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HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 8.4 PastaFestivalEval 2000CITY CLERK FILE # 950-40 AGENDA STATEMENT CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE': November 21, 2000 SUBJECT: Evaluation of 2000 Dublin Pasta Festival Report Prepared by Diane Lowart, Parks & Community Services Director and Paul McCreary, Recreation Supervisor ATTACHMENTS: None RECOMMENDATION: 1. FINANCIAL STATEMENT: Receive Staff Report Provide Input on 2000 Pasta Festival Provide Staff with Direction on Future Festivals Although the final financial statement has not yet been submitted by the Production Company, it appears that the net cost of the Festival to the City exceeded the FY 2000/2001 Budget by approximately $13,000. A budget change will be brought before the City Council once the final Festival costs are reconciled. DESCRIPTION: The 2000 Dublin Pasta Festival was held the weekend of October 7 and 8. The Festival was located on Amador Valley Boulevard between Regional Street and Donohue Drive. The Festival featured art and craft vendors, commercial vendors, restaurant vendors, two stages of entertainment and children's attractions. This was the third year that the Pasta Festival was held in the City of Dublin. In 1998 the Festival was moved to Dublin from Pleasanton and was produced by GoodTimes Promotions independently of the City. In 1999 the City assumed the sponsorship of the Festival and GoodTimes Promotions produced the Festival on behalf of the City. In 2000, the Festival was produced by Eckerstrom Productions. The 2000 Dublin Pasta Festival did not meet the expectations of Staff or those of the producer. Attendance was lower than in previous years and participation by vendors was also down. In order to assist the Council in evaluating the Pasta Festival, Staff has prepared a critique of the various aspects of the Festival. VENDOR PARTICIPATION The table on the following page is a comparison between the number of vendors in 2000 and 1999. As shown the overall number of vendors for the 2000 Pasta Festival is lower by almost 12%. G:\COUNCIL\I 121 pastafesteval. doc COPIES TO: Eckerstrom Productions ITEM NO. Art and Craft Vendors Commercial Vendors Restaurant Vendors Other Food Vendors Non Profit Organizations (free space) Political Organizations (free styace) TOTAL VENDORS 2000 1999 55 43 27 50 2 10 5 6 6 3 4 1 99 113 Art and Craft Vendors Participation by art and craft vendors increased by 28% over the previous year. However, because of the festival layout, some people commented that there appeared to be fewer art and craft vendors. Although there was an increase in the number of artists, the sales at the event were low which may affect future participation. Over the past three years the Pasta Festival has had an average of 58 artists participate each year. In comparison, the St. Patrick's Day Festival consistently attracts over 100 art and craft vendors each year. Restaurant and FoOd Vendors Participation from restaurants was considerably lower than the previous year despite contacts by both Eckerstrom Productions and City Staff via a mailer and personal telephone calls. Several of the restaurants were short-staffed and therefore could not participate, while others indicated not receiving enough benefit from participating the prior year. The restaurant booth fee was increased this year to cover the costs of the additional generators needed for the food booths. Some vendors did not participate because of the fee increase. The other food provided was typical faire food. Several families were disappointed that no children's food was available. Non-Profit and Political Organizations Due to the election year there were more political organizations participating in the festival than in past years. Visitors indicated that being confronted with all of the political participants in one area created an uncomfortable situation for those who came to relax and enjoy the festival. CHILDREN'S ATTRACTIONS The Children's Attractions consisted of a petting zoo and pony rides, an inflatable bounce and an inflatable maze. Due to repeated safety problems at past festivals, the Production Company was directed by Staff to exclude mechanical carnival rides such as the bungee trampoline, roller coaster, and ferris wheel. However, additional children's activities were needed to fill the void of not having the rides. Because there were fewer children's attractions than in the past this may have influenced the amount of time families spent at the festival. ENTERTAINMENT There were two stages of entertainment featuring Jazz music and local entertainment. The producer felt strongly that Jazz music was better entertainment for a festival and therefore switched from the classic rock-n-roll format of the previous year. Overall the Jazz entertainment was well received, however many people were disappointed with the smaller main stage area which did not include a tent or as much seating as in previous years. BEVERAGE SALES Eckerstrom Productions planned and managed the beverage and glassware sales, which were organized differently than in the past. In order to purchase beer or wine, it was mandatory for customers to purchase a wine or beer glass. Volunteers reported that many customers chose not to purchase the glassware or beverages because they did not like the artwork on the glass. This combined with low -2- attendance at the festival resulted in a 79% decrease in beverage sales compared to the previous year. The glassware and drink tickets were sold at two different booths. Three booths for beer sales were set- up, one of which was never opened because the production company was unable to recruit enough volunteers. Three different wine and three soda/water booths were located throughout the festival. Several of the beverage booths were mixed in with artist booths making them difficult to find. LOCATION AND LAYOUT Prior to this year the event was located on Amador Plaza Road between Dublin Boulevard and