Jerry in IN, This is a great question and something with which most of us struggle. I would agree with everything that folks have suggested so far. For an annual show to break even or make a bit of money, takes thoughtful planning. Our society here in Columbus, Ohio has an annual show and two "mini-shows" each year. Up until about five (?) years ago, our annual show was held in a mall. A change in mall ownership resulted in the new owners requesting a fee from the society for holding the show. There was also discussion of the mall retaining a percentage of the income from the vendors. At that point, we decided to move the show to a large conservatory (free) in the center of town. This was not done without some trepidation and controversy within the society, lots of discussion and concern - the mall was open longer hours and typically had more foot traffic than we estimated we would see at the conservatory. The thinking was that we were more likely to have "plant" people stumble across the show at the conservatory than we would in a mall. The conservatory site worked out very well and we have had a number of instances when our show coincided with large events at the conservatory (special exhibits, weddings, etc.). From the feed-back we have gotten from our vendors, most seem very pleased with our newer venue and the way the shows are organized.
However, not every society is fortunate enough to have a venue that is free or low cost. As others have said, you need to look at where your expenses are, minimize those, and if needed increase sources of revenue to balance your costs. Your primary revenue is likely the sale of vendors' tables. Don't invite too many vendors as the sales may drop (only so many dollars walk in the doors) in which case you may have trouble getting vendors in the future. Check with other societies in the region to see what is being charged of vendors - it may be you aren't charging enough. Some shows charge an entrance fee, but I am not crazy about that approach and I think this only works if you have a large enough population to draw from and your costs really are high. Sometimes we raffle off plants, orchid books, and supplies as a fun way to bring in a little more money. Costs include advertising, trophies, judges' luncheon, ribbons, rental of table cloths, etc. Most societies maintain a hospitality room with food and drinks for the judges and volunteers. The food can be made and donated by your society members. We have tried to cut back on the cost of the judges' luncheon by doing something a bit more modest than in the past. On advertising, one of the best things you can do is develop and maintain a mailing list of people who come to the show (have a sign-up sheet for mailing notices of upcoming events). At our fall and spring "mini-shows", we usually purchase a large group of blooming orchids from a vendor or two and sell those along with plants from our members' collections (don't do this at your annual show - you don't want to compete with your vendors). This is a great opportunity to develop your mailing list - these are people who not only come to shows, but are interested enough that they have actually purchased plants. A nicely done post card a couple of weeks before a show is a great way to bring in a crowd if your mailing list is large enough. We have had a tradition of giving each of our judges a coupon for plant purchases. This is a token of our appreciation for the judges' work and helps add to the vendors' sales a bit. At the end of the show, the vendors turn these in and our society reimburses the vendors for the value of the coupons. So this is another cost that we incur. We generally try to minimize advertising, but do try to encourage the gardening editor of the local paper to do a big write-up (usually a very hard thing to achieve). Actually, this is a good thing to do any time in order to get word of your society out and attract new members. Good luck with your show - what city are you in? Will put mention of it in our newsletter. Tom Bell-Games -------------------------------------------------------- Note: These electronic documents are provided by Burgess & Niple (B&N) as a convenience to our clients. * The official document is available as a manually signed, initialed, or sealed hard copy. If there is a discrepancy between electronic files and the hard copies, the hard copies shall prevail. * It is our professional opinion that this electronic information provides information current as of the date of its release. Any use of this information is at the sole risk and liability of the user. The user is responsible for updating information to reflect any changes in the information following the preparation date of this transmittal. The delivery of this information in electronic format is for the benefit of the owner for whom the services have been performed. Nothing in the transfer should be construed to provide any right to third parties to rely on the information provided, or that the use of this information implies the review and approval of Burgess & Niple. _______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
