaution, however, the rating and evaluation are the "opinions" of the writers and don’t necessarily reflect thoseof the readers. Also, we do not attend an event for its entire duration. Ourvisits are only a “snap shot in time”.We would encourage readers to “discover”each event for themselves. Whatever you decide, remember that Ontario festivalsand events are the best and so are their event organizers and their volunteers.Anything can determine how an event appears at any given time ~ weather, time,unforeseen circumstances, etc. Always keep an open mind and if you have asuggestion or concern about an event, let the organizers know. They willappreciate your input.

(Next Week - Niagara Passion)

Festival/Event Rating ~ Norfolk County Fair

2012-01-24T10:35:00.000-05:00

NorfolkCounty Fair & Horse Show

TheNorfolk County Fair & Horse Showis located in the town of Simcoe at the Norfolk County Fairgrounds. The fair isheld each year in October. It is a comprehensive fair that includes namedentertainment, agricultural exhibits and displays, farm animals, horse racing,loads of vendors and an awesome Midway. It also features special events such astop notch cooking shows to high divers. (WebsiteLink - Norfolk County Fair andHorse Show)

EventPromotion – Rating 5

TheFair has a great website that includes information about their annual fair plusother events that are held at the fairgrounds. There Event Guide is simple but informative.It includes event information plus the dates and times the events take placeand location.

CurbAppeal - Rating 3

Partof the Curb Appeal is being able to find the fairgrounds. For anyone comingfrom out-of-town, the grounds are difficult to find and unfortunately thedirectional signage is poor. This problem could easily be solved withstrategically placed signage. The other challenge we experienced was thetraffic flow into the grounds. I know that this is a difficult problem tosolve, but it does posse a certain amount of frustration for fair visitors.Perhaps it’s a by-product of their success! The fairgrounds and the fair,itself, is very good! Even though many of the building are older, they seem tobe well maintained.

FestivalSite - Rating 4

Thelayout of the fair is typical. There are lots of buildings to walk through withplenty of different vendors, displays and exhibits to enjoy. It has agrandstand that features horseracing during the day and big names entertainmentat night. There is also a newer building that features well known Chefs cookingup delicious dishes. There is a lot of walking needed, if you want to take inthe entire fair. The one aspect I was a little disappointed in were thewashrooms. I found them far apart and not well marked. Again, good signagewould help solve the problem. Of course, my age and tiny bladder may haveplayed a roll in this assessment.

FestivalTheme – Rating 5

TheTheme, of course, is County Fair, and the Norfolk County Fair has it all, fromfarm animals, to the agricultural displays and the giant pumpkins, the fair hadit all!

FinalThoughts – Overall Rating 5

Thisis one of the largest fairs in Ontario. It has plenty to offer, so you’ll needlots of time to see everything. Plan on attending for the whole day. Theevening entertainment is excellent! We would definitely recommend a visit tothe Norfolk County Fair & Horse Show!

NOTE ~ A word ofcaution, however, the rating and evaluation are the "opinions" of the writers and don’t necessarily reflect those ofthe readers. Also, we do not attend an event for its entire duration. Our visitsare only a “snap shot in time”. Wewould encourage readers to “discover”each event for themselves. Whatever you decide, remember that Ontario festivalsand events are the best and so are their event organizers and their volunteers.Anything can determine how an event appears at any given time ~ weather, time,unforeseen circumstances, etc. Always keep an open mind and if you have asuggestion or concern about an event, let the organizers know. They willappreciate your input.

(Next Week - The Cabbagetown Festival)

Festival/Event Rating ~ How It Works

2012-01-17T17:03:00.000-05:00

Asmentioned in last week's Blog, this new series, FESTIVAL/EVENT RATING,will give readers an idea of what Judi and I and in some cases, our Festival Nomad Correspondents, thoughtabout the event being “rated”. We aregoing to rate each event in five (5)different areas:

EVENTPROMOTION~ Includes event websites, advertising/promotion, media ads and coverage, andthe program guides.

