I have always been extremely interested in the great outdoors. My goal is to one day work at a resort area, as I have previously stated. I had a connection in Nashville and got to volunteer my time at the Nashville Boat Show. I feel like all events contribute to the community by helping to bridge gaps between young and old alike. Events such as these are ones that will bring families together for a great, carefree weekend adventure.
Laura Page
February 28, 2005
I recently volunteered to work at the Nashville Boat and Sports show. I had previously attended the event two years back, and then I went for my second time just last month. It’s a great family experience for people that own boats or sporting equipment that are looking into buying them. It’s also just a good reason to get out of the house and look at big, expensive boats! They have all different kinds of boats and outdoor equipment that you can look at or purchase. They also have all different types of venues that you can go to and register for things such as free trips and other sorts of prizes.
Target Audience
The boat show mainly targets people interested in looking or buying the boats and equipment. There is a wide range of people that go. Since it is family oriented, there are adults, children, even the elderly attend to see that spectacular sites. Even though it is a family oriented event, I think it could be targeted a little more towards females. Since most of the boating venues and outdoor sporting venues revolve around males, I think it should be taken a little more into consideration that women like to take part in activities such as these just as much as men do, and they should target women just as much as the men.
Purpose for the Event
The boat show was created for the sole purpose that the companies that manufacture the boats, ATVs, and all the other fishing and outdoors equipment want to get their products out there for the public to see. They want the consumer to see their product and they want them to buy it as well. I think their objectives were right on target. At the show, it was easy to distinguish between the different manufactures and it was also easy, as a female that doesn’t deal with many of these types of things, to understand how a lot of the boating and fishing equipment worked. The workers were extremely helpful in helping confusing minds like my own understand how such equipment works.
Location
The Nashville Boat and Sports Show are held annually at the Convention Center in downtown Nashville. I think this is a brilliant location for the show. It’s at a central location that most everyone around the area is familiar with. It’s an accessible place for people from all over Middle Tennessee to come to. One problem I did take notice to was lack of parking. Parking is always an issue when you are in a small concentrated area. Reading through our notebook one of the statements made about location was, “Is there parking and good handicapped accessibility? Remember, anything that poses an obstacle to your guests detracts from whatever you’re trying to accomplish.” (ORCO 3250 Notebook Pg. 63) With this brought to my attention I understand that even though it was held in downtown Nashville, parking still should have been taken into consideration. A suggestion would be that since you have to use the convention center designed for the much needed space for the gigantic boats, you could work something out with the city that after normal work hours the parking
-lots around the convention center would be reserved for attendees of this event.
Food and Entertainment
The first year I attended there were town concession stands with a variety of food to choose from. This year, there weren’t any concession stands with food; only drinks. After trying to have food at this event in previous years, they might have found it to be more rewarding to just serve drinks instead. I could see a definite problem with having food near all the new, clean boats and equipment. I think a remedy for this problem would be to set up a stand away from the boats and make sure no food is taken into the showrooms where the boats are being held. As for the entertainment, just going to see all the extravagant boats is entertaining to me. Looking at all the new boats is the fun part. The boat show did really good with the entertainment this year. They brought in Master Bass fisherman, hunting and retrieving dog trainers, and people to help teach kids how to cast the fishing poles. They also brought in Crunch. Crunch is a 165-pound Alligator Snapping Turtle that is estimated to be over 200 years old. The entertainment that was planned this year was by far better than the first year I attended, so maybe someone did his or her homework!
Event Evaluation
“Whether your event was a gigantic success or you need to seriously consider if you should attempt a major gala again, a review and critique of your event can provide you with valuable information that can be extremely helpful in both decision making and to apply future events.” (ORCO 3250 notebook Pg. 63) When you walk in to the event you have to fill out some sort of comment card. It asks you simple questions such as; have you ever attended before, or do you normally attend event such as these on a regular basis. It’s some type of card that the event planners obviously use to help them gain more knowledge about the event so that they can improve it. I’m sure they use this as a way to count attendance.
Publicity
The event is publicized pretty well. Since it has become an annual event, word-of-mouth is definitely the number one way that it has gotten publicity. “Word of mouth is the cheapest method, and can be quite effective.” (Freedman & Feldman Pg. 79) They also use local Nashville radio stations to broadcast announcements about the event. There are also ads in local newspapers, and flyers are put up around the area and at sporting and outdoor stores. I think that they were exceptionally effective in publicizing the event. I think they used the best ways possible for people to hear about the show, and by putting up flyers in outdoor stores; they certainly made sure the targeted audience was informed.
I honestly thought that overall the event went really well. I had a great time working it as well as walking around to look at all the boats, and learning things I otherwise would not have known. I think you could go and have an exceptional time no matter what your hobbies or interests. Since it has been an ongoing event I think the event planners had time to work out all the kinks so that it’s just an enjoyable experience.
