Regional fair leaders meet at Harvest Ridge
Marla Calico, president and CEO of IAFE, speaking, and Jennifer Gieseke were two of several presenters during the IAFE meeting that took place at Harvest Ridge.
It’s fair to say the recent IAFE Zone 3 fair members who attended the recent meeting at Harvest Ridge left with plenty of wisdom to take back to their respective fairs.
The 2023 meeting of the members of International Association of Fairs & Expos Zone 3 convened at the Fairgrounds at Harvest Ridge, where dozens of members were invited to explore the fairgrounds and the community and to meet in person to help each other develop and grow their fairs and expos.
The group from IAFE Zone 3 includes members from Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and Ontario, Canada, so it is a widespread area in which fair and expo leadership members are invited to connect, learn and take back ideas to their home sites.
The IAFE members met at Harvest Ridge April 27-29, and while there was plenty to discuss and explore, the main theme of the event was RISE, which stands for reunite, inspire, support and educate.
Marla Calico, president and CEO of IAFE, said this event marks the return of the IAFE - The Network meeting in person following many years without being able to reconvene.
She said that opportunity to meet face to face is the best way to help develop relationships that help each other grow and improve their fairs and expos, with more than 1,000 state and county fairs and expos among its membership including fairs in Australia, England and Canada.
She said the IAFE logo includes the words “The Network” for good reason.
“We bring people together,” she said. “There’s nowhere you can go to school to learn how to run a county fair. It’s volunteers who make it happen, so our organization includes information, education and advocacy, but most importantly, it’s about friendships and connecting people.”
She said the last time the group had gotten together was in 2019 in Ontario, and even then, they met with Group 6. After struggling through the COVID era, Calico said she worked with Alicia Shoultz, assistant general manager and marketing public relations director with the Ohio State Fair, and others in hashing out details for the meeting.
Shoultz mentioned Harvest Ridge as an ideal meeting place because it is centrally located and offers a good bit of vision on the planning and execution of building a new fairground.
Calico said she was there for both the final fair at the old fairgrounds and the 2016 grand opening of the Holmes County Fair at Harvest Ridge and was excited to bring her group together there.
“I love this place, I love what they’re doing here and I love the community,” Calico said. “Our purpose is to get fair leadership together to hear about how Holmes County made this incredible facility a reality and how we can benefit from the ideas of our members and some knowledgeable people who can present unique ideas on how to grow and sustain fairs.”
Holmes County Senior Fair Board President Kerry Taylor and many of the local board members were eager to make this opportunity a lasting impression. Taylor was afforded time to explain how Harvest Ridge went from a flood-drenched land at the former fairground to the facility it is today.
“We were honored to be able to host this event here at Harvest Ridge,” Taylor said. “We’ve been a member since we moved here to Harvest Ridge in 2016. It’s a tremendous national organization, and this gives us a chance to show off our facilities here at the fairgrounds to other fair people from not only around Ohio, but in other states and even into Canada.”
He said the meeting also allows those visiting members to explore Amish Country and everything Holmes County has to offer, from restaurants and lodging to shopping in the antique and Amish communities.
He said the 70 attendees got to experience a slice of what Holmes County is all about, adding it also gave the Holmes County Senior Fair Board members a chance to glean new ways to entice people to attend and ways the board can improve its facilities and programs.
Topics the members heard ranged from digital ticketing for small fairs, to a presentation from IAFE chair Jennifer Gieseke and Calico on Thursday, April 27, to a breakfast and presentation from Taylor titled Building a Property from the Ground Up.
Other topics on Friday and Saturday included creating a revenue stream, working closely with volunteers from different generations, competitive exhibition programming, enhancing livestock auctions, training methods and team development, and attending the Martin & Lewis Tribute Show at the Amish Country Theater.
“There’s a lot to learn at the event that enhances our creative spirits,” Calico said.
She said while most of the presenters during the event were from Zone 3, one particular topic was highlighted as a keynote for each of the 18 different zone meetings. This year that was a presentation from Jessie McLaughlin from the Spokane, Washington County Fair.
She presented basic planning strategies and implementation techniques and best practices for competitive exhibits.
“It’s great conversations, great meals and plenty of ways we can learn to help each other develop and better our fairs,” Calico said. “We are so pleased with the response from all of our members and for the effort from the local folks here in Holmes County who create a wonderful event and make such an incredibly warm welcome to all of us.”
Calico said this event continues to be critical because each fair is only as strong as how they support each other. She said they want to lift all fair leadership up so fairs everywhere can grow and find success.