If your weekend is looking a bit empty, you might check out the Chevrolet Classic Car Show at the Durham Museum, or take an open-house tour of the Hot Shops Art Center.
Then there are the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards competition and Creighton University's panel discussion on value investing, both on Friday.
Oh, and there's that Berkshire Hathaway shareholders' thingie, too.
It's not a coincidence that so much is happening over Berkshire weekend. Nonprofit organizations, unrelated companies, academic institutions and retailers increasingly piggyback on the annual meeting by scheduling special activities, realizing the boost that could come from access to thousands of shareholders.
Berkshire even helps promote a few of the events the car show and the Hot Shops open house are featured in the shareholders' visitors guide.
Chris Mangan, director of sponsorship for the Nebraska chapter of Entrepreneurs Organization, said Berkshire weekend is a great time to hold the student contest for several reasons, including that several members of the group also are Berkshire shareholders and more likely to attend.
“If it were any other weekend, we might not be able to attract members from India, attract members from Guatemala. But because it is Berkshire weekend, it's like a two-for-one deal,” he said.
The organization has held an event in conjunction with Berkshire weekend for the last four years, Mangan said. Warren Buffett, Berkshire's CEO, planned to attend a Saturday evening gathering last year but “wasn't able to make it happen,” Mangan said.
The contest, which begins with a breakfast at 7:30 a.m. Friday at the offices of the McGrath North law firm, 1601 Dodge St., is free and open to the public. Reservations are required and can be made by calling Paul Davis Restoration at 553-0373.
Berkshire staff member Kelly Broz, whose duties include coordinating the annual visitors guide, said the company has noticed an increase in the number of auxiliary events, especially in the last two years.
“I think the crowds have just gotten to be so astronomical that people think ... ‘Let's see what we can do with this,'” she said.
The company is pleased to see events and opportunities for the visitors, she said.
“Anything the shareholders will enjoy doing, I think is terrific, and anything to promote the city is always good,” Broz said.
Spokeswoman Shawna Forsberg said the Durham Museum worked with Berkshire to get the classic car show in the visitors guide. The museum, at 801 S. 10th St., tries to have a special event every year during Berkshire weekend, she said.
“Obviously, everybody tries to do extra things to draw people to their locations during the shareholders' meeting,” she said. “For us, this is probably the biggest thing we've done. I can't say we did the car show strictly for Berkshire, but it was definitely one of the considerations for the timing of it.”
Berkshire employees are usually happy to publicize events, Forsberg said.
“They're very nice,” she said. “They always reach out every year to several of the event-type places or exhibit-type places in town and include information for their visitors in the guide.
“We want to be one of the destinations in Omaha when people come to visit, regardless of what they're in town for. And obviously when you have this opportunity and have so many people in town for an event, we definitely want to be one of the places they want to check out.”
Milton Fricke, a member of the Chevrolet Classic Club, said he was looking forward to talking to the Berkshire visitors about cars, including the 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air convertible he owns.
John Wingender, chairman of the economics and finance department at Creighton University, said the school's panel discussion at 3:30 p.m. Friday will draw both panelists and audience members from among Berkshire attendees.
“You channel the expertise that is in Omaha already for the weekend,” said Aaron Konen, Wingender's graduate assistant. “It's really easy to get panelists to come, because they're already here.”
The event will be in the Hixson-Lied auditorium of the Mike and Josie Harper Center on Creighton's campus.
The first panel discussion in 2009 drew 200 people, when Wingender was hoping for 30. This year, 160 people were preregistered as of Monday.
“Many students come from around the world to this event, and my number-one motivation to do this was to develop a student-oriented value investing educational experience,” Wingender said. “We had people from China, Australia, the Netherlands, Singapore.”
Buffett is a huge fan of students and education, Wingender said, and Berkshire included the event in its shareholder information packet last year.
Tim Barry, managing partner of the Hot Shops Art Center, said the gallery at 1301 Nicholas St. holds its spring open house in early May regardless of Berkshire. The event is keyed to Mother's Day, a big gift-buying occasion, he said.
But he acknowledged that Berkshire shareholders boost sales at the downtown art center. Visitors wander among the studios, watching demonstrations of glass-blowing, pottery-making and other activities.
“They've become some of our best customers,” he said. “And now that they're staying in the hotels across the street, that's also been a big help to our attendance.”
Contact the writer:
444-1074, john.keenan@owh.com
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