Midway Issues

  • Ask midway how you can help them
  • Make sure contract has clauses about rain
  • Building open with water and showers if possible
  • Look at contracts before the rides come
  • Let rides know that you are raising gate prices this affects them
  • Make sure closing times can be after your special shows as they can make money afterwards
  • Work with rides to control traffic from main gate so they can come to rides without a lot of obstacles
  • Pay for rides and no takes
  • No % from the rides
  • Worried about the cost of fuel and insurance is doing to the rides
  • Needed younger board members to help to change so that get younger people will come to go on rides along
  • Land locked fairs to have the rides there trying to get all shown
  • Seasonal employees and the new laws that effects the rides
  • How expensive to pay for the rides to cam to the fairs and not get any profits
  • Training locals to run rides how much training and liability, whose liability?
  • OAAS to advocate employment changes for seasonal workers to help get worker for rides
  • Rides are going to other festivals not just fairs and will make more money at these festivals so they drop the fairs
  • Listen to younger members so some of these issues can be a lot with in a different way

Programming for fairs with revenue less than 150, 000

  • Gate admissions ? $7, $10 but kids free
  • Include free or almost free activities- loonie in the straw farm fun activities
  • Scavenger hunt around the fair that day- different each day
  • do we do anything for Veterans?
  • Partner with local legion/ war museum
  • Key is to partner with other groups to share the cost and work load-
  • Random fun walk around a hula hoop play for ride tickets
  • Best food at the fair competitions for vendors


Respectful communication

  • Disrespectful with past problems
  • Emphasize position. Job
  • Helping with workload
  • Make it everyone’s responsibility and not for one person
  • Code of conduct discussion overall with board members
  • Our way or no way
  • clicks- frustration
  • talking down to people
  • Reinforcing working together
  • General level of respect
  • Code of conduct read at AGM and people sign
  • Positive feedback
  • What do we need to do as a committee to move on past this
  • Take the high road forgot the pettiness
  • People like to create problems
  • gossip to community preventing negative gossip
  • Dorchester of paying- convention- need to recognize new ideas this is an investment – future

What does your fair do throughout the year

  • Getting volunteers together – supporter dinner served by 4H
  • Board social activities- like curling not all volunteers want to go
  • Fairs rent out space to others run dinner theatres, ladies nights
  • Fair board meetings and work nights
  • City meets farm events
  • Silent auctions
  • Christmas pot luck
  • No fundraising or extra events for most of the fairs in the room
  • Change the word volunteer to supporter
  • An event every month family fair in the spring , expo. Exhibits in a day for fair classes
  • Partner with other service groups to put the events on
  • Prime time country dance/party new attraction

Topic: Rejuvenate OAAS Convention ideas

  • Homecraft topics- meeting 1:30- 3:30 on Friday
  • Hc meeting took a lot of people away from other seminars and round tables
  • Mandatory so should be scheduled at a different time not overlapping with 2 seminar slots
  • Under 40 session should be after New delegate orientation
  • Question: can we extend the convention longer on Saturday- no hotel check out and train schedule
  • Incorporate more technology- conferment app- suggestion- WHOVA
  • On line surveys, twitter feed, share ideas, vendor info
  • Round tables very low turnout
  • Seminar topics are only offered twice so you can’t always attend
  • Liked- more time to get lunch and get to next thing- see trade show or craft room
  • Provide a schedule pictorially to visualize when to go to things like the trades show
  • Discussion boards to provide feedback, share ideas, ask questions, post its/ sharpies
  • Question wall, idea board on line as well
  • Location affordability – only place big enough for all to attend
  • Seminars: more real work ideas, specific things that have worked- Canada 150- no 60 tips – yes
  • Maybe identify seminars that are for small fairs
  • Panels include all size of fairs