Why Dodge City Events FAIL!

[Army_of_One]

Originally Posted by Bubba

What I was trying to say was that I was the type of person that they should have been attracting and I would have went, but I knew nothing about it before the event.

Gotcha Bubba...and your point is valid. Why is it that everything that Dodge CIty does is jacked up?

[TexKan]

Amazingly, I found that doing a promotion was kinda tough in Dodge. The Globe is outragous for advertising, flyers take manpower and often time - permits, signage is cheap but then ya gotta find store owners that will let you post AND place the lighted signs on wheels. The signs on wheels tho I found were the cheapest way to go. Radio is reasonalbe but if you don't know your "target audience" and which station they listen to - it's wasted money. In entertainment...... hell the whole town is a target audience. Then ya got that bilingual thing ya gotta cover. In Galveston they use banners that stretch across the main entry to Galveston....... they are net signage that advertise anything from college enrollment to West End Beach Parties. Those sign too are costly. Overall it can be tough to advertise a venue in Dodge - it does cost - that's why it's tough to bring big things toa small town. A small town can't support it - ya need surrounding towns to make it happen which is an added expense...... Just my humble "marketing " opinion

[Army_of_One]

Originally Posted by TexKan

Amazingly, I found that doing a promotion was kinda tough in Dodge. The Globe is outragous for advertising, flyers take manpower and often time - permits, signage is cheap but then ya gotta find store owners that will let you post AND place the lighted signs on wheels. The signs on wheels tho I found were the cheapest way to go. Radio is reasonalbe but if you don't know your "target audience" and which station they listen to - it's wasted money. In entertainment...... hell the whole town is a target audience. Then ya got that bilingual thing ya gotta cover. In Galveston they use banners that stretch across the main entry to Galveston....... they are net signage that advertise anything from college enrollment to West End Beach Parties. Those sign too are costly. Overall it can be tough to advertise a venue in Dodge - it does cost - that's why it's tough to bring big things toa small town. A small town can't support it - ya need surrounding towns to make it happen which is an added expense...... Just my humble "marketing " opinion

Of course it costs money to advertise radio, banners, tv etc...but that money should be returned in multiples by attendance to the event.

[TexKan]

doesn't always happen like that when your town is so fickle........ ya'll need to appeal to both cultures for success. I don't see that happnin there. People too pizzed off bout so many things. DC doesn't even come together to celebrate DC days. The attendence is variable depending on the event. Really big name entertainment requires really big promotions - DC doesn't "gel" enough on it's own to support those things. If you could draw in other surrounding towns but most the farmers in Ensign ain't gonna drive 13 miles to see a name head bangin band and you don't have the amount of head bangers to support such a thing by yourself. If you only have ONE type of event rather than a multicultural event - your gonna lose money. In the end it really is all about size....... ya'll don't have the population. That's why ya'll drive 150 miles for "top" entertainment. Wichita folks ain't gonna drive to you - they can get what they want and you help them continue to do so.

[lurker]

Originally Posted by TexKan

snip

In the end it really is all about size....... ya'll don't have the population. That's why ya'll drive 150 miles for "top" entertainment. Wichita folks ain't gonna drive to you - they can get what they want and you help them continue to do so.

You really don't believe we can attract Wichita folks to our new big barn?

Truth is, special events aren't sustainable economic development. Just ask Hutchinson about their golf event last summer. It attracted 100,000 visitors BUT their retail sales for that month were actually below the sales for the same month just a year before. A few years before that, Hutchinson hosted a women's golf event.... and that month's sales were also below their average.

IF we are truly wanting ecodevo, then we should spend our money wisely on recruiting industries that provide JOBS.

[TexKan]

Eco development will eventually bring any venue you want!

[Made in the USA]

Originally Posted by Bubba

What I was trying to say was that I was the type of person that they should have been attracting and I would have went, but I knew nothing about it before the event.

Happens rather frequently. And we are gonna build a SEC for what??

[Bubba]

Originally Posted by Monster

In fairness to the Civic Center, they did have the Kershaw concert on their illuminated display for about 2 weeks before the concert.

I guess I missed it then...

[dodgehighforeve]

Originally Posted by Bubba

I guess I missed it then...

FWIW, when I worked at the Civic Center, Highway Patrol events went like this. It was posted on the marquee, the artist, and when. Any calls we got, were told to call the local Highway Patrol headquarters. If you'd like to get on the HiPo's call list for tickets, you could probably call the local HQ to get on list, and they usually ran 25 dollars, and almost always came close to selling out. As for other events', they were always shown on the marquee for about 2 weeks prior. Advertising is of course, up to the promoter. Usually the best place to find out about it is on the radio, if it's someone local putting it on. Most concerts are put on by KJIL, and occasionally, but very seldom, are they put on by other stations.