Festival are a GO, GO!

Believe it or not, Waterford City and County is one of the busiest festival regions in Ireland – FACT!

The annual Waterford Council Festival Budget distribution, took place at the first Plenary Council meeting of the year. Much of what was brought into the public gallery was of course discussed, agreed and preordained, behind closed doors, in “secret” Committee Meetings. With circa €1,400,000 to be allocated across the whole City and County, this is one of the key functions of our 32 sitting Councillors.

With all things budgetary, there are of course metaphorical swings and roundabouts. Some festivals/events in 2016 were one-offs and obviously some applications did not make the grade. The process involves the Council Executive assessing the organiser’s application for funding and this is then brought to our Councillors for ratification.  Accompanied by an associated increase or reduction in grant funding. The process is lengthy, involved and forensic. But it has to be, as these are after all public funds and transparency is paramount to the whole procedure.

The four big ticket items for 2017 are Winterval, with €430,000 being allocated and a potential income of around €250,000 from sponsorship, stall income etc. The Winterval committee will, I am sure, be re-jigged this year and I have no doubt that such is the size of the grant allocation, this will have to go out to national tender. Our two excellent food festivals, Harvest (September) and WWFF (April), receive around €150,000, which like Winterval, will be counterbalanced by some additional income. The Sean Kelly Tour (August) is supported by €180,000, which is, I assume, front loaded to offset later income sources and is therefore, in reality, cost neutral for the Council.

Finally, Spraoi (August), is supported by a grant of €67,000, which of all the festival allocations is probably not enough. Considering this was the event that started our love affair with festivals and events. Spraoi will shortly be celebrating their 25^th Birthday and perhaps we could ask our Councillors to be mindful of this and save up a few Euro, in the build-up to what will be a worthy celebration, in the coming year/s ahead?

 

The breadth and variety of festivals and events right across Waterford, is something to behold. From Lismore to Tramore, Dunmore to Ardmore, Comeraghs to Dungarvan.....there are so many to choose from, that in reality we do not need to venture outside of our county boundary to find something that tickles our fancy.

There are, within these processes, losers. Some events have had to have a funding cut, due to the very tight financial constraints which our Council must work with, because of continued reductions in Central Government funding. This in turn puts pressure on Councils to increase Commercial Rates, Local Property Tax and that wonderful “Cash cow”, that is car parking charges. In future years, to keep our festivals and events going, we will without doubt, need to spread less money further. This will be a challenge and in time may be easier to get blood out of a stone, than more Government support, allowing us to experience the wide variety of festivals we host.

The biggest cut was to the Summerval Festival. You will recall that back in August, I asked the question in this very column, “Are we getting Summerval(u)?”. For 2017 this will revert back to a “Summer in the City” type festival. This has excellent foundations, to build a first rate brand and with the support of ArtBeat, we should see a Summer long programme of events. Starting the June bank holiday and ending early September.

Circa 70 festivals/events were granted some form of Council assistance. Ranging from a few hundred Euro, to hundreds of thousands of Euro. I suppose that the tricky part will be encouraging all these festivals and events cross promote. Working together for the betterment of the whole County and across the wider South East region. If we are to put our stamp on the festivals and events map then we need to shout collectively!

Just look at what Galway espouses! According to their blurb, they are Ireland’s only festival City – a hum!

Happy Burns Night as well!

Take a bow Billy McCarthy, RIP – 1954 to 2016.

The final curtain call.

It is with a very heavy heart, that I heard on Sunday the 20^th November, of the passing of Billy McCarthy, broadcaster on Deise AM, at WLR FM. After a very short illness Billy passed away at University Hospital Waterford.

I first met Billy when I was appointed as CEO of Waterford Chamber and I have to say that there are very few people who you meet in this world, who you instantly take a shine to. There are even fewer people that you genuinely know would be there for you in a crisis, if called upon. Billy was one of those rare people.

He managed to come into your car, living room and kitchen when on the radio. His broadcasts were so personal, you almost felt like he was sitting right next to you and sharing a cup of tea with you, in the comfort of your own home. There are very few who had this magical gift and there can be no doubt that Billy was one of the very best that Ireland and Waterford has ever produced.

Testament to his talent, can be seen in the many thousands of social media messages written over the last few days. Everyone has a very personal message for Billy’s passing and a story that touched their heart.

The UK had Terry, Dublin has Joe and Waterford had Billy.

He really was that good and I for one, have met so many people who instantly smile when you mention what Billy meant to them. I wonder just how many people are able to do that in life let alone in death.

Evidently, Billy was born to be Waterford’s “People’s Champion” and he took to this challenge with gusto, verve and a determination. He had no fear in tearing strips off our representatives for not doing enough for his beloved City and County. He chased for answers like the proverbial dog with a bone. If he could not get hold of the said politician, he was not frightened to let his adoring listeners know that they were hiding! No stone would be unturned in him trying to get the right solutions his Waterford listeners deserved.

