I thought this was interesting, considering how much trouble the CMA went to to change the name from Fan Fair to the CMA Music Festival a few years ago...I don't think there's *one* person who actually refers to FF by it's new name, except maybe the CMA!
From Allaboutcountry.com
Be honest, just call it Fan Fair
In an opinion piece in the Tennessean, by Gail Kerr on Last Sunday she talked about the CMA Festival.
Keer said, with record crowds downtown came mega spending by tourists. A national TV special will show highlights. In short, the Country Music Association's flagship festival was an unquestionable success. So can we please just change the name back to Fan Fair?
Might as well make it official, because that's what everybody calls it. Travel agencies are already promoting "Fan Fair 2008." Stars called it Fan Fair on camera. The band Burrito Deluxe sent out a press release saying they made a "media splash … at Fan Fair."
If you can't beat 'em, join 'em, CMA. Hold a big star-studded press conference and announce the new name: the CMA Fan Fair Music Festival. Or Fan Fair for short.
"I don't think we're going to put it back in the formal title because, my goodness, that would make it incredibly long," said Wendy Pearl, vice president of communication for the CMA. The brand Fan Fair, she said, "doesn't illustrate what we are and what we've become."
The CMA had legitimate reasons to change the name in 2004. They'd moved the festival downtown from the fairgrounds and wanted a new image for the humble little Country music festival that started in 1972. Fan Fair was a dusty hot scene of RVs and autograph booths and barbecue and beans sold by the Chuck Wagon Gang.
The words "Fan Fair," officials said, were unsophisticated. One CMA official said Nashvillians viewed Fan Fair "like something was going to jump off on them and infect them."
A new name meant new heights for the event and national TV exposure. At the same time, Pearl said, "It was critically important to us to maintain the legacy that got us there." That's why the CMA uses Fan Fair to label the area with autograph booths.
"We love the name, too," Pearl said.
Much like the love Cinderella felt from her stepsisters.
There are two reasons why this is the perfect time to change the name back. First, there is no danger of the festival being mistaken for the old beans-and-sawdust Fan Fair. It's come too far. And second, old-timey is cool now. Young stars clamor to play the Grand Ole Opry. Porter Wagoner's new album is the buzz. Charlie Louvin is playing Bonnaroo.
Pearl said "it's expected" that people still refer to the festival as Fan Fair. "But there was a lot of time and effort given" to the name change.
She was kind enough to be on call Friday. CMA offices were closed so the staff could take a day off.
They were all tuckered out from working Fan Fair.
CMA Music Festival busted all attendance records, with 191,154 tickets sold over the four-day event.