Please Note:  As we are trying to maximize everyone’s participation while minimizing travel time we have added some meetings and moved some meetings to hopefully better suit all of our needs. Please reference the above meeting schedule for the FINAL meeting dates, locations, and times. 

Wednesday, May 7

• WFA EDP Committee 9:00am - 10:00am CalExpo/Clubhouse
• CFA Board of Directors 10:00am - 11:00am Cal Expo/Clubouse
• California Fairs - F&E 11:00am – 2:00pm Cal Expo/Clubhouse
• Ag & Education Committee 2:30pm - 4:00pm Cal Expo/Clubhouse
• WFA Finance Committee 2:30pm – 4:00pm CFSA Conf. Rm.
• WFA New Director Orientation 4:30pm – 6:00pm CFSA Conf. Rm.

Thursday, May 8

• WFA Pro Dev Committee – 9:00am – 12:30pm CFSA Conf. Room
• WFA Board of Directors – 12:30pm – 3:00pm CSFA Conf. Room

The California Fair Alliance (CFA) and the Division of Fairs and Expositions (F&E) will co-host a three hour session on fair funding on Wednesday May 7. The meeting will be held at the Turf Club of the California State Fair grandstand from 11:00am to 2:00pm and will include a light lunch. The main agenda item will be the presentations of the 2009 expenditure plan for California Fair Funding and the opportunity for fairs to provide input. “This is an important subject and all fairs are welcome to attend,” noted CFA Chair Rebecca Desmond. “If you can not attend, please share your thoughts with your area representative or drop me a note at rebeccad@sisqfair.com. The CFA Board will meet at the same location to review legislation beginning at 10:00am. All CFA meetings are open to the membership.

The Professional Development Committee will kick off the convention planning season with its first meeting of the year on May 8, 2008 from 9:00am-12:30pm in the WFA board room. The main objective will be to review the 2008 convention and provide valuable input for the 2009 convention in Reno. A light working lunch will be served. Meetings are open to all committee members, but we appreciate and encourage input from all industry insiders. We are looking for ideas for session subjects, round table topics and special speakers, please contact Carrie Wright, education manager at carriew@fairsnet.org.

The Western Fairs Association has been seeking talented staff to fill two key positions in our company. It was important to find just the right people for the Education Manager and Marketing Manager jobs, and our search has ended. Carrie Wright will take on the position of Education Manager, and Nichole Farley will become the new Marketing Manager. Carrie Wright has a fair industry background and has worked throughout Northern California for the past ten years. Her passion for agricultural education, enjoyment of the annual convention, and all things fair led her straight to us! Nichole Farley is graduating from Chico State this May and will hit the ground running on the first day of June. She is a former WFA intern and has worked with the California State Fair in marketing and sponsorships. Nichole has also been the Ag Day Coordinator for the past three years at Chico State.

“Carrie brings a strong fair background, and Nichole has the enthusiasm for sales and meeting planning that will help us continue to build our programs,” stated WFA Executive Director Stephen Chambers.

The 2008 Executive Development candidates have been selected and placed by the WFA Executive Development Committee. 2008 funding for the program was reduced; however, the committee was able to persuade the San Diego County Fair to bear the cost of a second candidate. David Byrum has begun his work at the Alameda County Fair. The Michigan native has a fair and business background and will head to the Big Fresno Fair after Alameda concludes. Fernando Arango has started his tour at the San Diego County Fair. Fernando recently completed a four-year stint as the manager of Fiestas Del Sol in Mexicali, Mexico. A dual citizen, Arango resides in El Centro and brings a unique cross-border perspective to his work with WFA.

For David and Fernando's contact information please visit our WFA staff page.

A documentary featuring the 2007 Fiestas Del Sol in Mexicali, Mexico is available to WFA members upon request. The documentary was produced by WFA Intern Chris Pickering during the 2007 Feature Fair Tour. Fiestas Del Sol is one of Mexico’s most successful fairs, drawing over 500,000 in attendance during its ten-day run in 2007. The 40-minute DVD gives viewers an overview of the fair, and is narrated by Fiestas Del Sol Chief Executive Fernando Arango Magaña. The documentary is free to WFA members. Contact Liz Waxstein at the WFA Office at (916) 927-3100 to order your copy!

Jeff brings his innumerable skills and passion to the position of Service Member Board Secretary.  The purpose of this new role is to organize and implement the goals of the Service Member Board. Jeff says “Our industry stands to benefit greatly from the ideas emanating from our service member divisions.  Having professional staff focusing their attention towards these efforts is just the next logical step in the evolution of the association.” Jeff will maintain his position as CEO of the commercial exhibits business "Pristine Systems Inc.", dba Gadgets and Neat Stuff and focus additional efforts towards the new WFA position. "I relish the opportunity to really make a difference and can't wait to get started!" Congratulations to Jeff and welcome!

The Service Member Board will conduct its first meeting of the season on February 21 at the Riverside County Fair & National Date Festival in Indio.