(If this isn't the correct place for this topic, please move and advise where I should be following up at)
After a small discussion with the WI Promotions coordinator, Trisha, I emailed Bob Pucci about getting a Appleseed table for the next gun show.
I was told there is a whole table kit for this so we need to make arrangements to get that kit to me or someone in the Milwaukee area.
Secondly, does AS have a protocol for tables at gun shows that I should be aware of? If not I'll follow up in a few days with some basics as far as scheduling and planning work.
Barring any protocol conflicts, it would be nice to have 2 people manning the table at all times during the show hours, but obviously we need at least 1 person at all times . 3 or more would be great especially during peak hours last morning to early afternoon hours Saturday and Sunday, but any and all help would be welcome.
Also any thought or ideas for the table (raffle off at 1 or 2 day event or something) that people can come up with would be welcome as well.
Thanks all!
Quote from: Janir on November 20, 2011, 07:49:11 PM
Secondly, does AS have a protocol for tables at gun shows that I should be aware of? If not I'll follow up in a few days with some basics as far as scheduling and planning work.
Also any thought or ideas for the table (raffle off at 1 or 2 day event or something) that people can come up with would be welcome as well.
Thanks all!
You are THE MAN! Go for the table. Protocol? Someone please come along and enlighten us. :) Wear an Appleseed T-shirt and hat. Act professional. Pass out literature. Invite people to come. Ask them if they have heard about Appleseed. Same thing you did at Lodi Hunter Sight-in. O0
I arranged one Appleseed Bob and Rocco gun show. Seems they allow a certain number of free tables. If they are all gone, we would need to pay. We can take up a collection to cover it. Seems like it was $25-30.? Do your best to plead 501c3, nonprofit, all volunteer education organization.
We can get the Appleseed booth, T-shirts and brochures to you.
I like the idea of having people enter their e-mail addresses for a chance to win a free certificate or T-shirts. We could build our e-mail base for announcements and invitations. Anyone see a problem with that sort of thing?
Keep bailing Janir! :cool2:
You got the protocol down pat Janir. What you did at the Lodi hunter sight in is perfect O0 .
Thanks,
D-fly Keeping the Faith
Ok I'm looking for table staffing volunteers for the Milwaukee Gun Show Dec 9-11th
Here is a rough schedule for the time slots that need to be filled. I can modify these as needed.
It would be nice to get 2 people at least per shift, but others ARE MORE THAN WELCOME ;) !!
I'm also flexible on Saturday. I can close as well as open. I won't start filling myself in until I get more volunteers in... ;)
Person 1 Person 2
Friday 3-8 Janir Colycat
Saturday 9-1 LadyVetch Bellringer
1-5 Janir <OPEN>
Sunday 9-12 <OPEN>(Janir if needed)<OPEN>
12-3 Janir <OPEN>
I can help Friday. Is it at the Waukeshaw arena?
LadyVetch & BellRinger can help on sat am. Need info on where, how to get in etc. thanks for setting this up.
Lv
This is the Milwaukee show.
It's at the Milwaukee County Sports complex, where they used to hold the Women's Roller Derby matches.
6000 W Ryan Rd
Franklin, WI 53132
Google Maps short link: http://g.co/maps/ahck9
Just confirmed the table with Pucci, so its all a go for this weekend.
Pretty good group of attendees for Fri night. Lots of father/ sons to talk to. Also Bob bought us all fish dinner. Tonight is chicken :))
Patrick could still use some help, even if only for an hr or two.
Bellringer & I had a great time this am at the show. I know Patrick would like some company tommorrow. (Sunday).
It was really easy to talk with people. Most were very interested in learning what we do.
Saturday afternoon turned out really busy Saturday afternoon. Even met a nice lady and her husband that is looking to come out to the Hubertus AS next weekend. Sunday morning is shaping up to be fairly busy as well.
Sunday had a good turn out as well. Had 2 seperate Army reservists talk about coming to a appleseed as they were both disgusted with the new Army qualifying using a "virtual laser range" for 2 a year only practice. Also had a number of mother-son combinations visit.
I've also reserved a a table for the Feb 3-5 show at the Milwaukee Sports Complex.
Some show promotion ARR thoughts:
-Coly's idea of getting the first words out your mouth once you've engaged your customer, "We're a all volunteer, non-profit organization that..." It really seemed to me that hooked and kept people at the table once they knew we were not just trying sell them something immediately but wanted to get then to know what we were all about. It was a very successful technique.
-Handouts are good with the list of range partners on it. Having that list of Wisconsin ranges that we hold AS' at really helps. Again thanks to Coly on having the Mona Lisa's printed out with the list on the back.
On a similar note, having a few red coats and AQT's was also very handy. They made good talking points.
-Having demo rifles with slings works. Colycat brought a 10/22, a Garand and I brought on Sunday my AR-15 with slings on all of them. Making sure the rifles were safe I was able to have kids and even an adult or 2 handle them and I could demo and show a few sling basics. I do caution to still taking care of muzzle sweeps and go though the motions of verifying the empty rifle, even with a zip tie though the action and magwells and have a second person also look at it, a customer works and helps get some active participation for parents. Also keep a hand right up one the barrel so any potential sweeps can be controlled. I got a lot of interest from people when there was some demoing going on. Hasty hasty sling worked well as a demo to draw other people in I guess due to its quick movement nature.
-Mentioning LadySeeds to women gets a BIG interest in any women that when your engaging them seem a bit apprehensive.
-I put out a few AS playing cards on the table on Sunday. They were a too reference point for me when mentioning the history portion and I was able to sue them as reference points in conversations.
-The learning aspect of history, math and physics sells with the parents. They seemed to like the video I had of the little girl and boy who never shot a rifle before who were going to their first AS and the video showed we taught marksmanship, history, math and physics. Made a good hook for discussion on what those elements were. I knew our education system can be iffy in the history department but I was kinda surprised when an 11 year old couldn't tell me who Paul Revere even was. Best I got from her was George Washington as our first president and he chopped down a cherry tree. (This is from a friend's daughter so I know the girl and she's very bright.)
Thanks again to Colycat, Lady Vetch and Bellringer for helping man the booth this weekend! I appreciate the help.
Well done everyone involved O0
Thanks,
D-fly Keeping the Faith
Janir, Thanks for taking this gun show on. That is what it takes. Someone to do it.
O0