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HomeMy WebLinkAbout8.4 Evaluation of Splatter Event AGENDA STATEMENT CITY OF PARKS AND COMMUNITY SERVICES COMMISSION DUBLIN MEETING DATE: January 14, 2013 SUBJECT: Evaluation of splatter Event Ann Mottola, Heritage and Cultural Arts Manager ATTACHMENTS: None RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends the Parks and Community Services Commission provide input on the strategies identified for the 2013 event and recommend to the City Council to proceed with producing a one- day event the weekend of September 21, 2013. FINANCIAL STATEMENT: None DESCRIPTION: As a first year event, "splatter" was a tremendous success in terms of public response and media exposure. This summary incorporates both measured and empirical information gathered from a variety of post-event feedback methods. Surveys were sent to all who purchased Tasting Pavilion passports in advance of the event, and to all restaurant and winery partners who provided samples at the Tasting Pavilion. Additionally, all event Staff were surveyed to assess the logistical and operational effectiveness of the event. Post production debriefs with the lead Special Events Team and the Special Events Logistics Committee were also held to collect information for recommended improvements to "splatter 2013." The following report provides an overview of the festival, as well as a recap of the survey and issues identified that will be addressed with the event in 2013. 2012 EVENT OVERVIEW The City of Dublin launched its newest event, "splatter—not your ordinary food, wine and art festival," on September 22, 2012 at Emerald Glen Park. The event was held from 10:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., and closed with a concert by "Double Funk Crunch" followed by an artfully choreographed aerial fireworks show in commemoration of the City's 30th Anniversary. The heart of this event was the Tasting Pavilion, a showcase of 11 Livermore Valley wineries and 12 restaurants that drew a sell-out crowd of nearly 1,000 patrons between the hours of 11:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.The event also included a festival area that featured a variety of attractions. COPIES TO: ITEM NO: 8.4 G:\COMMISSIONS COMMITTEES\PARKS COMMISSION\AGNDSTMT\2013\1-14-13 Item 8.4 splatter Summary Report.doc Six food trucks and six tented food vendors were located throughout the park. The Culinary and Fine Arts Marketplace featured unique and carefully created edibles and culinary items such as olive oils, spices,teas, honeys;and one-of-a-kind arts and crafts items. The Culinary Performance Stage hosted a diverse lineup of local executive chefs from The Restaurant at Wente Vineyards and Johnny Garlic's. Several culinary entertainers also performed including Instagram sensation, My Nguyen and Food Network gold medal winning culinary artist and food sculptor, Chef Ray Duey. The culinary headliner was Ryan Scott, on-air culinary celebrity at KGO. Chef Scott also filmed for his television show, "Food Rush" at the event. The "splatter" festival area also featured the use of conventional and non-conventional mediums to create large-scale artworks and interactive experiences during the event. Works of art made of chalk, fruits and vegetables, bubbles, balloons, and canned foods were created on-site for the audience to enjoy and, in some cases, help to create. Featured activities included "Backseat Theatre," an opportunity for patrons to enjoy short comedic plays written for the splatter event and performed in a most unconventional venue — a car; and canstruction, a monumental hot dog, mustard and ketchup bottle constructed out of canned food, all of which was donated to Tri-Valley Haven and Open Heart Kitchen after the event. 2012 RECAP AND RECOMMENDATIONS General Festival Throughout the day, an estimated 15,000 people attended the event. This estimate is based on the Tasting Pavilion attendance, revenues collected at the Carnival Games,turnover of cars in the parking lot on Central Parkway, and empirical observation of the field where the Main Stage and largest congregation of people were located. Since the attendance is a significant factor that drives the design and budget model of an event, Staff felt it important to measure the influence of any "one-time" element or occurrence at "splatter 2012" that may have influenced attendance so future planning could take into consideration any projected anticipated increase or decrease. Two elements of significance in the 2012 event were the closing concert and fireworks. From 3:00 p.m. through the close of the event, there was a notable increase in attendance at the Main Stage and surrounding field area. Of the patrons surveyed (Tasting Pavilion passport purchasers), only 4.8%were interested in the concert. The vast majority was interested in the combined finale of concert and fireworks, and more than half of those were interested in the fireworks only. While the fireworks were an exciting finale to the inaugural "splatter" event, Staff's intent is to develop a successful event model without fireworks.The Emerald Glen Sports and Aquatics Complex project is proceeding and once under construction in 2014, it will preclude aerial fireworks at the site completely. The overall feedback from surveyed patrons and Staff was that the festival had a good variety of activities. Surveyed event patrons (Tasting Pavilion passport purchasers) indicated they stayed at the event for an average of 3 to 4 hours. In addition to the Tasting Pavilion, these surveyed patrons also attended other event attractions.The Culinary Marketplace,food trucks and staged entertainment were the most popular features for this surveyed group. It appears that the further away from the Tasting Pavilion the less popular the attraction. 