Organizers cite RAMP up time, unfavorable economic conditions & date conflicts
Organizers of the 2010 Ogden Valley Balloon & Artist Festival voted today to postpone the event to mid-August, 2011, citing unfavorable economic conditions, timing with sponsor and grant funding as well as issues with the event dates.
The Board, which consists of community volunteers, had hoped to recruit a dedicated person to solicit corporate sponsors. When that person did not materialize through outreach efforts, Board members felt that the results required from this effort could not realistically be achieved. 2010 Chairperson Gladys Mundelius commented, “We all dedicate hundreds of hours organizing the event, and none of us could take on the additional responsibility.” Timing was also a factor. “The key to raising funds from corporate sponsors and the various entities that offer grants such as the Weber County RAMP tax is to get the fundraising effort started in the fall for the following year. By postponing this year’s event, our Board will be energized to take on this effort come fall. We’re usually exhausted after the August event and need a few months to re-group. That won’t be the case this fall.”
Date conflicts with several Valley and regional events caused delays in organizing efforts but on a very positive note, all the organizations attempting to schedule events tried very hard to work together. “That was great to see” noted Mundelius “We were touched by the efforts our neighbors underwent to try to work through the date conflicts.” By getting an early start for 2011, we can publish our dates well in advance to notify other event organizers.”
The Board is also pursuing teaming up with other Valley organizations to help improve the event and add much needed manpower to the event planning efforts “If all goes as planned, this breather will result in a really fantastic event in 2011 that offers increased community involvement.”
“Our Board of Directors made the fiscally responsible decision. We are a non-profit organization that is fully funded by the support of our sponsors for organizations expenses. We felt the postponement was the only fiscally responsible thing to do. As a non-profit volunteer organization, we simply don’t have the purse to fund the event, which costs in excess of $50,000 to produce.”
For updates on planning for the 2011 Festival, please bookmark www.ogdenvalleyballoonfestival.com and check it periodically.
