Tabling at the Farmer's Market

[Brian Carpenter]

It was market day today, and I got to spend some time with Rhys and Raven promoting The Great Unleashing! This was my first time tabling, and I really enjoyed getting so many
people to smile and greet me. A good time was had by all, despite the weather, and I think we did a pretty good job of connecting with our community.

Most common quotes overheard:

• "What the [heck] is The Great Unleashing?!"
• "Ooh, I've been reading about this!"
• "We'll be there! My kids are playing in the band."
• "You guys are doing a good thing here!"

Most interesting quotes:

• "Watch out for the tree!"
• "I was going to be Queen of Ecotopia."
• "Back in the 70s..."
• "Keep fighting the good fight!"

I would say one of our collective best moves was getting the Bellingham Youth Jazz Band to play TGU. People with backgrounds in nonprofit leadership know that the two key things to building membership in your organization is to give people a friend and a job. Clearly both of these were well accomplished by the number of kids and parents who came by the table to say hi and let us know they were playing our event! (They also played the Market today.) Many of these folks don't really know what we're all about yet, but what better way to learn than to come to TGU?

I'm really excited about the energy vortex that is spiraling out of this whole effort! Going into the last TGU meeting things felt, on the whole, a bit strained and restrained. But, by the end of the meeting, there was a serious buzz humming through people. We're coming into our last week before our big coming out party, and there's still a lot of work to be done, but I cannot imagine a better title for the day than The Great Unleashing!

-Brian

[Brian Carpenter]

Bummer we missed each other! We were tabling in a little spot at the edge of the La Fiamma parking lot, just outside the market proper.

[Heather K]

Thanks for being at the market and sharing blog this Brian!
I was at the market but didn't see any flyers for the Unleashing...
So glad to know you all were there and people were connecting!