Rochester's Premier Winter Festival: ROC Holiday Village Awaits
ROC Holiday Village (@rocholidayvillage) is an enchanting winter festival and holiday institution taking place from December 5th to the 28th in downtown Rochester, New York. This year marks the seventh iteration of this event, which has evolved into a beloved tradition, drawing families and individuals alike to join in the holiday cheer.
Our guest, Kelly Marsh (@kellimarsh), co-founder of ROC Holiday Village, elaborates on the genesis of this festive gathering, inspired by European holiday markets, and the challenges faced in its initial year of establishment.
Mentions:
@mccarthyevents - @rohrbachbrewingco - @avvino - @dukesdonuts - @thechaiguy
Mentioned in this episode:
Joe Bean Roasters
Joe Bean Coffee - Coffee that lifts everyone. Use promo code Lunchador for 15% off your order! https://shop.joebeanroasters.com
Transcript
Well, that music means it's time for another episode of Just Can't Not.
Speaker A:And we're in.
Speaker A:We're coming up on the holiday season.
Speaker A:We're only a week or so away from Thanksgiving as we record today.
Speaker A:And we're coming up towards snow.
Speaker A:We're coming up towards the big holidays.
Speaker A:And I'm here with a guest.
Speaker A:Guest.
Speaker A:Why don't you introduce yourself and then we'll talk all about the event.
Speaker B:I'm Kelly Marsh, co founder of Rock Holiday Village.
Speaker A:Well, Kelly, thanks so much for coming over.
Speaker A:So we are here talking about Rock Holiday Village.
Speaker A:And that's RockHolidayVillage.com dates are December 5th to the 28th in downtown Rochester, New York.
Speaker A:And this is year seven.
Speaker A:This year for Rock Holiday Vil.
Speaker B:This is.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker A:I mean, I remember when it first launched, and there was this.
Speaker A:I don't know about confusion because we hadn't had something like that in the heart of downtown that was a destination in the wintertime.
Speaker A:I don't know, since what, the Sibley Building and the old, you know, the old displays there.
Speaker A:And in the other department stores downtown, there hadn't been this destination thing.
Speaker A:And I remember when it came out, there was just like, oh, is this gonna work?
Speaker A:Is this gonna be a thing?
Speaker A:And after the first year, it was like, oh, yeah, this is the thing.
Speaker A:This is happening this way forever.
Speaker A:Let's talk a little bit about when you decided to launch Rock Howaday Village.
Speaker A:What was that process like when we're like, hey, we're gonna launch something like this?
Speaker A:How did that whole.
Speaker B:Well, it's really interesting.
Speaker B:My partner, Jenna, had some inspiration from other markets that she had seen and came back and approached the city and wanted to have an event the following year.
Speaker B:And the city said, this is great.
Speaker B:We want to help and support you.
Speaker B:We want you to do it this year.
Speaker B:And so everything was very accelerated.
Speaker B:And it was kind of just at warp speed.
Speaker B:And will just never forget the day of the parade, watching everybody come from the Liberty Pool parade over to the village and thinking, wow, we pull it off.
Speaker B:We just.
Speaker B:It was really right up to the minute.
Speaker A:I mean, that's.
Speaker A:That's ambitious for anybody to have the scale, even the first year.
Speaker A:The scale.
Speaker A:The first year to do that on short turnaround.
Speaker A:And, you know, it's.
Speaker A:This is still a big operation.
Speaker A:Obviously, it's expanded since the first year, but even the first year had a lot going on to do.
Speaker A:And what was the turnaround?
Speaker A:I mean, within a year.
Speaker B:Less than a year.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker B:Less than a year.
Speaker B:I think it was about six months.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:I can't imagine doing something like that.
Speaker A:But do both of you have events.
Speaker A:Experience at this kind of scale?
Speaker B:So Jenna does.
Speaker B:She works on quite a few other events, and that's probably the real reason why we were able to do it.
Speaker B:Our other partner, Sean McCarthy, owns McCarthy Tents and Events.
Speaker B:So two amazing skill sets to come together there to make that happen.
Speaker B:I did not have event experience, but I had some other experience that was relevant, and we really pulled a great team together right from the start.
Speaker B:There's absolutely no way we could have done it without just blood, sweat and tears.
Speaker B:The first year.