Yet, for the next programme segment he would become sympathetic, caring and empathetic. He could switch in an instant and make that transition so seamlessly we just never noticed. The mark of this man was that he did everything so well, for the pure benefit of the listeners.

He was of course, supported by so many professional WLR FM colleagues. In particular Jennifer Long, who produced Billy’s shows. This deadly duo created so many broadcasting moments and memories you could literally fill several hundreds of newspapers with their in depth investigative journalism. I am sure that the whole WLR/Beat team will miss Billy dearly.

For me, Billy’s laugh will be one of his defining memories. A laugh that was instantly recognisable and infectious.

I an era when so much of our lives are played out on social media, every morning, Billy managed to speak regularly to over 20,000 listeners on a daily basis. His listening figures were astonishing and enormous, bearing in mind the many ways open to us in getting our news.

Young and old would tune in every morning at 10 am, to Deise AM, to join Billy in talking about all matters current, regional, national and local. Billy’s passing will leave a huge void in so many of our lives and he will be impossible to replace.

Our radios will be much quieter from now on and yet none of us who knew Billy will forget his radio tones. He lived through a changing Ireland. Seeing and campaigning for the marriage equality referendum, which was so close to his heart.

Our thoughts are with Des and his family through this very difficult time.

Yes, we will miss you Billy McCarthy, but you will never be forgotten. Each and every one of your friends, colleagues and listeners will always remember the moment you touched their hearts.

RIP Billy McCarthy – 1954 to 2016. 

Unchained melody hits the wrong note!

Positive public relations (PR) for the City and County is an essential part of our marketing mix and is something that, as I have said time and time again, we ALL need to be aware of if we are to promote that City and County in a positive light.

The last seven to ten days have been filled with positive news stories right across the City and County. From the opening of the Lafcadio Hearn Japanese styled gardens in Tramore to the Medieval Festivals in the City and Dungarvan, Dromana 800 in West Waterford to the Promenade Festival in Tramore, Day Tripper concerts in Bolton Street and the Summer In The City musical treats in John Roberts Square and Wyse Park, (to name but a few) we really did have an awful lot to take in over the last seven to ten days.

And all of these events help create a general positive experience when it comes to making us feel better about our City and County and with the local papers full of pictures of our smiling sun drenched beaming pasty faces, eating ice cream, and attending these events, this creates a sense that we are all very predisposed to the upbeat PR messaging we are reading. These messages make us feel warm and fuzzy inside and that is good.

These most simple of generic PR messages have reinforced our knowledge that when all is said and done Waterford really is a great place to live, work and play.

The opposite side of the coin is of course how we might view and comprehend the mountains of self generated PR we come across on a daily basis.

For example, over the last 7 to 10 days we can also throw into the mix all the media and social media commentary on the appointment of the Mayor of Waterford City and County and the appointment of the Mayor of the Waterford Metropolitan area. And when we sit down in the cold light of day to review this messaging do we all believe that these types’ messages also show the City and County in the same positive light?

We have one Mayor serving the City and County (who chairs the main Waterford Council plenary meetings) and one Mayor serving the Metropolitan area of the City (who chairs the Metropolitan area Council meetings). This does of course lead to some confusion on behalf of, us, the members of the public and also leads to a number of protocol issues around who will or will not wear the ceremonial chains at this event and that event.

There is also another interesting PR dynamic that we will all see develop over the next ten months with both Mayoral councillors no doubt keeping one beady eye on the date of the next general election. Councillor Quinlan has already thrown his hat into the ring and I have no doubt the Councillor Cummins may well be contemplating doing the same.

With both of these Councillors in opposing political camps it will be very interesting to see who actually takes the lead in are

a of self generated PR and will the vast pages PR that each will undoubtedly generate be for the benefit of the City and County or the benefit of the individual?

Let us not be fooled as this process has already started and we have begun to see “the chains” being rolled out at this event and that event. The race has begun to stake a claim as a preferred candidate for the next general election and it will be most intriguing to monitor the progress of these two Councillors as they begin to position themselves with their respective party hierarchy.

So we must review and interpret the entire mountains of PR we read and are bombarded with on a daily basis and any messaging contained therein must be scrutinised and understood. We all must look at what we are reading and assess if this is, at the time of reading, relevant to “me” and if it is we will remember the context of what we read and therefore we will be more apt to regurgitate at a later date. If however, what we are reading is of no interest whatsoever to us we will conveniently forget what we have read and have no further interaction with the content of any PR article.

To be able to be interactive with any PR that we come across it is important that it is of relevance to us and perhaps more importantly it is vital that what we read connects with us and therefore plays in some way with our senses. PR will take us through a whole roller coaster of emotions and cleverly written PR will drive home specific messages that will become pertinent to us time and time again.