CURBAPPEAL ~Includes event location, parking, traffic control, signage, event admissionstaff, fees and provisions for out-of-town visitors

FESTIVALSITE~ Includes event set-up, accessibility, layout, weather proofing, crowdcontrol, food, quality of vendors and attractions, washroom facilities, hours,garbage, recycle, first aid, child care and “green” provisions.

FESTIVALTHEME~ Includes theme uniqueness, appropriateness, timing and attraction

FINAL THOUGHTS ~ Includesevent appeal, size and scope, attendance, organization, and event staff.

Each"Evaluation" area will havea rating of between 1 and 5 points, with "5" being the highest rating. With each rating, we will give abrief summary of how we arrived at the rate. We will also give an overallrating to the event, with an explanation of why that rating.

(Next Week - Rating the Norfolk County Fair & Horse Show)

The Rating Game

2012-01-10T16:58:00.000-05:00

As I have written in a previous Blog (Gary’s Blog), Judi and I don’t formally evaluate or rate the festivals and events wevisit. We do, however, have “opinions”and to lessen the tedium of long trips, we have developed an “Event Evaluator”. The “Evaluator” helps us organize ourthoughts into clear sections - Promotion,Curb Appeal, Site Layout, Event Theme,and Miscellaneous Final Thoughts.It’s not a “scientific” evaluation,but it suits our “discussions”. Ican’t say that we always agree, but that’s natural when we have two differentsets of eyes and minds taking in the sights and sounds of festivals. Over thepast 5 years, Judi and I have visited over 250 festivals and events, and wehave, to some degree, discussed each one of them. We even have written “Event Evaluators” on many of them. Also,for most of these 5 years I have written more than 200 Adventures of the Festival NomadBlogs. In them, I write about the events we have visited, the people we havemet and the communities we have discovered. However, I have not, once, rated orevaluated any of the events we have visited … that is, until now!Starting in two weeks, I am going to begin a new series … FESTIVAL/EVENT RATING. Since we don't visit many events during thewinter months, I will be beginning the series by rating some of the events wevisited last year. To begin things off, the first Festival/Event to be ratedwill be the NORFOLK COUNTY FAIR & HORSE SHOW. Next week I will explainhow our "RATING" systemworks.

(Continued)

2012... WOW!!! (Continued)

2012-01-03T12:24:00.000-05:00

It seems like only a fewmonths ago that Judi and I were planning our 2011 itinerary and now it’s 2012. WOW! This is a continuation of lastweeks article, a review of Ontario Visited in 2011.

Also during the past year, we have started two new blogs. THE INSIDE SCOOP was started by Judi and contains a number of interesting interviews. Her first interview with Melanie Fernandez of the Toronto Harbourfront Centre started it off. Judi appreciated all the information provided by Melanie. Her interview with Terry Grant, AKA The Mantracker, was very exciting, especially when he gave her a ‘BIG’ hug (sigh). And her interview with Ontario’s Minister of Tourism and Culture, Michael Chan, gave us insight into Ontario’s tourism future. The second Blog that was started this year was “Ontario Tales”. This blog tells stories about Canadians who have made Ontario a fascinating place to live! The current story is about William Leonard Hunt, better known as The Great Farini. The story is based on Canadian author, Shane Peacock's book, "The Great Farini, the High-Wire Life of William Hunt". Shane is in the process of completing his children's mystery series of The Boy Sherlock Homes.
In June, we changed the name and the look of our monthly newsletter (now THE INSIDER). We wanted to reflect the changes and additions to our website group. At the same time we changed the “look” of the front pages of all our websites. We wanted to make the websites easier to use and access information.
All of the above changes have helped make this the most successful year ever. As we enter our sixth year of promoting Ontario festivals and events, the number of event web visitors to our websites has increased from 160,000 last year to over 340,000 this year. The month of October saw the most event web visitors at 43,799. What is most rewarding is that we see substantial increases in visitors each month. Our overall target for 2012 is to attract over 500,000 event web visitors. A tall order, I know, but one that I believe is attainable!

