Project Appleseed

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Event Information

Status:	COMPLETED
Location:	Goshen Fair (http://www.goshenfair.org/) - Goshen, CT
Date:	September 3, 4 and 5 (Labor Day weekend), 2011
Promo Boss:	The Log
Promo Team:	Who_Me?, CortJestir, Lymiseede, TOMINCT, CaptMac, HiramHog, DavidGW1 - more needed; contact Promo Boss by PM to sign up

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Tasks / Action Items
These items below require action. Please respond in this thread to volunteer and complete a task or fill a role.
Items with names and dates in parens have been assigned and are in progress. Items with a strike are complete.

Logistics, Administrative and Staffing

• Venue contacted, vendor fee negotiated
• Fred/Believer sign-off on fee
• Vendor contract signed and returned
• Promo Boss needed
• Management of booth materials and supplies
• Booth load-in and set up staffed and scheduled
• Booth staffing for Saturday
• Booth staffing for Sunday
• Booth staffing for Monday
• Booth tear-down and load out staffed and scheduled

Booth Staff Schedule

	_______SATURDAY_______	_______SUNDAY_______	_______MONDAY_______
8A-12P	The Log, Who_Me?	TOMINCT	TOMINCT
12P-4P	The Log, Who_Me?, CaptMac	CortJestir, Lymiseede	TOMINCT, The Log, Who_Me?
4P-8P	The Log, Who_Me?, CaptMac	CortJestir, Lymiseede	TOMINCT, The Log, Who_Me?

Definite must-have/must-do items for this promo:

• MORE STAFF!
• We have to have a way to sign people in on the spot - either online (I'm checking wifi availability) or on paper. We missed many chances to lock people in at BTR - let's not repeat that mistake.
• LOTS of flyers. And the ability to make more quickly. This may require support from someone in the area who can make copies and delivery them quickly.
• MORE STAFF!!
• Redesign the booth. Having the AR Girl banner all the way at the back of the booth isn't helping draw people in. I want to build a better set of stanchions that can go out in front of the tent, possibly extended up so we can fly some flags (I think we'll be outside). I also want anyone working the booth to be out in traffic at all times, drawing them in  where they can get more info.
• Ability to show videos. This will be a non-gun geek crowd, by and large, and they might need to see what it's all about. We should have access to power, so a laptop and monitor might be all we need to pull this off.
• Conversation pieces. A simple wooden ammo box drew more comments than I could have imagined at BTR - in fact, it helped us meet the guy who was the chief designer for the M16A1 to A2 project at Colt! Some Revolutionary War artifacts would be great - bayonet, cartridge box, fifes, drums - anything to get the conversation started.
• Did I mention that we need MORE STAFF?

</log>

I'll get a TON (thousands) of flyers copied for you and have them for you when we hand off the promo tent, table, signage and the 3k National Tri-folds we have.

That should set you up for all supplies - if the cost for juice/internet works out to be doable bring an extension cord/power strip for juice for the laptop.

You should be all set then for supplies.

 I'll be there a full day, let's see where help is needed most and I'll fill in the gap.

I'll most likely be there a full day as well, maybe more. Bringing the whole family out as well to enjoy the fair while I "work". Suggest you do the same. This should be a grand time! Who can pass up Krispy Kreme Cheeseburgers? (On second thought...)

Glad to see the Shoot Bosses stepping up - what about the rest of the crew?

I know I'll be there all day Saturday, as well as Friday evening for setup - no booth setup allowed during the fair itself. I suppose I'm on the hook for tear-down on Monday evening as well, since I live close by. Many hands make light work, though - or so I'm told.

I know this is Labor Day weekend, last weekend of the summer, and folks are busy. And maybe you don't much like doing promo work - shooting is your thing, or history. In that case, maybe you should read this (http://appleseedinfo.org/smf/index.php?topic=24475.0) - and consider the fact that if people aren't aware of Appleseed, we'll have no shooters to fill our lines, and no one to listen to the history.

</log>

Alright, crew, here we go - time to commit to making this another successful CT promo. Above is a crude table (SMF is not great at tables) of the tours available. I've divided each day of the promo up into four hour blocks - three per day, even though the fair closes about 5:30 on   Monday. I'm taking care of booth setup on Friday evening, since I live closest.

I've decided that I will take the first whole day, with my faithful side-kick Who_Me?, natch. Not that we'd mind other company, mind you. So feel free to PM me or post here with a commitment to one or more slots so that we have this thing staffed.

