2 0 1 2 Evaluation Summary January 26-28, 2012 Nashville Airport Marriott Prepared by Megan L. Bruch Marketing Specialist CPA Info #190 April 2012
Executive Summary The 2012 Agritourism Cultivating Farm Revenue conference was held January 26-28 at the Nashville Airport Marriott in conjunction with the Tennessee Horticultural Expo. A total of 179 people registered for the conference with approximately 100 attending the pre-conference tour. The conference provided an opportunity for participants to learn through a pre-conference tour, educational sessions, a trade show, networking opportunities and educational materials. Participants were asked to complete a form to evaluate their experiences at the 2012 conference and previous conferences. Completed forms totaled 65 for a 36 percent response rate. Agritourism operators and farmers interested in agritourism made up 97 percent of respondents. Agricultural industry professionals and/or educators made up 2 percent of respondents. Respondents were also asked to rate several components of the conference on a scale of 1=Poor, 2=Fair, 3=Average, 4=Good and 5=Excellent. All components received a score of 3.7 or higher. Cumulative effectiveness scores for sessions ranged from a high of 89.5 percent to a low of 75 percent. The average cumulative effectiveness score was 84.7 percent. The top three cumulative effectiveness scores were for sessions called Herding Cats: How to Effectively Train and Manage Employees, Innovative Attractions and A Goal without a Plan is a Wish. 69 percent reported increased awareness of agritourism as an opportunity to add value to farm resources and foster economic development 57percent reported they gained knowledge and/or skills to manage risk 82 percent reported they gained knowledge and/or skills to market their enterprise 73percent reported they gained knowledge and/or skills improve returns from their agritourism operation This was the second time the agritourism conference was held in conjunction with the Tennessee Horticultural Expo. Participants were asked to indicate their preferences on meeting jointly with the Expo in the future. As shown in Figure 3, 64 percent of respondents indicated the conference should be held with the Expo every year. Fourteen percent indicated the agritourism conference should be held separate from the Expo every year. Fifteen percent indicated the groups should meet jointly periodically such as every other year or every third year. Seven percent provided some other comment or suggestion. The 2012 conference was the first conference for 24 respondents (38 percent). Twenty-five respondents had attended in 2010. Thirty respondents attended the 2009 conference, 21 attended in 2008 and 15 attended in 2007. Ten attended the first conference held in 2005. Six people attended all four of the previous conferences, and 11 more attended at least three past conferences. Eight respondents attended two past conferences, and nine attended one past conference. Of the 38 respondents who indicated they attended previous conferences, 71 percent expanded attractions for their existing operations 61 percent implemented new or improved marketing strategies 61 percent implemented new or improved risk management strategies 39 percent indicated they used the information to analyze the potential of a new agritourism enterprise 37 percent assisted farmers 29 percent developed and opened new enterprises 30 respondents indicated their agritourism net income increased (12 respondents reported increases in net revenue of more than $133,000 and another mentioned an increase of 10 percent) 20 respondents indicated that they added more than 119 additional personnel to their enterprise i
Conference Overview The 2012 Agritourism Cultivating Farm Revenue conference was held January 26-28 at the Nashville Airport Marriott in conjunction with the Tennessee Horticultural Expo. A total of 179 people registered for the conference with approximately 100 attending the pre-conference tour. Attendance at previous conferences is provided in Table 1. Table 1. Attendance at Previous Conferences Year Location Attendance 2005 Franklin 284 2007 Pigeon Forge 205 2008 Paris Landing 249 State Park 2009 Chattanooga 164 2010 Nashville 209 2011 Savannah Cancelled due to weather The conference provided an opportunity for participants to learn through a pre-conference tour, educational sessions, a trade show, networking opportunities and educational materials. Participants were asked to complete a form to evaluate their experiences at the 2012 conference and previous conferences. Completed forms totaled 65 for a 36 percent response rate. Questions from the evaluation form are listed in the appendix. The evaluation form first asked respondents to indicate the best term that described their role and interest in agritourism from a list of five responses. Potential responses included agritourism operator, farmer interested in agritourism, tourism industry professional, agriculture industry professional/educator and other. Agritourism operators and farmers interested in agritourism made up 97 percent of respondents (Figure 1). Agricultural industry professionals and/or educators made up less than 2 percent of respondents. Figure 1. Participant Role and Interest in Agritourism (n=62) Agriculture Industry Professional/ Educator, 1, 2% Other, 1, 2% Farmers Interested in Agritourism, 13, 21% Agritourism Operator, 47, 76% 1
