A cry for help has gone out from the organizing committee for the International Plowing Match (IPM) and Rural Expo set for the United Counties of Prescott and Russell in 2011.
And well it should. With attendance in the 70,000-80,000 range almost guaranteed, the success of this annual rotating agricultural exposition is based entirely on the capabilities of local organizers, their ability to draw hundreds of volunteers, and on careful budgeting.
Sponsored by the Ontario Plowmen’s Association (OPA) in conjunction with the local committee, the IPM has a tried and true record going back several decades of making plenty of money for all concerned.
It follows a formula, mixing plowing contests with educational and machinery exhibits, crafts, food, entertainment and a mammoth beer tent. The successful model was established a long time ago and moves from county to county every September, taking a large built-in audience with it as well as a solid core of exhibitors.
The proceeds are split between the OPA and local organizers. While the most recent edition of the IPM held last month in Kapuskasing may not do quite as well, it’s not unusual for the local committee to take in $500,000 in profits which are distributed to worthwhile causes in the home county.
The most recent IPM held east of Parliament Hill was the 2001 match at Navan, just outside the boundaries of Prescott and Russell. Financially, it was a huge flop.
For the first time in recent memory, instead of making half a million dollars, the Navan IPM lost half a million… plus. To their credit, some of the original organizers spent several subsequent years satisfying creditors and creating a legacy of cancer research funding from the ruins of the match.
Why did the 2001 IPM go down in flames when it should have soared to great heights due, in part, to its location in the National Capital?
The blame is attributable to a combination of setting the sites unrealistically high and spending money that wasn’t in hand. To be fair, the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on New York and Washington that same year took a toll on Navan IPM crowd projections… which were inflated to begin with.
The 2011 IPM organizers need to take a lesson from the Navan book: Don’t exaggerate your likely success and make sure your human infrastructure and funding are firmly in place.
Organizing committee chairman Gary Barton, mayor of Champlain Township, has already announced that the 2011 event is expected to attract 100,000 visitors… more than almost any other IPM in history.
Come on, Gary! You’re a shrewd politician. You know well enough to lowball it and any extra will make you and committee members look like geniuses. You should be talking publicly about a minimum crowd expectation of 70,000.
At least Barton is downplaying possible 2011 proceeds. Referring to Bruce County in Western Ontario which he said made $900,000 off its IPM, he suggested half of that amount would be hugely beneficial to this area.
Barton has rightly pointed out there are thousands of details to deal with and he’s relying on municipal and counties governments to be generous with donations of time and equipment, for example, the loan of a loader to help prepare the site which covers parts of three farms at Chute-à-Blondeau. It’s inescapable that, to realize success, all local governments must pitch in.
Recently, a promotional IPM bus sponsored by Leduc Bus Lines Ltd., and a fundraising cookbook, compliments of St. Albert Cheese Factory, have been unveiled. Both are exemplary corporate contributions to the cause.
But most important of all right now is Prescott and Russell IPM coordinator Brunot Lecot’s effort to drum up 1,500 volunteers.
Here’s the fact of the matter: You can’t begin to hope for a successful IPM without at least 1,200 helpers on the ground. Enlisting them is priority number one.
