Report of the PACG Heritage Centennial Committee: Pista Ng Pilipinas
Pista Ng Pilipinas, the Philippine Festival celebrating 100 years of Filipino American Migration, held in Atlantic Station Central Park, 17th St. Midtown Atlanta on June 11. 2006, was attended by about 3000 people, and raised $23,000 from 22 corporate and individual sponsors, 12 participating Filipino American organizations, 13 vendors, 9 in-kind donors, and 67 advertisers. After expenses, it netted $ 12,000 towards the PACG building fund. Dr. Josephine K. Tan, the Chair of the governor’s Asian-American Commission for a New Georgia cut the ceremonial ribbon, and Gov. Sonny Perdue proclaimed June 12, 2006, the anniversary of Philippine independence, as Filipino American Heritage Day.
Pista fulfilled its aims of increasing the visibility of Filipino Americans in
Pista created an expectation and a momentum that must be sustained so that these goals can be maintained.
Recommendations:
- Pista should be a major annual event supported by all Filipino American organizations in
- PACG through its Heritage Committee can take the leadership role in development and planning. All Filipino American organizations should be invited and not limited to Federation membership. It is proposed that the Presidents of all organizations should be part of the overall Pista steering committee and from its roster, the executive committee can be chosen which will be defined by the project tasks. The Chair of the committee can be rotated among various organizations annually and that particular organization will take the leadership role for the year. This is where positive competition can be expressed, as each organization vie for who can present the greatest Pista every year. Every Pista host must satisfy the mission and vision laid out by the Centennial Pista. A system of fundraising revenue sharing must be developed so that host organizations can be recruited and rewarded for producing the Pista. This may require amendment of the PACG by-laws. The Executive Committee will consist of the leads for the Solicitation Task Group, Program and Entertainment, Vendors Relations, Marketing and Publicity, Venue and Administrative Management, Communication and Website, Youth Coordination, Souvenir Program and Sponsor Relations. It is recommended that projects undertaken by the PACG Heritage Committee comply with the mission and vision articulated in the Centennial Pista. In this way, because of its large scope, it does not compete with projects launched by individual organizations.
- Pista was a free public event. Unlike projects undertaken by the Fil-Am community in the past which were private affairs attended by individuals invited by the community held in contained venues, Pista was open to anyone who happen to be around. To fulfill aims of increasing Filipino American visibility and of educating the general public on Philippine heritage, Pista must be a free public event held in public places where it will attract a new and casual audience. Location is critical, access is critical, built-in casual audience traffic is critical. Pista cannot be held in isolated venues where it is the only destination.
- As an open to all and free public event there are city ordinances to comply with such as special event permits, vendor licenses, food permits, electrical hook-ups, thrash removal, security, traffic, regulations. Advance planning is necessary as permits may require 3-6 months for the approval process. Event insurance is required. It is recommended that PACG purchase annual event liability insurance to cover all of its activities.
- Corporate solicitations require several months for the request and approval process. It is recommended that advance research be done, as much as a year in advance, to identify the corporation’s pattern and amount of giving and when applications are submitted for review. Inside contact resource is very important to walk the application through. Solicitation letters and materials should identify the level of sponsorship being requested, without information initially on other levels of giving. It is noted that when choice is offered there is a trend to choose lower levels of sponsorship. Major sponsor targets require special planning and handling, and may necessitate, presentation to boards and committees, visits to corporate offices, or individual presentations in any way access can be obtained such as with dinner invitations, golf outings, attendance at banquets, etc.
- Publicity, marketing, and public relations can be developed further. This is crucial in bringing Pista to the general public’s attention, and important in achieving increased visibility. Important contacts to develop are editors of newspapers and magazines, and radio and TV broadcasts. Celebrities from local media can be invited to enhance exposure. Media have websites and their policies about publicity and celebrity requests and event placement in their calendars and bulletins can be identified. A dedicated task group should be deployed to canvass, plan and create media releases to all outlets and update the information. County, State and City governments also have event calendars that can be accessed. Grass roots publicity through churches, bulletins, announcements at social functions, etc are very effective.
- It is suggested that subsequent Pistas do not have to be scheduled in June, which can be very hot as in the Centennial Pista, plus volunteers were spread thin because of other commitments with other organizations traditionally celebrating Philippine independence anniversary in June.
- It appears religious service is a desired component, an acknowledgement of cultural characteristic, and an interdenominational offering is preferred to include the major faiths practiced. This has to be scheduled outside of the published festival hours. Public venues do not permit the holding of religious service, so that alternate venues will have to be secured. This program enhanced attendance and interest in the festival.
- This project generated valuable networking contacts, for sponsors, partners, participants such as performers and vendors, media, and volunteers which should be collected and updated in a database. It is recommended that PACG initiate this immediately before it launches its next project.
- Every project completion can teach valuable lessons and insights about efficiencies in organizing that need not be reinvented for the next projects and can identify mistakes that need not be repeated. A Pista organizing manual should be created and updated after each event, after committee review and critique of the project. Key members might be retained as an Advisor/Consultant to the next Committee.
- PACG might consider applying for a credit card to enable donors to charge contributions and for project committees to charge project expenses.
- Volunteers need to be acknowledged for their generosity of valuable time and talent and expertise. Tokens of appreciation go a long way in creating camaraderie and cooperation, which enhance creativity and efficiency. The Centennial Pista Committee was pleased to offer free Souvenir T-shirts, copies of the Souvenir program, handcrafted name badges, and the Twelve Hotel hospitality Suite on the day of the festival. For the youth ushers, an additional lunch supplement of $5 each was provided. It is recommended that PACG acknowledge the volunteers further with a party/dinner/reception in their honor.
Enclosures:
Pista Brochure
Pista Poster
Pista Souvenir Program
Pista Program Flyers
Pista Financial Report
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