As an event planner by trade, it is sometimes hard for me to purely enjoy other events, because I'm always thinking how I would do things to make it better and improve the experience. Here are some problems I recognized at the Interfusion Festival over Labor Day weekend, and I hope Christian Rodriguez and the other event organizers will consider making changes for next time. I've also listed possible solutions; might as well share my professional opinion!
Workshop Sign-Ups: This time around, the festival tried to encourage people to sign up for workshops ahead of time to save spots for their top choice classes. When I first learned about this, I discovered that with my full pass (i.e. what I thought meant "all-inclusive"), I only could sign up for 15 workshops. In February I could attend as many workshops as I wanted, and drop into whatever classes I wanted to attend. So I felt like I wasn't getting my money's worth: I paid for nearly 5 days of classes, but with only 15 sign-ups, I could only attend the festival for 2 days.* And in the end (as you'll read below), reserving your spot didn't mean anything: some of the classes were so big you still couldn't get in.
*It was only afterward that my friend explained to me that the sign-ups were meant to reserve my spot for my top choice workshops, but that I could also attend other workshops that weren't already full. I wish this message had been made more clear from the beginning...
Solution: I'm not actually sure of a good solution. The sign-ups didn't really work, but maybe they wouldn't work anyway, regardless of the method. I think this one may be resolved by the capacity solution (see below).
Capacity: Both this time around and in February, the Festival was much more popular than expected. The organizers tried to remedy the situation by offering more days, more workshops, and the sign-ups so that the classes wouldn't get too full. But this didn't work. Some of the classes were still packed. For example, in my Thai massage class, we should have had enough room to move around our partner to get just the right position for massaging each body part. But we were crammed like little sardines, to the point that I had to skip certain moves because there simply was no room for me to do them properly.
Solution: While neither of these ideas will be popular, since the event is supposed to be inclusive, one of these changes must be made in order for all those involved to enjoy the Festival in the fullest way possible. The organizers need to:
A. Limit the number of both full- and day-passes available to prevent overcrowding at any point during the Festival (plus, saying "Sold Out!" earlier just makes the event seem that much more popular) or
B. Increase the cost to attend the Festival. This will naturally lower the number of participants/attendees. And then those who have paid top-dollar to be there will more likely get their money's worth.
Schedule: For simplicity's sake, I understand starting and finishing every workshop on the hour. But when you do that, there is no time to allow for workshops that run over, or even quick bathroom breaks. On my last day, I wanted to take a meditation class. But my zouk class ahead of it ran seven minutes over, and by the time I arrived to the meditation, the room was packed and I couldn't get in, even though I had reserved a spot. And anytime I had to pee during the festival, I had to leave a workshop early so that I would still make it on time to my next class. Not to mention that lunch breaks are not included either...
Solution: There should be a mix of classes that start on the hour, 15 minutes in, and on the half-hour. This would allow for 15-30 minute breaks in between classes for people to go to the bathroom, grab something to eat, check out the vendors, etc. People wouldn't need to leave workshops early, and they wouldn't have to rush to consecutive workshops, either. Also, this would mean the Festival could offer workshops of different lengths; sometimes one hour is too short but two hours is too long, but being able to offer 1.5 hour classes could be perfect.
Temperature: Just like last time, some of the rooms were FREEZING. I thought maybe it happened in February because, well...it was winter. But even in late summer, many of the rooms were too cold. I understand needing to keep the rooms somewhat cool for the dance classes because people are being active, but the only time I felt too warm was during my acroyoga class. Otherwise, I was so cold I was shivering at times! How am I supposed to meditate or focus on my partner when my hands are shaking?! And don't think it was just me: there were plenty of thin women there with little body fat to keep them warm; there were actually blankets in the back of some rooms that people could use as mats, but they were using them AS blankets because these people were freezing! We shouldn't have to wear three layers during Labor Day weekend in D.C.
Solution: I have two ideas for this:
A. Control the temperature of the room for each workshop. If a dance class is at 9, turn the A/C on, and if it's followed by a meditation class at 10, turn the A/C off (or even the heat on). A volunteer could easily be in charge of this task. Or...
B. Keep the same kinds of classes in each room. If you want to keep a room cooler, put all the dance classes in one studio; for the classes that need warm space (i.e. those when you are laying down and not moving), put them all in a studio that's heated. And if there are way more dance classes, schedule them for later in the day, so you're only cooling the room after the yoga/meditation/massage classes. Making this work on a schedule should not be difficult.
The Interfusion Festival is described as a "grassroots" festival. But I find that the term is used as a euphemism for unorganized and less formalized. If you're going to have hundreds of people (some from across the country) attend your event, you can't just let things happen "organically," or just see how things pan out. I hope the organizers will take my feedback, as well as that from others, for future festivals (if I even bother to attend next time).
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