2013 Final Wisconsin Farm Technology Days Report s1

2013 Final Wisconsin Farm Technology Days Report Barron County Sign Committee

Committee Overview The sign committee is responsible for transporting, storage, maintenance, upgrading signs and distribution and erection of signs as needed by other committees.

Committee Responsibilities 1. Arrangement of transporting twelve trams from previous show and storage of trams is also the sign committee’s responsibility.

2. Work with a sign company to create large sign identifying host farm and Farm Technology Days site.

3. The committee inventories upon receiving the sign trailer from the preceding county’s show.

4. Need a storage area of about 2,000 square feet. A work area for structuring, repairing and painting is desirable.

5. A budget must be completed and has to be submitted to the Executive Committee.

6. Responsible for processing and monitoring sign orders from FTD committees.

7. Responsible for putting up and taking signs down. Note: Traffic Committee works with the County Highway Dept. to put up and take down highway signs due to specific regulations of the DOT.

8. Responsible for putting up and taking down flag pole at FTD headquarters trailer. Committee Structure

Committee Chair and Co-Chair (If desired) 1. Recruit 5-6 core committee members and an additional 4-5 volunteers to assist in putting up and taking down signs. 2. A representative from the sign committee should act as an intermediary between the other FTD committees and the sign company to process all sign orders. 3. Hold 2-3 formal committee meetings with 1st meeting in late fall or early winter to outline committee responsibilities. Second meeting in early spring to provide progress report of FTD. Final meeting in early May to coordinate and organize the committee for the show.

Budget Chairman created budget using the 3 year avg. of sign committee expenses and added 20% contingency. The budget was more than adequate to meet the needs of the sign committee and the committee was able to use some of its budget to assist other committees on large sign purchases. The sign inventory is in good condition as the Barron Co. FTD committee replaced the main signs for the Agri-business tents, conservation tent, family living tent, beef and arena tents. The Portage County sign committee may want to replace the Arts and Crafts Tent signs. The street signs are in poor condition and should be replaced. The Portage County sign committee should work with WI FTD (Utilizing their budget) to get metal street signs made that would be more durable to use from show to show.

Timeline  One year prior to event o Recruit Committee Members o Attend previous county FTD show o Formally Organize the Sign Committee(August-October) o Complete sign inventory upon receiving the Sign Trailer  3-4 months prior to event o Host committee meeting to ramp up organization for execution of implementation plan for putting up and taking down signs o Work with other committees to finalize and place sign orders  2 weeks before the event o Install street signs  1 Week before the event o Install all signs on the grounds

 During Event o Maintain and make any necessary repairs to signs  1 Week after the show o Take down signs, complete inventory and load signs for transport

At the Show

Set Up: The sign committee started working on the grounds as soon as tent city was staked out. Two weeks prior to the show the street signs were installed. One week prior to the show all remaining signs were put up on the grounds. The sign committee worked closely with the grounds, traffic and tent city committees. Grounds committee: To secure equipment for use, Traffic committee: for installation of the traffic signs, and Tent City committee: For grounds layout to put up street and tent signs.

During the Show: Two committee members were on duty during the show to maintain signs and make any necessary repairs

Equipment Needed

 Skid Steer with auger to drill holes for posts  The use of an utility vehicle prior to and during the show  A pair of Two-Way Radios  Assortment of tools (Cordless Drills, Levels, Tape Measures, Hammers, Shovels, Post-hole Digger, Tamping Stick, Screws and Zip Ties)

Volunteers The Sign Committee ideally needs 8-10 volunteers to install the signs in a timely fashion. A Skid Steer Operator with an assistant to drill holes. Two crews of four are needed to install signs for the show. The committee can get by with fewer volunteers for tear down.

Additional thoughts for a successful Farm Technology Days show Things that we would’ve done differently include:

 Make contact with various committees on sign placement to improve the efficiency of installation of signs. Have the committees stakeout where the want the signs to be placed.

 The sign committee tried to share a UTV with other committees and found that we needed the UTV more than we anticipated. Make sure you have secured one for usage by the sign committee for the duration of the show.  The electrician allowed our committee to use his skid steer attachment to make a smaller hole for the 2 inch street sign posts. We found that it was ineffective and a 3-4 inch auger to drill the holes would’ve done a better job.

 Make sure to reinforce the posts with braces on the large donor sign displays to prevent the wind from creating problems.