Jerry's Take on What Makes a Great Festival by Jerry Handlon, CPRP

S P E C I A L F O C U S

Jerry's Take on What Makes
a Great Festival

Jerry Handlon, director of the Schaumburg Park District, shares what makes the district's festivals and events so successful

BY JERRY HANDLON, CPRP

"Our festivals and
events—although primarily
structured for the
entertainment of
our constituents
and people from
surrounding
communities—also have a
second motivation
which is... revenue
production."
- Jerry Handlon, CPRP

I attribute a lot of the success of the festivals and events that the Schaumburg Park District has conducted over the years to the fact that we have an extremely strong volunteer group that assists us. It is obvious that because of these volunteers, we offset a tremendous amount of expenses by not having to pay personnel.

The partnership formats that we attempt to develop are usually done through research of the particular event and the target market it may be reaching and then contacting one of the local commercial operations, businesses, vendors that may be trying to reach that same market. We found that by tying those two together, it can develop into a good partnership.

In regard to combos of food and beverage, obviously we only solicit beer sponsorships for partners when the events are strictly for adults unless, of course, it is the major Septemberfest event, which is for people of all ages. The wacky game ideas generally come from brainstorming with staff members and developing some extra attractions and features that complement the event or festival.

The keys involved are, once again:

• A strong volunteer corps

• Strong recognition within the business community as a professional organization

• Good customer relations

• Knowing who the "players" are in the community

Some basic information relative to the keys includes the fact that every community has a group of volunteers who assist them in special events and festivals. We find it most important to recognize those volunteers not only at the event, but throughout the year and at a special volunteer recognition reception during National Volunteer Month in April. We show videotapes of the events, slides and pictures of the volunteers as they worked at each of our events or festivals.

A key in terms of sponsorships and partnerships comes from making a master list of businesses, organizations and groups in the community and a list of the events and festivals that we conduct and then brainstorming a match-up type of system. This has proven to be successful for us in such events as our $2 Million Hole-in-One Contest that runs over a four-day period, our Halloween Boo-Nanza and the former Pig-Out Festival, which we conducted each August.

I should point out that our festivals and events— although primarily structured for the entertainment of our constituents and people from surrounding communities—also have a second motivation which is, generally speaking, revenue production. This is why it is important to develop good working relationships with the business community for potential sponsorships.

Festivals give agencies not only the opportunity for

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S P E C I A L F O C U S

partnerships with the business community and with other civic organizations, but also they present tremendous opportunities for cross-marketing with business organizations and networking with the civic and service organizations. An example would be if a car dealership is involved as a sponsor to have some type of promotional activity as part of your festival or event to draw the people to the car dealership. At that rime they would go in and test-drive the dealership's particular brand of automobile and after test-driving it, they would receive a T-shirt that promotes the festival or event or some type of certificate or card that would authorize that individual or family to get a discount at the park district's golf course, swimming pool, fitness center, etcetera. •

JERRY HANDLON, CPRP
is the director of the Schaumburg Park District.

30 ¦ Illinois Parks and Recreation