Participation of respondents in past conferences is shown in Figure 2. The 2012 conference was the first conference for 24 respondents (38 percent). Twenty-five respondents had attended in 2010. Thirty respondents attended the 2009 conference, 21 attended in 2008 and 15 attended in 2007. Ten attended the first conference held in 2005. Six people attended all four of the previous conferences, and 11 more attended at least three past conferences. Eight respondents attended two past conferences, and nine attended one past conference. Figure 2. Previous Conference Attendance 35 30 30 25 24 25 20 21 15 15 10 10 5 0 First Timers 2010 2009 2008 2007 2005 Evaluation of the 2012 Conference Respondents were also asked to rate several components of the conference on the following scale: 1=Poor, 2=Fair, 3=Average, 4=Good and 5=Excellent. Those components included conference registration, Thursday tour day, conference materials, selection of topics, quality of sessions/speakers, conference facilities, trade show, meals, and value for the respondents enterprise/profession. As shown in Figure 3, all components received a score of 3.7 or higher. The Thursday tour day received the highest average rating with 4.7. Conference registration was close behind with an average rating of 4.6, and the quality of sessions/speakers received a 4.5. Conference materials, selection of topics and conference facilities all received an average rating of 4.4. The value for the enterprise/profession received an average rating of 4.3. Meals received a 4.1 and the trade show was rated on average at 3.7. 2
Table 2. Average Ratings for Various Conference Components Conference Component Average Rating Thursday Tour Day 4.7 Conference Registration 4.6 Quality of Sessions/Speakers 4.5 Conference Materials 4.4 Selection of Topics 4.4 Conference Facilities 4.4 Value for Your Enterprise/Profession 4.3 Meals 4.1 Trade Show 3.7 Respondents were asked to indicate the effectiveness of each session they attended in improving knowledge and quality of instruction by utilizing a rating scale ranging from 1=Not Effective to 10=Very Effective. Average ratings are listed in Table 3. Cumulative effectiveness scores for the sessions have been calculated in percentage terms and used to evaluate the combined effectiveness of improving knowledge and quality of instruction. The scores were calculated by adding the average rankings for each of the categories and then dividing by the highest possible score (20=10 possible points per category x 2 categories). The cumulative effectiveness scores are also listed in Table 2. Cumulative effectiveness scores for sessions ranged from a high of 89.5 percent to a low of 75 percent. The average cumulative effectiveness score was 84.7 percent. The top three cumulative effectiveness scores were for sessions called Herding Cats: How to Effectively Train and Manage Employees, Innovative Attractions and A Goal without a Plan is a Wish. 3
Table 3. Session Effectiveness Sessions Number Responding (Improved Knowledge, Quality of Instruction) Average Rating on a scale of 1 (Not Effective) to 10 (Very Effective) Improved Knowledge Quality of Instruction Cumulative Effectiveness Score Friday Agritourism in Action 53, 47, 8.5 8.9 87% Promotion Tools from the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development 40, 35 8.3 8.4 83.5% A Goal without a Plan is a Wish 57, 50 8.5 9.1 88% Growing Farm Field Trips 43, 34 8.5 8.6 85.5% On-Farm Food Service 28, 26 8.0 8.7 83.5%^ Innovative Attractions 52, 45 8.8 9.0 89% Workers Compensation and Agritourism 20, 13 8.7 8.0 83.5% Will Zoning Put the Brakes on your Planned Expansion or New Enterprise 24, 17 7.2 7.8 75% What s New in Social Media 37, 29 8.1 8.6 83.5% Saturday Herding Cats: How to Effectively Train and Manage Employees 46, 40 8.8 9.1 89.5% So Who s the Boss in Mama s Family? 46, 39 8.1 8.3 82% Innovative Promotions 41, 36 8.1 9.1 86% Participants were asked to indicate whether or not the conference experience had increased their awareness of agritourism as an economic development opportunity and increased their knowledge in managing risk, marketing their enterprise and improving returns from their operation. Results included the following: 69 percent reported increased awareness of agritourism as an opportunity to add value to farm resources and foster economic development 57percent reported they gained knowledge and/or skills to manage risk 82 percent reported they gained knowledge and/or skills to market their enterprise 73percent reported they gained knowledge and/or skills improve returns from their agritourism operation 4
