ND Tourism Conference

The North Dakota State Fait attended the North Dakota Tourism Conference during the begining of the week in Grand Forks. The conference opened on Friday night with an 80's party with Brat Pack, which was beyond entertaining! The next two days were filled with tons of great information. Speakers included Dr. Jeff Stamp (the inventor of Baked Lays), Matt Bailey (SEO guru) and The Honourable Lynda Haverstock (CEO of Tourism Saskatchewan). Conference attendees had the opportunity to learn about handling and recovering from emergencies, attracting and keeping happy workers as well as the importance of hospitality training. The conference closed out with a very positive tourism update from Sara Otte Coleman and the ND Tourism team. 

IAFE Convention

The ND State Fair staff spent last week in Las Vegas attending the International Association of Fairs and Exposition (IAFE) 118th Annual Conference. We mingled with nearly 3,500 other employees who work for and organize Fairs and Rodeo's throughout North America. The most valuable aspect of the conference were the workshops and round table discussions. They allowed us to learn how we can make the North Dakota State Fair stronger and more enjoyable for our attendees. There was also a large trade show where we could check out entertainers for our free stages and get information on new products and services that are provided within the industry. As you can see we also got to meet some pretty cool people from other Fairs.