2015 Final Wisconsin Farm Technology Days Report
Dane County
Equine Committee-
Committee Overview
Describe your committee’s responsibilities (big picture).
Example: Merchandise Committee: Ordering and selling apparel before and during Farm Technology Days…
The Equine Committee was responsible for securing the clinicians and entertainment, scheduling and running the Equine area for WFTD.
Committee Responsibilities
List your Committee’s duties and the primary tasks.
Example: Commemorative Tractor Committee:
· Select a model Commemorative Tractor for the 2013 WI Farm Technology Days
· Select a manufacturer to produce Commemorative Tractor and negotiate a contract…
· Develop a sales campaign …
Equine Committee:
Select the clinicians and entertainment for the 2015 WFTD
Set up the Schedule for the clinicians and entertainment
Plan the activities in the tent
Plan the tent layout
Order merchandise and activities for the Kids Korral
Provide the information for the Equine page in the WFTD booklet
Help plan the Equine area layout
We should have helped with grounds set up
Set up inside tent area
Work with grounds and sound crews for the show
Work out stall arrangement for the participants
Collect coggins upon arrival of participants
Run the daily events in a timely manner
Announce the show events each day
Have grounds water and drag arena each day
Attend meetings each evening
Clean up area at end of event
Committee Structure
Describe how your committee was structured along with a description of the responsibilities of the committee members.
Example: Food Committee
Committee Chair and Co-chair
· Recruit committee members (why did you select the people that you did select?)
· Organize the committee into sub-committees and describe the role of each sub-committee
· Recruit volunteers to serve food
· Describe the responsibilities of the various volunteers (Tent Coordinators, etc.)
Equine Committee:
Chair Person: Nancy Edwards and 4 committee members
The committee members were chosen because they were members of Wisconsin Horse Council and fellow horse friends.
We worked together to come up with ideas and suggestions for clinicians and entertainment
One was going to run the Kids Korral with a helper and one was to work with me outside at the arenas and one was to be at the table inside the tent.
Budget
Outline the amount of money allocated to your committee and a general description of how the funds were spent. Provide as much detail as you can, keeping in mind the things that you wish previous host counties had shared with you.
Equine Committee:
The prior host county really didn’t share any budget info.
The amount of money allocated to the Equine Committee was $15,000 and the actual expenditures were around $12,000.
Approximate expenses were: Clinicians $5,000.
Kid’s Korral $ 600.
Mileage $ 535.
Hotel $ 365
Miscellaneous $ 12
Footing $ 3,000
Bleachers $ 1738
Tower Sound $1,000
Total $ $12,250
I do not know the final costs for sure of the footing, the sound and the bleachers, and if there was any charge to our area for the tents. We were given 20 stalls to use in the equine tent for no cost from the Alliant Energy Center. They were hauled over from Madison by the WFTD grounds crew, and installed with many volunteers from FFA. Panels for the arena and round pen and aisle ways were provided at no cost from Blaine’s Farm and Fleet.
Timeline
Include a timeline of major activities of your committee and a brief description of each activity listed in the Timeline.
Example:
· Three years prior to event
o Appoint committee chair and co-chair
o Recruit committee members
· Two years prior to event
o Select sub-committee chairs
o Attend WIFTD training meeting in Plover
· One year prior to event
o Monthly committee meetings to plan…
o Attend previous county FTD show
· Six months prior to event
o Submit tent request to Tent City Committee
o Safety training for volunteers
· Four to Six weeks before the event
o Final training of volunteers
o Set up at the show
Equine Committee Timeline:
The Wisconsin Horse Council (WHC) was approached at our meeting of January 28, 2015. The decision to participate was made by mid-February 2015.
The committee was put together and met several times in the spring.
3 months before: t shirts were ordered for volunteers
2 months before: Committee Chair attended Media Training Day
Four to Six Weeks before: Supplies were ordered for Kid’s Korral
1 month before: Committee Chair attended Media Day
3 weeks before: Sand was delivered
Food vouchers ordered for volunteers
2 weeks before: Arena and round pen were set up
Committee Chair visited site to review set up
1 week before: Stalls were delivered and set in place
Day before: Committee arrived for set up of exhibitor’s tent area and Kid’s Korral
At the Show
Set Up: Describe when set up took place, individuals needed for set up, the amount of time required and any other set up concerns. Describe your committee’s cooperation and interaction with other committees.
Example: Grounds committee was on site four weeks prior to the show. The Grounds trailer was placed three weeks prior to the show opening and was staffed with five volunteers from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. each day, Monday through Friday. Worked closely with the Tent City Committee regarding the use of utility vehicles and usage.
During the show:
Example: List as many measurable items as possible…cars parked per hour, brats served between 11:00 a.m. and 12:00 noon, number of visitors passing through admission gates from 9:00 – 10:00 a.m., etc.
Set up was on Monday afternoon. There were 3 of us there to set up. We put tables and chairs up in the tent and set up for the Kid’s Korral. Labels were made for the stalls and put in place.