I would think the second two tours of Saturday and Sunday will need the most staffing - should be when traffic is thickest. So let's make an effort to get three or more instructors in the booth during those times, please.

And if you can't commit to a four hour block, or need to arrive or leave off of the times I listed, no sweat - just let me know.

</log>

 I'll be signing up for the day that is not covered well. It will be a day or so out from the fair.

 There's a few folks checking their schedules over the weekend. When you do know better pick the day and time that you can be there.

If you see a bunch of people signed up for one day please consider another day less filled. It will make for a better promo effort!

Update 8/27:

Thanks to TOMINCT's practical field "math-manship", we now have 6,000 trifolds being shipped out from the Appleseed Central Supply and Logistics Depot. Hopefully we'll have those on-hand prior to the fair - if not, we have about 2,000 available right now. The 8,000 should cover us if we contact only 20% of the expected 40,000 attendees.

The long-range forecast looks nice for next weekend, if not for this one.  The fair grounds are very exposed on the top of a hill, and while there aren't a lot of trees there, the buildings seem vulnerable to me. I'll stay on top of the storm situation and apprise any damage at the grounds that might impact us.

Keep up the buzz on this - I think this is going to be the promo event of the season, and you'll be kicking yourself if you miss it.

</log>

Dan,

We had LymiSeede and Peter over for dinner the other night. Among the topics discussed was the Goshen Fair.

You can put both LymiSeede and I down to man the 12pm-4pm and 4pm-8pm shifts on Sunday.

CJ

Done. I moved the table to the top of the thread, and added a little color coding to make it easier to read. Let me know if the patriotic color scheme doesn't work.

</log>

Quote from: The Log on August 27, 2011, 09:27:24 PM
Let me know if the patriotic color scheme doesn't work.

White was kinda hard to read. So I made the table a bit more legible...

You have shamed me, sir, with your mad SMF skills.  :shootself:

</log> 

OK, folks, getting close. Time to shift from staffing to logistics - although you'll note that there are still open shifts  &)

Minimal storm damage up this way - I didn't even lose power - so the fairgrounds should be fine. I'll check anyway this week, probably Tuesday. I'll pick up the booth materials from Vernic82 on Wednesday at the Planning Meeting at Cabela's - everyone is going, right?  ~~:) ~~:) ~~:)

Our main consumables will be:

• Trifolds - we have 6k on order and about 2k available
• CT flyer and/or trifold inserts
• Giveaway entry slips - for the free passes to any upcoming event
• Mail-in registrations

If we go with TOMINCT's estimate of contact with 20% of 40k attendees, we'll need a maximum of 8,000 of the trifolds, flyer/insert, and entry slips. I don't think in practice that we'll need anything near that, but let's just shoot for 2,000 each and see what we end up with. We can probably settle on 100 mail-in registrations - I'd be ecstatic if we registered 20 people on the spot, but semper paratus.

Just thinking about thos numbers is a bit daunting - I have no way to print up 2,000 copies of the CT flyer. And even if we go with the inserts, we'd still need 700 copies to stuff 2k trifolds. That's quite a bill at the Staples copy center!!

I'll entertain any and all ideas on how to get enough copies of our schedule for this event without breaking anyone's bank account. My suggestion is that we stick with trifold inserts since we get three per sheet, and skip the back side ("how to prepare for a shoot") to save on double-sided copy expenses.

Question: does anyone have access to a paper cutter? One of those heavy-duty guillotine-style deals that I almost cut my fingers off with in grade school would be great - they beat the heck out of scissors for cutting the inserts. I think I can borrow my mom's, but if anyone else has one, let me know.

I have an blank entry-slip form we used at BTR - it has a tear-off with out website on it, and we keep the part with the name and (hopefully) email address.

I've printed up the schedules for the rest of the year at Harvard, Leyden, Mansfield, Calverton and Manhattan. Are there any other locations we should think about promoting. Regional SCs and Shoot Bosses, feel free to chip in here - or (crazy idea here) - come along to the promo!

All for now. Please chip in with ideas on how we can spread the pain of making copies as evenly as possible.

</log>

BTT - schedule updated at top of this thread.

We still need some help on Sunday morning. I'm begging you here - please don't make me come out Sunday morning to open up  :bow:

We now have enough trifolds for this event, and probably fr the rest of the year and into next. BTW, 6000 flyers weighs 105 pounds  $$-0

Looks like we have a good supply of the CT schedule to hand out, thanks to the V-man.

I'll be heading up to the fairgrounds sometime tomorrow afternoon to load-in and set up the booth. Stay tuned for further logistical announcements.

