Activism, Organizing, Pride Events: Good Strategies for Visibility

[Medusa]

Tomorrow afternoon, I am going to go to a local warehouse-type store and purchase a display tent and table for ThePlanet to start using to set up at Pride events and such. We have a ton of Pride events within a 300-mile radius and Jack and I both LOVE to road-trip so I was thinking that we could go to Tennessee, Mississippi, Missouri, East Texas, Louisiana, and maybe even Kentucky to look for Queers who don't know about us and do some outreach to the Stud and Diva community as well.

It occurred to me that printing some fliers to advertise the Reunion would be good and maybe getting a couple of giant bags of candy and cases of water to sell to recoup some of the cost of the tent for The Planet.
What else would be good to have available at the table? Information on what "Butch" and "Femme" means? A list of websites with good resources?

I was thinking it might go a long way to just shake some hands, hand out some cards and flyers, and just let folks know we are here. And honestly? We can set up at this particular Pride event for only $15, that's pretty cheap advertising :)

I would love to hear from other folks who have worked Pride events or parades, done any kind of visible activism, etc. What were your best ideas? Things that worked? Things that didn't?

[SuperFemme]

I found butches and femmes to body paint once. Paint the Planet logo on some hotties.

Oh. Pens, Pencils and Keychains can be made for cheap. Those are good tools.

[Cyclopea]

I like free postcards that have an attractive image on the front and pertinent info on the back. They have the feeling of being a "freebie", are easy to put in a pocket, and can be put on the fridge or mailed to a friend who may be interested- second life. They are also cheap- can get about 1000 for under 50 bucks.
Good luck!
:)

[weatherboi]

I have always had great luck with refridgerator magnets. I have clients that call me now from home shows i did 3 years ago off those magnets. I think they cost me .15 cents per magnet.

[Medusa]

Dang y'all! Find me some links! I'm salivating!!!

I found a site that we have used before. They do pens and postcards and such but seem to be a tiny bit expensive (Y'all know Im a Virgo so I want to save ThePlanet as much dough as possible)

[Medusa]

Anyone ever used Overnightprints.com??


http://www.overnightprints.com/?A=500pcsalep&code=postcardsale&adt=112200211&ne_ppc_id=876&ne_ad_id=842192&s_kwcid=TC|6146|postcards||S||4179537111&gclid=CNDq15uS0KECFRdY2godNHZ_Mg

[SuperFemme]

http://www.4imprint.com/sale?fs=LowestSellPrice&csd=ASC&page=1&mkid=34i_02_001&s_kwcid=TC-2809-148056370-b-1864294

http://www.pinnaclepromotions.com/

http://www.mapleleafpromotions.com/

[Cyclopea]

http://print24.com/us-en/product/postcards?gclid=CJWg1tSP0KECFQ1X2godNnE_Lw

I've never used them but at 1000/$30 they might be worth a try.

------------------------------------------------

http://www.modernpostcard.com/products/standard-postcard

I've used them and the print quality is excellent- but they are NOT cheap. ( about .28 a card which is ok if you're selling them but a bit pricey for a freebie)

[The_Lady_Snow]

You can always have live billboards, a butch or femme, with a t-shirt advertising The Planet, have them pass out blow pops or balloons with the logo or colors of the site. You can have a helium tank at your booth to blow up balloons with logo on them and pass them out!

[Cyclopea]

Anyone ever used Overnightprints.com??


http://www.overnightprints.com/?A=500pcsalep&code=postcardsale&adt=112200211&ne_ppc_id=876&ne_ad_id=842192&s_kwcid=TC|6146|postcards||S||4179537111&gclid=CNDq15uS0KECFRdY2godNHZ_Mg

Medusa I believe those prices are for single-sided cards?
I've never used them.

[weatherboi]

http://www.magnetsusa.com/Refrigerator-Magnets.html

http://www.epromos.com/category/1674.html

[Fancy]

Medusa you made me think of something....

Does anyone know a good resource for finding this year's pride events in East Texas? I've only been able to find June events in Houston and Dallas. I'm wondering if their may be pride celebrations in areas like Tyler, Lufkin, Nacogdoches, etc...

[Medusa]

Medusa you made me think of something....

Does anyone know a good resource for finding this year's pride events in East Texas? I've only been able to find June events in Houston and Dallas. I'm wondering if their may be pride celebrations in areas like Tyler, Lufkin, Nacogdoches, etc...


