How to Organize a Rodeo
Organizing an rodeo can be a very enjoyable and rewarding experience. Although there is more work involved than most of your participants might realize, making your first rodeo evolve from an idea into reality is ultimately very gratifying for rodeo directors. Below are some of the most important steps to consider when planning, promoting, and executing your first rodeo.
Planning a Rodeo
When planning your rodeo it is important to consider your options for a location at which the rodeo will be held, the characteristics of the experience that you wish to have, whether or not you will implement a theme to your rodeo, and if it will be associated with a charitable cause.
Create an Online Rodeo Ticketing Form
You can increase your attendance if you simplify your ticket sales. When picking an online ticket provider make sure it utilizes a simple checkout process that doesn't require accounts for spectators. Fewer pages in your ticket sales make it easier to complete the purchase, and you will make more money. Online fees can vary widely among different providers. Compare top rodeo ticket providers rates, and benefits.
Create Rodeo Tickets
Rodeo Location
You should organize your rodeo in a location where a sizable portion of your prospective attendees live. Depending on the expected size of your rodeo, you may also need to consider how many hotels are in the area to accommodate your attendees. As it pertains to picking a location, many rodeo directors also factor in the scenery around potential venues.
How to Plan a Charity Rodeo
You might consider organizing an rodeo with a charitable cause. Charitable rodeos have become increasingly popular in the past few years. They range from concerts and festivals to sporting rodeos. Your customer service and your theme can help bring extra participants out. Charitable cause rodeos have a similar effect of bringing out participation from people that may not have otherwise considered your rodeo. If you decide to do a theme you should consider the expenses associated with that theme, and make adjustments to your rodeo to fit your theme. For example, if you want to make a Halloween rodeo then you might consider holding the rodeo in the evening. When deciding if you should involve a charity you might want to reach out to a few charities to see which ones would help you the most with volunteers and promotion of the rodeo. Learn how to create a charity rodeo fundraiser here.
Promoting Your Rodeo
When promoting your concert, festival, sporting or other rodeo you want to come up with a good name, and a strategic advertising plan.
How to Pick an Rodeo Name
When planning the name for your rodeo, find out which names are already taken in your local area, and nationally so you will know what rodeo names may still be available. Similar to a business, your rodeo name will give a feeling and imply an experience. If you named your rodeo the “Boston Explosive Extravaganza”, it would have a different feeling than a name like the “Boston Fireworks Show”. Names absolutely matter. If you want a serious rodeo you should pick a serious name. If you are planning a fun rodeo you should pick a name that sounds fun. In some instances it may be wise to name your rodeo after you have picked a experience or theme. View tips on how to grow your rodeo attendance.
How to Advertise a Rodeo
When advertising your rodeo you should consider who your target audience is. If you are creating a charity rodeo you might market through channels outside of your usual interest groups in addition to traditional targeting. For example, you may want to have the charity you benefit utilize their social media and their email list to promote your rodeo. Sometimes the charity will be willing to distribute posters and do other volunteer work to help you promote your rodeos. If you have a live concert you might want to advertise at other rodeos with live music. When marketing your rodeo you should consider putting posters or fliers up at all the retail stores within the radius that you believe most participants will be willing to travel. Sometimes you can find property owners at busy intersections that will allow you to put up a banner on their fence. This can be an inexpensive way to get the word out about your rodeo. Some rodeos will put up dozens of signs to promote their rodeo.
A great way to promote any type of rodeo is to advertise at other similar rodeos. Some rodeos will let you put fliers at their gates, or maybe you could pay to have a booth at their rodeo to talk with attendees directly. Sometimes you can do an email trade with another rodeo (they email your attendees if you can email their attendees). There are limitless ways that you can advertise your rodeo. The most important thing to consider is who your main audience is and where or what is the best means of getting in front of them. The second most important thing is what message to present to this audience. You need to give them a message that is compelling and concise. You may want to create a press release about your new rodeo, or if it is not new, make a press release about any changes you have for this year. It is wise to try to have your rodeo listed on every online event calendar you can find. Start by including your rodeo on our calendar today.
How to Execute Rodeo Creation
The execution of an rodeo is bringing all the details together from your planning stages, and making them actually happen. Below is a long list of things to do when creating a rodeo:
Rodeo Sponsorship
Spend some time contacting local businesses to see if they would be willing to provide products or services that might help improve the quality of your rodeo. Some of these local businesses may even be willing to contribute money for your rodeo sponsorship. It might be wise to make a marketing flier with tiered sponsorship levels that they can pay for. Some sponsors may be more likely to sponsor your rodeo if you benefit a charity that they are connected to. Make sure to use a ticketing platform that easily highlights your sponsors.
