How To Find Events For New Food Concession Operators
Robert Berman of mobilecateringbusiness.com 
One of the most difficult challenges that new food concession operators face is how to find venues such as fairs, festivals, and other events and then how to convince the management of those venues that it is their best interests to have them attend.
Fairs and festivals are always looking for new and somewhat unique items to have at their venue, after all they want increased attendance and fairs and festivals that are always the same have a tendency to see attendance slowly drop from one year to next.
If you, as a new food concession operator, are providing nothing more than a "me too" menu with nothing new, exciting or out of the ordinary you will definitely have an uphill challenge to obtain space. New and exciting does not have to mean some exotic food, although a new or unusual food concept is usually a fair management grabber, it can mean a well or uniquely decorated trailer, or unusual outfits for the staff. Always be careful if you are trying to promote anything that is audio oriented, theme music can be a negative as far as some fair managers are concerned.
I always suggest that food concessionaires produce a small but meaningful electronic brochure, showing what their food concession trailer looks like, inside and out, outlining the menu and prices, and how many customers can be served per hour. This gives the fair management a feeling that you are professional and that you take the food concession business seriously. A food concession operator must always remember that the quality of the food concessions are always viewed, by the attendees, as a major part of the total fair experience. Bad or poor food quality or poor health standards and the attendees will say that the fair was bad or poor. Highlight your commitment to cleanliness and quality and as time progresses add the fairs, festivals and any other events that you have attended as references.
If you're using Facebook to market your event there are a few important things to understand. First off - like any marketing or advertising medium, Facebook has both positives and negatives. Disclaimer: I'm NOT on the crazy train that thinks Facebook can instantly fix every event marketing challenge. But, I do firmly believe Facebook is here to stay. Thus, event organizers should understand how to use it to their advantage.
Many people in the mobile food concession business consider November through March the off-season. During the cold and wet winter months a food concession operator, whose income is earned by operating at outdoor events such as fairs and festivals, might put his or her food booth in mothballs and take a much-needed break from the business. For several months these lucky concessionaires take time off and enjoy the pursuit of other activities. Not until early spring do they start looking forward with enthusiasm to prepare their equipment and schedule events for the upcoming food concession season.
Community events such as art shows, craft fairs, and others offer opportunities for professional artisans to promote their business. As insurance experts who work with artists and crafters, we understand how important these events are, but we can also foresee the problems an artist or crafter might run into if they do not have appropriate liability insurance.
When Terry Speer was a struggling art student in the 60s, he put himself through college by selling his prints and paintings at local art shows. In 1979, after eight years as an art professor, Speer left academia to do the show circuit full time with his wife, Deborah Banyas, a fellow artist and quilt maker.
You know how important a press release is to get the word out about whatever your band or label has going on, be it a new album, a tour, or some other piece of news. But sending that press release a the right time is another key piece of the puzzle to getting media coverage. How do you get the timing right?
Historic Hendersonville, NC is the official home of the annual North Carolina Apple Festival, a four-day celebration of the bountiful Henderson County apple harvest. The festival is held annually over Labor Day weekend on Main Street, culminating with the King Apple Parade on Labor Day. The street fair, which covers 9 linear blocks, is capped at 150 vendors to manage crowds and preserve the attendee experience.
Hey, nobody said the music business was going to be easy. It truly is a jungle out there filled with: snakes, rats, rabid carnivores, sharks.. well, you get the picture. In the course of your musical journey, there will be confrontations, arguments, misunderstandings, and miscommunications. You'll get jerked around, screwed over, ripped off and disrespected. So, you want to be a rockstar? Welcome to your nightmare.
But this is also a business of good people, who'll give you opportunities and chances and help you out when you least expect it. That's why it's so important that you, as musicians and as a band, act professionally and respectfully regardless of the behavior of those you encounter. You don't have to be a pushover and of course, you have a right to defend yourself against the questionable actions of others, but the music community can be a very small town and the behavior you exhibit will follow you throughout your musical career.
On the flipside of that, there are musicians out there who, either knowingly or unknowingly bring negativity on themselves through their own actions. Short temperedness, egocentricism, brazen entitlement, compulsive lying and just plain old psychotic behavior can brand your band as troublemakers and deprive you of important opportunities that you need to move forward in this business.
So, how can you make sure that you're doing onto others as you wish they would do onto you? What can you, as musicians do, to eliminate aspects of your personality that may be causing bad blood between you and the people you run across on your way to superstardom?
The following are a few tips that may help you to make sure you're exhibiting professional behavior at all times:
1.) Be Timely And Courteous---Whether you're playing out live or emailing booking inquiries from home, there is never a substitute for courteously or timeliness. At gigs, show up when you're supposed to, be friendly, treat others with respect, set up quickly, end your set on time, break down quickly, be mindful of other bands on stage, compliment those around you and don't forget simple things like, "please" and "thank you." When you leave a positive impression in people's minds, you'll be high on their list when it comes time to fill an open booking slot, recommend a band for a review, etc.
Your detail image should be able to stand alone on its own merits.
No matter what aspect of the work you are choosing to place at center stage, the detail
shot should be visually compelling, and well designed.
Ideally, a good detail image is also a superb composition with great colors, and formal
pictorial qualities. Think of all the formal properties of a good painting. The detail image
should be an eye-catching image that exists independently of the full view shot, even if
it is not projected.
Details should always offer as much information as possible about the work.
Consider in advance the fundamentally important or unique features of your work (never
forgetting the impact of a thoughtful and carefully arranged composition). The close-up
should expand on the information given in the full view image and further define the
particular character of the piece. Featured details of surface, functionality, or special
technique should always be viewed in that context. If the conceptual content is an
important aspect of the work, then the detail should somehow address that issue.
Your close-up should also be considered a companion image to your full view.
In many circumstances, only two images for each piece will be sent to the jury, a full view
and a close-up. This combination should be a fantastic "one-two punch" offering a lot of
straight forward information. Although there are no guarantees that your detail and full
view shot will be shown together, you can increase the likelihood that they will be by
placing your images adjacent to each other in a digital format. Additionally, be sure to
clearly label on both image and paperwork that this is a detail of the full view.
