Milwaukee World Festival chief executive officer
Don Smiley has led
Summerfest since 2004. Summerfest 2023, the 55
th anniversary for the festival, will be Smiley’s last, as he is set to retire from the position at the end of the year.
Sara Smith Pancheri, who was named president of Milwaukee World Festival in 2022, will take over the leadership of Summerfest in 2024.
Under Smiley’s leadership Summerfest placed less of an emphasis on maximizing attendance and more of a focus on creating a quality experience for attendees. Nearly the entire Henry Maier Festival Park grounds have been rebuilt during Smiley’s tenure.
Summerfest was cancelled in 2020 and in 2021 was held in September, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The festival’s schedule, once held during 11 consecutive days, has been shifted to Thursday-Friday-Saturday of three consecutive weekends, in an attempt to maximize the best attendance days. However, the festival’s attendance in 2022 of 445,611 was far below pre-pandemic levels.
Summerfest 2023 began this weekend, and Smiley participated in a Q&A at the Summerfest Community Leader Luncheon hosted by BMO Harris Bank. The questions were asked by Dave Anderson, senior vice president - managing director, head of commercial banking, southeastern Wisconsin for BMO. The following are portions of their conversation:
What accomplishments are you most proud of from leading Summerfest for 20 years?
Smiley: “We are guardians of this festival. While we are celebrating 55 years, this is my 20th. That means 35 years prior to that there are a whole bunch of people here making this thing run and be successful over the years, whether they were fans, whether they were sponsors, whether they were board members. There’s a lot of fingerprints on this festival in terms of success. So, I’m just happy we were able to keep it on the rails.
“We basically rebuilt the grounds. We invested $160 million over a pretty short period of time. We’ve done a bond deal with BMO. There are so many things.”
“This year we hired about 1,850 people or so to help us run the festival. All of those checks are going home to local zip codes. We participate with approximately 70 community partners throughout the year. So I’m proud of a lot of different things and a lot of different touch points. When the bands get up and the bands start playing and everyone is yelling and screaming, that’s the byproduct of planning and booking bands and doing what we do here. There is so much that goes on behind the scenes that we are all proud of.”
Over the last 20 years, what is the single biggest challenge that you’ve faced?
Smiley: “I think just like with everyone else in the room it had to be the pandemic. How no one really knew anything. How that was all happening in real time. How it effected our families, how it effect our neighborhoods, our businesses and everything that we touch every day…Obviously, we lost (the chance to hold Summerfest in) 2020. We planned (the festival for) 2021 three times. We tried to operate in September of 2021, that didn’t work. We were up against the Badgers and the Packers. Kids had gone back to school, teachers had gone back to school. We hire a bunch of teachers here who work with us during the summer. So, September didn’t really work for us. Then we followed up in 2022 and tried to make that work. (Attendance) was better than ‘21, but not much. This year I think is really a good test. We have a great lineup, we have good dates, so far we’ve had great weather.”
How has Summerfest evolved over the years?
Smiley: “Well, we’re clearly a music festival. That’s what we do. That’s the content. That’s the product. We don’t have a midway. That went away a long time ago. So, it’s all about the music. And the music business has really changed. I can’t talk about (the last) 55 years but I certainly can talk about (the last) 20 years. When 8-tracks and CDs and albums and all of that went away and music went to streaming, a whole revenue source went away for these artists. So, that meant touring became more important to the artists. So, you’ll see a lot more artists out there touring, which is a good thing. But, there’s a lot of competition. It’s mega competition out there, worldwide. It’s just not what’s happening down the street, it’s a worldwide race. And we’re fixed to certain dates. So, Fiserv Forum, when it was built, it really raised the bar (for the local live music scene). It really put a lot of competition into the market. And that’s fine, that's good for the community, it’s good for fans. But, we’re fixed to our dates, so it’s somewhat of a chess game trying to fill Thursday-Friday-Saturday three times. It’s sometimes a challenge and sometimes it works out for us. So, it’s not like we have an arena and can say ‘OK, you can’t make it in November can you make it in December?’ And they (Fiserv Forum) have that going for them, plus a beautiful building. The competition side of it is never going to go away. I think it is just going to become more intense. That’s the reality of the marketplace at this point in time.
“As for the three weekends (for the Summerfest schedule), we did a lot of homework on this. We didn’t really have a choice, but I don’t think the test was fair when we rolled it out in September of 2021. In 2022 it was a little bit better, like I said. I think this year will be a fair test. We went to our customers, and we did focus groups. And over 60% of the respondents voted for Thursday-Friday-Saturday. So when Sara Pancheri, when she takes the reins in January of 2024, that will be her decision along with the team as to how this all works. When you think about restaurants and theaters in town, it’s not going to surprise anyone that a lot of restaurants are closed on Mondays and theaters are closed on Tuesdays. And why is that? Because you fish when the fish are biting. So, we know that people are out on the weekends, they have disposable incomes and they’re ready to roll. And Monday night is grilled cheese and Campbell Soup night. When you look back, and we did, you look at all of the data and you look at Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays it’s just a runaway as far as the data goes. That’s how we ended up there.”
Who are your favorite artists that have played at Summerfest, and what are your favorite stories about them playing here?
Smiley: “The Rolling Stones, Prince, Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, Kenny Chesney, Tom Petty, Kanye West, The Moody Blues; Earth, Wind and Fire, George Strait and Keith Urban. As for (favorite) stories…I think watching the whole Rolling Stones thing unfold before our eyes. That was a theatrical release in and of itself when they rolled up here and (each band member) had their own cars and motorcycle escorts and this and that. We found out they had their own airplanes. Just watching that roll out, and having the Rolling Stones here, maybe the greatest rock and roll band of all time, it was just really exhilarating.”
What’s next for you?
Smiley: “I’m going to be a grandfather. I’m told that’s a big job. And it’s a girl.
“I created an LLC, called SES. That stands for her (initials) and Sports Entertainment Sponsorship. And I have my first client, which is Baird and I helped them in their marketing efforts when they put their name on the convention center. I was retained to advise in getting that deal done. I’m excited about that, they’ve got a lot of cool things going on. It’s going to be fun going forward…(also) I’m going to help Sara (Smith Pancheri) on a project basis for whatever she needs me to do.”
So, Sara obviously takes the baton in January. Obviously, you talk a lot and work together closely. What’s the last piece of advice you’re going to give her?
Smiley: “I’m not sure. We talk about stuff all day every day. So, something that’s really profound? I don’t know, buckle your seat belt? Sara is really, really prepared for this job. She’s been at this for awhile. Sara was hand-picked a long time ago, and I couldn’t be more pleased about it and very proud of her.”
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Sarah Smith Pancheri, president of Milwaukee World Festival[/caption]
