Fair Game
A Business Blog & Podcast Experience
Cheryl Flood knows she’s one of the lucky ones. As executive director of the Florida State Fair, she is one of the few fair managers who actually had a fair back in 2020 just prior to the Covid pandemic being declared. While her 2020 fair was a success, she did not escape the pandemic unscathed. As the vaccine began to be distributed the decision had to be made to delay the 2021 Florida State Fair by several months. We talk about that decision and more on today’s episode.
Gene Cassidy is the President of the Eastern States Exposition, affectionately known as The Big E! He’s also the current chair of the IAFE Executive Committee. He joins us today from The Big E! to talk about how they’ve navigated the Covid pandemic and what he’s most looking forward to when the fair opens its gates this fall.
Samantha Fairlie is the owner at, “The Pretzel Lady,” a hand-rolled pretzel business based out of St. Augustine, Florida. Not only are her pretzels delicious, she’s the proud owner of one of the most amazing food trailers in the entire industry. When I first saw it my first thought was, “this is the kind of set up you’d see at EPCOT in Disney World during Food & Wine Fest.” We talk about that amazing display and more on today’s episode.
Carey Harveycutter faced the challenges of 2020 with patience, making decisions focused on the health of his staff and community. It’s 2021 now and the folks at the Salem Fair are ready to open. With their dates fast approaching the pandemic is waning just in time for the 2021 Salem Fair.
Producer’s Note: Today’s episode was pre-recorded on Wednesday, June 9th, 2021, three weeks prior to the fair’s opening night on Wednesday, June 30th.
Danny Aguilar is the Assistant GM & Director of Marketing for the Delaware State Fair. After the pandemic shut our industry down in March of 2020, Danny and the team in Delaware worked hard to find a way to open safely. In July of 2020 they were first in the nation to open after the pandemic shut us down. Danny joined me to talk about that and their plans for 2021 on today’s show.
Dennis Friebe is an experienced magician having performed at fairs across America and some of America’s largest theme parks including Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. He takes a deliberate and thoughtful approach to magic which leaves his audiences in awe. He joins us today to share his story from 2020. PLUS - did you spot him in a hit Netflix series? Find out on today’s show.
Scooter Korek has been in the carnival industry for 43 years. He’s the Vice President for Client Relations for the largest carnival provider in the business, North American Midway Entertainment. With 5 units running simultaneously, N.A.M.E., is responsible for over 120 shows annually. Scooter joins me from Calgary, Alberta, Canada to talk about the challenges of the Covid pandemic and how he reacted to being shut down along with the Miami-Dade County Fair in march of 2020.
