Next General Meeting
September 18, 2024 - At 7:00 pm
Country Kitchen Building, Flathead County Fairgrounds
(Doors open at 6pm)
Zoom Meeting July 15 At 6:00pm - Topic = Canva
Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/.86750113336?pwd=znl3ZxpajEmWUaKDpYguNgdkCJhbPz.1
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Fair Committee
Join this committee meeting at 5:15 pm on Wednesday, July 17, 2024 at the Flathead County Fairgrounds, outside the Expo Building
2024 Christmas Show
Applications are on the ACF Website - https://artistsandcraftsmen.org/pages/christmas-show
Due August 15th!
Fall Supply Market
Save the date for the Fall Supply Market!
September 21, 2024
More details will be coming soon.
2024 Summer Show - Shopper Count Statistics
Check out the below shopper count statistics from this year and previous years. Here are also a few notes for you all to be aware of:
- We do not have shopper count data from before 2019.
- There was no Summer Show in 2020.
- 2021 was our lowest-attended Summer Show ever
- 2022 was the first year that we joined up with the Food Truck Festival
- 2023 and 2024 had the exact same parking plan (closed main entrance)
It’s time to start planning for next year’s Summer Show - we need to get a contract signed with the Fairgrounds as soon as we can to reserve whichever dates we want before they all get snatched up!
2025 Summer Show - Date Selection
So, the Trade Center Building is currently available for all 4 weekends in May and June 2025 - - so far. But there are other events at the fairgrounds that would need to be taken into account. Here are the options you can consider:
- May 9-11, 2025 - Mother’s Day Weekend - Fairgrounds will have to check with Bretz RV - if they are coming back again, this weekend is NOT an option for us.
- May 16-18, 2025
- May 23-25, 2025 - MEMORIAL WEEKEND - Many vendors and shoppers will be at the St. Regis Flea Market.
- May 30-31 + June 1
- June 6, 7 & 8, 2025
- June 13, 14 & 15, 2025 - would coincide with a Monster Truck show on June 14. The fairground office said this is an evening event and likely would not overlap with our event hours.
- June 20, 21 & 22, 2025 - would likely coincide with Food Truck Festival, although they are not on the calendar yet
- June 27, 28 & 29, 2025 - would coincide with the Area 406 Festival. This is a very large event that involves both daytime and evening/nighttime activities, alcohol consumption, nudity, and overnight camping.
- April 2025 is not an option - there are no available dates at the Fairgrounds.
Please take a moment to submit your votes on this matter ASAP - by July 19, 2024. We will need a quorum (most members need to vote).
Because there are 8 options to choose from, we are going to ask you to select your 1st, 2nd and 3rd choices. If we have a winner by at least 10% in 1st choice, that will be the date we use. If there multiple selections that are within 10% of each other, we will add in the 2nd choice votes to see if we have a winner with at least a 10% lead. Again, if not, we will add in the 3rd choice votes.
VOTE HERE -
https://airtable.com/app2Sv83QH4SZUkCv/pagDx5Z6utacG9c6W/form
Please also take a look at some of your fellow members’ comments we received during our first round of voting.
- Parking entrance closure was not the issue this year. I think if 5500+ people figured it out in 2023, then they should have been able to figure it out in 2024 also. It’s just part of the “vendor blame game” when an event doesn’t go as expected. The economy is different this year - just accept it. I think Show Committee did a fantastic job coordinating this year!
- Food trucks I believe hurt us. The later in the month the better also. People just aren’t out and spending , tourists are not in the area good yet in early June. We also are missing the tourist trade. Need to figure something out there.
- I'd be tempted to go back to a 2 day show after looking at the charts but I don't think having it on the same weekend hurt us at all. Perhaps a shuttle for handicapped, I heard a few people talking about that. But really I think you all have done a great job and I loved how we teamed up with the food trucks for advertising last year (or thats what it felt like at least). As I keep saying, this is just a half show kind of year, all my big shows have been about half the numbers so for people who aren't doing a lot of shows I don't feel they are getting the full picture. So keep it up, you're all doing great!
- One idea I really liked which I heard from another vendor voicing the same idea, is to move the show to May and call it “Spring Into Summer Show.” I think this would be far more ideal as the weather would most likely be either rainy and people would much rather prefer to be indoors, and May is early enough where most people won’t be doing “summer time activities” which I feel like was especially emphasized this year and why there was such low attendance. I too want to be outside when there’s sunshine. So my vote would be either in May sometime, or at the very latest, June 6th-8th. But I don’t prefer that over May. There aren’t really many competing events in May too are there?
- I read the statistics of all the summer shows from 2019-present day. I see the top income shows only did Friday & Saturday, not Sunday. I think it would be best to do a two-day event, Friday & Saturday.
- I know it seemed like a good idea, but we can't compete with the live music and beer garden of the food trucks 😀. It was worth a try👍
- The reason I chose the Monster Truck date is if it means the main gate off Meridian can be open during our show hours.
- Suggest ACF contact the Fairgrounds about replacing missing or burned out light bulbs in the announcement board visible from the highway. It is difficult to see events being advertised on the board because of missing/burned out bulbs.
- In discussion with other members I feel a time in April or early May would be a much better time to bring in customers.
2024 Summer Show - Fundraising Summary
Raffle Ticket Sales:
- Friday - $181.38
- Saturday - $230.76
- Sunday - $171.77
Sale of Sharon’s Wreaths:
- Friday - $138.33
- Saturday - $23.28
Total Funds Raised = $745.52
All raised money goes to ACF’s “Create it Forward” scholarship fund
Big thanks to everyone who donated this year!
Welcome New Board Members!
- Ashley Bishop - Treasurer
- Jay Beranek - Web Admin
- Michelle McLaughlin - Show Committee
- Gail Erickson - Show Committee
- Kristin Sandson - Show Committee
Thanks to all who voted to approve these nominees! We look forward to working with these fine folks for the remainder of 2024 and into 2025!!
Don’t forget to keep earning those membership tier credits!
All participation credits earned from 1/1/24 through 12/31/24 will determine your membership tier for 2025
Earn credits by:
- Attending ACF General Meetings
- Donating items for our fundraising efforts
- Writing Blog posts for ACF’s webpage
- Volunteering at the NW MT Fair, Fine Arts Department
- Participating in the Mini-Meetings via Zoom
- Attending a Committee Meeting
- Volunteering at WINGO
Click HERE to see your 2024 Membership Tier - https://airtable.com/app2Sv83QH4SZUkCv/shr0yhcOiMYJPVEZ1
2024 Membership Tiers were locked in as of 12/31/23 and will not change
Click HERE to see your 2025 Membership Tier....so far - https://airtable.com/app2Sv83QH4SZUkCv/shry94DhM4bwdkgIa
Find your name and click on it to see more details about how your credits have been earned so far.