Jarrett Bachman & Collin O'Berry of Looking Glass Strategic Research Consultants in Asheville, NC
Qualitative (descriptive) data can come from many different sources and is beneficial in many ways. Comments & feedback from attendees, vendors and volunteers, examining foot traffic patterns through the festival grounds, and assessments of festival signage & layout are all great examples of qualitative data. Often, this data is overlooked in lieu of traditional quantitative measures, such as economic spending, marketing effectiveness, and event satisfaction data. Although traditional quantitative measures are extremely useful to festival organizers, qualitative measures prove just as beneficial to their productions. But why bother with collecting qualitative data?
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1. Your attendees are diverse and (mostly) intelligent. Listen to them!
Overall, your event attendees are people who come from diverse backgrounds and work skilled jobs in a wide variety of fields. While they may not be experts at planning & executing events, their area of professional expertise can offer relevant viewpoints that can be applied to your decision-making processes. Additionally, your patrons most likely attend other events throughout the year, so they are able to provide unique insight into other successful production ideas they have experienced elsewhere. Capturing comments pertaining to their individual experiences & mindsets can prove to be quite meaningful.
2. Many festival & event attendees differ greatly from the organizational staff.
Known as groupthink in psychology, members of an organizational & planning committee have a tendency to agree with each other and create harmony within the group. They also have a tendency to think alike and may not consider a broader range of viewpoints or options. Typically, event attendees have little bias or in some cases different biases. They come to the festival with a different set of expectations and are able to comment in ways that perhaps you were not considering.
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Consumers will be logging on ecommerce sites searching for holiday gifts and deals very soon. The traditional kickoff for holiday buying is Black Friday - the day after Thanksgiving. Last year, Black Friday sales through the following Monday, 'Cyber Monday', accounted for 18% of total online holiday sales. U.S. online sales topped $1 billion on Cyber Monday alone. Perfect your marketing and delivery plans as the year's most lucrative shopping season draws near. Here we have created a few tips to be get the most from this season:
If you think all you have to do is gather a few exhibits, buy some entertainment, advertise what is going to happen... and the folks will bang down your door!
You know the feeling when you are supposed to go to a business or social event, but you're tired, feeling antisocial, have SO much work to do, don't want to go out in the rain.. < insert lame excuse here >. I used to feel this way all the time and for a while I would bail if those feeling crept in. Instead of going to an event that initially wanted to go to, I would stay at home home, put on my pyjama pants and convenience myself that I made the right decision. I would tell myself that I probably wasn't missing much anyway. But the real reason I didn't want to go was because I was scared.
Like it or not, if you're living the life of an independent artist or entrepreneur, you're alone at the helm. Oh sure, you may have a staff of assistants, band mates, collaborators, partners, a slew of advisors, a career consultant and a great coach, however the truth is, you're the architect of your enterprise, the CEO of your world, and the "Don" of your empire. And your personal support team could be terminated at the snap of a finger (yours!) because you alone make the big "risky" choices and the uncertain, frightening decisions in your life and career.
Many people starting a food concession business are unaware of the variety of business opportunities that are available to them. They have a vague notion there is money to be made but cannot imagine exactly how. The business becomes a little clearer knowing most concession businesses fall into one of two categories; stationary and temporary.
GET THERE EARLY!!!
In general, the end of year holiday season is a difficult time for indie labels and bands to compete with the majors and all of their holiday, best of and greatest hits releases. That doesn't mean you can't live it up during the season with a little fun of your own. These ideas may not be big money makers, but they can be a great way to give your fans something special for the holiday season. There are ideas here for bands and labels alike, so everyone can get into the holiday cheer.
The economic impact that festivals & events have upon local communities can be profound. In the industry, the focus is often on "Direct Economic Spending" or "Economic Impact Assessment" in reference to the figure that represents the amount of money produced by the festival or event. In this article, we will explore attendee spending & economic impact assessments to highlight the processes & benefits of conducting this type of research. Oftentimes, the terms "Direct Economic Spending" and "Economic Impact Assessment" are used improperly. The difference between these two measurements is subtle in text but monumental in meaning. Direct Economic Spending refers to the total amount of money spent in a city or county as a result of a festival or event. The total amount spent per person for different types of attendees (most often residents and non-residents) is calculated and extrapolated for the total attendance. An Economic Impact Assessment is far more detailed. Essentially, it starts with Direct Economic Spending numbers and traces how money flows through & impacts the community as it is spent and re-spent.
When it comes down to it, people rarely buy what they need. They always buy what they want. Part of our job as creative entrepreneurs is to make sure that what our niche market wants is what we have to offer. The best way to convince them is by telling our story.
As a working musician who is also a working music journalist I've made friends in both fields of the music industry, so I feel I have something to offer to this topic outside the traditional methods.
In today's festival & event industry, the need for strategic sponsor partnerships is greater than ever. In order for festival organizers to obtain these high-value partnerships, sponsors are constantly requesting to see research data that demonstrates a quality match between festival and event attendees and their product or service. Survey research is one of the most effective ways to obtain that needed data.
Have you ever told yourself "I'll do that when I have this" or "the timing just isn't right but when it is I'll start doing insert dream here." Problem with these good intentions is that they are just intentions. The perfect time usually never comes. The stars don't align and the damn ducks just won't line up! This is ultimately how we get stuck lives we don't love and avoid taking chances.
Following your dreams doesn't get any easier the longer you wait. Talking yourself out of the things you really want to do gets super easy as more and more time passes. Then you get to a point when you let the dream go because you have successfully convinced yourself you couldn't have even done it if you tried. *Big sigh*
This is sad. You have SO much potential and so much amazing creativity to share with the world, that to squander is not only bad for you personally, it's also selfish to the rest of us. Think about your favorite musicians, artists, writers, designers, dancers, and performers. What if they decided that the timing just wasn't right, or that they needed to do this, that and the other thing before they went for their dreams? Our world would be a grim, dark place and not very much fun.
Guests will appreciate a nice cold drink, and it's even better spiked with a little jolt. Here's a fantastic summer drink from our friends at Feastivities Events (
I think every food concessionaire remembers his or her first event. Mine was with a stick joint made of scrap barn boards, screwed together on sight by my dad and me. It took all day and lots of hand tools to have it standing straight enough to throw a tarp over it and call it a food booth. Inside I had a folding table, folding chair, stack of napkins, cash box, and, a tall stack of coolers full of my one and only menu item: sliced loaves of banana bread. I knew it wasn't the perfect menu for a five-day Fourth of July event, but, since I was already baking loaves to sell to restaurants, it was easy to bake extra. Besides, what's not to like about banana bread?