For the last 10 years or so, we’ve been pleased to work with the Elkhart County (Indiana) Fair’s Marketing department and their Grandstand entertainment selections for the year.
If you don’t know about this fair, you should. It’s one of the best in the country! It’s the fourth largest spectator event in the State—only surpassed by the Indy 500, the Brickyard 400, and the Indiana State Fair. It’s an incredible event, and what makes it most exciting is the quality of the talent! They have the uncanny ability to pick acts that are “up and coming” in the entertainment world-and the crowds love it! For example, two years ago, they booked Lady Antebelleum—who in just a few short weeks after signing the contract, won numerous Grammy awards. This year—Florida Georgia Line and Hunter Hayes are appearing—award winners as well. The entertainment is free—so thousands show up for the concert.
Many years ago, we started compiling video clips of the entertainment, then presenting the video to the Media at a press conference. Later, as internet press releases from the artists took the air out of that-we then started working on enhancing the customer experience during the entertainment. For the last 4 years, we’ve produced and directed the live video feed to 2 large “jumbotrons” on either side of the stage. These are 9’X12’ LED screens-giving everyone in the audience a great view of the show. We work with TPC Technologies (Niles) for our HD gear, and the resulting look is great.
A great deal of work goes into the show-much of it in the planning. Electrical requirements, scheduling and logistics, and pre-show preparation. When the week of the show come about, our crew spends about 6 hours of each day preparing and running the show. However, it’s fun being at the fair every day. The Fair folks are the best-everyone is so enthusiastic and passionate about their jobs. Force 5 has staged events around the country-designing sets, preparing speeches, producing videos—but it’s always the best to “come home” and produce a local show for a great client.
Oh yeah, as for the fried food on a stick-we get our share……:-)