YES! Check this out: http://www.backpage.com/

We have an ad up there :)

[Fancy]

YES! Check this out: http://www.backpage.com/

We have an ad up there :)

Wow, that site has just about everything. Thanks for the link. Tyler may have stuff, but the smaller towns in East Texas just may road-trip to Houston.

I get spoiled up here where every town has a friggin' parade it seems...

[Medusa]

Wow, that site has just about everything. Thanks for the link. Tyler may have stuff, but the smaller towns in East Texas just may road-trip to Houston.

I get spoiled up here where every town has a friggin' parade it seems...

Texarkana had a Pride event at one time but I dont know if it's still going

[Medusa]

Im getting SUPER excited!

ButchFemmePlanet's first Pride event will be June 6, 2010 in Conway, Arkansas! We went out this weekend and got our display tent and picked up some cases of water to sell. The organizers of Conway Pride are asking for food vendors and I was trying to think of food products that we could sell to make a little money back on the tent we just bought but it would have to be things that are not handled because we dont have a food service license.
Its going to be too hot to sell candy bars but I wonder if granola bars or fruit would be a good idea? I know there will be a lot of health-conscious folks there but I dunno if it will be worth the hassle.

Either way, Im SUPER excited and hope it will help increase visibility for the site. We have had several folks contact me about ThePlanet doing Pride events in other cities - Im still going over the numbers and will be getting back to people later today :)

[WolfyOne]

Sell bottled water, pop and tea or juices......if you can find a good price on variety chips, offer them up with a purchased drink at a combo price. If the Pride events aren't far apart, these things will hold until your next event if left over.

[PinkieLee]

http://www.showyourlogo.com/custom-magnets.htm

Some of these business card size magnets start around $.06 a piece for 500. I've never used them before, but you could always call and get some more information.

[Medusa]

WOOT!

PRIDE is this Sunday in Conway, Arkansas and we have our booth all ready to go!

I went out and bought 3 cases of water to sell for $1 each but I just saw that it is going to be almost 100 degrees so I think I will run out and buy 3 more cases of soda or water. They are expecting 300-600 people there so a few more cases of drinks wont hurt, plus whatever we dont use, we can just bring to the Reunion and put in the hospitality room.

Im pretty damn excited! Niceguy and Wolfy are going to help with our tent and I have printed off about 200 flyers for the Reunion. (thinking that my job is about to donate a couple hundred more ;) )

Happy Pride all!

[The_Lady_Snow]

Friday, June 4th – Dance for Pride
Wallstreet Nightclub • 8pm
From 8pm to 10pm Stonewall Columbus will receive the $5 cover charge and donations for Pride 2010.
First 25 people will receive goodie bags full of prizes including your Pride entrance dog tag!
Wallstreet Nightclub, 144 N. Wall Street
Visit http://www.columbuspride.org/events/danceforpride for more information.




Saturday, June 5th – An Exhibit of Pride – Opening Reception
Stonewall Columbus Center on High • 6pm to 10pm
1160 North High Street
Visit http://www.columbuspride.org/events/artshow for more information.



Saturday, June 5th – 4th Annual TransOhio Unity Picnic
Goodale Park • 11am to 6pm. All are welcome!
Visit http://www.columbuspride.org/events/unitypicnic for more information.



Saturday, June 6th – Whole Foods Pride Giving Grill
Feast on freshly grilled foods with a portion of the proceeds benefiting Stonewall Columbus
Whole Foods Market • Noon to 4pm
3670 W. Dublin-Granville Rd
Visit http://www.columbuspride.org/events/wholefoods for more information.

[Spirit Dancer]

http://www.nashvillepride.org
June 19, 2010

[ravfem]

Atlanta Pride moved their celebration to October last year because nothing was allowed in Piedmont Park due to the drought. Now, the change in temperature and more importantly, humidity, between June and October in Atlanta is markedly different. As a heavy sweater (um...person who sweats a lot, as opposed to a wool pullover) i was thrilled, but figured there would be huge backlash over moving it out of June. Luckily, the majority thought it was a good thing and so it's in October again this year. Yay me.

Atlanta Pride (http://atlantapride.org/)

[Medusa]

Rav! I think that is actually a really good idea as a lot of people can't do heat (winking at Juney).

We are going to try to attend and set up at the Pride festival in Eureka Springs in October because they also have one then. I think they actually have 2 or 3 a year (which ROCKS!)

[Medusa]

We're about to leave for Pride! I'll take a bunch of pictures and update when we get home :)

Gotta get down to the ice machine and get about 10 bags of ice and set up the tent before the throngs decend - EXCITED!

