More Paddling stuff
Less rabbits and animal stuff, preferably zero “odd” smells drifting about.
More paddling gear, boat manufacturers, kayak/canoe stuff
more factors
the tie with Michigan State University is strong. If MSU did not donate the Farm Pavilion the event likely would not survive.
part of accepting a free use of a facility and its surrounding parking means working with them on the date(s) available to use it. Holding QWS while MSU is on spring break is good for both parties.
It’s a Farm Pavilion - dirt floor, big overhead doors, bits of hay in the dirt. The outdoors people who come are by and large not put off by the rabbit people holding their event on the same day. In fact many families bring their kids to enjoy both events.
There is a small core of aging volunteers who has lovingly kept this event going. They set up on Friday and break down Saturday evening and a good chunk of Sunday. Many of them have jobs to get back to on Monday. Making QWS a multiple day event would be problematic for volunteers… not only those who do this work, but for volunteers staffing the many dozens of non-profit booths. Many of them have jobs and/or classes on Monday. A huge multi-day event would almost certainly involve a mix of paid staff and outside contractors to handle the logistics.
Imo if there is going to be a strategy for making this event bigger it can go in two directions - making it a multiple day event - which is problematic given its current structure - or making it a bigger one day event.
Towards that latter goal the steering committee for QWS is making an inaugural offering of a free shuttle to and from a large (free) outlying lot to the Farm Pavilion. This will take 2-3 years to get it fully integrated, but should make it possible for more people to attend. The building itself can house more people. The parking lots around the Farm Pavilion have been jam packed from about 10:30 am onwards (event opens to public at 9 am). Parking has been a self-limiting factor and the shuttle should address that.
Many people like the more relaxed, less commercial feel to Quiet Water Symposium. Attendees could be surveyed to get a more data driven feel for this, and to ferret out whether or not they really want QWS to be a smaller version of Canoecopia or Jersey Paddler’s event in Somerset NJ. Those are both huge, multi day events which are very (very) retail-driven.
as to a used gear swap, the retail vendors now there would not go for that - at all. And it would inhibit recruiting future retailers. Competes directly with them.
random thoughts
Who is your target? The name of the event implies flatwater paddling.
Best way to perpetuate any event is to do something to get young people interested.
It’s a tough time schedule-wise but you’re fortunate to have the venue donated by MSU. Maybe broaden the appeal?
theme of QWS
Michigan is mostly, overwhelmingly, a flatwater paddling state. There is some ww seasonally in the UP and in SE Michigan. Most rivers are Class 1-2 with the occasional Class 3 rapid in season, usually in spring after thaw. But the state’s rep is for flatwater and there is an abundance of venues on river, inland lakes and four of the five Great Lakes.
Theme is human-powered water transport and broadening knowledge of natural water resources. That’s why QWS has an unparalleled number of non-profits there. Irrc there is no fee for non-profits to exhibit vs the reduced fees charged by other events. Many folks prefer the low-key atmosphere as opposed to the super-charged retailing of the other events.
If I were going to appeal to younger people I would include more on SUP. A few vendors have been offering boards and gear, and instruction. I would also do more with belly boards,and ww kayaking (cross overs and dedicated ww boats).
It’s too bad in a way that it takes place during MSU’s spring break. I would offer a reduced entry fee for MSU students. Hell, offer it to any student with ID. That would increase the high teen, low 20 something attendees.
The regular entry fee is $10 and parking is free.
Don’t know if any formal demographics have been done. Just eyeballing the attendees they are in the 40-65 age bracket, unsurprisingly, with some folks in their 30s bringing their kids. There is a children’s play area with things to do, staffed by volunteers. And of course the kids enjoy the rabbit show right next door in the same building.
The overwhelming majority of paid attendees come from Michigan. I have spoken to folks from Ohio (mainly Toledo area) and Canada (mainly Ontario). It’s a one day event, wouldn’t expect people to come from more than a 3 hour radius, and most are closer.
You’ve overlooked one WW venue
Not that it has anything to do with the QWS, but we do have the Bear River Whitewater Park in Petoskey.
http://www.northernmichiganpaddlingclub.com/content.aspx?page_id=0&club_id=929076
http://tinyurl.com/m7jp3rf
that would be nice
the venue probably isn’t available during a school weekend but I agree if it were, it’d be a great way to get younger people into the event and the sport. Anything in the way of films or demos (boat building for example).
I didn’t know the event brought in so many nonprofits. That’s good to hear; do you get a lot of Watershed organizations? I could imagine some “crossover marketing” regarding fishing and fish habitat.
yes there are
a lot of fishing related exhibits, from both retail vendors and non-profits. Both a sportsman’s (and woman’s) POV in booths, presentations, and attendees. Sit on tops and Hobies draw a lot of interest and there is fishing and camping related gear sold as well.
There are also numerous speakers and exhibits on all levels of wilderness experience, including backcountry, base camping, hiking, etc. and the numerous related topics from wilderness safety to logistics to cooking, photography, etc. Mixed in with the non-profits are paid speaker presentatins and many vendors selling related items from wooden cooking implements to knives to metal work to baskets to walking sticks. The handmade snowshoes are a thing of beauty.