Speaker B:It was really great, though.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And I'm so.
Speaker A:I don't want to lose the thread on the holiday villages, so I want to dive into that before we get into your background, because there is this culture of winter festivals, and especially in Europe and a few towns in the US there's this huge culture of going out for these celebratory festivals where everybody comes together for these, you know, holiday.
Speaker A:You know, these holiday experiences.
Speaker A:And they are one of the things that people travel for.
Speaker A:People travel to Europe for these, you know, for these festivals and, you know, to bring that here seemed.
Speaker A:Seemed to be a logical jump to me.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:And have something where people can go out and with the family and have a great time.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:That's actually where my inspiration came from.
Speaker B:I had visited markets in Germany and came back thinking, why does the Rochester do this?
Speaker B:We're so cold and wintry for so much of the year.
Speaker B:We need something like that and having that experience and seeing what they do there and kind of combining that wish list with seeing what bigger cities around the United States do.
Speaker B:We were really able to make something unique with those two different inspirations.
Speaker B:You don't see a lot of cities that can pull off everything that we do, because we've got an interesting space that has the rink right there and all the other things that we can bring in.
Speaker A:Absolutely.
Speaker A:And just FYI, for everybody listening, if you want to learn more about McCarthy events, Polygoogliamo had him on the podcast a month or two ago.
Speaker A:It was really a fascinating interview.
Speaker A:I definitely recommend going to check that episode out because it's something you don't think that much about until you learn the details about what it takes to do these kind of events and to manage that kind of manage those kind of things where you're like, oh, there has to be these structures, you know, both the physical structures and the structures of how do you create an event like this.
Speaker A:And without somebody like the, you know, McCarthy, it's really, really difficult because owning these things would be wildly challenging.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:It was definitely an intentional move on Jenna's part when she approached him was she knew he had the right experience and the right heart to bring to it.
Speaker B:I mean, our first year we had soft wall tents and, you know, we've grown so much and.
Speaker B:And it's all thanks to really both of them, but him having the supply and the knowledge of knowing what would work best for us.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And I kind of want to talk about when you're.
Speaker A:When you're deciding what to, you know, deciding what to include in this kind of experience, I'm kind of wondering how does that, how does that process work from, you know, the first formation?
Speaker A:Obviously it's evolved, but when you're deciding what's included in this, obviously the ice skating is a big part of that with the rink.
Speaker A:But how do you include, like, with vendors, with food and drink and the scale?
Speaker A:How did that all come about?
Speaker B:I think just a little bit from all three of us.
Speaker B:You know, Jenna, like I said, has a lot of experience in other events, so she knows what works and what's kind of possible in a space like that.
Speaker B:And, you know, that right from the start, knew that we wanted to bring Santa back downtown.
Speaker B:He needed to come back to Rochester and be a central place for people to come.
Speaker B:We knew that we should have shopping for people, food for people.
Speaker B:And then she also wanted to give back.
Speaker B:So that's where the free crafts come in, is a space for that.
Speaker B:The igloos were something that I stumbled upon, and I think it's all really great because all three of us are really good at collaborating or even just encouraging each other.
Speaker B:Even if we're not sure of an idea, we just go with it anyways.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I mean, it's one of the great benefits of having, of having partners in a thing.
Speaker A:It's always a developing relationship.
Speaker A:You need to learn each other and, like, what are the hot button points?
Speaker A:What are the ways that you're going to put them in a space where they're not comfortable?
Speaker A:But having three is kind of nice because two, you're always.
Speaker A:Somebody always feels like they're doing more.
Speaker A:Somebody always feels like they're the important one.
Speaker A:But with three, there's always, you know, there's multiple points of view and there's always at least two people that are probably going to be on one side or the other.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:You know, it doesn't even feel like it's Ever two against one with us, because it's just always a lot of respect and consideration.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So that.
Speaker B:I can't say that we agree all the time, but we definitely respect each other enough to consider what the other person is saying and say they might be right.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So I kind of want to dive into.
Speaker A:So let's just talk about the big aspects of what the festival is.
Speaker A:And so we've got.
Speaker A:You know, we've got the 5th to the 28th.
Speaker A:This is a big window.
Speaker A:There's a lot of different things going on, both events and otherwise.
Speaker A:Through that whole time period.
Speaker A:We talk about the major.
