Hi, Susan. Mike, I think, is responding to living near DC but in Salt Lake City, you could not suffer from the nastiness of February DC weather. So, think positive! Yes, it might be crisp but it's not going to be blustery.
Ok, do you have a local brewery or some quasi-public meeting house where you could hold an event? I could imagine that a local business owner would love to collaborate with you on something. We held an event at Bells Brewery in Kalamazoo, MI that raised a bunch of money, got some people who had not stepped foot into a brewery in years to the event, and raised public awareness of our "fight with city hall". This was not an exclusive event, Bells continued to have their customers and we just fit into their night's activities. We came in early, started at 4 PM and left at 10. The bar was in full swing by 10 but we were done. The advantage to this is three-fold. One, you collaborate with a business who can benefit from the good will (and increase sales) and you can benefit from their clientele (market to them). Two, you're out of the weather and people will stay longer and enjoy themselves more. Three, no tent rentals, permits, etc. To do this idea, think about a restaurant or brewery that has your interests at heart and pose the idea to them. You're not taking away business (it's not an exclusive event) but perhaps adding business to them (your gardeners will think positively about this business owner, etc.). Still, if you want a garden event instead, you are headed for some very high costs to make this happen. Mike is right about dry events too. Charging money, sans alcohol, is not a good idea. Offering alcohol will mean you'll have to seek a permit for that (again cutting into your profits.) Sincerely, Amy DeShon, MPA Executive Director American Community Gardening Association (ACGA) 1777 E. Broad Street Columbus, OH 43201 1-877-ASK-ACGA Direct Line: 614-645-1537 [EMAIL PROTECTED] -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Mike McGrath Sent: Monday, December 03, 2007 10:47 PM To: susan finlayson; [email protected] Subject: [Community_garden] winter garden event February?! I think you're NUTS! The heated tents alone will put you in the red. All the plants will die on the way home. And nobody pays ten or twenty bucks to come to an 'event' (especially a 'dry' one)--a true gardening symposium, yes; but they are typically planned months to years in advance. If you must do something in Feb, do a simple Valentine's Day sale--maybe rose bushes or potted Spring bulbs (in The Language of Flowers, red TULIPS--not roses--mean "I love you"). Otherwise, you would hold a Spring plant sale at the right time of year--which I'm guessing would be mid-May in your area...But since you need money by March, maybe consider selling shares in the Community Garden To Be; no event--just a nice website and lots of local publicity; that way, you have no expenses, just money in. ---The Ole' Curmudgeon, McG ----- Original Message ----- From: "susan finlayson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, December 03, 2007 5:55 PM Subject: [Community_garden] winter garden events > Hello folks! > > Susan here in Salt Lake City, Utah. Our community gardening organization, > Wasatch Community Gardens, is looking to do a simple, creative, FUN event > in February to help raise grassroots money and awareness about a downtown > community garden we are trying to purchase and save by March. > > Does anyone have ideas for a WINTERTIME community garden event? We are > thinking we could charge 10 or 20 dollars to attend, invite the media, > etc. Thoughts we've had so far are having it in the garden with tents and > heaters, starting seeds in flats for people to take with them and start > for the garden, a wintery outdoor art exhibit... Ideally it wuold e > something low cost and not require tooo much time to plan. > > Thoughts??? Thanks for sharing your ideas! > > Susan Finlayson > > > > ____________________________________________________________________________ ________ > Be a better friend, newshound, and > know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. > http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > URL: > http://list.communitygarden.org/pipermail/community_garden_list.communitygar den.org/attachments/20071203/74498628/attachment.html > _______________________________________________ > The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of > ACGA's services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and > to find out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org > > To post an e-mail to the list: [email protected] > > To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription: > http://list.communitygarden.org/mailman/listinfo/community_garden_list.commu nitygarden.org > > _______________________________________________ The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of ACGA's services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to find out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org To post an e-mail to the list: [email protected] To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription: http://list.communitygarden.org/mailman/listinfo/community_garden_list.commu nitygarden.org _______________________________________________ The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of ACGA's services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to find out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org To post an e-mail to the list: [email protected] To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription: http://list.communitygarden.org/mailman/listinfo/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org
