2016 Final Wisconsin Farm Technology Days Report

2016 Final Wisconsin Farm Technology Days Report Walworth County Hospitality Committee

Committee Overview The Hospitality Committee was responsible for the Exhibitor Lounge at the 2015 show in Dane County, staffing the information booths at the 2016 show, and arranging the mobility cart vendor.

Committee Responsibilities 2015 Show (Dane County) - Exhibitor Trailer  Choose bag and promotional items to be handed out to 2015 Exhibitors to encourage their continued participation in the show and promote the 2016 show location  Collected area Visitor’s Guides for inclusion in the bag  Stuffed bags with all materials, including a printed invitation to visit the Exhibitor Lounge as well as the vendor application (from Anna) for 2016  Bag distribution the first morning of the show  Staffing the Exhibitor Lounge with at least 2 people for the duration of the show  Selected food items to feature in the lounge, purchased those items and worked with lounge sponsors to welcome visitors and see to their needs.

Information Booths  Set up schedule for volunteers to work in the info booths (ideally 2 people per booth)  Designed info booth binder with information from the program as well as other information that may have been requested  Held an on-site training session (2) the week before the show for volunteers

Mobility Carts  Worked with Mark Lancaster at Vista Mobility to get a contract set up for mobility cart service at the show. 

Lodging Options & Hotel Room Blocks  Established courtesy room blocks at area hotels for Exhibitors a year before the show  Maintained a list of area hotels (those that would not do a room block) as other options for lodging  Worked with Farm Tech web master to keep the list updated online  Maintained a list of area campgrounds

Coupon Book  Worked with the Walworth County Visitor’s Bureau to put together a coupon book for area attractions. These were distributed in the Exhibitor Lounge and in Headquarters.

Committee Structure I kept the committee simple with myself as the committee chair and 4 key committee members to help with tasks as needed.

Budget

Proposed Actual Food and Beverage (for previous show) 2,000.00 1,351.91 Signs 200.00 - Gifts 7,000.00 5,947.39 Supplies and Materials 400.00 68.05 Miscellaneous 9,000.00 6,000.00 Volunteer Appreciation (post show events) 5,000.00 Exec. $23,600 $13,367.35

Food & Beverage – food and soda/water in Exhibitor Lounge Signs – no additional signs were needed Gifts – Vendor bags and printing of coupon book Supplies & Materials – Info booth binders Misc – Vista Mobility Contract

Sponsorships – Wisconsin Agri-Business Association & Farm Progress Companies each gave $500 toward the Exhibitor Lounge

Timeline After the fundraising committee, the hospitality committee is one of the first committee to get going, because your duties start a year prior to the other committees.  Three years prior to event o Recruit committee members, Co-Chairs o Start researching items for the exhibitor bags  Two years prior to event o Committee Budget was due in February o Make a point to attend at least one day of Farm Tech Days to see the event, see the exhibitor trailer, make contacts with current committee members, lounge sponsors etc. o Attend Tri-County Meeting in December o Begin search for mobility cart vendor o Submitted tent city request form  One year prior to event o Pick out what you’re putting in your vendor bags, have promotional materials printed/made for your bags o Make contact with mobility cart vendor and get a contract signed  A few Months before Farm Technology Days, Dane County o Plan what will be available in the exhibitor lounge for snacks o Recruit volunteers/committee members to work in exhibitor lounge and make a schedule for this o Plan out getting the exhibitor bags and all lounge items to the show o Touch base with Dane County Food Committee to establish how soda will be ordered, make sure there is a soda cooler ordered for the trailer; touch base with Dane County Hospitality to ensure ATV/UTV reservation o Attended Dane County ATV driving training session  2 Weeks Prior to Dane County Show o Place food orders for snacks in lounge o Assemble exhibitor bags, talk with Anna about getting the next year’s exhibitor application to place in the bags  At the Dane County Show o Transport all items needed to the show o Set up exhibitor lounge Monday before show o First morning of show – exhibitor bag distribution o Staff and supply exhibitor lounge for the 3 days of the show o Tear down and Clean up of the lounge on the last day of the show  Six months prior to event o Start recruiting volunteers/committee members to man the information booths o Attend ATV training for volunteers  Four to Six weeks before the event o Final scheduling of volunteers o Contacted Vista to make sure we were all on the same page o Submitted check requisition to treasurer to give to Vista Mobility on the first day, as contractually required o Attended Media Day o Assembled Info Booth binders o Printed out and laminated maps of tent city – one for each info booth o Final training of volunteers – did a few days before the show o Set up at the show  After event o Tear down tents and store them safely in the sign trailer o Make sure to clean up EVERYTHING from your area o Helped grounds crew for days afterward with garbage pick-up and removal