Speaker A:Like, what are the major sections of what makes up Rock Holiday Village?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So when I think of the village, I think of all the different spaces.
Speaker B:So one of the most obvious is the lodge.
Speaker B:It's structure heated tent.
Speaker B:We actually have furnaces in there by our sponsor, Triple O.
Speaker B:So it's always warm and cozy in there.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:And it's a place where you can sit and relax.
Speaker B:You can listen to live music depending on the day and time you're there.
Speaker B:There's beer and wine tastings.
Speaker B:There's free arcade games.
Speaker B:We've introduced the giving cup the last few years, so it's a cocoa counter.
Speaker B:And nonprofits operate in there, and they get to get their message out and keep those profits for their purposes.
Speaker B:And then there's Santa's workshop, which.
Speaker B:That's something just really special and magical for us.
Speaker B:A place for the kids to.
Speaker A:It's gotta be a huge hit every year.
Speaker B:It is, you know, Santa's special, and it's really great to have him downtown and to have a place where everyone can come see him.
Speaker B:You can get a free picture with him, which is, you know, lots of places charge you for that, so we're just really happy to be able to provide that, too.
Speaker B:And then we have the shopping village, which is right in the center of it all, so that you can shop for friends and family or yourself.
Speaker A:Because there's some inside shopping and outside stall shopping as well, correct?
Speaker B:Well, the inside shopping occurs twice during the.
Speaker B:During the time that we're open.
Speaker B:That's the Mini Makers Markets, which is in the Gingerbread House.
Speaker B:Other things are going on there on other days.
Speaker B:So the outside shopping is the core shopping.
Speaker B:That's what's there every day.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And there's a wide variety of different things, both, you know, crafts and, you know, and then also food vendors and things like that.
Speaker A:What's.
Speaker A:What is that?
Speaker A:What are the kinds of vendors?
Speaker A:I mean, I talked About a couple.
Speaker B:But yeah, we have some, you know, delicious food that's there, which is always nice.
Speaker B:We've kind of got our anchors where we've got Duke's Donuts.
Speaker B:Who doesn't want a hot donut on a cold day?
Speaker A:Perfect.
Speaker B:Or some warm chai from the chai guy.
Speaker B:And really, there's shopping for everybody.
Speaker B:There's people that are selling things for kids, housewares, clothing, pets.
Speaker B:It's a really great variety.
Speaker B:And we really try to bring variety in and have that so that people have choices when they're shopping.
Speaker B:And also we're giving vendors an opportunity to work and make money in a season where they don't typically have that kind of work.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And I do appreciate especially how many of the vendors are local.
Speaker A:Like, you're not bringing in a lot of national things.
Speaker A:This really focused on, you know, local companies and local small businesses, because that makes such a big difference, you know, when you have that kind of level of visibility.
Speaker A:I'm.
Speaker A:I'm thinking of one that was in here on our coffee show dialed in.
Speaker A:Mercury Coffee came in prior to when they opened their brick and mortar.
Speaker A:And how they talked about that experience being so formative for them.
Speaker A:One learning how to do large events, how to manage that many people, but also that so many people got to learn about, hey, this is who we are.
Speaker A:Yeah, this is what we're trying to do.
Speaker A:And they talked really fondly about that experience being so important for them as they were ramping up their business.
Speaker B:Yeah, it was really important to us.
Speaker B:You know, we've been supported by the community so.
Speaker B:Well, by other businesses and just the community as a whole.
Speaker B:And we really wanted to make sure that we could pass that along.
Speaker B:That's why we're really trying to include so many local area businesses and give so much back for free.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And I love when you mentioned that because as soon as you mentioned that the photos, you know, the Santa photos are free.
Speaker A:That's such that accessibility to me is important for if.
Speaker A:Especially if you're going to be in downtown Rochester, having that be accessible for anybody is such a valuable thing that it's not.
Speaker A:It's not gatekept by finances that anybody can go and have that experience.
Speaker B:Exactly.
Speaker A:That matters.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:It matters having those things available where.
Speaker A:If you can't afford to do that with, you know, the high, you know, the other experiences, you can go do that for your kid and you can go have that magical experience when you might not have been able to otherwise.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And that's entirely due to the support from our sponsors, we could never afford to provide all of that if they weren't behind us 100%, so that we can have no admission cost.
