I received compelling information this morning that individuals spread rumours the Newark Show had been cancelled. If this is accurate: The damage was to the Community not to LizianEvents. There will always be misguided individuals who feel threatened by change. My comment is this ‘I have no question if this is accurate, the children who do this are not helping those they are attempting to support.’ It is of little use, continuing to talk about our children policy etc, in the hope it will effect LizianEvents. I doubt other organisers care more than a fig for what we do and there is no doubt in my mind another organiser would not make these comments. Individuals cannot and will not affect the progress of our endeavours.
Number of Visitors:
The show was attended by 184 visitors on Saturday and 171 on Sunday a total of 355 people. Our target was double this figure. This target figure was based on FACTUAL attendance figures supplied by the previous organisers. The Newark Show rarely achieved figures of 1000 attendees in total. I have no interest in those of you who believe me to be lying about the historical numbers. I am acutely aware of ALL previous attendance figures. If you are in dispute of this statement, don’t hide behind a veil, speak to me and make yourself public. And if you wish me to hit with hard and truthful historical attendance figures I will do so. One thing the reader can be confident of, LizianEvents will always publish correct attendance figures.
My projection came well below expectations:
On Sunday Liz and I distributed a circular to all of the Community. The content of the circular demonstrated we would not shirk the responsibility toward our Community. I walked the floor most of the weekend and watched and listened. Here are my clear replies to inaccurate rumours and direct questions. It seems to me a rumour becomes worthless if there is strength to talk through the concerns.
I will answer the most important points:
We did not advertise in newspapers. To place an advertisement at £330 per insertion seems to be madness in a time when people no longer buy local papers. The figures do not add up. I suggest you read our original thoughts on this subject in an early post and you will see a clear indication of our thoughts in the essay. It pays to read the ‘Events News’ because the evidence of our intent is within the posts.
There are clear reasons we do not use A.A road signs. We will not utilise A.A roads signs.
We most certainly did have banners approaching the venue. Keith suggested we used different and more vibrant colours. The new banners were ordered today. Thank You, Keith.
For the first time, the main A46 A frame owned by the show-ground displayed the event for six weeks.
We distributed over 6000 A6 flyers.
We posted out 1000 direct mail postcards.
The intensive social media totalled 50000+ (Yes 50K) FaceBook reach which was both Paid and Organic.
39% of our community shared the posts.
Liz personally visited many local businesses with flyers.
The question of our media accessibility was challenged so this MUST be addressed:
Our website and WordPress site are FULLY compliant and accessible on – phone, tablet and desktop. I attend the WordPress group at Hallam University, the lessons learned about W.P at this group are definitive. There are NO glitches in this WordPress site. It is Akismet protected; spam is not a problem. By the way, WordPress has a 28% dominance of the internet; it would not be trusted by 100’s of world status businesses. The SiteJam Platform (lizianevents.com) is also FULLY compliant. We chose to keep our platforms simple and relatively image free. It is ‘proven’ lightning speed, and clear visibility is preferable to image heavy and dramatic sites. The ‘disability’ protocols are fully acknowledged. By the way: our Lion Emblem signifies strength and courage, something which is necessary when significant changes are being made.
So What happened?
My conclusion is: legacy and timescale have to be primary considerations. You can be sure of one thing; we will double the effort to make our shows a success. And we will be relentless in our pursuit of achieving the goal of being the best Community Driven event in the country. I am not writing the ‘Best Show or Event’ you can keep that idea, the intent is to be the best ‘Community Driven’ events. Incidentally, we are not a family; families tend to argue. We are a Community and Communities work to a common goal. I keep extensive records and screenshots of all and everything concerned about our business. I’m proud our Communities endeavours enable the significant changes to work. The call to form a Community, the following of our principal ideas, the support of the Lizian News which is truly A FIRST. These are factually lamplighter actions, all who follow and copy our work, promote US and all who disparage and demean our work strengthen us. And I thank you for embellishing the process.
However, if we are to form a Community, the goal has to be defined. Not only this, there needs to be a guideline of rules to work to, and sometimes rigorous enforcement has to be followed. This weekend we sadly said permeant good-bye’s to two exhibitors (note: I do not use the word community). This comment provides an opportunity to remind the Community about our rules on incense sticks. We do not allow them to be burned at our Shows. I received a complaint about incense sticks being burned; please abide by our rules. I do not wish to cause conflict; please respect the guidelines.
I remind you we worked as stall holders for nearly two decades. Gossip and mischievous banter have always been part of the equation. Allow me to suggest the best events we attended were ruined by the organiser being unable to deal with the damage caused by inaccurate or false information. Liz and I will never allow this to occur. Nearly two decades of experience allows me to comment on another source of damage: I call it ‘wandering’. When shows were ‘slow’ I never left my table, the reason being, I paid plenty of money for my table, and there was no way I would miss an opportunity to meet a new client. Even if the event is slow, dig deep into your ‘Being’ and stick it out. Keep a smile on your face and show the world how professional you are. You see, after years of attending shows, the problem for me is, when visitors see the empty stall, the empty stall says ‘I’m not focused, I have given up.’ Do not underestimate this observation. Learn from the Community members who never leave their stall, they are the ones who cover their overheads, make a profit and embellish the Community idea.
The above is the boring part – my comments demonstrate I refuse to ignore issues which require explanation.
Now the most important comments:
Liz, Sue, Alex and myself spoke to many of the visitors. Without exception, everyone loved what the Community has created. There may have been fewer visitors than desired. However, the appreciation for the work and efforts of our Community could not be questioned. Time after time, statements were: –
‘Thank-you, I’ll see you at Lincoln’
‘I’ve had a fantastic day’
‘I’ll certainly return’
And the very best ‘You have an incredible mix of people here’
Liz and I put together a Show. It is the Community who produced these comments: The Community is the source of the appreciation, not LizianEvents the organisers, the Community is the Show. We never doubt it, not for one second.
Under severe conditions, the Community has left deep and long-lasting memories with every visitor. You can be sure of this, the memory of your achievements is a monumental stepping stone on our journey. I spoke to Erick Henderson, a man I respect and admire. I asked him for his opinion ‘I think the turnout is expected. Give it another two shows, and it will be an excellent event.’ High praise from the master. Thank you, Erick, your words healed a few wounds on Saturday morning.
I will leave this post at this marker and finish my appraisal of the Communities first Newark Well Being Show tomorrow.
Ian Timothy