Reading Time: 3 minutesJust as countries bid to host the Olympic Games, Federation members and supporters can now express member ownership of the National Festival and Dan Leadership Convention by bidding and pledging to determine the destination where it will be held.
Multiple 2014 National Festival online polls indicated by a very narrow margin that more respondents favored the 2014 National Festival being held in Region 2 than any other area. So based on those poll results north Jersey, New York or even Region 1 became potential locations where the 2014 Nationals could be held if "real" member support was confirmed via the Board's pilot bidding process.
The bidding process was adopted because history has taught us that noncommittal poll responses are seldom equivalent to actual registered participants when an event actually occurs even if the event is produced in accordance with poll outcomes. A more quantifiable means of determining in advance the degree of member support for an event destination was needed.
Enter the Board's pilot bidding process.
The Kwan Jang Nim's and TAC's re-inventing and resizing of the National Festival and national Dan Leadership Convention has created some exciting new opportunities for members who may have thought they could never host a National Event in their Region.
Now that has all changed.
Under the Board's pilot bidding process for event site selection, it is feasible that any region that can muster up 150 to 200 bids for their location may win the opportunity to host the National Festival and Dan Leadership Convention.
That's right. Only 150 to 200 bids could bring the National Festival to your back yard!
So what locations could reasonably recruit 150 to 200 bidders to support their location?
That depends.
It depends on how enthusiastic local leaders and members are when vying for the National Festival to come to their area. It depends on how effectively advocates of a particular location are in their outreach to potential bidders from their own region and other regions and how successful advocates are in convincing local and fly-in members to bid for their proposed location during the limited bidding timeframe.
Statistically, where might the most bids come in for the National Festival to be located?
Historically, the selection of a location for the National Championships has depended on a multitude of variables that have become increasingly difficult to reliably predict and as a result it is more challenging than even to plan to achieve an event's desired results, overall performance goals and financial outcome goals.
Some factors that figure into location selection for National Events include, but are not limited to;
- To what extent does an event support accomplishment of the Federation's mission,
- To what extent does an event contribute toward chartered purposes,
- How many members are likely to benefit from the event,
- Do local hosts, local leaders and local members support hosting the event,
- How many members are likely to fly-in for the event at the target location,
- How likely is it that anticipated local and fly-in support will be realized as registered participants at the event,
- Is an adequate facility available in the desired area,
- Are feasible dates available at the target facility,
- Is the facility suitable for the event,
- Is the facility affordable for the event,
- Is lodging available at the event site,
- Are air travel and ground travel convenient to the event site,
- etc.
The cost of producing National events has increased dramatically over the years and items 4, 5 and 6 have become increasingly important variables that must be estimated~projected when making planning decisions about an event location.
Local host support (#4) and an adequate quantity of local and fly-in registered participants (#5,6) are needed to plan for reasonable overall event performance including whether or not all costs of hosting it are likely to be recovered or whether or not the event is likely to consume more in funds than participation registrations are likely to generate.
The Board's pilot bidding process will seek to quantify member support - or the lack of it - in advance for event locations that may qualify to host the National Festival and Dan Leadership Convention.
When the bidding process launches very shortly, you will have less than 60 days to make sure your bidders support your preferred location.
So if you are a member that may have never thought the National Festival could come close to you, think again and get busy calling fellow members and getting your bidders lined up.
Take action NOW before bidding ends!
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