ASSOCIATION • Association BUZZ From the Desk of the President Greg Chiecko, OABA President


Beyond the Screen: Why Social Media Can Never Replace the Thrill of a Day at the Carnival


It’s hard to believe we are halfway through the summer. Once the season starts, it seems that time clicks by faster and faster. This edition of ShowTime is focused on social media. Social media continues to grow in the everyday life of our  (AI). While the argument can be made on either side of the fence that social media has enhanced our lives or has become detrimental to it, one thing is certain, it can’t replace a day at the carnival. We, as businesses, use social media to attract individuals


to our events. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and now Tread are great tools to entice patrons and allow them to share their experiences with their “friends”. They create excitement around our events and act as a very effective way to gain more customers at little or no expense. The OABA can help you if you are not familiar with these


platforms and how to use them. We have a contracted provider that manages our social media channels, and she will help you get started to use social media as a marketing tool. This


  to get started. Also, if you have something of interest that we can post on our social media, let us know and we will get the message out. However, these platforms can cause a great deal of harm to our establishments as well. Everyone is now a videographer and newscaster. One small incident can be blown into a major viral event. Anyone can tell their version of a story, even if it’s not true, to the world in the blink of the eye. We need to keep control of the stories being told. We must make proactive factual posts if a story is going in the wrong direction. Again, the OABA can assist if this circumstance comes your way. With all that being said and the amount of content that is


derived from our events, no social media can replace the joy and satisfaction that a day at the carnival can produce with friends and family. There are few places left in our world that allow multi generations of families to come together in person to enjoy the thrill of the rides, the satisfaction of winning a piece of plush or partake is the traditional foods that the carnival has to offer. We are the carnival industry and provide  intelligence will never replace that. As I am travelling around the country in the next few months, I hope to visit with many of you and to share your ideas of what our industry needs to progress in a forward direction. 


Stay safe, Greg


PROFESSIONAL AUCTIONEERS P.O. Box 279 • Coldwater, MI 49036 5 6 OABA ShowTime Magazine • August 2024 517-279-9063


www.spiethandsatow.com dan@spiethandsatow.com


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