2 of 6 • Strategy 1: Re-tool the event layout to better incorporate the Tasting Pavilion experience with the festival experience. Staff is investigating a number of options to optimize an integrated experience for all event patrons. Tasting Pavilion Patrons Surveys were sent to all 565 pre-sale Tasting Pavilion passport purchasers, 76 responded (13.4%). The p atrons were overall highly complimentary of the event. Aside from comments regarding the temperature inside the Tasting Pavilion, the most consistent comment was that patrons would like to see the Tasting Pavilion expanded both in terms of more space and more variety of samples to choose from. Of those that responded, 80%are looking forward to "splatter 2013;' and 93.2% responded they would recommend the event to a friend. Survey responses collected from the Tasting Pavilion patrons also supports the marketing benefit of and wine participation in that near 70%of respondents said the are like) to visit one of restaurant p ly p Y Y winery businesses they sampled after their experience at the event. Wineries and Restaurants Recruiting wine and food samplers for a first year event is always a bit challenging due to the unknown of how many people will attend. Most wineries waived their per bottle fees and opted to sponsor the event in exchange for a marketing package. Restaurants were provided a small incentive to participate. The incentive was a combination of a nominal fee and a marketing package. The restaurant and wineries that participated in the Tasting Pavilion were also surveyed regarding their experience. Of the 23 participating wineries and restaurants, 8 responded (34.7%). They provided anywhere from 1,200 to 2,500 samples each.Overall they enjoyed the experience and all indicated they are looking forward to 2013. There were several recommendations received through this survey process regarding different methods of ticketing within the Tasting Pavilion to better control the number of tastes taken by any one person from the same restaurant or winery. There were also recommendations to increase the stipend to restaurants participating in this venue as an incentive to participate. It is fair to say the Tasting Pavilion was hugely popular as most partners ran out of product and made several trips to their business establishments to restock. • Strategy 2: Investigate methods of ticketing within the Tasting Pavilion to better control the number of tastes taken by any one person from any one restaurant or winery. • Strategy 3: Explore efficiencies in the event budget so funds can be redirected to increase the stipend offered to restaurant and winery participants. Logistics The event production was truly a team effort.Production of this event required assistance from all Parks and Community Services staff members as well as several staff from Finance, Environmental Services and the City Manager's Office. MCE was a constant support from set-up through clean-up of the event. The Police and Fire Departments provided invaluable assistance in and around the event site. Additionally, there were approximately 786 hours logged by 222 volunteers who were from local non- profit organizations and earned a stipend for their group. 3of6 Nine employees who worked in lead positions during the event completed surveys. Debrief meetings were also held with the inter-departmental Logistics Committee and Special Events Staff to review the event. The operational plan for the event went well with no significant incidents. Clearly future events will take into consideration the full range of weather that Dublin could potentially experience. Parking has historically been a challenge at Emerald Glen during events of this scale, both in terms of number of spaces available and the proximity to the park. All parking issues were expertly managed by the Police Department and MCE. The need for space will be alleviated somewhat in in "splatter 2013" since there will be no fireworks. Plans are already in place to increase signage to direct patrons to off-site parking and shuttle stops. Aside from Strategy 1, redesigning the layout, there are no additional strategies required from a logistics standpoint. Logistics details and revisions will be informed by the redesign. Event Marketing There are some interesting metrics gathered from two different sources indicating the effectiveness of the diversified marketing and communications plan. The Mobile Application (APP) launched in July had a total of 807 visits. 209 visits were in August and 498 in September. There was also a 20% referral rate for August and September. This statistic means these users were coming to the Mobile APP from Facebook or one of the QR codes printed on collateral materials. The "splatter" Mobile APP metric also indicates that of those pre-sold tickets, 87 (15%of the total presale amount)were purchased by click-throughs from the Mobile APP. in the survey of pre-sale Tasting Pavilion passport purchasers, the question was posed "how did you hear about"splatter?" There was no limit on the various media outlets the patron could check off. None responded via the Mobile APP. The most popular ways in which people heard about the event were through the City Website, Direct E-mail, signage at Emerald Glen Park and word of mouth. Your Town Monthly and Valley Times were the most popular of the print media ads. These two metrics seem to indicate the Mobile APP expanded the marketing