The future looks bright andvery busy! As most of you know, 2012 is the Warof 1812 Bicentennial. Judi and I are looking forward to becoming veryinvolved in the promotion of all of the Bicentennial activities and events. Itshould prove to be an interesting and fun-filled year!

2012... WOW!!

2011-12-27T12:16:00.000-05:00

It seems like only a few months agothat Judi and I were planning our 2011 itinerary and now it’s 2012. WOW!! As in past years, I would like tothank those who have believed in us and helped our journey to promote Ontario'sgreat festivals and events... our Banner Advertisers, our Festival Nomad Correspondents, the interesting people Judiinterviewed for her THE INSIDE SCOOP Blog andher War of 1812 Celebrations Blog,and all organizations, throughout Ontario that used our services. In previous years we displayed theads of many of the Banner Advertisers whoplaced ads with us. This year is no exception. Each ad display has a link tothe advertiser's website. Please check them out to learn more about these greatorganizations.

Here are some of the highlights for 2011:

During the year we created a number of “Ontario Visited” websites. These included websites for Fairs, Communities, Heritage Properties and Attractions. All are doing well and attracting web visitors. We also created a “portal” website, Ontario Visited at www.ontariovisited.ca. This website allows visitors access to all our websites, blogs and newsletters with ease. In addition to the above websites, we have created two more, Ontario Event Calendar and Ontario Event Finder (search engine). Each of these websites has been designed to allow festival goers access to Ontario festival and event information. These websites contain information about hundreds of Ontario festivals and events. If you know of any that aren't included, please let us know.

(To Be Continued)

Interview With Mrs. S. Claus

2011-12-20T10:01:00.001-05:00

Mr. & Mrs. S. Claus
North Pole
Event Experts

The following is a reprint of an article appearing in the Ontario Visited, 2011 Christmas Issue of The Insider newsletterInterview (Part Three)FN: What would be your most important “Tip”, to give to our readers who might be planning a large event themselves?MC: The best advice I can give is to have a “BACK-UP PLAN”! The best laid plans can go array. For example …one of the reindeer might catch a cold, our communications system might “crash”, my ovens could quit before the baking is done. That is why we take the time to have such a comprehensive “Master Plan” from the beginning. We are prepared for most unforeseen eventualities. We re-print the copies for Santa’s routes (and alternate routes), we bring extra batteries for our communications, we bring extra warm clothing (in case Santa gets dirty climbing down a chimney), and even some extra “munchies” for the reindeer (in case they get hungry while Santa is in eating cookies and warm milk). FN: I asked Santa this question last year, but I wanted to know from you … after the Big Event, what do you, Mr. Claus and the Elves do to “wrap-up” Christmas?MC: My first priority after the Big Event is to re-group with Mr. Claus and the Elves, to go over our "Master Plan". We like to see what went well, and perhaps what did not go well, take notes. These notes begin the process of creating next year's "Master Plan", hopefully new and improved! After all, we want folks to keep enjoying this Big Event. I would also like to say that I take great comfort in being “home”! Safe and sound with all the people I know and love. I wish you, Festival Nomad, and your family and all of your Festival and Event Friends, a safe, healthy and happy Holiday Season!(See You Next Year!)

Interview With Mrs. S. Claus

2011-12-13T09:31:00.000-05:00

Mr. & Mrs. S. Claus
North Pole
Event Experts

The following is a reprint of an article appearing in the Ontario Visited, 2011 Christmas Issue of The Insider newsletter

Interview (Part Two)

FN: My next question for you is, what are the biggest challenges for both you and Santa when planning such a Big Event?

