Upcoming Live Webinars

Bringing valuable Festival and Event industry education right to you, we're pleased to present our Online IFEA Webinar Series.

Strengthening Our Partnerships and Mutual Success with Concessionaires

Michelle Card
Executive Director
National Independent Concessionaires Association (NICA)
Brandon, FL

Too often - hopefully unintentionally - we see our vendors and concessionaires as adversaries to be watched-over and mistrusted, when in-fact, they are some of our greatest, most creative partners. A relationship that can help ensure our mutual bottom-line success, as well as enhancing the overall event experience for our attendees. The IFEA has asked industry partner NICA (National Independent Concessionaires Association) to come help us all expand the creative conversation of how to maximize the returns for everyone!

The National Independent Concessionaires Association is an organization with over 1000 members across the United States and Canada. NICA services independent businesses that work in the mobile event industry. Their general membership includes food concessionaires, retail/commercial sales, game operators and independent entertainers and attractions, with their associate membership including fairs, festivals and suppliers.

Maximizing the Opportunities and Minimizing the Challenges of Food Trucks at Your Event

Matthew Geller
CEO
National Food Truck Association
Culver City, CA

Food trucks have become not only a trend-unto-themselves, but an important evolution of and consideration when it comes to providing quality food and beverage options to festival and event attendees. Not unlike any other critical and revenue-impacting piece of the operations puzzle, it is important that we understand both the challenges and opportunities for both sides of this partnership, allowing us all to maximize the returns to everyone. In this valuable session we'll be discussing ways to utilize food trucks at your festival, with an emphasis on the best ways to reach out and book food trucks for your events and to collect payments.

Matt Geller is the Co-Founder and CEO of the Southern California Mobile Food Vendors Association and the Founding President of the National Food Truck Association. The SoCal MFVA is a non-profit organization that represents upwards of 130 mobile vendors in Southern California. Under Geller’s leadership, the SoCal MFVA has successfully expanded rights and business opportunities for mobile vendors in over 30 jurisdictions in Southern California, while working cooperatively with Health Departments to promote balanced regulations and effective enforcement mechanisms. Geller’s “Association” model has become the national standard for food truck advocacy. Geller is also an entrepreneur. He is a founding partner and executive of Best Food Trucks, Inc. -- the developer of a revolutionary software platform that connects food trucks with event organizers, health departments, and consumers. After almost a decade in the restaurant industry, Geller obtained his juris doctorate from UCLA School of Law in 2008.

Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition

Jeff English, CFEE
Sr. Vice President/General Council
Kentucky Derby Festival
Louisville, KY

The list of complex legal issues facing the festival and event industry continues to grow each year. Let’s spend an hour discussing your event’s legal standing on such issues as protestors, waivers, conceal and carry, and risk management. We’ll also reserve time for Q&A so you can maybe save your budget on some of those legal bills back home!

Jeff English is the Senior Vice President and General Counsel for the Kentucky Derby Festival. After graduating from Washburn University School of Law in Topeka, Kansas in 2004, Jeff worked in politics and practiced law before joining the Festival staff in 2007. He is charged with overseeing all of the Festival’s legal issues and serving as its risk management officer. He also manages the Merchandise Department and serves as the President of the Kentucky Derby Festival Foundation, the 501(c)3 charitable arm of KDF. He was named a member of the 2014 class of Louisville Business First’s Forty Under 40.

The Path to Volunteer Growth

Florence May
Founder/President
TRS Volunteer Solutions
Indianapolis, IN

This workshop style Webinar is broken into four IDEA GENERATION segments with a little extra time for Q&A. Segment One: The Changing Volunteer World - Major trends impacting recruiting and engagement. Segment Two: Volunteer Program Assessment - Hands-on exercise and standards. Segment Three: Measuring & Communicating Impact - You are working hard to make a difference in your community. Do you know how to communicate organizational impact with your volunteers? Segment Four: Growth Strategies - Discuss innovations in the areas of recruiting, on boarding, training, communications and retention.

Florence May is the Founder/President of TRS Volunteer Solutions. Since 2008, TRS has provided volunteer management systems for hundreds of Festivals, Conventions, Non-Profits, Corporations and Sports Commissions. Among these, TRS has provided support for 26 Final Fours, 5 Super Bowls, 2 Republican National Conventions, 2 Democratic National Conventions, 18 Formula One Races, 12 Special Olympic Organizations, Indy 500 Events and so many others. Florence May is also a Speaker, Author and Workshop Leader on Volunteer Management Trends.

Infuse the “New”!

Ted Baroody
President, Norfolk Festevents
Norfolk, VA

We all get asked, “what is new at your event this year?” Hear the latest trends and be inspired to infuse your events with the “new”! Add some new energy to your traditions with new experiences that touch all segments of our business; entertainment & programming, sales and marketing. Learn how to extend the experience for your guests!

Ted Baroody is a graduate of North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA. After college he moved to Norfolk, Virginia to start his own small sports marketing company, Victory Promotions. After a couple of years of power boat racing production under Victory Promotions, he served as Marketing Director for a group of local radio stations in Virginia Beach, Virginia for 5 years. From 1996 to 2011 he was the Director of Development of the not-for-profit event marketing company, Norfolk Festevents, Ltd. known as “Festevents,” and is now the President of Festevents. Ted also works with many non-profit organizations as a volunteer, event coordinator and as a board member and serves on both the IFEA World and IFEA Foundation Boards of Directors.