Volume 2, No. 15. August 9, 2002
The
big Event
One unmistakable
trend in the amusement industry is the move among parks to stage multi-day thematic
events; festivals centered on a genre of entertainment, crafts or other activities.
The trend has now attained a key milestone: its own bureaucratic entity.
Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, has just formed a new Special Events department
dedicated solely to improving the park’s current annual events and creating
new ones. Heading the new five-person division is Dave Anderson, who for 15
years served as Dollywood’s Director of Attractions, which had special
events under its purview.
“We see special events as a significant growth opportunity for the company,”
Director of Special Events Anderson said. “It’s grown too big to be
part of another team.” Currently Dollywood hosts the Festival of Nations
in the spring, the Fall Harvest Celebration in October which includes an annual
Woodcarvers Showcase and the Southern Gospel Jubilee, and the Smoky Mountain
Christmas in November and December. “We’ll be able to expand on all
three of those and add new events,” Anderson said.
One of Anderson’s Special Events Managers, Jane Groff, moved over from
the Attractions Department where she was in charge of coordinating the show
elements of special events. That is the only position transferred into the new
department; the other three—a second special events manager (Cyndi Padgett),
an administrative/production assistant (Carol White) and a special events production
coordinator (Rolando Camacho)—are newly created positions. The new department
answers directly to Dollywood General Manager Ken Bell.
“Our job is to define what events we want and help develop the initial
concepts,” Anderson said. “Then we will facilitate the park management
team to bring all elements of the park together to support the event and hopefully
deliver an entertaining product that contains a wide range of elements including
shows, food, merchandise and street entertainers.”
Dollywood has capably staged festivals because its disparate departments and
talent pools willingly contribute themselves to the event. Given the sense of
teamwork that already exists, creating a Special Events team might seem redundant,
but Anderson credits that existing cooperation for spawning the team. “On
the surface special events look like they just appear; in reality, we’re
working events well in advance, and it’s an intense type of business. Just
getting the lead time is an issue. We need to book events further in advance
and give the marketing folks time to build the marketing plan and create awareness
for something that lasts for just a limited time.”
Looking to grow its events is in part an answer to another development at Dollywood;
or, rather, a restriction on development. “We’re in a position where
we can’t add a new ride or attraction or area to the park every year,”
Anderson said. “For the in-between years we can add what we call software
elements. It’s another motivation for our season pass holders and would
give the local market a reason to come back to the park.” Furthermore,
in those years when the park makes a major capital investment, the events team
can appease the non-riders with smaller-scale new events, he said. “Our
audience is pretty evenly divided. It’s hard to please them all every year.”
212.265.0043
lvhnyc@msn.com
©2002, Minton Enterprises
LLC
All rights reserved