April 21, 2025
Hello Fair Family,
I am so excited to report that Ian Hill has offered to host a make-up session for Wisconsin for the ‘You Make the Difference’ Initiative. Save the date for April 28, 2025 at 6:00PM via zoom for a condensed 2-hour session.
Anyone can attend the session from your fair, I just need them to sign up using the following link so we can know who is planning to attend. Registration will be open until NOON, on Monday the 28th.After that time, we’ll send the link for the meeting to the email addresses that have registered.
https://www.wifairs.com/f/68
If you have not attended any of the sessions, we are proud to share that 200 people, representing 61 fairs attended the five meetings we held in early April. The responses received have been so overwhelmingly positive! If you have the chance to make this make-up meeting, I highly recommend it. But don’t just take my word for it, watch the following video for some more words of encouragement.
https://vimeo.com/1073309775
Here are some texts Ian received as well.
I am very honored that WAF was presented the first, of now many, grants offered by Fairs.com to coordinate the training of every fair board and volunteer in Wisconsin as part of the ‘You Make THE Difference’ National Initiative, a groundbreaking program designed to empower fair boards, volunteers, and communities across the nation. This fully-funded training initiative, equips local fairs with the tools and strategies necessary to thrive in today’s dynamic environment.
For those 200 people that attended our April, I believe ALL of them went home with something that they want to incorporate in their daily lives to better themselves or their fair; and for some, they are dreaming bigger than they ever have. That’s the true difference the tour brought to our attendees in my mind. have never seen attendees so engaged with Ian’s teachings. The excitement after a session was done was exhilarating. You could really see the attendees thinking about the little things they can do to be a better board member, better person and better leader, without the fear of how to accomplish it. Watching volunteer videos after the sessions was affirmation that the teachings provided is exactly what is needed during this time of transformation.
I think of phrases like Building the Citizen of Tomorrow; What’s my Why?; Volunteer Burnout; Volunteer Recruitment; Never Ask for Money Again; Be an Advocate; Create Personal Relationships; Beacon of Hope; Community Asset; Significant Value; Time, Talent and Treasure; Are the Approaches I’m Using What the Time Requires?; Community Builders; 80% Listening, 20% Talking; and Preserve Heritage and Tradition were just a few of the phrases that really hit home.
That’s a pretty substantial list. A list that was all addressed as our Fair Members participated in 4 hours of leadership development. A list that carried on from our annual convention in January and will carry on until our next convention. A list that every Fair must address in order to be relevant in today’s world. Wisconsin Fair Members, thank you for joining us on this tour and having the trust to see what the WAF Board saw. Each and every one of you that attended, I believe You WILL Make THE Difference! I also believe that what we are learning is contagious and you will advocate for more learning of items on this list.
If you haven’t joined us yet, I hope you can make plans to attend the session on April 28 at 6PM. Register today!
Jayme