NEAFP Note - June 2009

Alpaca Farm Event Planning

As anyone who has participated in the highly successfully National Alpaca Farm Days can tell you - Open House Events are a wonderful way to bring new faces to the farm to showcase the Alpaca lifestyle. Planning events can be a lot of work but they help build your farm's brand recognition in the local community as well as establish you as the "Go-To" for anyone interested in Alpacas. You will notice that almost all of the largest, most successful alpaca farms have jam packed event calenders, constantly showcasing their farms, herds, and running seminars for other Alpaca Farmers looking to learn more about the industry.

The idea of planning and executing a successful event can seem daunting, especially for the first timer, so many farms partner up to spread out the initial cost and planning. When considering people to work with, it also is a good idea to consider other local agriculture businesses who do not directly compete with you but appeal to similar demographics. With the current state of our economy, many local community based businesses will be eager to partner up to create a well rounded event.

Here is a checklist that will help you get started planning out an event, whether it be for this year's National Alpaca Farm Days (Sept. 26th and 27th) or your own, private event.

    Developing Strategies for a Successful Event
  • Brainstorm themes for your event that match the goals - Are you looking to run an informational seminar for Alpaca Farmers or run an entertaining and informative event for the general public? Perhaps a little of both.
  • Create a Checklist and consider all logistics - Size of Space, Utility's Needed, Setup (Tables/Chairs/Lights/Tents Etc.), Coordination, Cleanup, Rain Dates, Transportation, and Parking
  • Do not be afraid to delegate out the planning of particulars - Organize Friends, Neighbors, Family, and Volunteers!
  • Plan Publicity - The most successful promotion mixes creative thinking with practicality - Make a list of your target demographics and brainstorm ways to inform them of the event. School/Church Newsletters, Radio, Local Television, Newspapers, Other Local Businesses and Local Markets are all great ways to get the word out. Direct Mailing, Email Newsletters also work great if you have an existing contact list.
  • Outline general goals that will help you evaluate the success of the event afterwards, whether it be how many people attend or some other measure - It is important to determine the positives and the negatives, so you can make those changes moving forward.

Depending on your budget, you also might consider a professional event planner. With Businesses tightening their own budgets, there are many event planners out there with great hands on experience eager to help plan and execute a successful event.

Further Resources: UCLA's Event Planning Resource Site


Alpaca Radar

NEAFP is happy to announce that we are introducing a new feature to our monthly newsletter, the Alpaca Radar. Each month we will be choosing a handful of Blogs, Twitterers, and other online Resources that we think really showcase how beneficial online networking can be. For our first month we chose three Bloggers who we believe run some of the top Alpaca Blogs in the United States. They update often with a ton of great resources that Alpaca Farms and all people interested in Agriculture can benefit from. Above all, their passion shines through with each post and that, in our opinion, is the most important aspect of showcasing your Farm, Animals, Products, and Resources online. With the rise in self publishing and the decline of mass marketing's effectiveness, genuine people who truly believe in their businesses and our passionate about what they do, day in and day out, serve as great examples of how you can successfully broadcast the Alpaca Lifestyle to the general public.

  • Alpaca PR Blog - Alpaca PR's Blog is a group of Alpaca Farms scattered throughout New England who work together promoting their farms, animals, services, and the overall lifestyle with raising these great animals. They also put packages together made up of animals from different farms to better serve their customers. This is a great example of farms working cooperatively for their mutual benefit!
  • Autism n Alpacas - Autism & Alpacas is a blog about one families positive experiences with their son and raising Alpacas, from their description: "His contact with the animals produced immediate changes in his anxiety level and feelings of self-worth. And so our adventure began: we started a small farm, Alpaca Shack, in Berne, NY. This is a journal of John's life with these mystical and wonderful animals." The blog is a great insight into their everyday lives, and is very motivational!
  • Odelia's Farm Blog - Odelia Farm's Blog is run by Beth and Rodney Brown who use it as a way to keep their local community up to date with happenings around the farm, as well as posting great resources from selling animals to bringing their Fiber to Fashion! Their goal is to bring the alpaca and fiber communities closer together and they are doing a wonderful job!

Have an Alpaca Blog of Twitter Account you would like to showcase in our NEAFP Notes? Let us know by contacting Support with your link and a brief description of your site and farm.



NEAFP on the Go!

We are beginning to finalize dates for upcoming shows that we will be attending as an Informational Vendor, and doing Fiber Collections. We would love for everyone to come out and say hello, get your hands on some of our new products, and let us haul your fiber back to the mill. This is a wonderful way to save on Fiber Shipping Costs!

Find Out how to Participate in Fiber Pickups and Save on Shipping HERE!




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