World Dairy Expo Supplement (complete PDF) - Hoards Dairyman

HOARD’S DAIRYMAN
Around the world of dairy
FROM Brat Fest to Junior Hockey
Competitions, the Alliant Energy
Center has its hands full year round.
The Center is constantly changing to
meet its clients’ needs. But every fall
it deviates from these typical events
to become home to one of the dairy
industry’s most cherished pastimes:
World Dairy Expo.
Maintaining this large facility
though is a task few would embrace.
A key group of individuals, the Cen-
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EXPO 32 September 10, 2011
The unsung heroes of World Dairy Expo
ter’s maintenance staff, is responsible
for the vast majority of the transformation
required to take the Alliant
Energy Center from the other events
it hosts to the full glory of Expo.
“Alliant Energy Center is composed
of millions of tiny pieces. It’s our job to
ensure that the pieces work together,”
noted one member of the staff.
The Alliant Energy Center em ploys
five full-time individuals: a grounds
keeper, fleet manager, an employee
Find out more at
Circle No. 20 on Reader Response Card
by Hoard’s Dairyman staff
for general repairs, a heating specialist,
and John Dunn, who oversees all
on-the-grounds operations.
“When setting up for Expo, we
hope for the best while preparing for
the worst,” noted Dunn.
Dunn began working at the Alliant
Energy Center eight years ago. For
the previous 25 years, he was a public
works engineer. While doing that, he
also assisted on the Center’s grounds.
He has had a great deal of experi-
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ence setting up and maintaining the
grounds prior to and during Expo.
“I enjoy working at the Alliant
Energy Center. There are a number
of different users which means the
venue is always changing. The challenges
and variety of events allows
me to work with a number of great
people,” Dunn says.
Many special projects
Compared to the other events
the Alliant Energy Center hosts,
World Dairy Expo has many special
needs. “Our biggest challenge each
year is setting up the outdoor trade
mall in the Southeast parking lot,”
noted Dunn.
Erecting the trade mall requires
the staff to not only set up all of
the tents and any structures, but
to provide booths with the electricity
needed to run their displays in
an area that does not have any preexisting
power source.
The trade mall utilizes a combination
of ground and generator power;
the crew installs temporary lines
that run from the buildings to supply
outdoor power.
“Electricians play a big role in setting
up the outdoor trade mall,” said
Dunn.
The staff are also required to keep
up with the greater demands on
the waste facilities. With the vast
number of visitors from around the
world and thousands of dairy cattle
arriving for a week, the crew faces
the challenge of keeping up with an
upsurge in the volume of trash and
animal waste.
“To meet the additional demands
of Expo, the Alliant Energy Center
hires a temporary grounds crew to
keep the grounds safe for the visitors,
exhibitors, and cattle,” noted Dunn.
It takes the maintenance staff
at the Alliant Energy Center three
weeks to set up the grounds. While
they are preparing for Expo, the Center
is still hosting other shows. Therefore,
it takes a great deal of planning
to have the grounds ready on
time. The staff starts by mowing the
grounds to create the additional parking
needed for the volume of vehicle
traffic. In addition to maintaining the
lawns, the crew ensures that particular
areas of the grounds are immaculate,
creating attractive backgrounds
KEEPING THE GROUNDS NEAT and tidy
is important because of the attractive
backgrounds used for photography of
people and cattle.