Good news for advertisers and sponsors

A combination of ideal weather, excellent event management and the charms of a well-established festival made this year's Oregon Brewers Festival a success. Record crowds meant that festival advertisers got more than their money's worth. For those 14 or so sponsors, our promise of 50,000 program guide readers worked out a bit better than expected. Actually, the size of the crowd from an advertiser's perspective is not quite accurate. We did distribute nearly every program printed this year, 50,000. Certainly, there is a pass along rate that we cannot guarantee, but if it were a bit more than "1," advertisers would reach every visitor.

The attendance numbers may be more important to those who are considering next year's event. It just keeps growing and the crowds this year were treated to far more hospitable beer lines thanks to improved operations and planning. What to expect for 2010? The planning begins now, with discussions about web site strategy as well as a round table "lessons learned" with committee members who were instrumental in producing this year's event.

Stay tuned for more as plans are made.