Staging reggae shows
Getting it right

Silvera

I am using this column to request of the organisers of Reggae Sunsplash to let good sense prevail and change the calendar date of the event.

Personally, I think both Red Stripe Reggae Sumfest and bmobile Reggae Sunsplash can co-exist in this country and become major forces to be reckoned with, but under no circumstances should they be held two weeks apart.

I would be out of my 'cotton picking' mind to ask Summerfest Productions to change their date, so I am proposing the date change to the latter. The proposed dates are October - Heroes Weekend or Thanksgiving weekend in November.

The Sunsplash promoters may just ask, "Who the hell is this woman? Why should we listen to her"? And I have no problem with that. So here are my thoughts anyway.

Two major reggae festivals two weeks apart, this is not only stupid but also totally ridiculous. It leads me to ask where are the forward thinkers in this group. How can both festivals be held so close when they are also both competing with Appleton's Temptation Isle, International Dancehall Queen, Fully Loaded and the Frenchman's party?

Sumfest will either kill Sunsplash or Sunsplash will do the honours.

Now why should two events that can bring so much revenue to not only the organisers, but also the country, hundreds of production workers, security officers, hoteliers, taxi operators, air and ground handlers and small business be allowed to commit suicide because of the egos of the operators? I see no reason why.

one solution

So that leaves one solution. Both Summerfest Productions and the Kenny Benjamin-led group need to sit at the same table and work this one out.

After you have worked it out, get the assistance of the Jamaica Tourist Board and all the hoteliers who are benefiting from both events on-board.

Several times throughout the year the island's hoteliers attend a series of blitzes and trade shows overseas, yet I can't recall ever seeing a Red Stripe Reggae Sumfest flyer at any of these major marketing events. Neither do I see a marketing representative present promoting the event six to nine months in advance.

Guess what? They all wait until four months before the actual date of the event to have a press conference in New York, a month later one in Miami and possibly one in Toronto. I am not sure the marketers get that far up north. Outside of that they depend on the 'same old' media people to promote the event.

What happens to your tour operators and wholesalers? What happens to Expedia and Travelocity? Get them all on the bandwagon of your event marketing efforts and get them to promote the destination as just that, 'an event marketing destination'.

Here is even more free advice. Get the entertainment managers in the hotels to direct the loss leaders (visitors staying in their hotels) to the events.

Most entertainment coordinators are trained to get the visitor to do what they don't necessarily want to do.

Massage and caress the visitors that have already landed in Jamaica with your charm and titillate the appetites of the local market so that Sunsplash and Sumfest become a part of their subconscious.

As for the local market, I won't go any further. Jamaicans are party people; you guys just need to know when our pockets are not exhausted.