Tighten Your Belts and Party Promotions (by Sylph)

Yesterday I rolled out of bed a bit later than usual, but I still managed to maintain my usual routine, which included reading the Trinidad and Tobago daily newspapers. But on this occasion I became a little disturbed by an article, which discussed the impact the Prime Minister's recent call for citizens to 'tighten their belts' might have on the upcoming Carnival 2k9 celebrations. In this article, one of Trinidad's longstanding party promoters and I say that because he has been standing for as long as I have been around, was highly upset by the Prime Minister's call, because in his mind Trinidad and Tobago was NOT experiencing a recession. And in light of such, he described the PM's comments as untimely as it posed a major threat to the profitability of Carnival 2k9. Or does it really?????

Now I ask this question because in recent times, carnival and carnival associated events have become increasingly EXPENSIVE and EXCLUSIVE. Gone are the days of Jab-Jab and ole mas and chipping down the road to steelband music and live brass bands. Or a backyard carnival fete or blocko. Welcome to the new dispensation of 5,000 strong masqueraders, gyrating to soca music from large DJ trucks, in all inclusive bands, where you are provided with everything under the sun, including a wee-wee truck, so now you never have to leave your band. In the same vein, most carnival events have now opted to become all inclusive, or offer an all inclusive section, where patrons pay one fixed price, which includes everything one can desire, from food and drinks, to memorabilia items. But by so doing each year there is a significant increase attached to the price tag. And who bears this increase???? The patrons of course.

Carnival whose beginnings stemmed from the former slaves mimicking the behaviour of the french aristocracy and traditionally a 'grass-roots' celebration, has today turned into a multi-million dollar industry, almost out of pockets-reach of the grassroot society, whose ancestors were the ones that shaped the true traditions of Trinidad CARNIVAL..... The growth of the industry is most certainly welcomed, but one has to wonder if this growth is at the expensive of the very society that shaped it.

Carnival events in Trinidad and Tobago have grown from strenght to strength and the range of events now being offered have also increased. Such events begin from as early as Boxing Day, December 26th each year and run until Ash Wednesday. One can be certain to find something to do everyday during the carnival season. The only question would be whether one can afford such events.

At no time have I heard a promoter or bandleader discuss that the recent fall in carnival arrivals was as a result of the steady increase in the cost of carnival events and the price of costumes. Added to which the increasing cost of fuel have made air travel quite expensive. I however, know quite a number of persons that had to turn down carnival 2k8 because of these factors.... I do admit that the crime situation in the country has been quite alarming and if improved will be an added incentive to attract visitors to our shores. But the upsurge in crime has been little disincentive to visitor arrival as compared to the affordability of events.

The issue that stood out for me in yesterday's article though was the promoter's attempt to imply that the Prime Minister's call for conservative spending, in a time when not only Trinidad and Tobago, because from reports, all countries in the world will be either directly or indirectly affected by the global financial crisis, was unnecessary. How can this be??? How can any right-thinking citizen, knowing all that is going on in the world today, financially and otherwise, think that a call for citizens to reduce spending is untimely? How can any citizen in a time when commodities prices and the rate of inflation is so high, be disgruntled by a call to tighten ones belt? Would he have preferred for this call to come after the IMF is called in to restructure the economies expenditure, as was done in the 1980's? I most certainly pray that the country does not have to resort to such measures. I am thankful however that from all reports, citizens have responded to the Prime Minister's call, as retailers have all noted a reduction in overall spending and the nations banks have reported an increasing in savings and a reducing demand for loans. I was also pleased to note that at the beginning of December the Central Bank announced a decline in the rate of inflation, which had been on a steady rise for all of 2008.

So I ask, is this displeasure with the Prime Minister's call stemming from a strong background in global finance, so the promoter was most certain that the recession would not affect our economy? An economy whose main revenue earner so happens to be oil and gas. The same oil that is selling at a record low price. Or is this a case of a promoter who lacks a little vision to restructure his affairs to target a new market for the upcoming season?

I am one person that is thankful for the Prime Minister's call and I most certainly believe that the Trinidad and Tobago economy needed it at this time. I am also highly certain that Carnival 2k9 will be a success despite the call to tighten our belts. Because if is one thing trinis love to do is fete and have a good time. Despite this however, I can assure you that consumers are now becoming more wise and have started to demand greater value for their dollar.

So rather than wine and complain about what has already been done (or announced, by the PM), I think promoters should now review their approach to marketing their events. Because of rising crime levels and road fatalities many persons are now opting to party closer to home, however, for some that might not be an option. So rather than promoting four or five major fetes in the traditional venues, which normally lead to patrons standing in hours of traffic to get to and from the event and uncertainty as to whether their vehicles will be safe while at the event, maybe promoters can begin to explore the option of having smaller, more secured events in non-traditional areas, taking the event closer to the targeted patron. This way patrons will travel shorter distances from home and will get away from the traffic and might reduce the occurrence of road fatalities.

Remember when fetes, such as Block 5, St. Joseph Village and Valasyn were popular..... You did not have to go far away from home, or worry about the safety of your vehicle and you were guaranteed to have a good time.

I am certain that once promoters re-evaluate the true factors affecting their events they can come up with innovative ways to attract patrons. And at the end of the day, both promoter and patron will be happy.