Spotlight on Associates 7 Ways Grounds Entertainment Can Make


Your Event A Huge Success By Samuel Lee Bowman


Awesome grounds entertainment is a powerful force that can


elevate your event from average to spectacular. Great grounds entertainment can draw sponsor dollars, increase attendance and create more spending on grounds. You know you need to provide entertainment, but the question is, are you making the most of your entertainment investment? Here’s seven benefits that can make your grounds entertain-


ment an investment that will pay big dividends for your event. 1 - Free Publicity Great grounds acts draw


traffic to your event with free publicity. The outstanding acts have personal interest stories and press releases that give your local media something they can work with to create great press for you. A lot of the acts have awe- some stories about life on the road, or how they got started. When you tell their story you tell your story. Great stories give the media something to talk about. Often grounds acts are not nationally well known like your big


grandstand acts, but they can generate the same if you treat them like they are big time acts. If they make a strong appearance in you local media people will think they are big time and will be im- pressed, even if they have not heard of them before. When interviewing grounds acts ask if they have personal inter-


est stories, press releases, photos, or interesting articles that will make great press. We provide not only press on our show, but we provide articles that address issues of concern to seniors and grandparents. These informative articles give the media the story they need to attract readers, but will also serve as great publicity for you. Free publicity is as impactful as paid advertising if you promote your acts correctly to the media. Resource: Make sure and download our five secrets to getting


your media to give you more free advertising. 2 - Pizazz Usually grounds acts are not nationally known names, but you


can make them look that way to your public by giv- ing them a lot of pizazz in your fair book and in your advertising. Don’t just say “See the puppet show”, say “See the hilarious Granpa Cratchet show as seen on the Today Show and Entertainment to- night.” (All true hype, of course). Create great headlines for your acts and get professional help to


make your advertising have pizazz: add confetti, stars and ban- ners, lots of creativity and color to your presentation of your acts and more people will come. Create crazy, spectacular headlines. You are in show business, so put on a show in your fliers, your fair book and in your media! Resource: Download our article, six ways to create more pizazz


in your advertising. 3 - Free Advertising So you’ve heard it said the best advertising is word of mouth.


How true that is and your great grounds acts can deliver word of mouth big time. When you choose a great grounds act you give your audience something to go home and talk about. People love


60


to boast to other people about what they have seen and heard. You always talk about that great movie you saw last weekend. Peo- ple will talk about the great enter- tainment they saw at your event. In today’s modern world, word of


mouth means social media. If they see a great show on your grounds they will post photos and videos all over social media right away. A great grounds act has built into it opportunities for photos and comments that work well on social media like Facebook and Twitter. Every day a hundred happy parents will take a photo of their


child with Granpa, or their favorite animal, or a huggable costume character. Have a Jr. fair board volunteer (a teen or tween is great for this one) roam your grounds looking for photo ops and posting on social media. Still, a great grounds act sends kids and adults alike going home and blabbing to their friends about what they saw at the fair, if you have stacked it with great entertainment. Resource: Download ten ways to create more word of mouth for


your event, available at granpablog.com 4 - Atmosphere Atmosphere is everything when you are in show business, and


the fair business is show business. A great grounds act will create noise; music, laughter and applause on your grounds. I love it when a brass band marches through the grounds playing a John Phillips Sou- sa Song. I love The Sidewalk Stompers, a small group of clowns that make a small, totally wacky brass band that really knows how to have fun and swing through a song. They create great atmosphere! Comedian jugglers, crazy clowns, stilt walkers, and lions roaring all contribute to the atmosphere that


makes things happen for your event. You are competing with Dis- ney. When you make your event feel like Disneyland, you win. When people smile, have fun and feel great, and feel like they’re getting their money’s worth, they loosen up and give more of their money to your venders which generates revenue for you. Resource: Get our list of great booking agencies that make it


their job to provide the very best in atmosphere creating entertain- ment. Great grounds acts make impact for your sponsors with signs


and banners and live mention during their shows. Matching spon- sors to acts, like pet food or a pet store to an animal act is the way to go. Over the years we have watched who sponsors our show and have created story lines that work well with different types of local merchants such as hardware stores (Granpa’s General Store) or insurance agencies (Our Safety First theme show), waste management companies with our Take the Garbage Out themed show, and home improvement companies love our Granpa’s Farm- house show. Don’t forget to have your act mention your sponsor when they announce


their


shows over your PA. You’ll want to


make sure press releases and per- sonal interest stories include a tie-in to your sponsors, which every professional


grounds act should have. (Continued on next page) FAIRCRACKER-SUMMER 2018


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72