Southbury First Selectman Lauds Volunteer Fair

The following is a message from Southbury First Selectman Edward Edelson regarding the town’s Volunteer Fair held in August and some of the feedback that he’s received about how to make the event even better for future years.

Here is his message:

Fifty organizations participated in Southbury’s Volunteer Fair on Saturday, August 23rd. All have been asked to assess the fair: Should it be an annual event; any suggestions for improvements; how many people showed interest in your organization?

To date, we have heard from 30 of the participants and the overwhelming consensus is this should be an annual event. A reported 1145 people showed interest in the various organizations and a total of over 250 new volunteers had signed up to join or help in some way. In terms of attracting people interested in reaching out and getting involved to help the citizens of Southbury, the event was a huge success! Many also noted the importance of networking with other volunteer organizations, recruiting speakers from the various groups, and the opportunity to increase awareness of the services and activities available.

The many suggestions and observations offered will be useful in planning the next annual Volunteer Fair. Staff members also conducted an after-event evaluation and identified several areas that should be addressed in future years:

The concert that began at noon was intended to attract more people to the Fair. However, the concert was sparsely attended and can be eliminated in the future.

The guitar entertainment during the Fair was appreciated, but the sound system needs to be improved to provide a more even decibel level throughout the area. Music was too loud for people at nearby booths to carry on conversations.

Have a list of participating organizations to share with attendees. Prepare a program booklet and have a prize at the end of the day for the person who visited the most booths.

Start the planning and publicity earlier and be able to publicize at least a partial list of participants with some info about their organizations – either in print or on the website, or both

Provide one person to register the organizations and distribute the information they will need to know for the day:

Refreshments available
Porta-Potty location
Remind them not to drive anything into the ground
Encourage them to move their cars away from the immediate parking area
Consider alternate arrangements of the organizations around the Gazebo area. Possibly situate the Fire and Ambulance equipment closer to the break in the wall.
Have signage at the event, thanking the sponsors/underwriters and identifying the event
Schedule more people to help in the AM and ask DPW to provide someone for the duration of the event to help with tables, etc.
Consider identifying signage for the Town of Southbury Commissions and Committees and a handout for the Town’s website
Date/Time/Location all considered good – the nice weather helped, too. Possible date for next year: August 29, 2015 – the Saturday before the start of school
Costs for the Volunteer Fair totaled $6,767.08:

Labor (three employees) $ 660.53
Advertising/publicity $4921.55
Amenities (entertainment and Porta Potty) $1185.00
These expenses were offset by a $1200 contribution from CCF and $500 from the SBA, and refreshments were donated by ShopRite and Starbucks, resulting in a total cost to the Town of $5067.08.

For future planning purposes, assuming the continuing generosity of groups like the CCF, SBA and local stores, the added labor hours identified, the elimination of the concert band, added programs and printing for the lists of organizations and other changes recommended, a budget figure of $5000.00 should be adequate.

Considering the fact that Southbury relies so much on volunteers to perform various functions and services for our residents, this annual event will be welcomed by all the groups who need to attract fresh recruits. I hope to see even more people at the event next year.”