Ryan Kern Talks Duluth Air Show, Struggles In Promoting Events

I talked with Ryan Kern this morning. Kern and Kompany are the producers of the Duluth Air show and many other events that are having to cancel or postpone.

Kern and Kompany are a top tier production and marketing company in the Duluth Area. They handle some of the biggest events like The Duluth Air Show, Duluth Oktoberfest,  and the largest legal drag racing event of its kind in the United States in the Duluth Drag Races & Car Show

When I asked him why he postponed the Duluth Airshow until 2021, he had interesting answers. First, he said, you can't social distance even though it is outside. People park and take the shuttle, lines for events and food, people waiting in line for tickets.

The other thing he brought up was the fact that one of the sponsors is closing down, and the other sponsor is laying off people because of the covid19 pandemic. It comes down to good business and treating your sponsors with respect. He said if he were to go ask for money from struggling sponsors, they will remember that when they aren't and it ruins the business relationship.

So I asked him, why "postpone" instead of canceling? He said it allows people to use the tickets they have for next year. Instead of a rerun and then they have to re-purchase their tickets and parking passes. This way they can use the ones they have now and also from a bookkeeping standpoint, Ryan said it helps them to keep track of how many people are going and how much parking space they have left.

I asked Ryan one more thing. Now what? What else will we have to look ahead to for his company that he may have to postpone or cancel? In August, he said he had the Runway 4k and then in the end of September he has Oktoberfest. He said it was the first one last year and went over so well, he wanted to keep that momentum, and maybe a much-needed way for people to blow off steam and finally get out and enjoy food and beverage.