Speaker B:Everybody can come.
Speaker B:You can ice skate for free.
Speaker B:You can get skate rentals.
Speaker B:If you don't have ice skates for free, there's free crafts for kids.
Speaker B:Visit Santa for free.
Speaker B:Again, like we said, the pictures, it really.
Speaker B:There's no reason not to come.
Speaker B:It not.
Speaker B:Not due to money.
Speaker A:Well, I think.
Speaker A:And I mean, I kind of just want to ask, like, that has to feel good.
Speaker A:Like, you know, when we're talking about an event.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:We're just talking about logistics in many ways, but something like this, there's.
Speaker A:It's an emotional thing.
Speaker A:Like, I don't.
Speaker A:It's hitting me a little bit just that all those things can be available.
Speaker A:You can.
Speaker A:Hey, if you've never ice skated before, you can just go try it.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:You.
Speaker A:You don't have to rent space at the local rink.
Speaker A:You don't have to do that.
Speaker A:And you can just go do it and be involved at this time of year.
Speaker A:How awesome is that?
Speaker B:It is.
Speaker B:It's such a good feeling.
Speaker B:You know, you can do all of that in the midst of feeling the holiday spirit.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And, you know, it is just really meaningful to know that we're putting something good back into the community.
Speaker A:Well, and I think that's.
Speaker A:That's a laudable goal.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Like, you can just run a festival.
Speaker A:You can just run a thing.
Speaker A:But all those little things, those things that make you.
Speaker A:After all of the hard work, all of the long days, all of the.
Speaker A:The headaches and all of the fires that people don't know about, and you hope they don't know about because you want them to feel that special moment on the day that they show up.
Speaker A:Even though you might have put out three fires that morning, they're like, I can't believe they're not here.
Speaker A:And then everything ends up.
Speaker A:Everybody still has that great time.
Speaker B:Exactly.
Speaker B:That's our whole goal, is to make it look easy, make it accessible and comfortable for everyone so everyone feels like it's theirs.
Speaker B:You know, Jenna always says that, like, you just want people to feel when they get there that it's theirs.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So, I mean, let's talk about one of the big things.
Speaker A:When people come out, people want food and drink, right?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Especially on a cold December day, hopefully snowy, and a perfect 25 degrees on every day for the entirety of December.
Speaker A:So we get snow and it doesn't melt, and we don't have rain.
Speaker A:We're all hoping for that.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:No wind either, please.
Speaker A:Oh, God.
Speaker A:But let's talk about food, drink, because that's, you know, people need that on that day.
Speaker A:So what are the kind of offerings.
Speaker A:I know, you know, you know, Janine Cachette and the team from Aveeno plus are a big part of the festival.
Speaker A:But let's talk about everything going on.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:We always have a few food vendors that are right in the middle of the shopping village.
Speaker B:So you'll always find donuts and pizza in there.
Speaker B:And then some of the other vendors rotate through, like you said, Janine, for Lobola.
Speaker B:There and there a couple times.
Speaker B:And then we have food trucks, a rotating food truck schedule.
Speaker B:So on any given day, there's probably between three and five different food trucks out on Frosty's Food Court, which is out on Court Street.
Speaker B:So they park all together, and there's picnic tables out there so people can sit and enjoy them out there, or they could take it and go into the lodge.
Speaker B:And inside the lodge, we also have a charcuterie bar.
Speaker A:Oh, awesome.
Speaker B:Yeah, that's always fun, too.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And I don't think we mentioned the actual location.
Speaker A:I just said downtown Rochester.
Speaker A:Where is the exact location of Rock holiday village?
Speaker B:That's 353 Court Street.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:And that's.
Speaker A:I mean, that's just a big.
Speaker A:You know, it's a beautiful space over there, and I think it's really curated so well to make it feel so dense.
Speaker A:It is when it's, you know, not the biggest space in the world, but it feels.
Speaker A:Just feels like this whole experience when you walk in.
Speaker B:That's true.
Speaker B:You know, every time we go there and we're not set up, we just.
Speaker B:It's hard to imagine that somehow we squeeze all of those elements into that space.
Speaker B:But when you get there, you don't feel crowded.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:One, I kind of want you to talk about that, you know, the inside tent where you have the rotating vendors, too.
Speaker A:I love that.
Speaker A:It's not the same thing.
