I’m down to my last six days :(
It’s hard to believe I have just 6 days remaining of my assignment in Tanzania. I will spend the next week wrapping up my project work with Karibu Fair, and am excited to report that I’ve extended my stay for an additional 5 weeks for further travel and exploration in the area.
The last few weeks have been the busiest to date, with the annual fair (trade show) closing this past Sunday, June 8. The days leading to the event were long, and included development, production, and distribution of final marketing materials, training event staff, finalizing operational logistics, and fairground preparation and setup.
We moved the entire Karibu office (tables, chairs, computers, supplies) to an administration tent at the fairgrounds on Tuesday and began Registration and Exhibitor Set Up on Wednesday. Thursday through Sunday the fair was open for the travel and tourism industry and the general public was then welcomed over the weekend. Having never seen the event before, I was unsure what to expect. Though the description I’d heard rang true – “trade show meets country fair.” The once grassy field where the kids gather nightly to play football – soccer for the Americans reading – was transformed to a sea of white tents with stunning view of Mt Meru as the backdrop.
The exhibitors (240, a 12% increase over last year) were housed in outdoor tents. The quality of their displays and the diversity of products and services represented were impressive. Over 100 International visitors pre-registered (a 35% increase), and thanks to grassroots marketing efforts at the Sullivan Summit Conference in Arusha last week, we were able to attract an additional 50-60 International visitors. Aside from the exhibitors and registered visitors, we sold 4,400 tickets to the event over the course of four days.
Thursday and Friday exhibitors and visitors were focused mainly on networking and doing business. The weekend brought a new dimension to the fair. While the trade show business activities continued, the community at large turned up for the craft market, food, spirits, and entertainment, while their children were treated to Maasai led camel rides, face painting sponsored by a local school, acrobatic performances, fire fighting displays, dog shows, and more.
My role during the fair was as Administrative Manager, overseeing a team of about 30 event staff charged with registration, ticket sales, customer service, publicity, and finance. It was a chaotic, but exciting role. Each day brought new challenges, and with the team spirit of the Karibu management staff, we were able to pull it off. And each evening as things were winding down, we were rewarded with a well deserved beverage at one of the numerous cocktail parties hosted by exhibitors in their tents. We just sent our customer satisfaction survey off today, however the informal feedback we received already is mostly positive (Umeme – power - issues aside).
Now, here I am back in the office finalizing the long range planning documents that were put on hold recently to make time for the fair. Sitting at my desk, looking out the window, I watch as the casual workers pull in to our yard with the final truckloads of signboards, electrical cords, portable bathrooms, and assorted grounds supplies, busying themselves with the tasks of counting, disassembling, and storing these supplies for next year.