{image1} Attendance was up this year, and Summerfest made money. But, why all the negative chatter? Maybe because we as faithful Milwaukeeans sometimes take our best things, like Summerfest, a bit for granted. Then again, maybe our best things -- even Summerfest -- really do need some improvement.

In true OMC style and with OMC spirit, here are 100 Ways to Improve Summerfest. Add your own using our exclusive talkback system.

1. Add live podcasts of shows to Summerfest.com
2. Add younger board members to Milwaukee World Festival, Inc. Board of Directors
3. Force all Board Members to attend Summerfest at least three of the 11 days
4. Raise ticket prices at the gate to at least $20 while offering discounted admission in spring
5. Create a local bands only stage
6. Add stadium seating at certain stages
7. More merchandise tables for bands to sell stuff at or create one central area to sell downloads and discs and merch
8. Move beer tents out of the center of the Grounds
9. Sell more brands of beer, but still no Budweiser!
10. Add more female rest rooms and family restrooms
11. Create debit card program for all payments on grounds
12. Age limit enforced after 6 p.m.
13. Have certain nights that are 21+ only
14. Add bathroom attendants, not just security guards in restrooms
15. Build a private, enclosed stage/arena that is more "upscale" and intimate
16. Better lighting for parking lots
17. More buses, more often
18. Kill the Midway
19. Bring back "The Encore" in September
20. More variety on Children's Stage. Create partnership with Noggin
21. Don't book same performers every day (Sorry, Pat!)
22. More diversity (need we even mention this?)
23. VIP club and area
24. Create a food card good for grounds and sponsor restaurants
25. Extend the festival into and through downtown by adding pre and post shows with artists at coffeehouses, bars and bookshops and other venues
26. Add more entry gates
27. More consistent sound quality for all Amphitheatre shows
28. Lure more celebrities to create a buzz (like Kate Hudson, who was at the Black Crowes show this year)
29. For grass seats, consistency on price and availability
30. Stay open until 1 a.m.
31. Add mixed drinks, we need our gin and tonics, mojitos, etc.
32. Focus marketing, leverage partnerships and build community
33. Limit capacity on weekend nights
34. Add an arcade
35. Add a skate park
36. How about an outdoor film series? Partner with the Milwaukee International Film Festival or Marcus Theaters
37. Leverage the lake and use it more
38. Use that island, too!
39. Water taxi from North Shore to East Side to Summerfest to Bay View and SoMo
40. Make the marketplace area more hip
41. Create and sell a season pass good for all festivals
42. Build a water park with Lake Michigan access
43. Add more sit down dining spots
44. More buskers and strolling musicians
45. Partner with MTV and VH1
46. Create annual compilation CDs and downloads
47. Have an iTunes store on the grounds
48. Create a "History of Summerfest" interactive museum
49. Create a Welcome to Milwaukee exhibit and interactive area
50. Provide wet-naps for the after-eating greasiness (and bibs, too!)
51. Cool mist zones when it's too hot
52. Win a prize if you hit the guy on the boat collecting golf balls in the lagoon
53. Distribute beer helmets to make crawling through the crowd easier and prevant spillage
54. Designated meeting spots
55. Spit guards to prevent loogies raining down from the skyglider
56. Make the Big Gig card worthwhile or cancel it.
57. Offer local discounted tickets and multi-day passes in the spring
58. Pick your audience. You just can't expect to please all the people all the time
59. Expand the grounds north to Shorewood
60. Convert the Hoan into one big balcony
61. Add Summerfest as a stop for the downtown trolley
62. Get rid of the bleachers
63. "No strollers" policy after 5 p.m.
64. More employees staffing the Marcus Amphitheatre box office
65. And make the box office bigger, too
66. "Hang with the Band" promotions for each day
67. Better main stage acts and some who haven't played Summerfest ever year for the past three years
68. "Mullet Day"
69. Better sound quality at small stages
70. Build a retractable roof
71. Better ticket partnerships with Brewers, Wave United, etc.
72. Celebrity dunk tanks
73. And celebrity drunk tanks, too!
74. Change name to Strummerfest and book only Clash tribute bands
75. Summer by Summerfest (SXSF)
76. All night raves out on the island
77. Bring back the Reggae Sunsplash package tours
78. Clean the bathrooms more often
79. Free eggplant for everyone!
80. Set up wine bars with a good selection
81. Add a non smoking area
82. Build a better, edgier Web site
83. World Brat Eating Championship
84. World Beer Drinking Championship
85. Local restaurant food and wine tasting areas
86. Make it a full two weeks
87. Or, make it one full week and weed out the "filler"
88. Have a "write the official Summerfest song" contest among local bands
89. An Italian pop night with Carmen Consoli, Subsonica and Cinemavolta
90. Book better bands and here come our suggestions:
91. The Roots
92. Beck
93. Ben Kweller
94. Radiohead
95. The White Stripes
96. Modest Mouse
97. The Shins
98. The Decemberists
99. Why is there no good jazz at the Gig?
100. Summerfest fashion seminars