MC: My biggest challenge, when planning this Big Event, is COMMUNICATIONS. With the Elves in the workshop, Santa in the exercise room (trying to get in shape for his big journey) and me in the kitchen baking, we keep on top of our “Master Plan” by communicating with one another is a must! We constantly have to adapt our communications methods as technology changes over the years. Back in the day, we used tin cans strung together with string to yell through. Then there was the dial telephone, megaphone, party-lines, and more. Now there is on-line, instant communications. They have created a “Webcam” where we can see one another as we communicate. Texting is fun, although I love the voice activated method (my hands are usually sticky from baking).
As for Santa, his biggest, biggest challenge is DIRECTIONAL SIGNAGE. Of course, Santa knows where all the good little girls and boys live, but with such a large population, many similar homes, similar street names … he does have a challenge finding way sometimes. Modern technology offers GPS, but with Santa’s large gloves on, it can be a distraction pressing the buttons. Santa tries hard to “Pre-Plan” his routes. He makes alternative route plans in case of too much snow on a roof top for the reindeer. I must say though, Santa finds all the Christmas lights and decorations helpful.

FN: I have noticed over the past few years that you are attending and participating in some Christmas Parades. Would you rather be riding in them or watching from the comfort of your cozy cabin? And, what is your favorite part of the parade?

MC: Well, I am pleased and proud to be riding in a few Christmas Parades. It gives me a chance to see first hand the excitement of all the children (young and old). With modern technology, I can leave my baking on automatic timing, so I can take the time to get out more. I stay warm and cozy in the parades by dressing in lots of layers, drink warm coco from a thermos and keep my feet dry. I love getting out and visiting our Communities. It helps keep me “in-touch” and well informed. I like to see our “New Canadians” and folks from many diverse backgrounds out taking part in this tradition. My favorite part of the parade most likely is the music! … from the marching bands and the beat of their drums to the children and choirs singing together.
(To Be Continued)

Interview With Mrs. S. Claus

2011-12-06T09:05:00.000-05:00

Mr. & Mrs. S. Claus
North Pole
Event Experts

The following is a reprint of an article appearing in the Ontario Visited, 2011 Christmas Issue of The Insider newsletter

Interview (Part One)

Festival Nomad (FN): Well Mrs. Claus, you must be very excited at this time of the year. I’m sure that over the year you must help Mr. Claus with the planning for the Big Night! Can you tell me what the first things you and Mr. Claus do to prepare for the Big Event?

Mrs. Claus (MC): Well Festival Nomad, I am very good at coming up with ideas. Lots and lots of them! You know… little extra touches and surprises to make the Big Event fantastic! There is a lot of hustle and bustle as the event draws near. Mr. Claus and the Elves also have their own ideas, plans and duties. The Elves' tasks range from to the building of the toys and treasures to the wrapping of the presents, Santa’s tasks are to plan the distribution of the gifts, training and conditioning routines for himself and the Reindeer. Between all of us involved, it can become very confusing. So, I make a LIST. I call it Mrs. Claus’s Master Plan.

FN: Lately I’ve noticed that there seems to be a lot of advertizing, promoting Christmas. How much of this is initiated by you and Santa and how much of it is spontaneous?

MC: I’ve heard that there are “Secret Santa’s” out there. It is my understanding that these folks help make sure a special person gets a special gift. Santa, the Elves and I make no effort to disguise how magical Christmas can be. When I have been out shopping for my baking ingredients, I have overheard some folks being “grumpy” about all the Christmas decorations, and such, coming out so soon in the season. They say it’s too much “commercialism” these days. It is my sincere hope that these extra efforts will only increase the goodwill and kindness that usually is evoked in many folks. The longer communities can be aware to help others less fortunate and be kind to one another, the better for everyone! I’ve heard that some Festivals and Events, during the festival season, encourage folks to bring canned goods, non-perishable food, warm clothing, toys and such out to their events. An example is a communities “Lighting of the Tree Ceremonies”. I understand also that some companies match dollar for dollar if their employees donate to charity efforts for this special time of the year. So, Festival Nomad, I would like to think that advertising and promotion can be a blessing in disguise. People become aware sooner and seem to open their hearts and goodwill.
(To Be Continued)

INSIDE with the Festival Nomad (No. 38)