Speaker A:Every, you know, every day or every.
Speaker B:Week, they change weekly.
Speaker A:So they change weekly so they get the setup.
Speaker A:They don't have the logistics of tearing everything out every day, which is brutal.
Speaker A:But I love the idea that, you know, it's not the same.
Speaker A:If you go week one, it might not be the same as week two.
Speaker B:Right, Exactly.
Speaker B:Some of them will stay for the length of the festival, and some will rotate through, which is nice because, you know, people want to see variety and.
Speaker B:And all of that.
Speaker A:Well, absolutely.
Speaker A:And, you know, I also love the variety of, you know, the variety of trucks that you've got on the list.
Speaker A:I stole your piece of paper because I'm intrigued.
Speaker A:But, like, you've got a really, a really big variety of things, and I love that you're.
Speaker A:You've got, you know, comfort food, right.
Speaker A:You've got, you know, your macaroni and cheese, you know, macaron, you've got, you've got, you know, rock bowls.
Speaker A:I mean, hey, nobody's going to argue about that on a cold day.
Speaker A:But also you got, you know, hey, one that's made some waves recently, so to speak.
Speaker A:You got the Maine lobster truck cousins.
Speaker A:That's got some.
Speaker A:Got some press.
Speaker A:You got the potatoes.
Speaker A:You got, hey, nothing wrong with Rob Lankoa's trucks.
Speaker A:You got Rob's Al Dente and other stuff like that.
Speaker A:You got Rob's Kebabs.
Speaker A:And this is just this great, consistent group of things.
Speaker A:And that on the big weekend days, you got even more options.
Speaker A:That's right, because those are gonna be crazy days for those vendors.
Speaker B:They really are.
Speaker B:They do such a good job of keeping up with the demand on the weekend days.
Speaker B:But, you know, everybody comes out on the weekends and if the weather is.
Speaker B:Is good, it's going to be even busier.
Speaker B:So it's really nice to have all those options.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And obviously, if you need to warm up a little bit, you've got plenty of.
Speaker A:Plenty of adult beverages, I'm sure, hot chocolate available for so many people at affordable prices.
Speaker A:But you've also got, you know, we got a good selection of different breweries and other things like that.
Speaker A:And also tasting events.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker B:So the tasting events are on the calendar, if anybody wants to look on the website.
Speaker B:You know, we, we work to have a variety every year, and our sponsors are really great in helping us do that.
Speaker B:And we're excited to bring back the Village Lager again.
Speaker B:Rohrbox makes our own holiday village beer, so that's always exciting.
Speaker A:I mean, that, that what a great thing, too.
Speaker A:And I've seen that, you know, some other festivals do that as well.
Speaker A:And I think it's just, it's really nice to do that collaboration with a local institution to have something that's customized just for you.
Speaker A:I just love that those little collaborations just make it a little more interesting.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker B:It is always nice to see that can in people's hands.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And then I know for me, as somebody who's a. Geez, how many.
Speaker A:Way too many years at this point?
Speaker A:Over 15 years I've been a curler that there's also, like, there's been curling demonstrations at Rock Holiday Village.
Speaker A:So as a member of the Rochester curling community, I just love that we get to be a little part of that whole experience.
Speaker B:Yeah, that's always so fun.
Speaker B:You know, right from the start, we wanted to be sure that we had some fun ice events that were happening on the rink.
Speaker B:It's such an opportunity to introduce people to things that they've never done before.
Speaker B:Everybody's there.
Speaker B:Why not give them a chance to try something free that they've never even heard of?
Speaker B:Maybe.
Speaker B:And so, yes, we have.
Speaker B:The curling club comes and we have accessible adventures that come and do sled hockey, which is really fun.
Speaker B:And then there's some figure skating performances, too, which is always really cute.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I mean, just having those little things, you don't know, the thing that's going to catch.
Speaker A:Catch a kid's eye or catch, hell, an adult's eye, like, for.
Speaker A:I mean, I know for the curling club that visibility, especially in coming up on an Olympic year, is huge.
Speaker A:That's how we've grown solvent over many, many years of becoming a more robust organization.
Speaker A:But the visibility.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And then also having accessibility and let's talk about that for a second.
Speaker A:I love that you have the sled hockey available that, you know, that's, you know, that event is huge to have that accessible thing.
