Butch Femme Planet - Activism, Organizing, Pride Events: Good Strategies for Visibility

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

Atlanta Pride Oct 9-10, 2010

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

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!)

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!

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.

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/Promotiona...ards-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/Promotiona...om-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.

Quote:

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.....

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

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 :)

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

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-full...319285&watch=1

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