The Ohio Renaissance Festival Protest

The 2008 Ohio Renaissance Festival season has closed and there are some very unhappy people.  From what we have been told, attendance was far below the

“We estimate our 2008 attendance to be 175,000” -  http://www.renfestival.com/pdfs/vendor-application-2008a.pdf

10,300 patrons per day? - If ORF Inc. estimates are right, it seems they were expecting an average of about 10,300 people per day during the 17 day season (7 weekends with 2 days, 1 weekend with 3 days = 17).

“Be sure to point out how low our attendance has been the past couple of weeks (rumor is that Sat. Sept 13th saw only 2,600 people through our gates. I think this was exaggerated. It looked like a lot less to me.) We are in trouble.” – From someone claiming to be in the know.

Of course some weekends are better than others, but Saturdays have been typically much greater than Sunday and we can’t really blame what happened on Sunday for the low gate on Saturday.  But when we figure they closed the festival Sunday, September 14th reportedly due to buildings and tents being ripped apart by high winds, well I figure that weekend was a complete wash.  What about the other weekends?

Judging by the number of threats I have received from disgruntled merchants, I am willing to bet the other weekends were not all that great either.  So the question seems to be am I responsible for the low gate and thus unexpectedly low income of merchants at the Ohio Renaissance Festival during the 2008 season?

Contrary to what many seem to believe, the logical answer is No.  Yes, I did make a statement, cause some grief, and lend myself to bringing about what I am sure will be a very costly series of events for ORF Inc.  But to believe that a blog such as this could some how cause such a radical downslide in attendance is a bit over the top.

If attendance was as low as people are claiming, I think you should look to management / mismanagement for the blame.  Seriously, while I am flattered that so many people seem to think I have made some huge difference; if I have any monetary difference it has been to the operating expenses of the incorporation.  By making their conduct public, it seems I have caused them the added expense of adhering to the laws of the land.  I suspect we can look forward to similar changes in the way their property tax is assessed.

If I have caused operating expenses to rise during the 2008 season, I can not imagine it being felt until the 2009 season or beyond.  After all, it is most likely the advertising and entertainment budget for 2008 was set long before the protest began.  If their profit was greatly decreased during the 2008 season, I can imagine attendance for the 2009 season dropping with the advertisement budget and following years dropping still further due to a drop in the entertainment budget.  But a dramatic change in the attendance of the 2008 season?  Not something I expected or claim to have caused.

In general, I think bad things just happen to bad people and I think Peter Carroll is just a bad person.  So if karma works, don’t think it is over yet.  Instead, think it is just beginning.