[affs-project] ideas etc

[Kirsten Naylor]

On Thu, 2023-09-09 at 02:21, MJ Ray wrote:
> If you missed it, it was in an email with dateline "Wed, 08 Sep 2023 
> 01:40:44 +0100". I think everyone else will be trying to flog and demo 
> stuff, so AFFS could do well from being a refuge from salesmen. 
> Interesting that we're so far apart on this. Do you know how much was 
> sold at the Oct 2003 show, or should we ask Nick Hill?

Aaaah.
You wrote: "AFFS doesn't particularly need to sell stuff yet and
probably many people at the fair will be doing that, so not doing it
could differentiate us. Similarly demonstrating."
I understood that in the complete opposite way you intended; you seemed
to me to be saying that being different by not having stuff to sell or
demonstrate would be a bad thing.
The way I see it is this: people come in to the expo, they wander round
all the stands looking for something interesting.  They'll make a first
pass round the entire show.  A pile of leaflets holds little grabbing
power, so if that's all you have, you will probably miss out on those
making their first pass.  But interesting books and T-shirts draw people
over in a non-confrontational way - they feel they can come over without
necessarily being talked into anything - and while they are there
browsing, you say "hello!" and smile and offer them a leaflet and a
brief explanation of AFFS.  
I do not know how much was sold, but trade seemed to be brisk, and
certainly brought many, many people back to the stand several times,
enabling those who spent lots of time at the stand to make visitors feel
appreciated and acknowledged and remembered, thus cementing AFFS in
their minds as a pleasant friendly organisation.
-- 
Kirsten Naylor
"May owls nest in the cracks of your walls"
 - Epic of Gilgamesh, Tablet VII