[Miss Scarlett]

Things we found worked well with Pride Charlotte:


Bottled water - we sold them for $1/bottle. There are a lot of companies that will custom label for you. Some of these companies require the purchse of an entire pallet so instead you can have your own stickers printed and put them on bottles yourself. This eliminates storage problems - the only downside is that the if the bottles are in icy water you will lose the sticker. (Be sure to check the vendor application for an event to be sure you don't have to be a food vendor to sell or give away food/drink or to be sure that you can sell water. Pride Charlotte was the only authorized water vendor and it was spelled out on all of our vendor applications.)

Having loads of DumDum pops to give out - these are always a hit

Beads, beads, beads!

Hand fans with your logo printed on them - especially in the summer

Little paper gift bags containing a couple pieces of candy, strand of beads, magnet or other item advertising your organization, etc.

A drawing for a cd, dvd, gift card or some other item, requiring no purchase just a sign up with a valid email address.

A dog watering station at your tent - especially in the summer. I had to fight with my committee and eventually overrode them (I could do this as Co-Chair) to put these in place.

A misting station - if the venue will allow such a thing and it won't make the immediate area too slippery(Gateway Village would not let us install one inside their property but we could have them outside on the street). This is a good draw to your vendor space.

Frozen ice cream/popsicle novelities - if you have a really good cooler and can get enough dry ice


Things we found did not work well:


Luminaries - not in the summer - candles melt, and people don't like carrying bags of sand.

T-shirts never sold well. (With the exception of my final year with Pride Charlotte when we had an incredible design, offered shirts of different colors and sleeveless shirts too. The lesbians snatched up the sleeveless shirts in record numbers.)

Balloons - too difficult to man the helium tank and the tent at the same time. Also balloons are a hazard to children and there is nothing more annoying than a drunk inhaling helium


Food item suggestions:


Fruit is not a good idea, too perishable.

Granola bars or energy bars are good if they don't have chocolate or won't get too gooey in the heat. Chips are good unless the LGBT group from Frito Lay is there and you won't sell much. (See if the organizers will tell you if Frito will have a presence.)

Lance crackers, lunchbox size packs of cookies and other non-chocolate snacks or 100 calorie packs are also good.


Check out this site for Pride Festival info: http://www.interpride.org/

Hope this helps. I am a founder of the current Pride Charlotte & spent 3 1/2 years on the committee, 2 as Co-Chair (2007 & 2008) before retiring last year. I'll be happy to help you any way I can. Feel free to PM or email me any time.

[SassyLeo]

fridge magnets are a great idea... this website seems to be highly rated and has some deals going on through June 11th

http://www.motivators.com/Promotional-Custom-BicMagnetBusinessCards-1240.html

people love pens. especially FREE ones. at work, i have custom pens made for several depts and people ask me for extras all the time (then they hoard them :)) ...

http://www.motivators.com/Promotional-PensUnder50Cents-Custom-16-535.html

I, personally am not a person who wears logo type shirts unless it is for a specific purpose, like working a booth or promoting something. Like I wouldn't wear a tshirt just out around town. I am walking and working our Pride for my company. We have basic men's robin blue crewneck tshirts with the company logo and "branding". I kind of modified it to fit me better and make it more feminine...so that is a thought, in terms of what kind of tshirts you might buy.

[Toughy]

too difficult to man the helium tank

How about 'too difficult to staff the helium tank?

Language is slipping again around the use of the word 'man' and 'manned'. If you want a booth manned then you are looking for men. If you want it staffed, then you can find anyone who is willing to volunteer at the booth.

Manned space flight...........how about piloted space flight?

unmanned drones..........how about remote piloted drones?

language is important..........

yes I am a crusty humorless, cranky old feminist who thought we had solved this language thang a long time ago.....

--------------

yeah Dusa and Jack!!!!!!!!!! good ideas and good luck!!!!!!

[Medusa]

WE'RE BACK!

We are all burnt to a crisp, tired, dehydrated, and happy.

It was a HUGE success - We passed out tons of flyers, cards, and business cards and made a lot of great connections. Will update with photos and a storyline in a bit - Gotta re-hydrate first :)

[The_Lady_Snow]

Thanks for putting up all that info Ms Scarlett.. Language error and all, that took some time....

[Medusa]

Here is a video (down at the bottom) talking about how the Pride celebration this year in Conway was the largest crowd they had to date -

http://arkansasmatters.com/news-fulltext?nxd_id=319285&watch=1

[SuperFemme]

i think i saw the top of your head at the 25 second mark. :rainbowAfro: