Good News, Bad News... Good News!
Like many of our exhibitors, we watch the news each day with bated breath. Some days it seems like our country is on the right path with more people getting vaccinated, and our spirits soar. Maybe we'll get a handle on COVID and the Delta variant, and life will get back to normal, right? But then we learn that the state department has delayed a decision on issuing visas to international visitors, and our emotions plummet. It seems so difficult to plan our event when it feels like we're on a seesaw of information! But on Friday, a friend who works closely with a group of hospital administrators here in Colorado put things in a brand new light. She tells us that COVID isn't going away any time soon, and that hospital administrators around the country expect that we will be living with COVID or one of its variants for the next decade. THIS is our new normal, so we should figure out how to live around COVID instead of under it. Our friend and her colleagues suggest that events such as concerts, festivals and shows like ours are where the joy is, and that we should be rolling it out with abandon, so that's what we're doing. We've decided to quit trying to second guess everything and just have the show! Our attendees are eager to come, and we are selling tickets every day. Some of the biggest names in the industry are not only coming to RMAF, but are using RMAF 2021 to launch cutting edge new products! The optimism that has been our hallmark has weathered the latest storm undiminished and we've decided that if we hold the keys to the joy cupboard, we want to fling it wide open for everyone to delight in!
Vet Tix
This great organization provides tickets to events which reduce stress, strengthen family bonds, build life-long memories and encourage service members and veterans to stay engaged with local communities and American life. For a few years now, RMAF has been offering free tickets to veterans through VetTix. The number of tickets they request has risen every year, and we receive many letters of appreciation from those who receive tickets to RMAF. Ware happy to help showcase your products to these local heroes. This year, the organization requested 300 tickets, which is a record number!
Navigating Your Exhibitor Account
One of our recent projects has been to create a set of instructions for navigating through the exhibitor accounts. We found that from year to year, people would forget all the things they need to do within their account to be ready for the show, and we were spending a lot of time helping folks find their way to the right screen to do what they wanted. So now, there's a cool new instruction manual that will walk you through your account and help you do things like upload your logo, order room keys and exhibitor badges, order furniture removal and delivery, and write your directory profile. To access the instruction manual, just go to this link:
https://www.audiofest.net/
New Exhibitors
One of the greatest things that has happened in the last month is that there were a whole bunch of brand new companies that were launched during lock-down, and several of them are newly minted RMAF exhibitors! Check out our exhibitor list and look for those unfamiliar names to see the next generation of inventors, audio engineers and sound geeks joining our ranks. This is what keeps our industry fresh and growing, so be sure to welcome these entrepreneurs to the fold!
Shipping
As with all things over the last year, COVID has affected the freight business, perhaps even more so than many other industries. Over the last year, the freight industry has seen a major shortage of drivers and a dearth of new trucks and trailers to haul freight. In addition, the scarcity of workers is affecting the ability of many trucking companies to have enough forklift operators to load and unload trailers in a timely manner. Some of the effects we are seeing are:
- Delayed Shipments. Many carriers are running at 60-70% on-time ratios from their published transit times.
- Price increases. In 2019, most trucking companies saw a 2-3% increase in prices, but in 2021, most trucking companies implemented a 10-12% increase in rates. For air freight, prices increased at the beginning of 2020 due to a reduction in flights scheduled due to COVID. This caused many air freight rates to jump 3-5 times previous rates, and those new rates have not come down.
If you've been shipping product all along, this won't come as a shock, but if you've been binge-watching Netflix and not paying attention, be prepared for increases in both prices and shipping times and plan accordingly.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact our logistics provider, Rusty Griffin at RG Logistics directly at 303-416-0227 or via email at [email protected]. Rusty has committed to work with each RMAF exhibitor on an individual basis to make sure that the logistics for RMAF is easy and painless! He and his crew will be working all night on Tuesday, so that when you arrive in your room on Wednesday morning, your freight will be waiting for you! We are looking forward to seeing you in October!
Rocky Mountain International Audio Fest
October 8-10, 2021
303-393-7918