</log>

 You only got 6000? Will there be any left for me?

With 40,000 in attendance I hope it's enough!

I just swung by the fairgrounds and we're looking good! Spoke directly to the concessions superintendent - my boyish good looks and winning smile must be worth something, because she said she moved our booth to a better spot, foot traffic-wise. We're right next to...

The pig races.

Now, don't snicker, all you city folks - this is prime real estate at a fair. The pig races will attract families, and they all have to walk right past us to get there. What's more, we're sharing a tent (that's right, the fair is providing a tent) with a guy who does wood carving of some sort, and we're right near a barn with antiques in it, so we should have some great traffic.

Now, as for strategy: the tent we're under is HUGE - at least 24' x 24'. The is both a problem and an opportunity. The problem is that our two little tables and our flyers might get lost under there. The opportunity is that we have space to do something, like do a quick demo of prone position. I don't know how they'll feel about bringing a demo rifle, but I'll check tomorrow when I load in. Aside from position demos, is there anything anyone can think of to use that space?

Logistics: I got a fistful of vendor passes that I'll have with me on Saturday. Anyone who wants to come into the fair has to pay admission if they don't have a pass, so call or text me (860.307.4050) and we'll meet you by the gate with a pass - our booth is very close to the road, and we can hand a pass over the fence if needed.

For Sunday - looks like I'm on the hook for the morning at least, so I'll be able to hand off passes to Todd and Ti at noon. On Monday, Tom can swing by The Log's Bunker Complex before the fair to pick them up - it's not too far off course.

Parking is free. I have two vendor parking passes that get you parked a little closer, but the vendor spots fill up early, so most of you should just go to the main parking areas.

Traffic can be a nightmare. Set your GPS to 116 Old Middle St, Goshen CT. That's route 63 - seek to minimize the time you spend on Rte 63 itself, as well as Rte 4 up from Torrington - I've seen Rte 4 back up from the fairgrounds all the way to Rte 8 in Torrington!! Pie Hill Rd is a good alternative, and I think it gives you direct access to parking without ever hitting Rte 63. Consider coming up from the center of Litchfield on Norfolk Rd, which turns into Pumping Station Rd, then East St, to Pie Hill Rd. YMMV.

If anyone needs to get in touch with me before Saturday at about 7AM, please call the landline - 860.482.7078. After that, hit my cell.

Thanks for stepping up, and for those of you that haven't - what are you waiting for?

</log>

Quote from: TOMINCT on September 01, 2011, 02:29:53 PM
You only got 6000? Will there be any left for me?

With 40,000 in attendance I hope it's enough!

BTW, the Concessions Super told me they had 30,000 or so last year, so 40k is not that far off. And I have about 9,000 flyers now, with Vernic's contribution plus the stuff they sent me.

I'd like to try to keep track of contacts somehow, for IAAR purposes. Maybe a couple of those clicky counters. I'll swing by Walmart and see if I can find some cheapies.

</log>

Quote from: The Log on September 01, 2011, 09:06:00 PM

Quote from: TOMINCT on September 01, 2011, 02:29:53 PM
You only got 6000? Will there be any left for me?

With 40,000 in attendance I hope it's enough!

BTW, the Concessions Super told me they had 30,000 or so last year, so 40k is not that far off. And I have about 9,000 flyers now, with Vernic's contribution plus the stuff they sent me.

</log>

Phew, that makes me feel a lot better!

Hey, maybe this promo stuff works! Somebody signed up for Durham between yesterday and today. Here's hoping it's the guy we met yesterday from Fairfield Fish and Game!!  ^:)^

</log>

We had two sign up for Lebanon today as well. Let's hope it keeps going this week.

Quote from: CortJestir on September 04, 2011, 11:01:43 PM
We had two sign up for Lebanon today as well. Let's hope it keeps going this week.

If they were both paying shooters signing up for both days, then we made back Fred's investment in the booth  ^:)^

</log>

Looks like I might need some help at Lebanon now!

Great job!

Quote from: The Log on September 05, 2011, 08:32:32 AM

Quote from: CortJestir on September 04, 2011, 11:01:43 PM
We had two sign up for Lebanon today as well. Let's hope it keeps going this week.

If they were both paying shooters signing up for both days, then we made back Fred's investment in the booth  ^:)^

</log>

Quote from: vernic82 on September 05, 2011, 08:58:46 AM
Looks like I might need some help at Lebanon now!

Great job!

You're a victim of our success  #)

</log>

+2 for Colebrook this morning.

And another +2 for Colebrook this afternoon.