Problem
Ottawa Folk Festival is intended for all the representatives of society including aged people, families, and young people, but it has been noted that the attendance by young people is significantly less. This is explained by the fact that Ottawa Folk Festival is held after two large music festivals, and it is a volunteer-based organization that has a limited budget. Thus, young people have less enthusiasm to visit this festival.
Alternatives
A Status Quo
If the festival’s management would implement a no change scenario to the problem of a low level of attendance by young people, the state of affairs will stay the same: the festival will be only attended by aged people and families, but youngsters will ignore it. This is explained by the fact that folk festivals in general do not appeal to young people as they see them as obsolete and boring events, where the only option is available, and namely, it is in wasting precious time of youth.
Theory Statement
Recent business research studies indicated that attracting young people to an event of cultural life is the task that requires a special approach and outstanding creativity. Generally, such events are of minor interest for the majority of students and young working specialists. Young people have a different system of values to decide which events they find attractive; among them are an opportunity to have fun and be entertained; an opportunity to get something material, and an opportunity to associate with age mates.
Theory Application to the Case
Implementing the theory, describing young people’s interests in modern conditions, to visiting Ottawa Folk Festival, it appears that the difficult task of having more youngsters in the event should be approached from a variety of angels. First, a massive advertizing company is needed in places where young people gather. Reflecting on modern youngsters’ likes, a conclusion can be made that really attractive, brightly coloured and catchy fliers will be the best form of advertizing among this age group. This is explained by the fact that young people tend to spend more time socializing with their age mates in parks, cafes, cinemas, etc., and they generally tend to accept less information from the other sources. However, there exists an important exception, which is in the fact that youngsters also trust the information placed in social networks in the Internet. Therefore, similar catchy advertisements with the invitations to Ottawa Folk Festival should be spread in Facebook, Twitter, and the other popular social nets.
Pros and Cons
The Pros of the implementation of the above-mentioned theory are in the fact that the level of attendance by young people will definitely go up. In addition, some of them will develop interest in cultural matters that are conveyed through the program of Ottawa Folk Festival, and they will find their sympathizers, which will make them regular visitors. However, there exist considerable minuses. In particular, Ottawa Folk Festival is a voluntary organization and it has a limited budget. It may well appear that there will be not enough finance to conduct a proper advertizing company.
Analysis
The evaluation of Pros and Cons
Pros outweigh Cons as a massive and catchy advertising campaign has always been the best way to attract the attention of young people. However, the final decision regarding financial matters is to be done by the President of the festival. In case financial means of the festival are not enough for the advertizing campaign, it may be lessened to a minimum, and combined with the other strategies describes below.
Viable alternatives
A viable alternative to a considerable and costly advertizing program can be seen in developing a row of the other arrangements attracting young people to the event.
- Not all young people are interested in visiting the Ottawa Jazz Festival and Ottawa Bluesfest because of their different cultural values. These young people should be especially targeted during the period when invitations to Ottawa Folk Festival will be distributed. To attract such young people, all one needs to do is to simply highlight the main points of the program of the festival.
- Young people should be offered an opportunity to participate in the festival’s program. For example, they may perform as dancers. This will create a basis for a bigger amount of young people to visit the event as friends will definitely come to support those who will take part in the festival’s program.
- The festival’s management may contact management of local educational establishments, and especially of the colleges and universities, where art is taught. They may offer the managers of such establishments to encourage their students to visit the event with a goal of acquiring additional credits after writing essays about the event or for participating in the event’s program. The educational establishment, in turn, may also benefit from this arrangement by receiving a status of an establishment actively participating in voluntary cultural programs that make the social and cultural life in Ontario.
- The budget released from paying for the advertizing company or any other available funds may be used to offer free snakes and drinks during the festival’s programs, which will attract young people in a very effective way. The other opportunity to offer free food and drinks during the program, which is so important for young people who are always ready to be present anywhere for the sake of having meals, is to organize a competition in the best dish of the Canadian cuisine or in the best snake that can be cooked in field conditions.
The evaluation of alternatives
The alternative is an excellent solution for having more young people in Ottawa Folk Festival both if it is implemented separately, and if it is used in combination with the massive advertizing campaign. In combination, the two strategies solve the primary and satellite problems in the most efficient way because young people will be encouraged to visit Ottawa Folk Festival for a variety of reasons.
Recommended Solution
The task of having as many young people as possible in the event can be accomplished best of all in case all the offered strategies are implemented in combination including the catchy advertizing campaign, offering young people an opportunity to participate in the event, offering free food and drinks, connecting the local educational establishment with the offerings of cooperation, and appealing to those young people who do not normally visit previous festivals held in June and July.
Implications
Organization
The organization of the event is a critically important point for the attendance by young people. To really attract youngsters, it should include available options for them to have fun, to entertain themselves, to feel important (for example, to participate in the program of the event), feel welcomed, and see a practical value in their presence (for example, getting extra credits in colleges and universities or having an opportunity to be feasted with free snakes and drinks).
Personnel
The personnel at the event should create a welcoming atmosphere for all the categories of visitors including young people. Of course, it should look natural because young people get nervous if they see bias or the too welcoming reception. Generally, the staff should be friendly and positive, and should make a good impression by pleasant speech. Besides, it is a good idea for the personnel to be dressed in fashionable clothing of bright colors that would add more attractiveness to the atmosphere of the event. Finally, the management of the festival should look for ways to hire as many young people as possible (maybe volunteers) because it will appeal to young visitors, and will also attract more young people who will come to support their friends.
Implementation
Immediate Term
The management of the festival should make their decision regarding the advertizing campaign, and start it in the Internet as soon as it is possible. Young people should see ads on their profiles in social nets. For this, students studying IT may be also attracted through their educational establishments and the opportunity of winning more credits and a working experience. Thus, the funds of the festival can be spent more economically.
Short Term
The management of the event should announce the opportunity to participate in the event for all the young people who desire to do so.
Long Term
The management of the festival should continue promoting it among young people in their educational establishments and places of employment.