1/10/07

Contact: Mitch Emmons, (334) 844-3881 (emmonmb@auburn.edu), or
Mike Clardy, (334) 844-3881 (clardch@auburn.edu)

AUBURN UNIVERSITY TO HOST COMMUNITY FESTIVALS WORKSHOP

AUBURN - The Auburn Technical Assistance Center will hold a one-day workshop, Friday, Jan. 26, on how to organize and conduct successful community festivals. The workshop will be held at the Hotel at Auburn University and Dixon Conference Center and will feature experts on planning and managing community events.

“This is our seventh annual Community Festivals Best Practices Workshop, and again we have developed a slate of very knowledgeable and experienced speakers for this event,” said ATAC Director Henry Burdg. “Whether you are new to community festivals, or an experienced veteran, this event will provide you with new insights into the best festival practices used by event planners nationally.”

Sessions include strategies and tactics for attracting attendance, obtaining no-cost event publicity, promotion, working with limited budgets, building and fostering a reputation for the event and planning the right type of event for your location.

A session on the economic impact of community festivals will include a roundtable discussion directed by Carolyn Morris, regional director for the International Festival and Events Association.

Other presenters include L. Wright Tilley, president and chief executive officer with the Macon, Ga. International Cherry Blossom Festival; Patti Culp, executive director of the Alabama Travel Council; John Wild, president, Auburn-Opelika Tourism Bureau; Lee Sentell, director, Alabama Bureau of Tourism and Travel and Kathy Danielson, executive director, Foley Convention and Visitors Bureau.

“Community festivals are estimated to be a more than $25 billion economic engine nationally, attracting a combined attendance of more the 405 million people every year,” Burdg said. “Our best practices workshop is designed to provide festival planners with tools and information and the ‘how to’ to make their event as successful as it can be.”

The Community Festivals Best Practices Workshop is co-sponsored by the ATAC and the U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration. A registration fee of $125 per person includes the seminars, workshop materials and lunch. The pre-registration deadline is Friday, Jan. 12.

Register online at www.atn.auburn.edu , toll free at 1 (800)-446-0386, or by contacting Talitha Norris by email (talitha@business.auburn.edu) or phone (334) 844-3885.

Auburn Technical Assistance Center was established in 1976 and is an affiliate of the Alabama Technology Network and an Economic Development Administration University Center. As an arm of the Auburn University College of Business Outreach program, ATAC provides business and technical assistance, customized training, and consultation in implementing value-added strategies to manufacturers and other businesses, not-for-profit organizations and government agencies in Alabama and the Southeast.

(Contributed by Mitch Emmons.)

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Auburn University is a comprehensive research institution with more than 23,000 students and 6,500 faculty and staff. Ranked among the top 50 public universities nationally, Auburn offers more than 230 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degree programs.

jan07:AU-festivalworkshop