For Waterford City and County to continue to exponentially grow in importance within ALL of us we must keep reading positive PR messages. Messages that are not about individual self promotion rather messages that are about the greater good of Waterford Inc.

Remember to read between the lines to get the real meaning of any PR.

Fail to Prepare & You Prepare to Fail

In business it is essential that there are structures to any organisation and from within those structures it is crucial that the business prepares strategies and plans. These strategies and plans will take into account areas such as the market sector the business operates in, peaks and troughs in relation to sales trends, staffing levels in relation to busy and quiet periods, marketing planning, staff training, budgeting, and cash flow analysis and so on.

There really is a huge amount of preparation needed in order for a business not only to function properly but to ultimately survive. The stark reality is that without a sufficient amount of time set aside preparing a business for what lies ahead then that business is more than likely staring down the barrel of a gun.

I myself do a significant amount of my own business planning when cycling my road bike. I recently joined “The Biscuit Club” who has an appropriately club motto “Everything Stops for Tea!”

Since joining the Club in August I have literally cycled thousands of kilometres around our wonderful County and dare I say further afield into Kilkenny and Wexford. I have been inspired by some of the most jaw dropping scenery that would quite rightly find pride of place on the Channel 4 programme Location, Location, Location – I hope you are reading this Kirstie and Phil. We are simply surrounded by some of the most stunning backdrops in Ireland – FACT. And it is not as though I have not explored these routes by car, as I have, it is just that when you are moving much slower you have the time to take it all in and believe me there is an awful lot to take in.

This easy access to coast, mountain and valley give me the time to plan in my head and in many respects take back what has inspired me whilst out cycling and build those experiences into my forward planning. And in early November I prepared an article whilst I sat on the strand, in Tramore, chatting to the Mayor Lola O’Sullivan, bathed in sunshine, surrounded by people in t-shirts, having returned at warp speed from Kilkenny that was bathed in nothing but cold damp misty fog!

As a side, I do know that we need to more to do promote what is on our doorstep and we must push the semi state bodies such as Failte Ireland and Tourism Ireland to bring more and more tourists into Waterford and the South East, as we really do have so much to offer. And each and every one of us who live, work and play in Waterford have must also start espousing and championing what we have to offer. The simple fact is that NOT enough of us from Waterford champion the City and County to the extent you see in other Cities and Counties. And if we don’t start shouting soon we will very quickly become the Nations bad news story.

The need to prepare is paramount to driving an organisation forward and it is essential that the constituent parts i.e. staff/personnel of an organisation contribute. You may not be aware that the new City and County Council are currently preparing a very comprehensive Corporate Plan that will cover the next five years of the Council’s operations. The discussion around this plan started a number of Council meetings ago and at the November full Council meeting the draft and updated plan was considered by our 32 Councillors and the Council Executive.

At previous meetings Councillors were asked for their own input and at the November meeting it was revealed that of the 32 Councillors OLNY 3 had supplied and put forward written submissions, and it was inferred that there may have been a number of additional “verbal” submissions. During the meeting, and perhaps due mostly to the media presence, there were a number of Councillors wishing to add to this document by giving additional suggestions and contributions, but as the Mayor pointed out the time had passed and there had been ample opportunity to contribute. Full credit to those few Councillors who took time to give an input, but to have such low level of effort from everyone else is to say at the very least disappointing, but more crucially it does show a complete disregard for the need to prepare.

A business organisation would not have the time to fail to prepare as they are operating in a commercial world that plainly does not stand still. It is constantly moving and evolving at an accelerated pace and if everyone from within an organisation is not prepared to take the time to invest in that business then said business will fail. We do need to see a businesslike approach to Council with our Councillors preparing for meetings and more importantly preparing their contribution to documents such as the Corporate Plan well in advance of scheduled meeting dates. This will in turn free up Council time for much wider and important issues such as job creation, job retention, promoting the City etc etc.

I often see many businesses and organisations not investing enough time and energy in the pursuit of accurate preparation and planning. If you lose sight of where you want your business to go how can you properly prepare for what is coming.

You often hear many people saying that “practice makes perfect”. This of course is complete and utter rubbish as the right phrase should be “correct practice makes perfect”. If your practice simply consists of repeating the wrong processes over and over again you will never get it right. The right thing to do is identify where you are going wrong, correct those mistakes and practice doing the right things at the right time. This way you will continually improve your performance and more importantly you will bring your colleagues along with you as they will strive to better themselves as they see your performance levels increase.

It is therefore essential that business leaders, business owners and organisation engage with their greatest assets, their staff, and get them involved with the planning process. Time must be invested with personnel to ensure that preparation becomes part of the day to day workings of a business or organisation.

If the “Boss” is not prepared to invest his or her time and energy into strategic planning then he or she has quite simply failed to prepare and therefore they need to prepare to fail.

ENDS

Michael Garland, founder of bizBoost.