Carefree Truth
Issue #632, March 26, 2018
Marketing Director Gina Kaegi presented a recap of the 2017 Christmas Festival. Carefree's Christmas Festival is a long standing tradition. 2017 saw the 10th Christmas Festival since is was started by the Town Council. A source of local pride, it is financed by the community, performances are by the community, and the volunteer base comes from the community. Mrs. Kaegi has attended the event every year since it began when her son was only 4 years old, and she volunteered at the Festival before her employment with the Town. It is near and dear to her heart. She felt it was a privilege to take it on as a Town for the first time and to refresh it a bit. Every event has a span after which it needs to be analyzed.
The 2017 Festival drove more traffic to the downtown businesses than has happened in the past due to the increase in daytime activities. Carefree needs to look at economic development for its future. This is always kept in mind when creating events and activities. How will the event attract new businesses and provide a platform for new visitors to enjoy our beautiful town? The Christmas Festival earns Carefree a lot of free media.
Carefree had the opportunity to make the Festival a Town event, with the Town staff running all aspects of it. This included activities, logistics, and expenditures. It provided the ability to analyze what was working, to spend money efficiently in areas better attended, and to find fresh ways to approach it. As a municipality, Carefree needed to address safety concerns, as noted earlier in the meeting when Maricopa County Sheriff's Office's Captain Johnson spoke. Feedback from long time volunteers said the Festival needed some refreshing in certain areas, but some very successful traditions such as the real snow and Santa Clause should be retained.
For the 3 years during which Mrs. Kaegi has been on the staff, the Town has been discussing the development of a 20-30% cost recovery model. In the past, everything had been free at the event. They wanted to explore different options to see what worked and what didn't. 2017 was an experimental year.
Extending it from a 3 day to a 3 week event was doable, based on the Pumpkin Festival model. Both have a strong attraction for a large group of people. Mrs. Kaegi felt a new name was in order, but wanted to keep "Carefree" and "Christmas", so it became Christmas in Carefree, still focused on and branding the town, and "the alliteration just works". Along with the new name, a new logo was designed and, due to certain circumstances, a new website was created. Typically, 75% of the traffic sees the information and events on the website, so it required mobile access and ease of use.
Mrs. Kaegi asked Gary Neiss and Mayor Les Peterson about purchasing a Town Christmas tree, and consequently a 26' tall tree was placed under the sundial. It was used constantly by residents and visitors alike for photo opportunities. The tree lighting ceremony included the Cave Creek Unified School District and the Desert Hills Presbyterian Church bell ringers. APS was involved when the Mayor switched on the tree's lights. Mr. Neiss, working behind the scenes, made sure the lighting went off without a hitch. It was a good kick-off to the season. Many people walk through the Garden from October through January, so the Town will continue to spruce up and change "Carefree Desert Garden Glitters" each year.
Santa's hours were expanded exponentially. It was a good investment. Everyone wants to see Santa. Ron has been Carefree's Santa for 10 years. He has a following and is excellent at what he does. Having the Kiwanis Santa House open during the less busy times worked out well.
The Christmas Market was smaller and more intimate, not competing with area businesses but complimenting them. The parade was held in the daytime to address safety concerns. When the Festival expanded from 3 days to 3 weeks, the entertainment was diversified and heightened to include shows featuring Marmalade Skies and Jill Kimball. Activities were also diversified to include the local schools and non-profit organizations. A celebration of Chanukah was suggested by a resident. Temple Chai held events on many evenings, with a number of Carefree businesses involved. This popular new feature will continue to be included.
Data from 3rd party sources Media Monitoring and News Exposure LLC, indicated that Carefree received $32,490 worth of free TV publicity, with 3 segments on channels 3, 5 and 10, totaling 9.5 minutes. The Nielson audience totaled 182,162. At an estimated value of $10,000, free print media coverage was provided by AZ Images, Valley Guide, Arizona Key Magazine, the City Sun Times, North Scottsdale Magazine, Phoenix Magazine, the Foothills Focus, and numerous Events Calendars. Mrs. Kaegi noted that AZ Images gave the Christmas Festival close to 3 full pages. She thanked all those who provided free Festival coverage.
