Fritz: All Fritz

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CHAPTER III PREPARING TO RUN THE PAGEANT The next questions to be resolved are the where and when questions. At this time you must decide on the type of Pageant you would like to direct. That's a nice word, isn't it? You are about to become a Beauty Pageant Director. If you can afford it at this time, get some business cards printed. Deciding on the type of Pageant is almost as easy as it sounds. The following formats will give you an idea of which Pageant you think will best suit your area and your personal temperament. 1. All ages (Females only) divided into categories by age. 2. As above but including boys to eight years old. 3. Married ladies only. (All ages). 4. Children only. Ages to 5 (?) years. 5. Boys and men only. 6. Teenage ladies. 7. Ladies 18 to 24 only. You may prefer to hold just one of the above categories or several combined. The most popular Pageants are com- prised of numbers 2 and 3. Before deciding which type of Pageant you wish to conduct, you may wish to consider several variables which might influence your decisions. For example, with No.1. you are going to have a very wide group as an audience. The first division to be judged would be the young children. At this time the audience would be largely friends, rela- tives and parents of the children. By the time you get to the Seniors and Married ladies, the composition of the audience will have changed dramati- cally. The friends, relatives and parents of the babies would by now have left, and the people replacing them would be boy friends, young husbands and people attracted just because it's a Beauty Pageant. Bearing in mind the type of Beauty Pageant and the size and type of audience (especially the anticipated size), you are in a better position to decide where it could be held. Church halls are good, although a little uncomfortable sometimes, but they are usually big enough for the largest audience. The cost of renting the hall is also usually quite moderate. A donation to the church funds is frequently all they ask. Hotels are at the other end of the scale, and in be- tween are school auditoriums, community halls, civic cen- ters and Service Lodges. Hotels are at the top of my personal list for several reasons. First, they can offer a choice of room size, something you may need to change at the last minute if there are more contestants than you had anticipated. Second, they can usually supply stage and P.A.system without problem. Third, you are not obliged to clean up afterwards. There is one other very big plus. Let's assume for the moment that you think a hotel would be most suitable for your Beauty Pageant. Talk to someone in the hotel Sales Office and let them show you the rooms they have available and give you a quotation for however many hours you think your Pageant will last. Let us say one whole day from 8 am to 11 pm. The room may be anything from a single conference room to an entire banquet hall. It all depends on your Market Research Evaluations. Now for that "plus" I mentioned. If you are going to be at this hotel all day, you, your staff and the judges will need to eat. Most hotels will provide your Pageant room free if you arrange for them to supply you and your staff with a full meal. So although it would seem that by providing a meal you are adding to your expenses, it usual- ly works out about even. You look good to the people you are feeding - and you had to eat anyway! Don't forget that you are still only estimating costs at this time. When the hotel asks when you will want the room (Most good hotels book up weeks, even months, ahead), give them a couple of estimated dates. You can quickly tell from their replies how much lee time you are going to need. * Contestant Entry Forms Your next step is to prepare the Contestant Entry Forms. For this, most Pageants follow similar formats. The essential information is the contestant's name, address, age and telephone number. If you have a computer, these names will be the beginning of one of your most valuable assets, - a mailing list. If you don't have a computer, a mailing list is still the basis of future business, but you have to type them or write them out by hand and then copy them. One further advantage of the computer is that it will enable you to sort contestants by age. This is very useful information as contestants grow and move into different age categories. Your Form should also have some form of legal disclaim- er. See the notes at the end of the book. To prepare your entry forms, either type them out personally or take them to a printer and have them type set. Before settling on any specific printer, ask around so as to make sure that you have a printer who will deliver when he says he will, and whose price is about the best you can get. I'm getting ahead of myself, but you can some- times get a better price for your printing if you promise to allow him to produce all your programs for future Pageants. * Trophies - Where and What to Buy. When you have finished preparing the entry forms and are ready to have them printed, (If you have a personal copier, this can be the least expensive way to go), it is time to consider the trophies you will be awarding. Although you will not be ordering the trophies at this time, you should begin pricing the various trophies avail- able. Most large towns have trophy shops. These special- ized shops will show you trophies that range from tiny three inch high trophies suitable for Baby Pageants, to trophies that stand well over five feet tall. Some girls and mothers like to be able to win the very large trophies. Others consider the excessively large trophies an embarrassment. As far as you, the director are concerned, the only advantage of awarding very large tro- phies is that they look quite impressive when arranged on the trophy table prior to the beginning of the pageant. The prices of trophies can vary considerably, and it will pay you to shop around before you decide. Sometimes it is possible to discover a trophy shop which will be prepared to work with you, designing trophies to your individual specifications. Some trophy shops will provide a special trophy for free, benefiting by the publicity you provide when you present the trophies. Another advantage of working closely with one specific trophy shop is that the store owner will quickly learn to provide the particular trophies you prefer, and you can save considerable time by ordering by telephone and not having to visually choose the ones you require. A final advantage in working with one particular store is that you can often order "just a couple more trophies" when one or two contestants decide to enter almost on the day of the pageant. * Advertising This is going to be by far your greatest expense and there is almost no way to avoid it completely. Fortunately there one or two secrets of advertising Beauty Pageants which you are about to learn. If you plan carefully, you can offset at least ninety percent of your advertising costs, so let's take a look at the normal Pageant advertis- ing. Afterwards I'll explain a couple of techniques which are well worth the effort. Advertising for your Pageants takes three forms. 