2011-11-29T17:38:00.001-05:00

INSIDE with the Festival Nomad (No. 38)

2011-11-22T17:10:00.001-05:00

INSIDE with the Festival Nomad (No. 37)

2011-11-15T08:42:00.000-05:00

INSIDE with the Festival Nomad (No. 37)

2011-11-08T13:45:00.002-05:00

Over the years I have attended, worked with and organized hundreds of festivals and events. With this new series, "INSIDE with the Festival Nomad", I want to give you an "inside" look at some of the festivals and events that I have been involved with or that I have visited. Along the way, I have had a lot of fun and sometimes frustration, but I have never been bored!

Canadian Parks Partnership (Part One)

Planning For the National Presentation...
A number of years ago I worked for Edwin Matthews, who owned both the Gallery-on-the-Lake in Buckhorn and Buckhorn Fine Art Publishing. One of the projects I worked for with Ed, was with the Canadian Parks Partnership. This was the Federal Government’s department that coordinated with all of the "Friends of" organizations for the Federal Parks and Museums across Canada. Ed and his star wildlife artist, Michael Dumas, had developed a series of prints that depicted Canadian wildlife. These prints were beautifully packaged and were going to be offered in Park and Museum stores across Canada. My job was to help promote these products to all of the “Parks Partners – Friends”. To introduce this National program, the Federal Government decided that they would “kick” the program off in Banff. Edwin asked me if I would accompany Michael to Banff and the “kick-off” ceremonies. I, of course, was delighted to accept the offer. The ceremony was to be officiated by the then Federal Minister, Lucian Bouchard. As described on Wikipedia, "In 1988, Bouchard returned to Canada to serve as Mulroney's Quebec lieutenant, and was elected as a Progressive Conservative from a Saguenay-area riding. He was immediately named to Cabinet as Secretary of State and later Minister of the Environment. While still a strong Quebec nationalist, he believed that Mulroney's Meech Lake Accord was sufficient to placate nationalist feelings and keep Quebec in Confederation. However, after a commission headed by Jean Charest recommended some changes to the Accord, Bouchard left the Progressive Conservatives in May 1990, feeling that the spirit and objectives of Meech were being diluted. Mulroney rejected his reasoning, later commenting that his most regrettable and costly error as Prime Minister was having trusted Bouchard. Bouchard sat as an independent for a few months. After the failure of the Meech Lake Accord, Bouchard formed the sovereignist Bloc Québécois with five former Tories and two former Liberals." Our airplane tickets were purchased, hotel reservations confirmed and automobile rented! Everything was set!
(To Be Continued)

INSIDE with the Festival Nomad (No. 36)

2011-11-01T16:21:00.000-04:00

INSIDE with the Festival Nomad (No. 36)

2011-10-25T16:59:00.001-04:00

INSIDE with the Festival Nomad (No. 36)

2011-10-18T16:36:00.002-04:00

Over the years I have attended, worked with and organized hundreds of festivals and events. With this new series, "INSIDE with the Festival Nomad", I want to give you an "inside" look at some of the festivals and events that I have been involved with or that I have visited. Along the way, I have had a lot of fun and sometimes frustration, but I have never been bored!

The Biggies and More...
Judi and I have attended and volunteered at a number of fundraising auction dinners. These are a lot of fun and, of course, raise money for worthwhile causes. In the next few articles I am going to tell you about two of the larger and more interesting fundraising dinners we have visited and about some of the funny things that we have seen at other fundraising auctions we have attended!