Speaker A:And I'm assuming, you know, there's a lot of accessible options there as well, generally.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I mean, it was really important to just try again to make sure that we had something for everybody.
Speaker B:We were trying to consider everybody, and it's been great because even sometimes things that we haven't thought of have come to us, and we're always looking for those opportunities because even though, you know, we own it, everybody owns it in a way, you know, everybody's contributing to it and adding to it, and that's what makes it great.
Speaker B:That's what makes it really special.
Speaker A:So I'm kind of interested.
Speaker A:Something I often ask, you know, festivals.
Speaker A:We've done some festival previews in the last couple of years is, you know, we're coming up, you know, year seven.
Speaker A:What.
Speaker A:What are the changes that, you know, you know, the lessons you've learned and the changes you've made, like, even over the last year that you're like, hey, this is the thing we're changing for this year.
Speaker A:It doesn't have to be because of, like, a major negative, but, hey, this is.
Speaker A:We're changing this because we want to improve this part of the experience.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:You know, the first several years, I think we did change layout every year for probably the first five years.
Speaker B:We just kept growing and looking for more space to put more things.
Speaker B:And I think maybe just the last two years we've kind of settled into the layout that we currently have.
Speaker B:But that's been great because we've been able to kind of look at our back end and fine tune some of our processes.
Speaker B:You know, when we first started, we didn't necessarily anticipate the success, the immediate success so much.
Speaker B:And then you realize, gosh, I have to go back and start fine tuning the things that we kind of just got swept away with.
Speaker B:So it's been really good to just kind of get involved in our back end and tighten things up there because that's really going to put us in a better position as we look forward.
Speaker B:We still have ideas and we still dream about growing.
Speaker A:Yeah, I think that's.
Speaker A:I think that's a great thing to do at that time.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Like when you keep on, you keep on shuffling and shuffling and then you start to settle in may not be the right word because I'm sure it's never feels like you've settled in.
Speaker A:But taking care of that infrastructure, as somebody whose day job is more logistics and analytics is, you know, that infrastructure is the thing that.
Speaker A:Makes you able to develop these things, to develop other programming to enrich the experience for everybody.
Speaker A:But you need to take care of the team first and make sure that they're taken care of by understanding, hey, we have a written procedure for this thing that if one person doesn't show up, that might be okay because we have this stuff written out that we know somebody else can pick it up.
Speaker A:Or you've lightened the load by streamlining the process and it might take you half the time to do it because you actually thought through all the steps in between.
Speaker A:Like, that's such a big thing for a group of.
Speaker A:How many people are behind this right now on the team?
Speaker A:Roughly.
Speaker B:Roughly.
Speaker B:I mean, I think I would say our core is about 10 or less people.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:At any given time.
Speaker B:Some are, you know, more involved than others at different times.
Speaker B:But it is a lot of work and it's definitely valuable to, to go back, like you said, and just have those, get things in place.
Speaker A:I think it builds people's confidence that, hey, we're here for the long haul too, that we are really thinking through this stuff for efficiency.
Speaker A:And like I said, it also offers that opportunity to, oh, we can focus on this, because this is set.
Speaker A:We know what we're doing.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:I'm kind of wondering, so any other, like, big additions this year to what's going on?
Speaker A:Is it more just continuing down that efficiency?
Speaker B:I think it more just continuing down that efficiency.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Well, I think that's also.
Speaker A:It's not a thing that a guest will immediately notice, but almost always people will feel something.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:They'll feel that through that experience, just something will be a little bit smoother that they never noticed wasn't right.
Speaker A:But that little.
Speaker A:It's those tiny little steps, those little, like, speed bumps that they might never have noticed.
Speaker A:But it's gone this year.
Speaker B:Exactly.
Speaker B:For us, I think on the back end, that is.
Speaker B:That is happening.
Speaker B:And then it does make everyone else's experiences when they come better.
Speaker B:And, you know, we do.
Speaker B:We didn't change the structure so much, but we do try to look at the calendar and see if we can bring in some maybe different events or different musicians.
Speaker B:So we do have, for the first time in a really long time, a floral class that people can sign up and make a holiday floral arrangement.
Speaker B:So that's new this year, and that's fun.
Speaker B:If it's received well, which so far it has been just by ticket sales.
Speaker B:So if it goes really well, we'll probably do some more of those.