During the show: Participants/Exhibitors had to arrive by 7:00 a.m. each day. Tuesday’s exhibitors arrived Monday between 3:00 and 8:00 pm. Exhibitors could leave at 6:00 pm on Tues and Wed and 5:00 pm on Thurs. An Equine parking area was just inside the fence, and the Equine area was in a corner of tent city near a main entrance. The setting was such that the Equine stall tent was next to the round pen and the arena so walk ways could be set up and very little horse traffic was in the public traffic areas to keep things as controlled and safe as possible. Each day I worked with the grounds crew for watering and dragging of the arena. I did not leave time in the schedule for doing this and the noise of the tractor was a bit disturbing for demos being done in the round pen. If a specified time could be set, it would be better. We made sure that the schedule ran on a time each day.
Equipment Needed
Use this section to outline the items used at the show. This should include items requested from other committees. You may wish to provide a very brief description of how each item was used. Include your plan for disposal/sale or use of surplus supplies, merchandise, or food to decrease or eliminate loss of revenue.
Example:
o All-purpose vehicles (include the number of units and the number of seats per unit)
o Golf carts (number of units…)
o Radios
o Tele-handlers, skid steers, tractors, tables and chairs, etc.
o Try to list as many numbers as possible and be as specific as possible
- Tents-one for the Equine and stalls, which was 40 x 120 -without sides- and we could only fit 18 stalls in there, (of the 20 we received), and one for Blaine’s Farm and Fleet, the Wisconsin Horse Council and exhibitors, and the Kid’s Korral, again 40 x 120,- with sides. A 40 X 100 tent would have been sufficient for us to use. And one 10 x 10 canopy only style tent for the announcer and sound system between the round pen and large arena. We also had a 20 x 40 canopy tent for the Milk Buds to use so people could pet the ponies-rather than having them tied to the trailer and their rear ends exposed to the public.
-Sand for footing in the arena and the round pen. We requested 3-4 inches and received much more. When sand is required in the future, 2 inches should be sufficient. We had to remove sand 2 different times, which was time consuming. It was still too deep after the second time but was left as it was.
-Sound system which was set up for 2 different areas; one for the round pen and one for the big arena. It worked out fine when there was only one thing going on at a time. Fortunately, there was very little overlap in scheduling. Unless these two pens are quite far apart, I would not double up on scheduling. It detracts from each of the exhibitors.
-Panels for the round pen and the large arena. I believe there were 150 panels. The round pen was approximately 45 ft, and the arena was 100 ft x 150 ft. It is best to set that up in a rectangle rather than oval.
-Drag or groomer for arena and round pen
-Waterer for the arena and round pen
-Bleachers-set up for the two areas, by the round pen and along one side of the large arena. I believe seating was for 300 people.
-Tables- one for the announcer’s tent and approximately 9 for the Kid’s Korral area and another 8 for the WHC end. I believe we requested 20 tables and 40 chairs. That was more than we needed. Probably 12
tables and 24 chairs would have been sufficient. That did not include Blaine’s Farm and Fleet tables and chairs.
-Stalls-we requested 20 and thought that is what would fit in the tent that was 40 x 120. However, the poles go down the middle of the tent and due to their placing, some stalls had poles in the corners or along the back wall and only 18 stalls could be used.
-Muck buckets on carts and forks for cleaning stalls. We had 2 of each. Blaine’s provided for us
-Manure spreader to dump stall cleanings in and hauled away each day.
-Water tank/supply for the exhibitors to access for water in horse stalls
Volunteers
Explain how your committee recruited volunteers, the time for recruiting and when they were needed (before, during, and after the show). Include methods of communication with volunteers to keep them updated. How many volunteers worked in your area and how many were assigned to each job or task?
Example:
o Volunteer Job Descriptions (as well as the number of volunteers for each job)
o Volunteer shifts/schedules – explain how the shifts were distributed during the show and why
o Training – List trainings that were required for volunteers (committee specific, APV and golf cart safety training, tram driver training, etc.) List how much training was held, when, who led the trainings, topics covered and what training material you used.
o Tracking volunteers – how did your committee record track volunteers for training and insurance purposes?
o What provisions did your committee need to make for last minute training sessions for volunteers enlisted just before the show?
There were myself as the Committee Chair and 4 other committee volunteers. If all were able to attend, it would have worked out a bit easier as we had no one to man our WHC table. Not sure if it would have really made a difference or not. It would have been nice for one more as a relief person also. The first half of the first day, the traffic in the Equine Exhibitor tent area was scarce. I believe this was because we did not have a sign out or an opening on the side of the tent for entry. A minimum of 2 volunteers should be in the Kid’s Korral area if that is done again, and a minimum of 2 volunteers need to be out in the announcer’s booth area. Then volunteers as needed to man any table/booths inside the exhibitor tent.
Additional thoughts for a successful Farm Technology Days show
Please list any ideas/tips/thoughts that would be helpful to know for future FTD volunteer leaders.
Example:
o Knowing what you know now, what would you do differently?
o What plans did you change prior to the show and why?
The way the tents were set up with the main aisle of traffic moving between the two tents was fine, but for the Exhibitor Tent, it would have been better to have the openings on the side so people would enter and not walk right by. Also signage on the aisle sign for whatever is in the tent would be a good idea. Otherwise, they have no idea. As I mentioned earlier, use less sand in the arena, 2 inches would be sufficient. Had to remove excess 2 times and it still wasn’t enough. I would not overlap presenters and would try to leave 15 minutes to drag and water arena or do first thing in the morning.