Making money off an event is hard at any time, and even more so in tough economic times like these. One solution is concessions, which give attendees the opportunity to part with more money in addition to the admission fee already spent, and often involves an operator paying a concession fee to the event’s promoter as well. Concessions come in several categories.

* Parking If there is not enough parking on site, someone who owns a nearby empty lot will inevitably set up a parking lot. Clever event managers will negotiate with these operators to print maps to their facility in the events program in return for a slice of the profits.

* Souvenirs No matter what brought people together, someone will put it on a tee shirt and sell it. Sporting events, concerts, parties or any other large assembly will generate a market for souvenir spoons and glasses, booklets, plush toys and so forth. Selling these items can be a profitable sideline.

* Food Immense profits can be made with food concessions. In the confined atmosphere of an event, people are willing to pay somewhat more for a soda and a bag of popcorn than elsewhere. Concessions of different sorts can be added on without doing much damage to one another’s profits. All this takes equipment, from hot dog and snocone machines to beverage dispensers, popcorn poppers and butter warmers, and it requires concession supplies, but the investment will be more than worth it when the profits roll in.