National Rifle Association Annual Meeting (Pittsburgh - Continued)
The Vice President of the United States of America...
The guest speaker for the event’s evening Gala was the then 46th Vice-President under President George W. Bush, Dick Cheney. I’ve been to a number of high profile events, but nothing, in my experience, compared to this! There were police, secret service and police dogs everywhere! Even though Vice President Cheney wasn’t due to speak until later that evening, the banquet room was constantly being “swept” when the room was being set-up for the lunch banquet. As a matter of fact, Judi spoke during the morning set-up with a Pittsburgh police officer who told her some of what was happening. Once the luncheon was over, everyone was ordered out of the hall and then a thorough inspection was performed. No one was allowed back into the hall until the doors were opened for the evening event. Judi and I did not have tickets to the evening event, but Sam and his wife, Sandy, did. Sam later told us what happened at the event. When they arrived, all the guests had to stay outside the hall in a reception area. They stayed there for quite some time but eventually were allowed in. Cheney was scheduled to speak in person to the group. A large screen had been set up ready for Cheney’s speech so that everyone could see the Vice President. The crowd waited patiently for the Vice President to appear! Nothing!! Finally there was an announcement that the Vice President would not appear in person, but would give his speech from a different room (undisclosed location). The speech would be broadcast over the large screen. I am sure most of those in attendance must have been very disappointed, after all, Cheney was the main draw to the event! I am sure that there must have been a good reason for this drastic change, after all, the safety of the Vice President came first! I would not want to have been him!
(To Be Continued)

INSIDE with the Festival Nomad (No. 36)

2011-10-11T19:22:00.000-04:00

Over the years I have attended, worked with and organized hundreds of festivals and events. With this new series, "INSIDE with the Festival Nomad", I want to give you an "inside" look at some of the festivals and events that I have been involved with or that I have visited. Along the way, I have had a lot of fun and sometimes frustration, but I have never been bored!

The Biggies and More...
Judi and I have attended and volunteered at a number of fundraising auction dinners. These are a lot of fun and, of course, raise money for worthwhile causes. In the next few articles I am going to tell you about two of the larger and more interesting fundraising dinners we have visited and about some of the funny things that we have seen at other fundraising auctions we have attended!

National Rifle Association Annual Meeting (Pittsburgh - Continued)

The Protest...
The NRA (National Rifle Association) is an American institution dedicated to preserving the rights of gun and rifle owners. Its mandate is based on the Second Amendment (Amendment II) to the United States Constitution being part of the United States Bill of Rights that protects the right of the people to keep and bear arms. It was adopted on December 15, 1791 along with the rest of the Bill or Rights. It is, as you can imagine, a controversial organization. Each year, as I mentioned in last weeks blog, the NRA holds a national conference. This draws attention to the organization and people against gun rights are drawn to the conference to protest. It was under these circumstances, that Judi and I entered the Pittsburgh Conference Centre where the event was being held that year. Fortunately we were with Sam Pursglove, the then Executive Director of the Ruffed Grouse Society, USA. Sam is a rather large (tall) individual with a booming voice (being a little deaf !), so we were pretty confident that we could safely passed through the protesters to enter the building. Although it was quite intimidating, we did passed through without any problems. The biggest challenge was the noise from the crowd that had gathered. Even from inside the Conference Centre we could hear the protesters! This was democracy at work.
(To Be Continued)

INSIDE with the Festival Nomad (No. 36)

2011-10-04T10:18:00.002-04:00

INSIDE with the Festival Nomad (No. 36)

2011-09-27T12:46:00.004-04:00

INSIDE with the Festival Nomad (No. 36)

2011-09-20T11:46:00.001-04:00

INSIDE with the Festival Nomad (No. 36)

2011-09-13T11:44:00.000-04:00

Over the years I have attended, worked with and organized hundreds of festivals and events. With this new series, "INSIDE with the Festival Nomad", I want to give you an "inside" look at some of the festivals and events that I have been involved with or that I have visited. Along the way, I have had a lot of fun and sometimes frustration, but I have never been bored!

The Biggies and More...

Judi and I have attended and volunteered at a number of fundraising auction dinners. These are a lot of fun and, of course, raise money for worthwhile causes. In the next few articles I am going to tell you about two of the larger and more interesting fundraising dinners we have visited and about some of the funny things that we have seen at other fundraising auctions we have attended!

The Warren Michigan Banquet (Banquet)...

