Fort Knox MWR is looking to revive the Fort Knox Summer Concert for the first time since 2016, and the decision was made to get beyond the Fort Knox gates for feedback.
“We’re looking to be good community partners,” said Fort Knox NAF Support Services Chief Brian Prokes. “We’re looking for community engagement, and we wanted to get the beat of the community and what they’re looking for for programs that we offer on Fort Knox.”
Participants were asked for opinions on potential artists they would like to see perform at the concert and other logistical decisions such as prices, parking, and experience.
“This was the sixth session that we’ve had, so we had over 100 folks engaged in these focus groups, and we feel like we’ve got a pretty good data set,” Prokes said.
Prokes said Fort Knox MWR wants an event like the concert to be about partnership rather than competition.
“We’re not looking to replace what’s going on outside of our gates, but we’re looking to augment on things that are not necessarily offered in the communities, and so this way with interacting with the folks that are outside the gates we feel like that we’re offering them something and we can be another resource for entertainment for them,” Prokes said.
The feedback from the focus groups puts the selection of a headliner one step closer.
“We’re close to a decision point on who we’re going to tailor our search for for talent, and I expect that in the coming weeks that will be identified and we’ll be full-scale marketing with specific names,” Prokes said.
Fort Knox says all proceeds from the concert “are directly reinvested into quality-of-life programs here at Fort Knox, positively impacting the lives of those who dedicate themselves to serving our nation.”
Well here we go again. If any of the “Powers That Be” on Post or off Post really want to know what people want and have been asking for, for years, they would cast a wider net, and all of these So called News sites would do the reporting Before the decisions are made, or the event has happened. I’ve never lived in another place that must think that everyone in the area have lived in the area for their entire lives. Well Newsflash this is a Military area, and most of the people living working, shopping, spending money, and paying taxes are not Generational residents of Hardin County and the surrounding areas. Not everyone knows about the big tractor parades and the tossing of candy to the kids before the Annual Festivals in each and every little town or village in the area. It’s actually insulting to always hear about all of the Fun that was had at said Festival, Fair or Concert AFTER the events! We also hear that the turnout was good, but it would have been a better financial investment if more people would have attended. And they just don’t know why so many drive in hellish traffic to attended Concerts, Festivals, and other events in Louisville and other far-flung destinations, but don’t seem to care about attending things here close to home. Bottom line, Tell the people you are trying to attract to events, BEFORE the EVENTS HAPPEN!!!
It’s pretty simple but it’s been the issue that I and my Other Military transplant friends have been talking about since the first time I was attached to Fort Knox.
I preached about this subject when I worked for MWR, and have tried to remind people in the Divisions that are in charge of the happenings on Post since 1998, and it’s still not happening. You can’t live and/or work in a small place and assume you know what others outside of that place really want and/or need. And the Lazy comments like” we might as well not ecen bother to do the concerts or other events since we never make enough money to pay for everything. “Since no one really cares enough to attend” said event, “Because they would rather go to Louisville”. I’m here to tell you that there’s a lot of people who would Love to attend community events close to home. But we Need to know about the Events BEFORE they happen. Oh, and everyone wonders why so many of our wonderful young adults leave the area for places with more traffic and more crime, when they could live cheaper and safer here. Well when they don’t know about the things that happen, things they would love to attend, Before they happen, they will continue to leave for other areas that care enough to inform their residents of things to do, things happening Before they happen!! Okay I’m off of my soapbox.
I would love for event coordinators in the towns that so many have chosen to call home, would consider that not everyone knows about those events just “because they’re always on the same weekends of the same months every year.”
Oh, and putting a little blurb on Facebook isn’t enough. People living Real lives don’t have time to check their Facebook notices everyday.
I’m sorry you feel like this wasn’t covered before the focus groups happened, but our station did share this in multiple ways before the event. There were several commercials that aired; we had a representative on the morning show to talk about it; we made multiple Facebook posts; and our on-air staff talked about it several times. FMWR utilized multiple outlets to spread the word. For most major events in our area, including festivals, concerts, fairs, etc., we have organizers on the morning show, they are covered in news, on our community calendar and social media posts in advance. We are locally focused and feel like we are a good resource.