1. Newspaper Classifieds. In this group you should include the so-called throwaways - the Penny Savers and the Home-Ads. To find out how much newspaper advertising will cost you, pick up the telephone and ask. Better yet, visit the local newspaper office and talk to the person in charge of classified advertising. Quite often, newspapers offer special rates for time/display advertising. You will probably need to place at least a couple of advertisements in your local newspaper. Radio: Contracting time slots with your local radio station will probably be quite expensive, but take my advice, don't waste your money on the cheap time slots - those that run from midnight until 4 am, for instance. Better to take just a few time slots during peak listening hours - freeway driving - 4 pm until 6 pm for example. Remember you are trying to reach teenagers and mothers of young children so miss out on the very late night hours and school hours. At the end of this book, I will show you several ways to reach these special groups of people at a very low cost per person. 3. Flyers: Making flyers for distribution is not very difficult for owners of computers. If this is not within your capa- bility, any printer will put together a simple flyer for very little money. Have a couple of hundred flyers print- ed. Advertise the name of your Pageant and a telephone number where those interested can apply for Entry Forms. Distribute these flyers to local schools and colleges. Don't overlook the possibility of placing your flyers on public bulletin boards in and around supermarkets. * Mailing Lists: It is unlikely that you will have a mailing list for your first Pageant. After the first Pageant and for subse- quent ones, contestant mailing list will be your most effective method of attracting contestants who are truly interested. Beauty Pageant contestants are special, dedicated people. To them the rivalry, the glamor is like a sea breeze to a sailor, it's part of their life and they follow the Beauty Pageant trail with never ending optimism. Some Beauty Pageant Directors will permit the promoters of other Beauty Pageants to distribute flyers of their up- coming pageants. I have never refused to let other promot- ers do this at my pageants and in return they have permit- ted me to canvas their pageants. It is a way of stimulating continued contestant interest and it is this atmosphere of excitement and glamor that brings contestants, relatives and spectators to these events. There is one method of obtaining a mailing list which I have found extremely worthwhile. I advertise a book - "How To Win Beauty Pageants". The advertisement is simply two or three lines in the classified section of the newspaper and is very inexpensive. The book itself costs only a few pennies to produce, but it is fact-filled and of genuine interest to prospective Beauty Pageant contestants. In truth, I'm not all that interested in making money from the book. Sometimes I advertise it as a FREE book. It's main purpose is to provide me with an up to date mailing list. The "hard sell" is packaged with information on my next Pageant that goes out with the book. If you would like me to send you a free copy of "How To Win Beauty Pageants", you will find further information at the end of this book. * The Judges Your next project is to start selecting the people whom you would like to invite to judge your pageant. The fol- lowing list will give you some idea of the type of people you should consider:- Civic Dignitaries such as The Mayor, The City Manag- er, The President of the Chamber of Commerce. Local business people such as the President of the Mer chant's Association of any nearby shopping center. If you are holding your Pageant in a Shopping Mall, the Promotions Director or the Mall Manager would be an obvious choice. Local business people with an interest in associating themselves with your pageant. People such as the Director of a local modeling school or model agency, the owner of a high class dress shop, or the Director of a local talent academy. These people lend local support and give authority to your pageant. You will also need someone who is more of a celebrity. Your contestants will be more than eager to enter your pageant if they know that a well known film star or film producer is among those judging. Most people in this category are willing to act as judges at pageants. It brings their name and face in front of their fans, and a newspaper report of their presence at your pageant is not only good for them, it helps build the status of your Pageant. See the notes at the end of the book on how to contact celebrities. Quite often you can ask friends or even relatives to help with your judging, but you must make sure that they have no reason to favor any one contestant. People that do not place first in Beauty Pageants are sometimes sore losers. If your Pageant is honest and everything is shown to be above board, your future Pageants will be readily received and your social status will climb. You need to have a knowledge at this time of who your judges are likely to be because you will want to include their names in your advertising. Contestants and the parents of very young children, will be very interested in entering your Pageant if they know that a Hollywood film producer or a New York Model Agency Director is one of the judges. The actual judging techniques will be dealt with a little later in the book. * Meals It's still a little early to start deciding menus, but you will have to feed your staff - (and yourself if you find time to eat). Most Pageants run all day, so food be comes a requirement. You don't have to do anything about it yet, but it's worth bearing in mind. If you are holding your Pageant in a hotel, your food requirements can often be passed to the hotel catering staff. Most Pageant Directors arrange to serve small snacks to their judges and helpers during the day. At this point I should mention that some Pageant Directors request that judges do not indulge in alcoholic beverage during the pageant. There have been times when Pageants held in a large hotel have 'lost' their judges after a lunch period spent in the hotel bar. It is good public relations and a shrewd tactical move with regard to future Pageants, for you to invite your judges and helpers to be your guests for dinner following the Pageant. Quite often, celebrities will decline this invitation due to the lateness of the hour and shooting schedules or other commitments on the following day, but your offer will nevertheless be appreciated. Judges will change during the course of a long day. Those judging the younger contestants early in the day, will have their places taken by an entirely different set of judges for the later scheduled senior divisions. The next area we are going to examine is that of prizes, entry fees and sponsors, and this is where we really get down to business. *** THINK *** The richest people in this world don't work for someone else.