REPORTING FROM RENO, NEV. -- It’s no secret that some fairs continue to struggle with attracting crowds, staying relevant and finding the money needed to upkeep facilities. Addressing some of these issues, a panel at this year’s Western Fairs Association Convention and Trade Show in Reno, Nev., Jan. 11-14 drew from the panelists’ own experiences to offer distressed fairs alternate avenues that can be accessed by taking small steps while retaining a vision for the future.
When it comes to implementing and planning capital improvement programs, the process of creating a master plan can be daunting and way out of budget for many fairs. But Alameda County Fair CEO Jerome Hoban believes it doesn’t have to be, stating that it all comes down to making a list.
“There is no one thing called a master plan, said RCH Group’s Bob Johnson. “The important thing is it serves your needs and creates continuity of vision.”
For Hoban, a five-year planning document created in Excel can do the job. The document should list every item that needs to be completed, renovated or repaired and should categorize each entry by importance, cost, department and year. This list acts as a communication tool for everyone in the organization, makes sure things aren’t forgotten and determines each item’s importance.
“If you look at those puzzle pieces and the picture of the puzzle is turned upside down, how hard is it to put that puzzle together?” said Cal Expo CEO Rick Pickering. “It’s almost impossible! But when you turn the box over and you see the picture, now how easy is it to sort those puzzle pieces and start putting them in the piles they need to be in so you can start putting the puzzle together. So these kinds of lists help everybody on your team have a better picture of the top of the puzzle so they can help you put it together. If they don’t know what the puzzle looks like, they can’t help you put it together?”
Hoban agreed while contributing one addendum, “if you don’t show them the picture, they will make up their own.”
Cost-effective Revenue Enhancement
Many fairs are also faced with the challenge of enhancing revenue and creating cost-effective operations. When Sarah Cummings, CEO of Sonoma Marin (Calif.) Fair, was working at Salinas (Calif.) Valley Fair, she revamped an under-utilized kiddieland that was detracting from the fair’s curb appeal. By negotiating with the carnival and making them see the benefit of the change, Cummings was able to add six more rides by moving three RV units and having the carnival company pay to remove the fence line. It was a win-win situation for both parties and an easy fix to enhance the fair’s revenue.
“Everyone wants to generate more money and flexible space at the fairgrounds,” said Pickering. “The key is to ask what’s their idea and how it will be payed for?”
Another quick fix that had a big impact at the California State Fair, Sacramento, was the decision to remove the hard doors at the fair’s entrance that was along a major freeway and replace them with glass doors. This offered people a peek inside and created more interest. Pickering said little fixes like that as well as properly-located signage and available shaded sitting areas can impact attendance and ultimately revenue as well.
Private Helps Pay for Public
Promoting private, non-fair development can also be a challenging yet advantageous option. Pickering and Cal Expo pursued the opportunity to partner with a new professional soccer team in Sacramento that was without a field. Cal Expo gave seven acres of their 500-acre property, and Ovations Food Services put up $4 million to build an 8,000-seat soccer facility. The whole process was accomplished in less than a year and Bonney Field has become a successful revenue source for the fair with every game selling out and greatly increasing beer and food sales by Ovations, from which the fair receives a percentage.
Navigating Local Government
Another major topic among fairs, distressed or otherwise, is the challenge of working with local government and the lack of funding but overdose of regulations that relationship brings. After many years of struggling to produce successful fairs, Oregon State Fair, Salem, passed legislation to take the fair out of the government and make it a standalone public corporation.
“I consider this Nirvana,” said new Oregon State Fair CEO Mike Paluszak, adding that this allows the fair to pick and choose how they will work with the state to their advantage. Though the governor will still appoint the board and the fair will still operate under public meeting laws, since it leases the fairgrounds from the state, everything else will be rebuilt from scratch.
“Essentially we’re starting a brand new business that’s 150 years old,” sad Paluszak. "It’s a huge challenge and an opportunity a lot of fairs would welcome.”
Paluszak hopes the flexibility of the new business model will help repair a fair whose year-round operations have been consistently losing money.
“I’ve said for a long time, fairs and government are a bad fit,” said Paluszak. “We should be able to do very entrepreneurial things. We don’t govern, we don’t pass laws, we don’t regulate those things. So we’re entrepreneurs and we’re bureaucrats. I call us ‘entrepreneurocrats.’”
Mostly, all the panelists stressed the idea of balancing future plans with the day-to-day operations of keeping the fair stable. And especially doing so in bite-sized pieces, one step at a time. Regardless of size or scale, the same principles apply to any fair.
“You’ve got to feed the kids while you’re planning to send them to college,” said Paluszak. “We have to pay the bills today. We have to rent the buildings we have, regardless of whether they’re too small or too old or in the wrong place on the fairgrounds. But one of the things that we found is that the best time to plan is during the worst economy, so that when the economy turns, you’re poised and ready to go.”
Interviewed for this article: Rick Pickering, (916) 263-3000; Sarah Cummings, (707) 283-3247; Jerome Hoban, (925) 426-7600; Mike Paluszak, (503) 547-3300, Bob Johnson, (858) 518-4099