Suggestions for Improvement of Conference Respondents were asked to indicate how the conference could have been improved. Suggestions from respondents for ways to improve the conference are summarized into four topic categories in Table 4 including considerations for sessions, facilities/meals, trade show, tour and other. Table 4. Summary of Suggestions for Conference Improvement Category Summary of Comments Sessions could be designated by level. For instance, would have liked to receive more comprehension and teaching knowledge in the areas of regulations and food service. Speakers who do something besides corn mazes and pumpkin patches. (Haycations, U- Pick-Farms, etc). It seems to lean very heavily toward corn mazes and fall activities. I d like to hear more about other agritourism topics. Talk about something other than CORN MAZES and PUMPKIN patches as opportunities for agritourism revenue!!!!!!!!!! Something new and different. Seems like the same topics/basic info as previous workshops and conferences. Have info about something other than for pumpkin patches. It seems to be heavy on the pumpkin patch farm. Is bigger always better? Is the industry going more toward mini amusement parks and away from agriculture? Like speakers who aren t always selling their goods. More question and answer time. Better planning and management of speakers so that they stay within time limit. Obviously a lot of emphasis on corn maze related things. Naturally because a lot of mazes. However, in many areas we are seeing saturation. So I think conference needs to start finding and promoting the next diversification. More variety of speakers and operation of differing sizes. I m very small and don t want Sessions 1,000 visitors. Would have liked to see more/heard more small scale operators. Visit to winery on Thursday could have been skipped giving us time to see the Ring Farm before dark. Two of the most interesting topics food service and field trips were scheduled at the same time which meant we had to miss opportunity to learn about one, seems like they could have been paired with a least interesting topic. Incorporate animals into the mix such as goats and what all can be done with different animals for agritourism! The conference was very good. Pros and cons of animals. It would help to shorten the speakers so we had time to ask more questions. Try to get schedule synced with others like TFVA. For example your session was 9:15-9:45 and TFVA was 9:00-9:30 so you would miss half of one or the other. Food service speakers should have been in an area that required all health department regulations. Earlier programs. THE meeting earlier in conference. Have local agritourism destinations speak. Mike Jeffers of MMKM Family Produce is a great speaker. Maybe he ll speak to us. Facility with better bathrooms and meal facility. No air conditioning too cold in conference rooms. A facility that has hot water in the restroom would be nice. Very disappointed in the Marriott. My wife is planning to contact them. Don t provide lunch with no place to sit. Facilities/Meals Better organization for food service (lunches). Lines were very long. No place to sit. Many sat on the floor. Trade show was not much. Need more service providers/better mix such as concession suppliers, gift shot suppliers, attraction suppliers, crowd control, display manufacturers, banner makers, etc. Lunch was great, seating awful. People sitting on the floor. Charge more and have 5
somewhere to sit. Meals buffet was okay, but need places to sit. Missed banquet and entertainment! Lunch on Friday was disorganized, not enough trade show exhibits to do a grazing lunch for the number of attendees. Lunches could have been more beef cattle oriented. We need tables when we eat lunch! The trade show needs more variety in vendors. It seems to be mostly label/sign vendors and horticulture products. Better seating at meals. Seeing people eating on the floor at lunch could have been done better. Plan for bigger audiences at sessions. We had to stand at two sessions. All chairs were taken. Fix the Friday lunch problem. Took way to long to get food and the bread was stale. Generally lousy lunch. Hotel meal set up could be improved. Lines too slow and long. Large room for agritourism speakers. Trade show vendors who market items for agritourism (3 comments) or that are applicable to farming (seed co., machinery, etc). Trade Show Have more than 1 day of exhibits. When