We recently ran a story on the value local firms find in event marketing as a key piece of their overall marketing budget. It allows a company to “meet your customers where they are,” according to Danette LaChapelle, senior vice president of marketing at iQ Credit Union (See “Eventful Marketing” in the July 13 edition of the Vancouver Business Journal). Others in the article expounded on the flexibility events offer when thinking about the audience the company is trying to target – employees, existing customers, prospective customers etc.
Event marketing runs the gamut from custom events produced by the company, to community events sponsored in part or in total by the company. It was this last option – that of sponsoring a community event – that got me thinking about whether or not we could look to these events as any kind of indicator of advancement or retreat in our economic recovery.
A quick count of the events held in and around the downtown Vancouver vicinity totals no less than three dozen – and that’s just in the last couple of months. Events ranged from Noon Concerts in the park to Hoops on the River, which starts today. There have been athletic events like the Girlfriends and Dudes Triathlon and the Vancouver Courthouse Criterium. There have also been many events in Esther Short Park, including the Six to Sunset Series, Fire in the Park, the first Vancouver Brewfest and a first time Russian culture event called the Soberiha Festival.
Why go on and on about these events and what does it have to do with our economic recovery? I see it this way: Each of these events has carried a cadre of corporate sponsors. An unofficial and arbitrary look at the number of sponsors indicates that sponsorships for these events are up; that in itself provides quite a message.
First, the companies stepping up to sponsor these events are spending thousands of dollars for their customers and prospects to see their involvement and to be reassured or assured enough to give them a try for the first time. The second message has to do with the beneficiaries of the event proceeds. Most of the proceeds from these events go to nonprofits here in town.
Some naysayers might suggest that many of the events have free admission and therefore can’t really be an indicator of recovery for the economy. However, you may want to rethink that position. While the Six to Sunset Series didn’t charge admission to come to the park and enjoy the music, it certainly wasn’t “free” for many who attended. The concession stand in the beer garden, staffed by nonprofit volunteers from the Fort Vancouver National Historic Trust, was clearly selling as much beverage as humanly possible during the concerts. And yes, those proceeds went to the Trust, a nonprofit organization.
People are out and about in numbers we haven’t seen in a few years. That fact alone would suggest that the picture is brighter than it has been in a while. As we navigate the doldrums of the stiflingly hot, late days of summer, we need to be buoyed by the fact that the community has its head up, is getting out and is starting to enjoy life again.
If you haven’t been to any of these events, or similar ones in Camas, Battle Ground, Washougal or Ridgefield, do yourself some good and go see who is attending. Your small business neighbors and customers are taking part – some are even sponsoring to let these active-minded customers and prospects know they have survived and are ready to do business.
We’ve said it before: This is the recovery. It looks different – even feels different. But this is it. No sense waiting on the sidelines for something else to come. Now is the time to join back in and spur the recovery on – one event, one concert at a