Amador Valley Boulevard. Following the 1999 festival the City received a complaint from a business on Amador Plaza claiming sales were severely impacted by the limited access created by the festival. In response, the City Council moved the Pasta Festival to the same location as the St. Patrick's Day Festival, on Amador Valley Boulevard between Regional Street and Donohue Drive. Although this location was well suited for St. Patrick's Day, which had 50% more booths, the Pasta Festival was smaller and appeared dwarfed by the space. The Pasta Festival also lacked a large main stage area and food court, which creates a central gathering place for those attending the Festival. During the St. Patrick's Day Festival both sides of the median as well as the south curb were lined with booths, which enclosed the festival grounds. Having an enclosed area makes the event more festive and less like a sidewalk sale. PUBLICITY Advertising for the festival consisted of newspaper, television and radio advertisements, posters, and flyers through the local schools. The Valley Times was the official newspaper sponsor for the festival and had agreed to produce a color tab section festival program to insert in the Valley Times and San Ramon Valley Times. One week prior to the event the newspaper informed Staff that Eckerstrom Productions had directed the newspaper not. to produce the tab section. The Production Company felt that festival- goers should wander the festival, rather than relying on an event program to show where stages, food, restaurants, restrooms and the like were located. In place of the tab section the Valley Times donated two full-color half-page ads that ran in all of the Contra Costa Newspapers. In addition several quarter-page ads were placed in the Valley Times and Tri-Valley Herald. The event posters were not hung until the weekend before the event due to a delay in printing. Instead of having radio sponsors, the production company heavily emphasized television advertisements placed with Bay Cable Advertising. These ads were run on cable networks such as Discovery Channel, A&E, ESPN and the Home & Garden Network. The prior year, GoodTimes had four radio sponsors and relied less on the Cable Advertising. Comments received by Staff and volunteers indicated that not many residents were aware of this year' s festival. VOLUNTEER PARTICIPATION In May 2000, the City sent letters to over 90 non-profit groups requesting groups to participate as volunteers or have a booth space at the Dublin Pasta Festival. Even with this amount of lead-time the Production Company did not begin scheduling the, volunteers until ten days prior to the event. Many groups complained that the Production Company did not communicate properly with volunteers and a majority indicated proper training was not received from the producer. Several volunteers also complained that there was no system to communicate with the operations staff at the festival when supplies or a break was needed. USE OF PRODUCTION COMPANY The City began using production companies to plan and operate the City's festivals in 1998. Since that time, Staff has worked with three different production companies: GoodTimes Promotions and Terry Pimsleur and Company for the St. Patrick's Day Festival and GoodTimes Promotions and Eckerstrom Productions for the Pasta Festival. The original intent in using a production company was to increase the scale of City festivals and to reduce the impact on Staff time. It was also anticipated that using a professional production company would reduce the cost of the events to the City. Over the past three -3- years, Staff has found that production companies have excelled at securing sponsorships and in generally improving the quality of the art and craft vendors. However, they have not provided the level of customer service the City demands nor been effective at meeting timelines established by the City. Volunteer management has also been an ongoing problem with the'production companies. This may be because most production companies plan several events each year, which hinders their ability to be responsive to the individual needs of the City's festival. This leads to a lack of attention to detail and inability to meet deadlines. During the festival season companies tend to work event-to-event, focusing on one event at a time thus effecting sponsors, advertising, vendors, volunteers and general event logistics. FUTURE OF PASTA FESTIVAL The Dublin Pasta Festival is a struggling.event that has undergone significant changes over the past three years including two changes in location and one change in production companies. The poor performance of this year's festival combined with those changes may have a negative impact on future events. Typically a successful festival will experience an increase in attendance, booth sales and profitability each year. Over the past three years this has not been the case with the Pasta Festival. If the Festival is to continue and become as successful as the City's St. Patrick's Day Festival, there are a number of challenges that must be overcome. First, in order to have a successful "pasta" festival support and participation from local restaurants is needed or an alternate method of supplying pasta is needed. Many people come to festivals because of the type of food that is available; consequently, it is important that a variety ofpasta be served. An established location is also important. The location of the 1998 and 1999 Pasta Festival on Amador Plaza Road worked well for the festival. However, because there was a lack of merchant support, the Festival was moved to Amador Valley Boulevard in 2000. The Amador Valley Boulevard location works well for a festival because it does not land-lock any of the surrounding businesses. However the Pasta Festival is smaller than St. Patrick's Day and therefore the layout needs to be reconfigured to make the Pasta Festival feel bigger and more festive. Participation from art and craft vendors is also crucial