I attend conferences for other businesses, the trade shows are huge and offer promotions for trade show purchases that actually benefit my businesses. Have all Power Points in book or on a jump drive and eliminate printing a large book. We were missing slide presentations from Hugh and the entire presentation on Estate Transition. I hear more/absorb better when I can listen and not have to write everything down from the slides. Materials Post a Conference Information board for changes. I missed two discussions I really wanted to attend due to room changes. Tell more about what each program will be about so I can make informed decisions as to which program would benefit me most. Have more bus tours, (2 comments) Have a tour at least every other year with convention (off years do other out of state bus tours). Need to improve PA (sound system) on tour. More restroom facilities on tour. Tour Love bus tour. Like state park. Could not improve on program. Only problem if it is a problem just so much to do! The Thursday night dinner was excellent. Ring Farm. The Thursday lunch was excellent. Ladd Farm. Better weather. Other Contests should have been better organized and publicized. This was the second time the agritourism conference was held in conjunction with the Tennessee Horticultural Expo. Participants were asked to indicate their preferences on meeting jointly with the Expo in the future. As shown in Figure 3, 64 percent of respondents indicated the conference should be held with the Expo every year. Fourteen percent indicated the agritourism conference should be held separate from the Expo every year. Fifteen percent indicated the groups should meet jointly periodically such as every other year or every third year. Seven percent provided some other comment or suggestion. 6
Figure 3. Preferences on Conference as Part of Horticultural Expo (n=59) Other, 4, 7% Meet Jointly Periodically, 9, 15% Meet Separately, 8, 14% Meet Jointly, 38, 64% Comments associated with meeting jointly with the Tennessee Horticultural Expo in the future included the following: Having agritourism and hort expo together forces us to choose sessions to attend, so we can t learn how to improve the farm side vs agritourism side of our business, only one or the other. Have agritourism alone. Have agritourism separate from fruit and vegetable conference. Too much confusion and overlapping of interesting topics and workshops. Like conference when just agritourism. 7
Suggestions for Future Program Topics When asked to provide suggestions of topics to include at future conferences, respondents gave a wide variety of responses. The responses have been listed in Table 5 by categories including operator experiences/specific enterprise types, marketing, safety/risk management, management and other. Table 5. Suggestions of Topics for Future Programs Specific Enterprise Types More info on organic/nature-based operations, more info on small operations. Maybe add some round table discussion sessions. New ideas every year. More focus on agritourism operations that are not fall seasons (pumpkin patches/corn mazes). More on Christmas tree growers or lumber tree growers. Weddings, B&B s. A greater diversity of operations. Could have called it the Corn Maze Conference. Other agritourism ideas beside pumpkin and corn mazes. Community project ideas for off season. More about fruit (apples). Farm stays/vacations. U-pick farming. Would be interested in spring farm activities in regards to pick-your-own farms to help increase customer base/revenue. Also, possibility of smaller farm enterprise experiences. More about incorporating animals into the conference and which animals are best for petting farms. As many attraction speakers as possible. Attraction/supplies vendors and website info. More detail information or discussion on expanding and developing attractions. Keep doing what you are doing. Farm visits, farm speakers from other states, and networking with local farmers is what makes this conference good! Panel of experienced Tennessee agritourism farmers for Q&A. Successful small agritourism farmers. Tours. Specific workshops on how to add a new element to your farm: how to haunt, how to do birthday parties, how to do weddings, etc. Marketing Needs more info on direct sales to customers. Advanced marketing. Farm tours, social media and web marketing experts. Working with teachers. Marketing and promoting our farm. Originality. Much direct copying is going on. From tag lines to attractions. With a pumpkin patch on every corner, what do you suggest to foster success for all? Marketing. Promotion and Advertising. More on communications. Safety/Risk Management Liability insurance. Legal issues and law changes. Tax issues (some are not collecting tax and filling out forms.) Management More real needs addressed not just another attraction idea. How about a business plan or a model, profit to debt ratio for effective farm venture. How to implement effective tracking systems for revenue. Did the new free attraction like a go-cart track bring in what percent of revenue? What percent should be set aside for workman s compensation, insurance, etc.? Pending legislation addressing illegal immigrants and e-verify, and what that will mean to those of us who use Hispanic labor. Employee laws. Food Service. State and federal regulations. 8
