Fair Game
A Business Blog & Podcast Experience
Debbie Powers and her husband, Corky are the owners of Powers Great American Midways, a carnival company based out of New York that runs the east coast of the United States. While they managed to sneak in a few events in 2020 like most ride operators faced what seemed to be endless cancellations. As we move further into 2021 Debbie is continually optimistic that fairs will be able to reopen later this year. We talked carnival life, H2B Visas, the pandemic and living a positive life.
Super excited to have Dan West on the show today. Dan was formerly the manager of the Manatee County Fair in Florida before leaving that position to take the job as executive director of the Florida Federation of Fairs. Florida is the first state in the country to begin having fairs in 2021. It’s no exaggeration to say almost every other fair in the nation is watching Florida closely. Dan and I talk about what he’s seeing at fairs in Florida as far as mitigation and guest safety. Plus, we talk trade show and convention planning.
Miranda Muir is one of the most creative and innovative young fair managers in our industry. She’s currently the manager of the Elkhart County 4H Fair in Indiana. Miranda and I have been friends for many years and I was excited for her and her husband, Steve when they recently welcomed their newest addition to their family. We talk fair life, pandemic life and parenthood.
Today’s episode welcomes One Man Band, Eric Haines. Eric has a long history in entertainment having been a one man band, stilt walker and comedian. He even once opened for Weird Al Yankovic. On today’s show we check in with him on how he’s navigated the pandemic, the RV Super Show in Tampa and what his plans are for 2021.
Danny Alfonso is the fair manager for the Manatee County Fair in Palmetto, Florida. His is one of the few fairs in the nation that has managed to dodge the pandemic thus far, denying the odds and hosting a fair in both 2020 and 2021. We sit down and discuss the mitigation strategies they used plus the emotional toll it takes seeing friends have to cancel the fairs they work so hard to produce.
