Fairs Year-round Information   February 2K19
 
back  In this issue of fyi:
  • Are you a new Fair CEO on the job for two years or less? Mark your calendar for the New CEO Orientation, April 10 and 11, in Sacramento.
     
  • CFSA board of directors elects new board chair and vice chair for 2019 - 2020.          
  • Help CFSA Help You: Send your Fairgrounds' February Contract Logs to CFSA.
     
  • Progress Reports: Keep your fair's Risk Control specialist in the loop about Pre-Fair Inspection repairs, improvements and plans of action.

 
 maintenance1
Maintenance Mania is Next Week  
Tuesday - Thursday, February 26 - 28, at the
Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton

 
There's still time to register! Visit  www.maintenancemania4fairs.com

Who Should Attend? Everyone in charge of or involved in the many aspects of fairgrounds maintenance and operations, including fair CEOs, maintenance supervisors and maintenance staff, is highly encouraged to attend. This year's event is Tuesday - Thursday, February 26 - 28 at the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton.   

Registration is free thanks to the generosity of 2019's event sponsors. In addition, your fairgrounds' training expenses may qualify for reimbursement through the 2018/2019 fair training allocation program. Check with Fairs & Expositions for details, 916/999-3000

Watch for pylons! Tuesday is large equipment operator certification day.  
Along with a full schedule of hands-on skills training, classes, friendly competitions and a trade show, Maintenance Mania offers:   

Large Equipment Operator Certification Day 
Tuesday, February 26,  (optional),  is dedicated to scissor lift, fork lift and Class 7- rough terrain fork lift certification classes, training and testing. 
Note: Class space is limited. Because the purpose of Tuesday's sessions is equipment operator certification, you must have had previous hands-on training and be able to show that you are capable of operating the equipment to the instructor's satisfaction. 

The Maintenance Mania Barter Board 
If your fair is looking for specific equipment or if you have items for sale or trade, the Barter Board is a great way to get the word out to other fairgrounds. Bring your information (and photos) to Maintenance Mania.  

Closing keynote speaker Pilot Elizabeth McCormick,  Thursday, February 28, Ms. McCormick will share experiences and stories from her years as a Black Hawk helicopter pilot, turning them into relatable life lessons. Her new book is  The PILOT Method: The 5 Elemental Truths to Leading Yourself in Life, and she will be giving away copies .  
  
You'll find detailed day-by-day schedules at:  www.maintenancemania4fairs.com.

NewSave these Dates
Are you a New Fair CEO on the Job for Two Years or Less? The New CEO Orientation is for You! Wednesday & Thursday, April 10 and 11
 
Whether you are a fair CEO who has been on the job for a few weeks, a few months or even a year or two, the New CEO Orientation is designed to help you build and expand on what you've learned and experienced so far.

Hosted by California Fair Services Authority, Western Fairs Association and CDFA's Fairs & Expositions Branch, the orientation provides opportunities for you to meet staff from the three agencies and to learn about each agency's responsibilities and available resources. You'll  hear how the agencies work together and about the services and programs available to you. This is also a great opportunity to ask CFSA, WFA and F&E's experts any questions you may have for handling specific challenges you're encountering or that you anticipate coming your way. 

Watch your mail for event details, a schedule of activities and hotel information as we get closer to the April dates. If you have any questions in the meantime, please contact Rebecca Desmond, CFSA's deputy executive director, at 916/263-6161 or rdesmond@cfsa.org.  


Board
CFSA's Board of Directors Elects Chair and Vice Chair for 2019 - 2020 

Among the first few pieces of business at the first CFSA board  meeting of 2019 was to elect a chairperson and vice chairperson from among the board's members.  
The board unanimously elected Director Steve Kenny as the board's chairperson and Jack Blyskal, the board's public member, as the vice chair. They replace Director Dan Jacobs who served as the board's chair and Jim Wolcott, who served as the board's vice chair. Both the chair and vice chair serve a two-year term.
Before the meeting continued on to the next agenda item, the directors thanked both Dan and Jim for their outstanding board leadership over the past two years.  
Meet your CFSA board of directors for 2019:
Steve Kenny, CEO, Butte County Fair, board chair, representing fair classifications I and II. 
Jack Blyskal,  public member, board vice chair .
Jim Wolcott,  CEO, Lassen County Fair, representing fair classifications I and II.
Dan Jacobs,  CEO, Antelope Valley Fair, representing fair classifications III-VII.
Lori Marshall,  CEO, Cow Palace Arena & Event Center, representing fair classes III-VII. 
Michael Olcott, CEO, Kern County Fair, representing fair classifications III-VII.
John Quiroz, branch chief, CDFA's Fairs & Expositions. 
BenefitsContracts
Remember to Send a Copy of Your Fairgrounds' Monthly Contract Log to CFSA

Has your fairgrounds sent its February contract log to CFSA yet? If you have, thank you for helping us help you keep claims costs down! If you haven't, please do so as soon as you can. This General Liability Pool requirement (effective March 1, 2018) asks that all General Liability Pool member fairs fax or email a copy of their fairgrounds' monthly contract logs to Mario Castagnola, CFSA's risk analyst. Ideally, he would like your contract logs by the 15th of each month so that he has ample time to review them and to get back to you if there are any questions. Fax contracts to: 916/263-6159, or email them to: mcastagnola@cfsa.org.