to the success of a festival. The 2000 Pasta Festival drew more art and craft vendors, however due to the limited attendance and negative sales picture it may be difficult to generate participation of artists in the future. The results may be the same for commercial vendors. Booth sales are a large source of revenue from the event. Finally, in order for the festival to be financially successful cash sponsorships and in-kind donations are essential. Many sponsors determine which events to support based on the "cost per impression" of an event (cost of sponsorship divided by attendance). Therefore, lack of attendance may make it difficult to retain existing sponsors and sell new sponsorships. CONCLUSION If the Council chooses to continue the City's sponsorship of the Pasta Festival, Staff would not recommend that the City continue to contract with Eckerstrom Productions. While Eckerstrom Productions has a reputation for producing successful art and wine festivals in other communities, their 'approach to festival management is not compatible with the needs of the Pasta Festival, particularly in the areas of restaurant participation, layout, beverage sales and volunteer management. Further, Staff would not recommend that the City solicit another production company for the following reasons: -4- · The City has received numerous complaints from vendors, media sponsors, local businesses and residents about all the production companies for not being responsive to sending applications or confirming participation. · The production companies have all had difficulty effectively recruiting, scheduling, training and supervising volunteers. · Production companies are independent contractors and have unique methods for producing and operating festivals. It has been pmblematic for the production companies to change their methods to meet the needs of the Pasta Festival. For example, Eckerstrom Productions primarily operates art and wine festivals where it is normal to require visitors to purchase a wine glass in order to purchase wine. Staff explained to the contractor that this would not be effective at the Pasta Festival. However, the contractor deemed it necessary to require the purchase of glassware in order to meet the event budget. · Due to these continued problems with the production companies, Staff is spending more time than should be expected supervising the work of the contractors. · Production companies plan several events each year, which hinders the contractor's ability to be responsive to the City's needs. · Production companies plan event-to-event, which reduces the amount of time spent planning the City's festival. No matter how much lead time was available the companies the City has worked with have waited to start a majority of the planning until four months before the event. This has lead to problems such as not being able to print all of the glassware with. an event logo and the inability to print a useful tab section. Instead of having a production company produce the entire festival, Staff recommends that the manner in which the Pasta Festival is planned and managed be changed. In order to ensure the event receives the attention needed to be successful, it is recommended that City Staff manage the overall planning and operation of the Pasta Festival and contract for specialty services. The City of San Ramon's successful Art & Wind Festival is managed in a similar way.' Under this plan, Staff recommends recruiting a temporary, part-time Community Events Coordinator to assist the Recreation Supervisor for Special Events with the planning and operation of the Pasta Festival. Staff would find independent contractors to coordinate the sales and management of the art and craft booths and to secure sponsors for the festival. Following is a table showing the responsibilities of the proposed planning team: Recreation Supervisor Community Event Artist Booth Sales Sponsorship For Special Events Coordinator Contractor Contractor 1. Overall event 1. Apply for permits. 1. Solicit and lease space to 1. Develop sponsorship · management 2. Coordinate commercial art and craft exhibitors. packages. 2. Negotiate and manage booth sales and free 2. Collect revenue for 2. Solicit and secure cash contracts for artist booth spaces for non-profits. booth sales and deposit sponsors, media sales and sponsorships. 3. Contract entertainment. to City. sponsors, beverage 3. Coordinate involvement 4. Implement parking and 3. Assign vendor spaces. sponsors, and in-kind of restaurants. transportation plan. 4. Prepare and mail donations. 14. Negotiate contracts for 5. Coordinate advance confirmations to art 3. Involve sponsors in use of private property. contact with affected exhibitors. event. 5. Design layout of festival. businesses. 5. Oversee art exhibitor 4. Collect sponsorships and 6. Design marketing 6. Coordinate equipment move-in and move-out. deposit with City. materials. rental and supply 6. Respond to art exhibitor 7. Recruit, train and requisition. needs and questions supervise operations 7. Recruit, train and before, during and after staff. supervise volunteers. the event. 8. Draft and distribute press releases. Using a combination of Staff and contractors would allow the City to plan an event that better meets' the needs of the community while still ensuring that the City is successful at attracting quality artists and the necessary sponsors. If the City Council is in favor of producing the festival us!ng a combination of Staff and independent contractors, Staff will develop a work plan and budget for consideration by the Council at a subsequent meeting. RECOMMENDATION It is Staff's recommendation that the City Council receive the Staff report and provide input on the 2000 Dublin Pasta Festival. Further, it is recommended that the Council provide direction on the future of the Dublin Pasta Festival including: 1) the City's continued sponsorship of the Festival; 2) the preferred method of producing the Festival; and 3) the location of the Festival. -6-