Page 9 - BusinessWest August 18, 2021

certainly unwanted hiatus.
“It’s been two years since we’ve pro-
duced a fair, and even though you’ve done this 30 times before, it’s surpris- ing how much you forget,” he said, not- ing quickly that institutional memory has certainly kicked in for the staff of26,downfrom31—anodtoone
of the many ways the pandemic has impacted the Big E.
And while getting the show ready for primetime, Cassidy, who also chairs the International Assoc. of Fairs and Expositions, a worldwide trade asso- ciation, has been on the phone and in Zoom meetings with others from his industry. Such conversations have gone on with those in this time zone and others with institutions on the other side of the world. And the reports cover a broad spectrum.
“Australia has shut itself down again — after only nine deaths from this Delta variant,” he said. “And that’s a scary development; I think there are 24 million people in Australia, and to have that country impacted like that ... it’s been devastating to their economy, and people are quite anxious there.”
Closer to home, and as noted ear- lier, the news has been much better.
“It’s been two years since we’ve produced a fair, and even though you’ve done this 30 times before, it’s surprising how much you forget.”
“At the fairs that have been pro- duced, the crowds have not been diminished,” he said, listing successful events in Indiana, Wisconsin, and Cali- fornia as evidence. “At those fairs that have run, people have really returned — and in a large way; there have been a lot of attendance records set.”
At home, those off-the-charts advance ticket sales tell Cassidy that some people are interested in eliminat- ing some contact points and avoiding the crowds at the ticket booths. But mostly, they tell him there is certainly pent-up demand for the fair.
“People are ready to get back to nor- mal,” he said, adding, again, that the overriding goal for the staff was, and is, to make the fair as normal — as much like previous years — as possible.
But more important than normal is the safety of attendees and employees, said Cassidy, noting that a wide range of cleaning and sanitizing protocols are being put in place, and steps are being taken to try to thin crowding in some areas.
“We’ve have intentionally thinned out the grounds a little bit,” he explained. “There’s going to be roughly 10% more space on the fairgrounds
as we have tried to space things out a
little bit.” Gene
Elaborating, he said there has been some attrition when it comes to food and other types of vendors, and some of the “lower performers,” as he called them, have been eliminated.
“We thought that space was more important than that commercial activ- ity,” he explained, adding quickly, though, that the science is inexact regarding whether creating more space reduces lines and points of contact.
When asked about what he expects for attendance this year, Cassidy said he believes last year’s record of 1.62 million is, in all likelihood, not in dan- ger of being broken, because there are
Cassidy says his overriding goal is to make the 2021 Big E as ‘normal’ as possible.
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FEATURE
AUGUST 18, 2021 9
Photo courtesy of The Big E
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