Once everyone had found their seat and the opening ceremonies were completed, an army of servers took the stage! Try imagining over 1000 people being served a four or five course meal, with the meal in perfect condition, crisp salad, hot veggies, prime rib hot and properly cooked, desserts looking perfect and coffee piping hot and delicious. This is how it was and it was completed with precision and in record time! It seemed to me that most everyone was very satisfied with their meal. Meanwhile, while the meal was being served, "commerce" continued to take place! Now it was in the form of raffle winners being announced, the silent auction continuing and the high bidders eventually being announced. The highlight of most fund raising banquets is the live auction, and the Warren Michigan banquet was no different! The items chosen for the live auction by Sam and his staff were spectacular! I can’t tell you how many framed prints, sculptures, and guns were offered, but there were a LOT! Most had numerous bidders competing against one another, so the price for each was significant and in some cases, very significant! The last auction item brought the most excitement! It was a brand new automobile, donated by General Motors. Again, I can’t remember how much the car sold for, but it was substantial. I think both the new owner of the vehicle and RGS were satisfied. As you may know, Americans love their guns, so the last item of business for the banquet was the “gun” table raffle. The idea was, one table would be chosen out of the 100 or more tables and that each member of that table would be awarded a special shotgun. The catch was simple, that you had to be sitting at that table at the time the winning table was chosen! If you weren’t there, then you didn’t win the shotgun! This was a great method of keeping banquet attendees there for the whole evening. Once this raffle was over, so was the banquet.
(To Be Continued)

INSIDE with the Festival Nomad (No. 36)

2011-09-06T13:05:00.001-04:00

INSIDE with the Festival Nomad (No. 36)

2011-08-30T08:24:00.002-04:00

Over the years I have attended, worked with and organized hundreds of festivals and events. With this new series, "INSIDE with the Festival Nomad", I want to give you an "inside" look at some of the festivals and events that I have been involved with or that I have visited. Along the way, I have had a lot of fun and sometimes frustration, but I have never been bored!

The Biggies and More...
Judi and I have attended and volunteered at a number of fundraising auction dinners. These are a lot of fun and, of course, raise money for worthwhile causes. In the next few articles I am going to tell you about two of the larger and more interesting fundraising dinners we have visited and about some of the funny things that we have seen at other fundraising auctions we have attended!

The Warren Michigan Banquet (Pre-Banquet)...
When Judi and I arrived back at the banquet hall, the RGS staff was already there. They were putting the finishing touches on the room! At about 4:00 p.m., a group of attractive ladies arrived! These were the raffle ticket sellers. All of them were flight attendants from Delta Airlines. Each year these girls volunteered their time to help the RGS at this banquet. I think, although I am not sure, that they were paid a small honorarium. Most of the girls knew what to do (they had been there before) and they started preparing for the evening. Prior to each banquet, all of the staff and volunteers were feed a wonderful meal served in a room off to the side of the main hall. The meal consisted of “Prime Rib” and all the “fixings”! It was quite a feast! Everyone ate quickly and then went back into the banquet hall. We each had been assigned specific stations and tasks, so we all headed to our respective areas. I had been assigned to the “greeting desk" where we welcomed attendees, took their ticket and sold raffle packages. The packages ranged from $50.00 to $250.00 per package. Quite a few people purchased more than one package! Many of the packages were paid in cash! Each person who purchased a raffle package received a gift for each package purchased. They could choose from a variety of knives, compasses and more. The most popular, of course, were the knives! Since participants came in waves, and there were over 1000 of them, the “greeting desk” was hectic for quite some time. Judi had been assigned to the cash table which wasn’t as busy in the beginning, but towards the end of the banquet became just as hectic. I will let Judi, in her own words describe what she experienced a little later in this blog!
(To Be Continued)

INSIDE with the Festival Nomad (No. 36)

2011-08-23T15:17:00.004-04:00

INSIDE with the Festival Nomad (No. 36)

2011-08-16T13:09:00.001-04:00