Rodeo Permits
Make sure you check with your local government to determine what permits are required for the type of rodeo you want to create. You will most likely be required to provide insurance coverage of your rodeo to receive a permit, and you will want coverage to protect your company or whomever is responsible for putting on the rodeo.
Food
Depending on how long your rodeo last, you may consider having food at the rodeo. Participants will appreciate food that correlates with the kind of experience you are providing or the location your rodeo is at. Often you can find a local market or restaurant to provide food for your rodeo in trade for sponsorship.
Portable Restrooms
Restrooms are a very important part of any rodeo. The longer the duration of your rodeo the more important they become. Even with a small outdoor rodeo you should consider having portable restrooms. These units can be very pricey when purchased in small quantities, so shop around to find a good price. You may want to have your rodeo in a park that has restroom facilities to avoid some of this expense. With a large rodeo or fair you will want to have the restrooms abundantly placed. With these larger rodeos it is also common to have restrooms in multiple locations.
How to Find Volunteers for Your Rodeo
Finding volunteers for your rodeo can be a challenge. There are many community organizations that need volunteer hours. Here are some ideas to check with: student volunteer organizations, businesses, scout troops, troubled youth groups, cheerleading squads, youth organizations, other event volunteer email lists, etc. Often it is good to have some sort of gift or party for your volunteers, so they will be more excited to continue to volunteer for years to come. Consider using our entirely FREE-to-use volunteer registration form.
When to Open Rodeo Ticket Sales
Rodeos that open ticket sales early usually have greater attendance. Attendees that visit your rodeo website throughout the year may not think to come back in six months & buy tickets. Many rodeo directors choose to open ticket sales when it is convenient for themselves, but the ideal time to open ticketing is immediately after the previous instance of the rodeo, usually one year before. This ensures that your spectators will be able to buy tickets as soon as they are ready. Also, it is important to remember that your greatest source of rodeo growth is friend and family referrals from your spectators that have already purchased. The earlier you can have people purchase tickets for your rodeo, the more time they have to talk about your rodeo.
There are a lot of factors to consider when choosing a rodeo ticket software provider. Keep in mind that the ticket sales process is the most important part of your customer’s online experience. The online fees impact the total cost of managing your rodeo, so the lower the fees the better. Make sure that the ticket service provider you choose keeps the ticketing process as clean and simple as possible. Many ticket services will add additional pages to the ticket sales process to promote unrelated offers from other companies. However, attendees prefer a simple and clean process free of distracting content. The fewer pages to click through, the better. When consumers are required to click through more pages, you get more dropouts. Using a simple ticket software provider will ensure that attendees will complete the transaction quickly, and your rodeo attendance will grow. Most customers will see the ticket sales pages as an extension to your own site, so choosing the best rodeo ticket software experience will help to maximize your brand. RodeoTicket.com is the leader in simplified rodeo ticket sales. We offer very low fees with a full set of features that help you to dramatically grow your rodeo with ease.
Rodeo Safety
Coordinate the police and security for your rodeo. Make sure that you have the proper barriers and ventilation if your venue requires them.
What Medical Considerations are Needed When Planning a Rodeo
The nature of your rodeo and the number of spectators will determine the amount of medical personnel needed. Larger rodeos should have EMTs on site, and a medical tent in a prominent location with doctors and nurses handy to help with minor medical problems. Most smaller rodeos do not need much medical attention. It may be wise to consult with a medical professional in your area to see what the specific needs of your rodeo may be.
How to Create a Rodeo Website
There are many strategies to creating a rodeo website. Some people have friends or relatives that know web design. Some rodeos contact website companies to see if they will trade web development for sponsorship. Some rodeos use a free website blog service to host the information about the rodeo. An example of a free website design company is http://www.weebly.com. Make sure that your rodeo website has lots of information. Information you might include on your website could include: pricing, purchase deadlines, hotel information, rodeo date/start time, photos, video, etc. Post a FREE online rodeo listing.
Venue Clean up
Clean up is often a job that is overlooked. This job is actually one of your most important jobs. Rodeos can be banned from communities if the grounds are not left as clean as they were found. It is generally a good idea to have fresh bodies of people in charge of cleanup that didn’t have to help with the set up. At the end of an rodeo both you and your other volunteers will be exhausted, so try to have fresh people come in to help cleanup.
Let us help you make your rodeo a huge success. Our rodeo-expert staff can advise you along the way, and our simple ticketing platform will increase your attendance. Start today by making an account.
