Let’s Get Ready to Rumble!!

I’ve been thinking a lot, lately, about “value for money spent”. This is especially true for the cost of gas! Why are gas prices so high and why, as consumers, are we accepting it? When you go to a “service station” there, usually, is no service! We pump our own gas, check our own oil and fill our windshield wiper fluid. So all we are paying for is the gas and the equipment that dispenses the gas. I guess we have now all accepted this as the “norm”. It now seems to be creeping into all aspects of our lives. When you go into many supermarkets and Big Box store you almost have to beg for service! Their justification seems to be lower prices. The pendulum went from perhaps too much service to very little. With the economy on the downturn, the pendulum seems to be swinging back. So, after this “longwinded” introduction, here is my point. If we, as consumers, ban together, we can make a difference and we can cause change. We can start a mini revolution and start demanding better service, competitive prices and better products. Let’s face it, we control the purse strings. We decide where and when we are going to spend our hard earned money! It’s time to fight back, so “let’s get ready to rumble”!
Anyone who reads this blog regularly knows that Judi and I visit a lot of festivals and events throughout the year. Unfortunately some of the visited festivals don’t offer “good value for money spent”. Even though many of the festivals we visit don’t change an admission fee, that doesn’t mean they are offering good value. I’m not just talking about the cost of admission. I’m talking about the other costs, gas to get there, parking, food, products, midway, etc. We as festival and event consumers should expect and demand “good value”! Most festivals and events are organized and run by hard working, well intentioned volunteers. They want to do their best, but they are not professionals! Most groups do what they have always done! It’s easier that way! We need to make festival managers, volunteers or not, more accountable for what they are offering and how they inform and train their volunteers. We can do this by giving festival and event organizers constructive feedback. Most festivals and events have contact information on their websites. If they don’t, that’s a great place for them to start improving! If, after giving an event your feedback and you still feel negatively, you have the final “hammer”. Just don’t go back to the event plus you can tell your friends and family about your negative experiences. If enough people boycott the event, it’s organizers will soon get the picture! The economy is going through a “readjustment” period now and all businesses (profit and non-profit) should re-evaluate their operation. Those that don’t, likely won’t last. It’s up to us, the “festival consumer”, to join the “fight” and “help” organizers go in the “right’ direction After all, we deserve “good value for hard earned money spent”!