Festivals and Economy Crisis by Jeroen Mourik Some industries are hit harder than others during times of recession. Although we may not like it, it seems that most festivals and events are or soon will be affected.
Of course your vulnerability very much depends on how your festival is financed. Festivals that heavily rely on ticket sales need to ask themselves if their target group has less buying power as a result of the economic situation. If, for example, you are dependent on ticket sales by students, you might not need to worry, since students don’t seem to be hit by this recession.
Chances are that when you are heavily relying on sponsorship and have to renew your contracts for next year’s festival, that you may find yourself hitting closed doors. “Sponsors that cut their budgets are making a big mistake…”, says Sylvia Allen an internationally renowned sponsorship specialist in our industry.
“… there have been three different studies since 1979 that discuss how companies fare when they cut marketing during a downturn or recession. The three are McGraw-Hill (1979-1980), Bain and Co. (1990-1991) and McKinsey and Co. (2000-2001). All three discovered that companies and organizations that cut their marketing and sales budgets during an economic downturn came out of the recession with not only reduced market share but had to double their marketing efforts to come back to where they were! Conversely, companies that continued their marketing efforts came out of that economic climate with increased market share. This is really common sense but sometimes it needs to be reinforced through research.” Sylvia Allen continues.
Festivals that heavily rely on contributions from their government may also face budget cuts. I recently was informed about a city council in Belgium that scrapped a few festivals and events from their calendar, due to lack of funds. Yet another city council, in the USA, was considering budget cuts, despite the fact that they had plenty of allocated funds. They simple felt it was inappropriate to splash out as usual on their civic events.
Yet, if we remember that most festivals and public events are an important impulse to the (local) economy, you would expect the opposite. Whilst banks and important large companies are being saved by governments, many festivals generating millions of cash for their communities deserve the same treatment.
Most festivals face rising production costs. However, cutting budgets is challenging as the audiences are getting more and more demanding and competition is fierce.Even if you are still selling out and have your sponsorships in place, you might run into difficulty. All you need is an important supplier that is crippled by the recession and you have a problem.
Another example is the effect the economy has on currency exchange rates. Recently concert promoters in Australia had to cancel large tours and gigs by international artists, simply because the exchange rate between the buyer’s currency and the seller made it no longer viable.
Whatever your position, the recent dramatic changes might demand some adjustments in your strategic management. It is therefore advisable to revisit your event’s SWOT-analyses and anticipate different scenarios as well as perhaps cash in on the current situation.
‘1001 Actions for Dialogue’ is a major international campaign which sets out to create a mass mobilization of people and actions across thirty seven countries, all focused on the aim to know the ‘other’.
The ‘1001 Actions’ campaign is being launched by the Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation countdown to 2008, the EU Year of Intercultural Dialogue, and builds on the Foundation’s unique role as a network of thirty seven national networks of diverse civil society organizations.
Guardian: “Americans are used to pawning the silverware for a couple of tickets to the Super Bowl or the upcoming World Series, but $3,500 (£1,720) for a performance of Shakespeare?”
Newseditor from Arts Professional says: “This appears to not be a one-off freak thing either, with the G reporting that online retailers Stubhub and Gotickets are offering tickets for similar prices.”
ts.com who know a thing or two about ticketing systems will be presenting the ts Express. Launched earlier this year and already hugely popular, ts Express allows event organisers and musicians to sell online tickets for free. Its the no hassle solution to ticketing.
The Inaugural IFFS Excellence Awards will be presented at the December program and for the first time, will honor and pay tribute to the dedicated professionals and executives managing film festivals. Festivals continue to provide a vital intersection where the major stakeholders in the entertainment industry converge. For decades the tireless work of the film festival professional has made monumental impacts on the industry for individual filmmakers, buyers, sellers, and countless organizations involved in entertainment.
There are three categories each containing two awards. The categories are for International, National and Regional film festivals, and the two awards presented in each category are the Director Award and Professional Award. A total of six awards will be presented in December.
Nominations can be made online at the IFFS website and must be completed in their entirety. The deadline for entries is October 30th 2007.
Last week at IFEA’s 52nd Annual Convention & Expo in Atlanta, it was the first opportunity for IFEA members to come face to face with the brain behind www.powersponsorship.com.
Jeroen Mourik attended the seminar by Kim Skildum-Reid and wrote a review.
news {at} ifeaeurope(.)com received a kind email asking attention for the work of photographer Lois Greenfield. If you have a moment, you won’t regret checking out the galleries of photos at this site.
Following this email. we are now seeking stories, examples, case-studies on photography in relation to festivals for a future article on www.ifeaeurope.com/news/
“I am involved in a number of networks related to Street Arts and Festivals. Each network has something different to offer but there is actually very little overlap between those networks.Either because they each focus on other elements or when they do discuss the same subjects, each network presents different experts on those subjects and looks at it from different angles; which is amazingly interesting.
With each network I get to know different people, but sometimes it could be great to let them meet and take the best of each network’s experience.”
Floriane Gaber, Freelance Researcher and Journalist (France).
The ‘1001 Actions’ campaign is being launched by the Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation countdown to 2008, the EU Year of Intercultural Dialogue, and builds on the Foundation’s unique role as a network of thirty seven national networks of diverse civil society organizations.