Tall Stacks Publicity - or lack thereof

Conflicting Events

The Cincy television new telecasts seem to be focusing on Stacks, and the newspapers are full of it, but Aurora, Indiana, down the river only about35 miles, is also holding their annual Farmer's Fair at the same time. The FF is always a big regional draw, so I was surprised to see them on the same weekend. My tribe will be at the Farmer's Fair when I'll be rootin' around the Tall Stacks pool. The parade of boats headed to Tall Stacks always creates excitement on the banks of the Ohio on both the Rabbit Hash and Rising Sun shores. (See link) Come Monday, though, "I'm Alabama bound" for another glorious week aboard the NEW DAY on the Tennessee River.

http://groups.msn.com/WillieandBustersWhirlwindTouroftheWorld/tallstacks2006.msnw?Page=1

Has Tall Stacks lost its Direction?

What bothers me most is that the Tall Stacks website itself seems to be promoting the performing groups much more so than the actual steamboats, for which the event was originally organized. It's as if the powers that be have forgotten what the event is all about-the largest gathering of paddlewheel steamers in the world. I'm going for the steamboats myself.

Keith Norrington;1534 wrote: Something that I have noticed about this TALL STACKS is the LACK of publicity. In times past, articles appeared well ahead of time in various newspapers and colorful brochures were available in banks and stores, not to mention the television coverage that heralded the event. The ONLY publicity I have seen thus far is a brief notice in the AAA magazine, with a small, but nice photo of the BELLE OF LOUISVILLE at night. Anybody see publicity in other areas????

On Sunday afternoon when the BELLE landed at Madison, there were many people on the riverfront but, judging from the questions I was asked while standing on the wharf, most of them were totally baffled as to why the boat was there, along with others they had seen pass by or land, such as the CELEBRATION BELLE and MAGNOLIA BELLE. I was astounded that ALL of the folks I talked with, most of whom were Madison area residents, knew NOTHING about TALL STACKS! Many were interested and wanted to know how to obtain information so I advised them to visit the website at www.tallstacks.com.

The Sternline Telegraph informs me that the TS coverage in Cincinnati papers is rather lacking, compared to the previous festivals, with emphasis mainly on the music venues and that, as usual, "The Working River" exhibits featured on the Kentucky side get little or no mention.

If they don't bring in as much $$$$$ as they hope for (and do they ever?) they can attribute the loss to the fact that many people in neighboring river communities and elsewhere didn't even know about the festival due to lack of advertising and publicity. Good PR is half the battle and it's too bad that Betty Blake is no longer around. She undoubtedly would have publicized Tall Stacks not only up and down the rivers, but around the world!

I read in a Cincinnati paper that you cannot get on the landing next to the boats unless you have purchased a cruise on one of them. Could this be correct? If so, why? Are the crowds so big that it would obstruct access to a boat that someone has purchased a ticket for?

I'm wondering if the reasoning behind this is to get the crowd coming to see the entertainment that they hired. I could personally care less. My family and I will be taking a dinner cruise on the Natchez. I also look forward to seeing the steam whistles on the boats and on the Anna Marie barge.

Ted Guillaum;1538 wrote: I read in a Cincinnati paper that you cannot get on the landing next to the boats unless you have purchased a cruise on one of them. Could this be correct? If so, why? Are the crowds so big that it would obstruct access to a boat that someone has purchased a ticket for?

Ted & Richard: I heard yesterday from a Cincy friend who was told that many people with boat cruise tickets are reportedly NOT happy to learn that they also have to pay the $25 gate fee before being allowed onto the landing to board the boats. Is this true? I thought admission was always included with the price of a boat ride ticket. And it's obvious that the music venues are in the forefront of this festival with the boats being mere "background". Tall Stacks began in 1988 as a tribute to our river heritage, but this focus now seems to have sadly gone by the wayside!

Thanks Keith. That's exactly the way I see it. They're turning what was once a tribute to our river heritage, the largest of its kind in the world, into nothing more than a mega music fest. If this persists, I fear the demise of future Tall Stacks celebrations. They have totally lost their direction. I had written the Tall Stacks committee last year about the possibility of having a whistle blow on the Kentucky shore. I felt that would be both educational and in line with the spirit of the event. Apparently they felt having popular music groups at the event was a bigger priority.

Keith Norrington;1547 wrote: Ted & Richard: I heard yesterday from a Cincy friend that many people with boat tickets are reportedly NOT happy to learn that they also have to pay the $25gate fee before being allowed on the landing to board the boats. And it's obvious that the music venues are in the forefront of this festival with the boats being mere "background". Tall Stacks began in 1988 as a tribute to our river heritage, but this now seems to have gone by the wayside!

If you had a ticket to ride a boat, you had free access to the levee that day. But if you didn't have a boat ticket, admission was $25. I guess that was mainly for the entertainment up by the Serpentine Wall. We had one small stage by our boats, a souvenir stand, and a couple of food tents. Everything else was farther upriver above the Southport bridge. You could look for free up on the Mehring Highway sidewalk and get some good shots by the NATCHEZ and BELLE. I heard that they were charging for the passenger ferry over to Newport, which had previously been included in the admission fare. What little conversation I heard about the festival in general was negative, that they were nickel and dimeing people away...and for those who just wanted to see the boats and not go to the concerts, $25 was ridiculous. As to the crowds on the levee, again I can't speak for what went on above the bridge, but down by our boats there was plenty of room to walk. Only our lines waiting to board were there. I can't really say anything about the music/arts festival part of TS, because I stayed on the NATCHEZ for the duration...

