Lookin’ to seal a blockbuster business deal during this year’s Calgary Stampede?
Forget the rowdy bars, that quiet table in the back of the Petroleum Club or your company’s (strangely) deserted boardroom.
Instead, crawl out of bed early, slap on your best bolo tie or funky broom skirt, and head for the nearest lineup downtown – because it’s pancake time, pardner.
According to Stampede spokesman Dan Sullivan, one of the best times to talk turkey with a prospective client or business partner is when you’re juggling a plateful of syrup-soaked sausages and doughy flapjacks with a cup of liquid sunshine (of the citrus variety, of course).
“Let’s face it, it’s not about the sausage and the pancakes,” Sullivan says. “It’s about the social occasion and the whole process of getting that pancake. More things happen in that lineup, because people entertain themselves, they get talking and exchanging business cards.
“Although you may not complete any big business deals during the Stampede, the genesis for some of the biggest deals that go down happen just because of the contact people make with each other here.”
Other sites suggested by Sullivan for some serious Stampede schmoozing are the tarmac in front of the grandstand just before the evening show, the Nashville North tent – which can accommodate several thousand potentially well-oiled clients – and even in the moshpit in front of the Coke Stage (if it’s loud, better brush up on the latest business hand-signals).
Meanwhile, the turnstiles at the Stampede are itchin’ for some action next week as officials keep a close eye on advance ticket sales for the 10-day whoop-up, which runs from July 4-13.
About 140,000 advance tickets had already been sold two weeks before the start of the Stampede, mostly to the international and longer-haul markets.
“It’s not our highest year, nor our lowest, it’s right in the middle. And the year that we broke the all-time attendance record (1.2 million), we were at about the same point we are right now,” Sullivan says.
The twin bogeys of mad cow disease and SARS aren’t likely to dissuade locals from visiting the Stampede, Sullivan said, and in fact, gate numbers may actually be bolstered this year because more people are interested in travelling closer to home.
“It’s like when your friend has a barbecue – you know what he’s going to serve, you know what the food is like, and you know the people who are going to be there,” he said. “The entertainment is good and you always have a good time. I believe people are looking towards the Stampede as something very familiar to them, and they don’t have to worry about issues they might have to if they went somewhere else.
“Continuity is going to be our advantage this year.”
As Alberta’s fourth-largest industry, tourism generates an estimated $1.7 billion annually in economic activity for Calgary. There are about 4.3 million visitors to the city each year.
Last year’s final Stampede attendance was 1,164,193.
