[shroomgirl]

This past Sat was openning day at CFM.....5 women wearring sandwich boards came trooping through the market impedding shoppers and being mainly obnoxious. There is nothing like a person on a mission to bulldoze over your venue with their "important message" disrupting commerce. A reproductive non-profit just e-mailed looking to rent a booth or have petitioners at the market. IN both cases I was going to vote for those politicans and actually do a fundraiser for the other....now I'm not so sure.
I'm all for community but comeon.....
So, do any of you run into people trying to piggyback on your business with theirs....essentially mudding your message?

[foodnfoto]

I've run into this kind of thing before, but the pols were always respectful in kind of a "meet and greet" kind of way. The pol's staff contacted the members of the board first and asked for any guidelines. There were a few, like: schedule it so opposing pols don't show up on the same day, no PA kind of thing and nothing that would impede the normal functioning and purpose of the market.
Sounds like the sandwich board people were passionate, yet oblivious to their affect and how they might antagonize thier own base.
Just be up front about what your mission is and how you and the members of the market want others to behave.
We had an issue with dogs too. But people got more noses bent on that one than the politicians.

[AprilB]

As far as I know you can't just waltz into a public venue with a 'cause', sandwich boards or not...They'd need to get permission from the person(s) running the show, or a permit from the city or something? A no solicitation thing?

I guess the question about the rental of a booth would be entirely up to you. Whether or not you believe it would fall into the flavor of your Market or would create a nuisance.

I personally wouldn't consider letting a group run around with flyers and placards. (Holy Hari Krishna Batman!) That would be totally annoying IMHO. The last thing I want when I'm spending a pleasant afternoon shopping for food is having someone approach me with a cause. I figure if I want to find out I'll go to them. A t-shirt with advertising on it is one thing, but running around disrupting others would be time to intervene and ask them to leave.

There are definitely causes out there that are worth while, but I'm not sure a lot of the types you mentioned consider that they aren't creating a good impression. The irritation they create directly reflects on whether or not they are taken seriously.

Other than that I can be pretty rude to people who push. Not my shopping experience of choice.

April

[shroomgirl]

We are in the middle of a public street....we've got city approval obviously to shut it down. But during the election year I recall that polsters could be outside the market but not impede traffic. These were in the market and snotty. It's a legal thing April.....nothing like snots with an attorney and a mission.