Hi Gang,

Interesting to read the thoughts about Tall Stacks and each individuals experience with the event. Lets face the facts that Tall Stacks is not what it was when it was created in 1988. The focus has changed to making money through a marketable event to satisfy many focus areas. While all of us on this board would rather it return to being 100% focused on the boats, the history, and river heritage, this is not and probably will not be the case for future events. We need to realize though that Tall Stacks is still the largest gathering of riverboats in the United States and that is something to behold. If your only interested in seeing the boats then go and see the boats. The important thing to take away from these events is that there is a part that we all enjoy and with supporting even the parts we don't so much enjoy we are keeping the boat portion alive. I have changed how I look at the event, especially having been involved with several of the committees for the 2003 event and also my involvement with getting the BARBARA H there and working on her during the event. I focus now on the portions of the event that interest me and ignore the rest. Is it worth it to me to pay $25.00 to see the Belle, Natchez, DQ, MQ, and others over the course of 5 days all in one place. Yes, I think it's well worth it and I will certainly continue to spend money to support that portion. I do hope that with the 200th Birthday of Inland River steamboating coming up in 2011 that perhaps, and only perhaps, that the folks that organize Tall Stacks will take special consideration to make the boats more of a focus then in past event. (Can anyone say all 6 steamers and a NEW ORLEANS replica?)I respect all the different opinions on this board and I am glad that so many do share their feelings about steamboating, but I also think sometimes we look at things to much in a negative light when there are positives we should be focusing our attention towards. We are all still major league ambassadors of Tall Stacks and I think it's important for us to sell the high points of the event. Share with those who may be new to steamboating that it is worth the investment to see.

Thanks for reading!

Aaron Richardson

Admission charge

$25 for the whole deal probably wouldn't have caused much grumbling, but per day its pretty steep, especially if you're not there for the high-priced entertainers but only to look around. One thing I think would be good to reinstate is the passport system, allowing tours of the boats before trips start. Most of us carried very light breakfast loads anyway, and that would have given people a chance to see more boats - and that would certainly be worth an admission fee. While the boats would still have to be cleaned for the early morning company, replacing the breakfast trip with tours would give the crew more chance to get the meals and table service ready while tours go on. We certainly had a tight turnaround when we got in at 1:10AM and then had an 8AM breakfast trip.

Hi Judy,

I hope somewhere the information about ticket prices has been confused. I paid $25.00 one time and got individual tickets for all 5 days of the event. All I had to do was present that days ticket and was allowed access. No, I certainly would not have attended everyday if it where $25 per day. Also purchasing a cruise ticket got you admittance for the day of your cruise and if you pre-purchased your cruise ticket(s) Tall Stacks gave cruise ticket purchasers an opportunity to purchase a 5 day general admission for an additional $10 instead of $25, which really was the best deal. I agree Judy and wish they would bring back the pass port tours and I heard alot of people complaining about not being able to just go onboard and see the boats. I also thought about how running early cruises wouldn't allow crews to catch a breather in the morning before starting back up in the afternoon. There is certainly room for improvement in many areas of the festival and I think the organizers should talk to the boat crews about what works and what best suits individual boats set ups. I sure hope that people weren't charged $25 per day because to me that would be an immediate killer for wanting to ever come back. Did anyone experience being charged $25 per day?

Aaron

Break time for crews

Our gift shop was set up and ready to go, so we only showed up a half hour before boarding times in the morning, and were able to leave shortly after the last cruise docked. But the galley crew was in at 5AM when we had a breakfast cruise, and no day ended before 9PM. Perhaps some of the boats had split shifts, but we didn't, due to lack of crew. The deck crew of course was up earlier and out later than us too. I know that Tuesday was fun for us when we were able to visit a couple of boats in our spare time, and I think the tourists would enjoy that also. Besides, you don't know how many tickets you might sell after someone visits. For the record, one of our breakfast trips had 85 and the other one a little over 200 passengers, certainly not stellar numbers. It appeared the other boats were going out light too. I never really looked at the overall schedule, but we ran 24 trips in 5 days, which I imagine was typical. And once the day started, there was very little down time, especially after the high water which caused late arrivals and departures.

Tall Stacks ticket price

The general admission price was $25. This got you admission to the festival grounds (Landing, Serpentine Wall, Bicentennial Commons, Friendship Park) for all 5 days. Here's some information. Of course, if you purchased one on Sunday, it was $25 for just Sunday. It was never $25 per day. Same-day cruise tickets got you admission to the event, and of course your cruise. People could get their hand stamped and come back later in the day if they wanted to. The river taxi was $5 ($10 roundtrip). It was a piece of junk. The whole "boat", more of a barge, was probably not worth more than $10. It was indeed possible to see the boats for free. From the paddlewheel monument, to the stairway by the US Bank Arena, to the various bridges, to the Newport and Covington riverfronts, there were plenty of free places to see the boats of Tall Stacks.

I had no complaints about the $25 admission fee, but did think that some of the cruises were a little high. Oh well, it wasn't enough to keep me from supporting the boats or the festival. I did not take in the music much, but appreciated that there was a real festival occurring, and one that at least some thought had been put into it. In my hometown, we have many festivals that look like they were thrown together by idiots. No real plan and no classy touches.

The river industry exhibit was pretty good, but much smaller than in 2003. It seems that the Kentucky exhibits are lesser known, and some of the problem is distance. Even with the river taxi, many people just won't walk across the bridge to see it.

I'm not going to say that the 2006 event was better than in 2003, but it certainly wasn't awful. I could go into detail with my complaints and nitpicks, but I'll save that for another time. We still got to see numerous boats and experience the sights and sounds of steamboating.