Revenues generated included $17,527 from sponsors, $18,535 from vendor fees, and $3,960 from merchandise and ticket sales, totaling $40,022. In-kind donations were valued at $15,000. The sponsor donations came from both large corporations, which donated greater amounts, and from Carefree's local businesses. All of these donors helped to offset the costs. Mrs. Kaegi expressed special appreciation of the many small local businesses who donated, as they do each year, to make the Christmas Festival such a special event. She also thanked staff member Vicki Zimmerman, who coordinated all the merchandising and the Christmas Market this first year, which took a lot of work. She did a great job.
Expenditures included $39,700 for logistics/one time expenses, $31,784 for entertainment/activities/fireworks, $14,200 for labor (which historically had not been included in the expense reports), $13,487 for advertising, and $2,325 for cleaning/trash. This brought the total to $101,496. After subtracting the cost off-sets listed above, the total expenditure for the 3 week event came to $61,474. In 2016, the Festival expenses (labor not included) were about $65,000 with about $29,000 off-set. The 2017 Festival involved a number of one time expenses, such as web development, logo design, and displays for the event. Mrs. Kaegi is continuing to investigate additional cost reduction measures.
Mrs. Kaegi's recommendations for the 2018 Christmas Festival include continuing to enhance the Gardens, holding the tree lighting ceremony (Friday, November 30th), and continuing the Christmas Market, extended hours for Santa, the Chanukah celebration (December 2nd-10th), the Snow Village, and a daytime parade (December 8th). She wants to explore entertainment options, as well as the feasibility of shooting off fireworks on December 8th. The tree lighting, with the accompanying entertainment, candle lighting, walk through the Garden, and the Mayor turning the switch on was a great way to kick off the season, and generated a lot of positive feedback.
It is difficult for a small town like Carefree to put on huge events. Christmas is very competitive. Many towns and cities, some with multi-million dollar budgets, put on events at that time of year. But Carefree has a beautiful Garden and a lovely community. Mrs. Kaegi suggested holding the 2018 Christmas Festival through the first and second weekends of December, and continuing to look for additional ways to offset costs.
She thanked the Carefree/Cave Creek Chamber of Commerce, which has played a big part in helping the Town put on the parade through their management and leadership, without branding themselves. She invited the Chamber to make a presentation on what they are doing moving forward.
Mayor Peterson said that after a certain amount of time all events need some freshening, and he thanked Mrs. Kaegi for providing it, adding new reasons to return. She addressed safety and significantly offset costs without upsetting people. She ran an expanded event that was very exciting and topical. The Garden was beautiful. He thanked Mrs. Kaegi and the Chamber of Commerce. Mrs. Kaegi thanked the Council members who put in a lot of time, jokingly calling Councilman Gene Orrico her "little partner in crime", and thanked Gary Neiss for listening to all of her ideas. "It's always been a team effort."
https://vimeo.com/259329706
Carefree/Cave Creek Chamber of Commerce Executive Director and CEO, Patty Villeneuve, introduced her Board members who were in the audience. She then said that after 10 years, the Chamber is resigning its participation in the Christmas Festival parade. She gave the Council members papers detailing what the Chamber does for the parade and what they give back to the community, saying, "It's been a fun and crazy ride but it's time to hand the reins to another group." She is willing to consult with a new group this first year, and has created a "How To" book.
Ms. Villeneuve said the parade has grown from nothing to an average of 40 entries and 400 walkers. She emphasized that the nighttime parade with 580 girls in the dark was "really scary". They needed 3 times the number of volunteers that they had in order to ensure safety at a nighttime parade, but luckily no disasters had occurred. She detailed what the Chamber did for the parade.
The Chamber has grown significantly in membership and programs over the past few years. The members expect more and more for their investment, and it takes all of the Chambers resources to meet those expectations. She spent several minutes detailing the both Chamber's and her personal accomplishments.
Mayor Peterson thanked the Chamber for 10 years of dedicated and successful effort. His only request was that they remain available until someone else is found, and asked that they impart their wisdom while a new group is learning.
Councilman Mike Farrar echoed the Mayor's thanks, agreed that a daytime parade addressed the safety issues, then asked why the Chamber had elected to pull away. Ms. Villeneuve replied, "I think I just did that". Vice Mayor John Crane said the Festival was lucky to have had the Chamber for 10 years, unbranded.
https://vimeo.com/259271579
Lyn Hitchon
Prepared by Carefree Truth
Visit our website at www.carefreetruth2.com If you know anyone who would like to be added to the Carefree Truth email list, please have them contact me. Feel free to share Carefree Truth with others on your list.
Visit www.carefreeazbusinesses.com to see more info about businesses in Carefree. Please support our merchants.