On the conservationist side there are all kinds of groups speaking to water quality, invasive species,dams, watershed, animal habitats - mammals, reptiles, snakes, birds - everything. There are cool “touch me” exhibits with turtles and a few with reptiles as well. Ecology is very well represented with all its interrelated issues. A lot of free literature, waterway and watershed maps. Large booths with books on all these topics and more for sale as well. One could browse a solid hour alone at all the book booths.
The large room with all the handmade boats (canoes, kayaks -wooden and skin on frame - Irish currach, sailboats) and the chance to speak at length with the builders is for many the highlight of the show. Won’t find that degree of prominence at a mainstream paddling retail event.
A big retailer-driven show is simply not going to give this kind of emphasis to non-profits devoted to the many aspects of the natural world. By the way this is a show whose floor layout doesn’t segregate non-profits from retailers, or relegate the former to back and out of the way locations.
The format and premise of Quiet Water Symposium is very different from the retailer driven sales events. I like the difference and, based on the attendance which has gone up each of the last five years, so do many other people.
true
that is a designed ww course by the same ppl who did the one in South Bend. It’s very well regarded by serious ww kayakers in this state. I was thinking of natural ww venues. Thanks for including this.
Grand Rapids is also ramping up its own ww park on the Grand River stretch downtown. Ann Arbor also has ‘the Cascades’ - a pretty tame little stretch on the Huron, but much nicer than the low head dam and resulting fetid marsh that was there. Better overall for the life in and around the Huron.
Ann Arbor cascades
There were originally two whitewater drops designed in the main stream of the river, but left out to expedite the permit. The DEQ’s complete ignorance on the topic of whitewater/habitat improvements means they’ll probably never get built.
QWS
good chat. I’m going to close with these remarks, heading out of town and offline for a while.
back to QWS I’ve described about as much as I know and have experienced. With all that is there and the way it’s laid out, it would seem pretty appealing to an outdoor person who enjoys time on the water.
The limiting factors are imo:
it’s a one day event, so not worth a long drive to and from plus cost of gas, lodging, meals. That said, it’s a very varied and worthwhile one day at a very reasonable fee of $10 per day, parking included. Not everyone wants to go to Madison WI and drop $150-$200 per night on some mediocre hotels and motels that jack up the prices.
The speakers at QWS - and they are bountiful - are every bit as good and in some cases the same as those presenting at other events like Canoecopia and the Jersey Paddler event.
Being driven solely by a small (aging) and very dedicated group of volunteers, a multiple day event is logistically difficult. I do think the steering committee could do a lot more to keep electronically linked up with ppl who want to take a more active role year round but who can’t drive out to Delta Twp for meetings. There is a LOT of planning involved and my sense of it is that the same core group does it year in and year out. I am not sure and am concerned that they are not developing a new, younger cadre of volunteers. I hope I am wrong about that.
it’s early in March so weather can be problematic for ppl traveling Michigan roads. I’ve gone in some years when it was black ice, white slick roads, etc.Also years it was perfectly dry.
a car is needed to get there. No public transportation. Michigan State’s campus is very beautiful and the area of the Farm Pavilion scenic, but also somewhat apart from East Lansing and certainly from surrounding counties.
On the plus side, parking facilities have been enlarged
with the use of a free shuttle. It’ll take a few years to get ppl using it, but can result in more ppl attending. The Farm Pavilion itself, with its food services, rest room, common areas, presentation rooms and exhibition space, can accomodate more ppl
Speaking for myself only, I don’t want to experience more retail-driven presence. Society can hammer us almost 24/7 to buy, acquire, consume, etc. It’s nice to have an alternative where people can watch, meander, learn. QWS has a very social aspect where returning attendees know they will see each other. The event is currently of a size where that can easily still happen.
There is a nice balance now between non-profits and retailers that gives QWS a unique, low key presence among paddle-oriented events.
$5 for students with ID
and free under 12.
Thanks for all the excellent information and thoughts on the Quiet Water Symposium. They are right on the money.
It is a great event, check it out
– Last Updated: Feb-19-15 8:54 PM EST –
http://www.michiganwatertrails.org/default.asp
The Michigan DNR could do a TON more, but they seem lost in hunting, fishing, snowmobiling -- instead of The 5 Great Lakes and Multiple Rivers and Numerous Little Lakes
QWS has been extremely kind and generous to nonprofit HeadWatersTrails Inc. out of Holly, MI regarding The Shiawassee Heritage Water Trail
Next Week
So who made plans to come out ?
Still on my radar
Forecast for next weekend looks okay; will keep watching it as the week progresses. Barring snowstorms, will drive down for the day. It’s only 2.5 hours and will be a good antidote for cabin fever.
Attendance records smashed
Good weather and promotion via social media helped a good deal
I’m glad that it went well.
I hope to have my car repaired for Canoecopia.
Terrific to hear that
My intentions were good, but a frozen water pipe tripped me up and by the time I got it thawed, I had blown away most of the morning.
Thanks to a seven-foot frost line, just about every city and village up here has mandatory orders to run water and even private wells are freezing unless one tap remains open.
Don’t forget the Leelanau Enterprise!
Small paper but right area. http://www.leelanaunews.com/ or
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Leelanau-Enterprise/107731979255169
Ooooops…
Knew it was sometime in March.