Speaker A:Yeah, I can't imagine it wouldn't.
Speaker A:I mean, it's having something like that as a centerpiece on a table, especially one that you got to customize yourself.
Speaker A:I mean, I mean, no shade on poinsettias.
Speaker A:I mean, my family sells lots of them back home every year.
Speaker A:But having the opportunity to really customize something for yourself is just a cool thing to do.
Speaker B:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker B:And to feel artistic and, you know, you're in a holiday space listening to holiday music.
Speaker B:I mean, it's best way to be jolly.
Speaker B:I think.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:You know, I forgot to go down the road, so I did want to ask just a little bit.
Speaker A:So you mentioned that, you know, one of your.
Speaker A:Your partners has, you know, a big event experience.
Speaker A:But what was your background before starting to be part of this.
Speaker A:Part of this organization?
Speaker B:You know, it's interesting, my background.
Speaker B:You wouldn't expect to have led me here, I don't think.
Speaker B:Yeah, my degree was in communication, so I guess that is kind of what I'm doing now, part of my role here.
Speaker B:But I was actually a photographer kind of in a previous life.
Speaker B:I do still do some photography, but really just for the village.
Speaker B:And when we started this, I had a three year Old son.
Speaker B:And I was fully immersed in just being a mom.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:This opportunity came, and I just knew I had to be a part of it.
Speaker A:Was that, like, oh, I get to really show off this side of myself, too?
Speaker B:Not necessarily.
Speaker B:You know, I just.
Speaker B:When I had come back from Europe, years before this was an idea for anybody, I just knew Rochester needed this, but I did not have the skill set to make this come to life.
Speaker B:But when I was connected with Jenna and Sean and knew that this was happening, I definitely wanted to be a part of it because I believed in it before, you know, before we could see anything.
Speaker B:I believed in the concept that our city needed it, and I really believed that it would be embraced.
Speaker A:Sometimes that's the.
Speaker A:That's the thing that so many groups get started with, is that person who has that, you know, that idea that just has those flames in your head where you're like, I know.
Speaker A:And it's not.
Speaker A:I know this is gonna work.
Speaker A:You're not guessing at that point.
Speaker A:And you might have your doubts as you're building and you're developing, and you're like, oh, we have to do all this.
Speaker A:But that fire in your head where you're like, I know.
Speaker A:I've seen it.
Speaker A:I've felt what this can be when it's done, is those are the things that make things happen, too, for sure.
Speaker B:I mean, I think that if I would have really known what I was getting myself into, I might have been more doubtful, to be honest.
Speaker B:I think, you know, in the beginning, for me, the ignorance is exactly what allowed me to be just so blindly hopeful.
Speaker A:I think that so many people that start anything that is, you know, a passion project in many ways, is you're just going to.
Speaker A:You're going to learn so much.
Speaker A:But not knowing enough is the only reason why a lot of things start.
Speaker B:That's true.
Speaker B:I mean, if you could tell us that we were gonna make a village that looks like it looks today, I think it would have been daunting to try to imagine that in year one, it might have overwhelmed all of us.
Speaker B:But just to have that small idea and be able to make it happen and then watch it grow is really the best part.
Speaker A:So I didn't want to lose the thread on photography either.
Speaker A:What kind of photographer were you?
Speaker A:Were you a portrait person?
Speaker A:Were you an art photographer?
Speaker A:How would you describe the kind of photographer you were or are?
Speaker B:So I had my own business.
Speaker B:I was focusing mainly on families, lots of young children and families.
Speaker B:I also photographed a lot of weddings as a second photographer.
Speaker B:With super talented photographer Tom Flint.
Speaker B:He's also my boyfriend and also the village photographer.
Speaker B:Any photo you see, most of them are going to be his amazing eye.
Speaker B:And that does feel like 100 years ago now.
Speaker B:But I know that it adds to my value with the village because being so visual, I see a lot of things, and it allows me to kind of fine tune the things when Jenna might be looking at the big picture.
Speaker B:So, you know, our skill sets really complement each other.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And there's a certain skill set that a wedding photographer, an event photographer has to see things as they're developing either into beautiful moments or disastrous moments where I'm sure you can start to see things before they happen, when you have that much experience, because it's.
