Food planning events: Tips for organizing community food planning events

Food planning events; how to make it? Given that the Taste of Chicago first started in 1980, the organizers of the Taste have a lot of experience in organizing a community food festival. The Mayor’s Office of Special Events manages the program and oversees planning and execution. Its administrators offer advice for those creating a similar celebration for the first time or adding a programming language to an existing festival.

The executive director is the person who manages the various festival elements.

Mary Slowik, executive director of Taste of Chicago, offers the following suggestions:

 Holiday Court Tips

• Know your audience and decide if they want a celebration.
• If a similar program exists, avoid duplication.
• Get buy-in on where you want to hold the event.
• Regarding programming for a public audience event.
• Make sure the space can accommodate the crowd.
• Make certain sellers can see the agent tie.
• Create a budget and get a quote from a reputable company.
• If this is your first event planning, hire an outside salesperson.

 Festival Stage Consultants Tips

Operations Manager oversees the preparation, workplace and production, event support, and security.

 John Truck, director of operations for Taste of Chicago for the past 19 years, advises the following:

• Festivals need to work with people, so be prepared to be dynamic and fluid.
• More sure you get good equipment at a reasonable price.
• Make sure you rent a built-up sales center and scaffolding.
• Get quotes and check the history of all sellers, including references.
• Keep standards high and make sure everything is under control.
• Meet with vendors daily on schedule to manage work schedule.
• Be true to your word; vendors, performers, and food people will come back and work with you.

03 – Recommendations for management incentive policies

A Sponsorship Manager is a person who works to get marketing dollars to support the event.

Christine Jacob, support manager for Taste, offers the following advice:

• Research similar events elsewhere and replicate their success.
• Sponsors aim to provide monetary, product, and advertising value.
• Create a demo event category.
• Create key sponsorship codes (i.e., auto, financial, beverage, media, etc.).
• Create grant categories for each of the programming areas.
• Do not allow sponsors to roam the premises during the event.
• Specify the claimant’s requirements early, such as electricity, water, etc. And report to the operations team to determine the best locations.

 Festival Concerts / Talent Management Tips

The talent manager is the person who negotiates to bring the performers to the festival.

Jenenne Brown Mosely, talent manager for Taste of Chicago, offers the following advice:

• Know your budget: prominent name artists can be between $ 500,000 and $ 1 million for 60-90 minutes.
• Don’t stick to one artist for a multi-day event.
• Work closely with your media sponsor to help offset costs.
• Negotiate with artists who may be in the area around your event.
• Let the talent know if you’re offering their gig as a free show (may reduce fee).
• We partner with sponsors, such as airlines and hotels, to offset artist costs.
• An excellent name for the opening, middle, and final days.

Community Food Planning Events

Tips for marketing management at the festival

A marketing manager is a person who manages all communications related to a festival.

Cindy Gatziolis, Marketing Director of Taste, points out the following:

• Media partners will help you reduce your need for advertising costs.
• Incorporate celebration into existing advertising, public relations, and marketing campaigns.
• Event brochure printing production time will help run the festival holidays.
• Create unique press releases on all production segments for the festival.