At the Show Set Up: The day before the show the final location of the pop-up tents was determined. The tents were set up half way (left as short as possible) with the legs anchored by cement blocks. Each booth had one table with a plastic tablecloth and two chairs. This was handled by two people and took about an hour, only due to the fact that three of the tents had not been set-up previously and required unpacking from the boxes and attaching of the canopy. The legal sized laminated maps of the show grounds were stapled to the tables.

Tent city was responsible for the set-up of the main information booth (located next to headquarters) as this booth was a Brigg’s tent (not a pop-up). Tent City was also responsible for setting up the tent for the mobility carts, just outside of tent city in the handicapped parking area.

Vista Mobility arrived mid-day on Monday. I made contact with them when they arrived to make sure they had everything they needed. I checked in with them every morning and at least once throughout the day to make sure they were content.

During the show: Two people staffed each of the five information booths in the morning and one or two people in the afternoon. Each booth also had a box of show programs. Show programs were also available at each entrance gate, but people inevitably don’t take or don’t see them when they walk in the gate and ask for one at the info booth.

Equipment Needed o 2 seat Gator – one for our use the day before the show for tent set-up; one for Kewaunee County’s use for bag distribution o Golf carts – o 1 – 2 seat for Kewaunee County use; o 1 – 4 seat for our use every day of the show o Radios – 7 (one per info booth, one for committee chair, one for exhibitor lounge) o Info Booths o 4 – 10x10 EZ Up Canopy Tents, 4 concrete blocks per Canopy o 1 – 10x10 tent from Briggs (Info booth by Headquarters) o 5 Tables, 10 chairs o Mobility Cart Tent o 20x20 Tent (ask Vista what size tent they would like) with sidewalls o Electrical hook-ups as requested by Vista Mobility o Exhibitor Lounge & Kewaunee County Tent o 10x20 Tent o 8 Tables, 20 Chairs o Two beverage coolers o 12’ by 60’ Trailer

Volunteers Exhibitor Gift Bag Distribution o Exhibitor Bag Assembly – 5-8 of us got together on an afternoon a few weeks before the show in my garage and assembled the bags. A few days before the show the bags were packed into a few pick-up trucks for transport up to the show. o Exhibitor Gift Bag Distribution – 15 to 20 people from the Executive Committee and Committee chairs were asked to volunteer and were more than happy to participate o Volunteers were asked to arrive at least an hour before the show. Bag distribution started at the time the show opened to maximize the number of exhibitors that we could personally talk with and invite to the 2016 show. Exhibitor Lounge o Two people plus myself at all times – again members of the Executive Committee and Committee chairs filled these volunteer spots almost immediately. o Shifts were split from show opening until noon, and noon until an hour after close; I made sure I was on grounds around 6 am every day of the show to ensure coffee was brewing and ready when exhibitors started arriving between 7 and 7:30. Information Booths o We pulled from the general volunteer application pool and selected people that we felt would be best suited in the information booths. A number of our County Farm Service Agency Office staff were assigned to the info booths. o Shifts were split for the day 8-1 and 12-5. The overlap allowed for passing off of information learned during the shift and allowed for lunch breaks for those volunteers that worked a full day. o Two training sessions were held on site the weekend before the show. Volunteers were asked to attend one of the sessions. The main items touched on were how to use the two-way radio, where to meet at the start of shift, and then going page by page through the binder to acquaint everyone with where to find information in the binder and show program.

Contacts: Vista Mobility Mark Lancaster – President/Managing Partner 3946 Windemere DR Colgate, WI 53017 Office: (262) 628-9655 Cell: (847) 927-3940 [email protected]

Farm Progress Companies Steve Keppy - Regional Sales Manager 2075 Sunset Drive Tomahawk, WI 54487 (715) 224-2103 [email protected]