[ivfdf-news] Sheffield 2008 - external adviser report

[Alison Edmondson]

Hi everyone,
         This comes with the slight provisos that a)I
didn't know until this evening that I had to produce a
report today and b)I have just been given a load of
new information, but is as clear as I can make it
under the circumstances.

As external adviser, my job at this point is to give
some idea of how I think people should vote, based on
the information I have. Looking at what Sheffield have
done so far, and the answers which they have given to
my questions and those of others, I have no doubt that
Sheffield are in a position to run a good IVFDF in
2008. They have confirmed venues, attractive events
and a clear idea of how they are going to make
everything happen. I can see no possible reason for
not confirming them as hosts of the festival. 

The second part of the vote, concerning underwriting,
is less clear because less information has been
available about the budget than about the event in
general. Most of the concerns expressed about this
have now been answered, but only at the 11th hour! I
get the impression that Sheffield are relying quite
heavily on attracting both external funding and
extensive custom from the local ceilidh scene, and I
think that this is more of a gamble than they think it
is. On the other hand, I don't live in Sheffield, and
they are basing their attendance figures on the last
Sheffield IVFDF which is as good a guess as any. If I
had to offer them £1000 underwriting from my own
pocket, I couldn't give it to them with confidence at
this stage. I would need a more detailed budget, with
more indication of "what we are going to do if we only
sell x tickets instead of y". I might try to think of
an amount I could afford not to get back, and offer
them that, or I might tell them to ask again later.
I'm not sure if IVFDF can do either of these things;
Ian, do you know? 

That's about all I can say - hope it helps. Tracey is
the lead adviser for Sheffield, so her report may be
based on more detailed information. 
Alison Edmondson


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