More state regulations. Health department regulations etc. Legal issues. Business licensing/biz taxes. (2 comments) The lawyers have lots of information, but seem reluctant to really give clear answers. Maybe because they can t. It would be useful to have a presentation showing examples of agritourism operations and what seems to be the most accurate and legal way that operations need to handle unemployment, 1099 vs W2, workers compensation, sales tax. What are most folks actually doing, and what should they be doing. Recordkeeping. (simple) Budgeting. Employee training. Financial planning. How to expand. More on legal issues/business licensing. Concession management; how to handle labor and scheduling, profit margins, managing inventory. Other Sources of special equipment and materials. More estate planning options. Needs to be a workshop to help beginners in farming for the public. Help us understand more about all of this. Talk more about grants. How to find help and where to find great food in the area. Cost share and grant programs. Cost share programs and grant programs. Should be made more aware of whats available 9
Respondents were given the opportunity to make other comments and suggestions on the evaluation form. These comments are included in Table 6. Table 6. Summary of Other Comments and Suggestions Evaluation too long. Have you considered placing the evaluation on-line? Thanks for the marketing ideas. All deadlines such as website, brochure contests should be included with registration materials well in advance of judging. Criteria for judging should be outlined for entrants. When awards and judges are presented, examples of winner s material should be shown so that contest becomes learning experience. Speakers need to be aware of people to their right. Engage and we couldn t see screen from where they were standing. I liked pre-conference tour and free night. Had a new farm tell me: It s hard for newcomers to feel like they fit because people aren t friendly. The farms are so guarded because they are all competing and the state people have their favorite or pet farms. Some staff didn t even speak to them again after they had initiated several conversations. More networking. Need sweet tea option as unsweet was only option at several lunches at hotel. Lunch on Friday was difficult. No place to eat. This conference helped me focus but also left me with even more questions and have no idea where to go. Beginner sessions would be great! Not to have two money making sessions at the same time. Food service and Drawing Farm Tours. I would have liked to attend both. Very organized and we got a lot out of the conference. We learn something new everytime we attend. Great job! Amazingly affordable conference! Excellent food wonderful hospitality. Compared to NAFDMA this was sensational and affordable. Deep gratitude to families who hosted group for visit on bus tour! Excellent info and sharing. Great conference. Great job Pam, Dan and Megan. Thank you for all your hard work and for providing excellent speakers. Enjoyed Carolyn s Country Cousins! Excellent speakers and innovative ideas! Our first conference. We will be back next year. Thanks for all your planning. Organization was good. Good conference. Got lots of good practical ideas. Met good people, made good contacts; enjoyable and educational. ALWAYS INCLUDE TOURS!!! They are the best. 10
Previous Conference Experience and Impact Another objective of the 2012 conference evaluation form was to determine if attendees who have attended previous conferences have experienced any intermediate or long-term impacts from them. Those that had attended previous conferences were asked to answer three additional questions about how they used the information and resulting impacts. The respondents were asked to indicate how they had used information learned at the conferences by selecting all that applied from a list of six options (Table 7). Of the 38 respondents who indicated they attended previous conferences, 39 percent indicated they used the information to analyze the potential of a new agritourism enterprise. Seventy-one percent expanded attractions for their existing operations while 37 percent assisted farmers. Sixty-one implemented new or improved marketing strategies. New enterprises were developed and opened