OABA NEWS UPDATE …………………….by Bob Johnson, OABA President Important Challenges Fairs & Carnivals Face
At the end of April the IAFE held the combined Zone 1 & 2 edu-
cational meetings, in Springfield, Massachusetts, hosted by the Eastern States Exposition and the Big E. Over 350 participants from fairs representing the Northeast and Southeast actively par- ticipated to earn CFE educational credits and hear from industry experts on a variety of topics and motivational speakers. Even the local federal congressman showed up for the opening break- fast and briefing on Washington politics. I was asked, along with my counterpart, Jim Tucker President &
CEO of the IAFE, Dominic Vivona, Jr. Chairman of the OABA with Amusements of America, and Bob Grems the General Manager of the Dutchess County Fair in Rhinebeck, NY to participate in a keynote luncheon panel discussion about the future of carnivals and fairs, given the challenges we all face today. Wayne McCary President of the Eastern States Exposition and
Big E moderated the panel, who was the OABA‘s Chairman last year as well as being the former Chair of the IAFE and Hall of Fame recipient. McCary began his introduction and overview of the challenges
carnivals are facing with respect to labor and overhead. They include foreign labor, wage/hour compliance, midway operating hours and the number of rides carnivals are currently providing to fairs. McCary emphasized to the audience that unless the con- versation between fairs and their carnival operators starts now, the current income streams to fairs could be radically altered in the future. Bob Grems discussed the positive gains that both the IAFE and
OABA have had on their respective memberships and the strengthened ties between fairs and carnivals, given the Attorney General‘s investigation and settlement with a carnival in New York State regarding payment of wages, living and working conditions. He applauded the OABA for working with the NYSAAF and their lobbyists on mutual issues for the betterment of the industry.
Dominic Vivona, Jr. talked about the specific challenges the
carnival industry is facing and then focused his presentation on the research conducted by the Minnesota State Fair. He empha- sized McCary‘s comments that fairs and carnivals must have frank discussions about operating hours, number of rides provided and other conditions when contract renewal time comes around. Some key data Vivona presented from the Minnesota State Fair
was in respect to carnival efficiency and the fact that in 2009 the top, 15 grossing rides provided 46% of the overall ride gross! In addition, the research suggested that there is room to adjust the operating hours of the midway when this research showed that during a six (6) day sample, that the bulk of the hourly ride sales took place between 2 PM in the afternoon to Midnight. Bob Johnson then talked about the OABA‘s Quality Assessment
audit program and Circle of Excellence recognition and how this has recognized outstanding carnival operators and helped the fair industry select some the highest quality carnivals. He discussed legislative and regulatory issues affecting carnivals in these two Zones and States and thanked the State Fair Associations for working with the OABA for mutual benefits in the future. And finally, Jim Tucker suggested ways fairs should prepare
themselves for the future and gave an overview of the legal issues in the wage/hour arena that both fairs and carnivals should know. He talked about class action challenges that carnivals could face regarding their labor issues and the ramifications of the media getting a hold of this information and challenging fairs. Tucker reiterated that education at these conferences and provided by both the IAFE and OABA and our Alliance Partners should be top of mind with fair management, carnival owners and concession- aires.
Copies of the power point presentations during this educa-
tional session may be obtained by contacting the OABA at
oaba@aol.com.
Liz Gregory Talent Agency A Ful
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