Speaker A:I've heard enough horror stories from my friends who have done those things where they're like, well, I saw it 20 minutes before everybody else did, but this was gonna happen, and then it did.
Speaker B:Yeah, sometimes you just have to be the observer, But I'm sure at this.
Speaker A:Point now, you can also use that same skill to.
Speaker A:Oh, you can see things and hopefully prevent some of those things from happening.
Speaker B:Definitely.
Speaker B:That is the benefit of having that experience and then also having partners that support you and encourage you in your strengths.
Speaker A:Man.
Speaker A:It's the thing that's made me such a better.
Speaker A:Such a better, you know, person both behind the microphone as a.
Speaker A:As a man, as a husband, you know, having my wife for support, you know, an artistic person has made me better at this.
Speaker A:But then having somebody of the shows that I get a chance to work with, and they've taught me so much about community and contributing and really giving back to the city that you live in.
Speaker A:And I kind of wanted to end off on that because, like, we talked about, you know, the accessibility, both for people who need accessibility, but also financial accessibility.
Speaker A:How does it feel after, you know, the seventh, you know, coming up on year seven, to have ended up being a core part of something that is now such an important part of the holiday landscape in Rochester and making downtown a more vibrant place.
Speaker B:It's such a gift.
Speaker B:It's such a gift to have that feeling of accomplishment that you did something meaningful that other people enjoy and will remember.
Speaker B:They bring their families.
Speaker B:It's become a tradition.
Speaker B:Kids that, you know, now in our seventh year, there's going to be kids that grow up remembering that they did that for their whole childhood.
Speaker B:We hope we don't have any plans of stopping and to know that we made a place that everybody feels good and is happy making memories I mean, it's always been the best feeling just to walk around there and see everybody smiling.
Speaker B:And it's all kinds of people, young, old, just everything in between.
Speaker B:People are just there having the most meaningful times and making memories.
Speaker B:And there's just nothing like that.
Speaker A:I mean, what a great thing.
Speaker A:And everybody should go to rockholidayvillage.com rocholidayvillage.com presented by ESL dates from December 5th to the 28th in downtown Rochester.
Speaker A:The location again for everybody.
Speaker B:That's 353 Court street and that's Martin Luther King Jr. Park.
Speaker A:And if people are trying to park right in the area, you're going to have some trouble.
Speaker A:Are there shuttles and other things going on that people can utilize?
Speaker B:We don't operate shuttles and we don't have our own parking lot because, as you know, the space is so limited there.
Speaker B:But we do have parking that is on our website for anybody that's interested to see.
Speaker B:There are a lot of surface lots nearby, some parking garages.
Speaker B:You know, Strong is right there and they will allow you to park there if you're coming to the Village.
Speaker B:So there are great options.
Speaker A:That's huge.
Speaker A:And having that much, you know, that much availability around there, you is such a great thing for a festival that is going to be another year of success and creating something for the people of Rochester.
Speaker A:So Again, come out December 5th to the 28th.
Speaker A:If you are looking to reserve some of the igloos or buy some tickets, go to rockholidayvillage.com you can reserve those and get tickets for any of the events.
Speaker A:Anything else I missed before we close out?
Speaker B:Well, the igloos are sold out.
Speaker A:Oh, they are sold out.
Speaker A:Oh, that's awesome.
Speaker A:Congratulations.
Speaker A:I'm really glad to see that.
Speaker B:Thank you so much.
Speaker B:I just want to say thank you to you and thanks to our sponsors and to the community.
Speaker B:This really wouldn't be anything without everyone's efforts.
Speaker A:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker A:And thank you so much for coming over.
Speaker A:Make sure you go out and check that out.
Speaker A:And if you have another event that anybody else is looking to to highlight or other things, reach out to me.
Speaker A:You reach out at hello@lunchadore.org and definitely go to lunchadore.org to check out all the other shows on the podcast network.
Speaker A:We have a show up for best podcast, Bossy Roc from Kelly Bush and Kelly Metris.
Speaker A:We also have a new show on the network starting soon called Plants and Beets with Rob Bell featuring Lo Fi Music.
Speaker A:So we're really excited to have him join.
Speaker A:And we'll be back next time with more on Just can't not.
Speaker A:This has been a presentation of the Lunch Podcast Network.
Speaker A:You can skip all the events.
Speaker A:Make sure you get out for curling.
Speaker A:Come on.