by 29 percent of respondents. Sixty-one percent of respondents implemented new or improved risk management strategies. Table 7. Number and Percent of Respondents Using Past Conference Information by Type of Use Description of Use Number Percent Implemented new or improved marketing strategies on your agritourism enterprise 29 76 Expanded the attractions on your existing agritourism enterprise 27 71 Implemented new or improved strategies to manage risk on your agritourism enterprise (safety, insurance, etc.) 23 61 Analyzed the potential for a new agritourism enterprise 15 39 Assisted agritourism operators or farmers interested in agritourism 14 37 Developed and opened a new agritourism enterprise 11 29 Thirty respondents indicated their net income increased due to information learned at previous conferences. Twelve respondents reported increases in net revenue totaling more than $133,000. Another mentioned net income had increased by 10 percent. Twenty respondents indicated that they added personnel to their enterprise following past conferences. A total of 119+ jobs were reportedly added by these enterprises. 11
Appendix 2012 Agritourism Cultivating Farm Revenue Conference Evaluation Please help evaluate the conference by completing this form. Return the completed form to the conference registration desk or to facilitators at the final general session. 1. Which one of the following terms best describes your role and interest in agritourism? Agritourism operator Farmer interested in agritourism Tourism industry professional Agriculture industry professional/educator (Extension, TDA, etc.) Other (Please specify.) 2. Which of the following Tennessee agritourism conferences have you attended? 2010 Horticultural Expo/Agritourism Conference in Nashville 2009 conference in Chattanooga 2008 conference at Paris Landing 2007 conference in Pigeon Forge 2005 conference in Franklin None of the above If you attended previous conferences, continue with question #3. If not, skip to #7. 3. Which of the following did you do with information you learned from the previous agritourism conferences? (Check all that apply.) Analyzed the potential for a new agritourism enterprise Developed and opened a new agritourism enterprise Expanded the attractions on your existing agritourism enterprise Implemented new or improved strategies to manage risk on your agritourism enterprise (safety measures, insurance coverage, etc.) Implemented new or improved marketing strategies on your agritourism enterprise Assisted agritourism operators or farmers interested in agritourism 4. With information you learned at previous conferences, has your annual net income from agritourism increased? Yes No 5. If yes, how much did your net income increase in 2011 from information learned at previous conferences? $ 6. Since attending previous conferences, did you add additional personnel/jobs to your agritourism enterprise? Yes How many? No 12
7. For this conference, please indicate the effectiveness of each session you attended, on a scale of 1 (not effective) to 10 (very effective), in improving knowledge and quality of instruction. Friday Agritourism in Action Sessions Promotion Tools from the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development A Goal without A Plan is a Wish Growing Farm Field Trips On-Farm Food Service Innovative Attractions Workers Compensation and Agritourism Will Zoning Put the Brakes on your Planned Expansion or New Enterprise? What s New in Social Media? Saturday Herding Cats: How to Effectively Train and Manage Employees So Who s the Boss in Mama s Family? Innovative Promotions Improved Quality of Knowledge Instruction ---Rate on a scale of 1 (Not Effective) to 10 (Very Effective)--- 8. Please rate the following by circling the number corresponding to the applicable rating: Excellent Good Average Fair Poor Conference Registration 5 4 3 2 1 Thursday Tour Day 5 4 3 2 1 Conference Materials 5 4 3 2 1 Selection of Topics 5 4 3 2 1 Quality of Sessions/Speakers 5 4 3 2 1 Conference Facilities 5 4 3 2 1 Meals 5 4 3 2 1 Trade Show 5 4 3 2 1 Value for Your Enterprise/Profession 5 4 3 2 1 9. Which of the following did you accomplish at this conference? (Check all that apply.) I increased my awareness of agritourism as an opportunity to add value to farm resources and foster rural economic development. I gained knowledge and/or skills to manage risk. I gained knowledge and/or skills to market my enterprise. I gained knowledge and/or skills to improve returns from my agritourism operation. 13
10. How could this conference have been improved? 13. If additional educational workshops or conferences are held related to agritourism, what topics should be included on the program? 14. Other comments and suggestions: Thank you for providing us with your valuable feedback. Have a safe trip home! 14