effort to an audience that otherwise would not have heard about the event. While none of the patrons responding to the Tasting Pavilion survey indicated they heard about the event through the Mobile APP, we know that 87 people made purchases directly from the APP. Staff will explore methods to expand the data we collect in next year's event to see if there is any correlation between age demographic and media preferences. It will also be helpful to develop a method, perhaps through text,to survey those who used the Mobile APP so we can better determine who comprises "splatter's"audience. The marketing plan in general was a success. The work of building the brand, "not your ordinary food, wine and art festival," will take place in re-inventing the event design into a format in that is sustainable and addresses the constructive feedback from event patrons and production partners. Strategy 4: Continue to build the brand, "this is not your ordinary food, wine and art festival." Staff will be looking for unique experiences to engage the audience in a variety of unconventional creative and culinary experiences for 2013. SUMMARY 4 of 6 There have been some suggestions about expanding "splatter" to a two-day format. While it is an exciting prospect to potentially grow "splatter" into a two-day event, Staff recommends focusing on the key strategies identified above to refine several components that will stabilize the event, create production efficiencies, improve the guest experience, and develop customer loyalty and customer confidence in the event. These are key elements that will provide a foundation upon which "splatter" can grow. There were some one-time attractions that will not take place in 2013 that will most likely influence attendance. Without an accurate gauge of attendance, it is difficult to predict the demand for a second day.The patterns of attendance at the event were quite inconsistent. The Tasting Pavilion was crowded as o . The crowd that w not as well attended until later in the da from open to close. But the festival area Y congregated by the Main Stage from 3:00 p.m. through the evening hours was impressive, but based on the atron survey they may have been there solely for the fireworks. Without this component, "splatter p Y 2013 will in so m e ways feel like a new event. There will be a different "flow" of the attendance In he second ear, it will be a priority to redesign the event based on these throughout the day. I t y p Y g observations and create a more integrated guest experience that will encourage a sustained attendance throughout the day, and create a revenue model to support restaurant participation. There are also significant logistical issues that must be corrected in order to retain customer loyalty. While running out of food for a first year event was anecdotally understood by many of the surveyed patrons, it will most assuredly be detrimental to the continued growth of the event in future years if repeated. The Tasting Pavilion's success also revealed some logistical challenges that must be remedied in order to improve the experience for the Tasting Pavilion's restaurant and winery partners. These partners have offered suggestions to improve logistics. Staff will work cooperatively with these partners to create solutions that will be implemented in 2013. Growing too fast and too soon would place the emphasis on recruiting new winery and restaurant partners and attractions versus providing solutions to logistical issues that require attention. Survey responses from patrons, restaurant and winery partners indicate an eagerness to see these issues addressed in year two. The confidence of the restaurant and winery partners in particular is vital to the growth and expansion of the event. Their word of mouth is the best method of recruitment to expand the Tasting Pavilion experience. In "splatter 2013" expanding the variety and number of choices in addition to addressing the logistical issues within the Tasting Pavilion will be an ambitious goal even for a one-day event, but it is the expectation of a very event-savvy patron base that these improvements be made. Additionally, it will be a challenging exercise to identify new revenues to achieve the improvements needed for "splatter 2013" and to expand to two days. An additional day increases event costs significantly. While there are some hard-costs that are fixed, i.e. tents and staging, there are others that will increase. These include entertainment, artist fees, staffing, volunteer stipends, restaurant and winery stipends, and on-site services for sound, security, police, maintenance and certain equipment rentals. Once Staff retools the event format and ensures the featured Tasting Pavilion is logistically squared away,the City will be better equipped to evaluate the true cost of a two-day event. For this reason,Staff recommends focusing on the strategies listed in this report in order to redesign the event layout to create a more integrated guest experience; improve Tasting Pavilion logistics; create 5of6 better incentives for participation by restaurant and winery partners; and continue to focus on creating unique festival attractions that celebrate the creative culture of Dublin and the Tri-Valley region. These strategies will allow Staff to responsibly develop a sustainable event format. RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends the Parks and Community Services Commission provide input on the strategies identified for the 2013 event and recommend to the City Council to proceed with producing a one-day event the weekend of September 21, 2013. 6of6