We know you're busy and that this is one more thing to squeeze into your day, but we wouldn't ask you for the logs unless they played an important role in reducing claims costs. And they do!
 
How this works:  When we receive your contract log, we are able to check which contracts and certificates of insurance we need to see for review and approval. If you've missed sending in a contract or two, or a certificate of insurance, we will catch it and contact you. 
 
We'll review each contract and its certificate of insurance to ensure they meet CFSA's insurance requirements (developed to help protect your fair). If there's any missing or conflicting information, Mario will take the steps necessary to bring the contract or certificate into compliance - at no charge to your fair. Then, if there's an accident and a claim is filed against your fair, CFSA will be able to tender, or to transfer, the claim to the responsible parties.    

If you would like to see a sample contract log, please contact Mario. 


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In 2018, CFSA reviewed 3,657 fair contracts/certificates of insurance submitted to California's fairs by vendors, contractors and others wishing to use a fair's facilities for hazardous or nonhazardous activities and events. Of these, approximately 25% contained errors that CFSA caught and corrected. The most frequent error? Additional insured language not listed.

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Q: Why is CFSA continually reminding us about contract reviews? 
A: 
Because the review of hazardous and other contracts is a key step in risk management and there are still some fairs that don't send their contracts to CFSA. This is such an important step that CFSA is willing to take on the responsibility of evaluating your contracts' indemnification and insurance language and that of the accompanying insurance certificates to ensure that they are appropriate, adequate and complete. 
 
Q: What if the contractor doesn't have adequate insurance coverage or doesn't indemnify the fair and there is an accident?  
 A:  If CFSA cannot tender the claim to the responsible parties, then there is the possibility that the fair and the General Liability Pool will have to pay the claim. In some circumstances, the fair might have to sue the contractor under various theories, such as equitable indemnity, breach of contract, etc. This is not how you want to work with a vendor or contractor. In addition, the accident could affect your fair's loss history (used to help calculate your annual pool fees).

If you have any other questions regarding contract logs  or  CFSA's contracts/certificates of insurance review service, please contact Mario at 916/263-6183. 

Prefair

Make the Most of Your Fairgrounds' Pre-Fair Inspection Reports: Keep Your CFSA Risk Control Specialist in the Loop with a Written Progress Report 

After you have repaired, adjusted or developed a plan of action for any problematic areas identified in your fairgrounds' CFSA Pre-fair Inspection, and before your fair or event takes place, remember to send a copy of the correction sheet (attached to your pre-fair inspection sheet) with the current status of the recommended repairs or improvements noted. 

Then, when your specialist returns to your fairgrounds during the fair or after, he or she knows they can focus on other areas of your fairgrounds or on other safety needs such as staff training, instead of using valuable time going over what they just went over.     

     
Before: Priority #1: Trip hazard.  
After: Successfuly repaired.
 
Share your Before and After Stories! Have a creative repair or improvement your fair is especially proud of? Share it! Contact your CFSA Risk Control specialist or Tom Amberson, CFSA's Risk Department manager at tamberson@cfsa.org or 916/263-6180.


Projects
CDFA and CCA Collaborate with California's Fairgrounds to Develop a Fairgrounds' Facility Improvement Project List in Preparation for Upcoming Improvement Funding

By now your fairground should have received a memo from the California Construction Authority (CCA - formerly known as California Fairs Financing Authority), alerting you to a new project initiating from the passage of the SB5 Bond Measure Grant and the inclusion of California's fairs in this year's state budget. As the February 7 memo explains, the purpose of the project is to develop an updatable fair facility project list that can be used as a baseline list f or bond funding as well as for future facility improvement funding, as soon as it becomes available.

The first step in building the project list is for California fairgrounds interested in receiving funding to conduct their own facility condition assessments and to provide CCA with details for up to five priority projects involving infrastructure needs, capital improvements or deferred maintenance. To help you get started, the memo includes guidelines, timelines and grant category descriptions,  instructions for completing the Facility Condition Assessment form, a sample of a completed form (with sample photos), and a blank assessment form you can make copies of as needed. 

CCA is here to help! For projects to be adequately funded, it is imperative to have correct project descriptions, measurements and estimates. Please feel free to call on CCA for help in completing your self-assessment of your facility's conditions. Contact Marcus Lee at 916/263-6100 or mlee@ccauthority.org. 

Completed assessment forms are due to CCA by close of business,  March 31, 2019. 

Note: Submitting Facility Condition Assessments of critical need projects is optional; however, it is a requirement if your fair wishes to receive grant funding from the SB5 Bond Measure Grant or from future funding for deferred maintenance projects. Fairs without real property are ineligible for the SB5 Bond Measure Grant.  

 
Get a head start on your fairgrounds' conditions assessment:  Keep areas of concern identified by CFSA's Risk Control specialists in mind as you begin your self-assessment of your fairgrounds' conditions. If you need help with supporting documentation for an improvement project you'd like to submit to CCA based on a CFSA inspection, you can always contact your CFSA Risk Control specialist.


Thank you for reading the  fyi newsletter. If there is something we can do to make  fyi more valuable to you, please  let us know: mthurber@cfsa.org.
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