Will you take my flyers?

I was on the publicity trail last Saturday, giving out flyers for my division’s Big Brownie Birthday tea party (more on which soon!) a week later.

My District Commissioner and I started out in the venue where the tea party is taking place.  They were having an open day to showcase all the things that happen there, so we took the opportunity to scatter our flyers on tables and chairs, in the café, in reception, and so on, and to chat and press them upon anyone who’d listen.

DC stayed to do more of that, and I took a stack of flyers and went around the shops in town asking the staff if they’d be willing to take a few for the counter, for customers to pick up.  I’ve put up lots of posters in my time but I’d never done this before, so I was pleasantly surprised that almost everywhere I asked was very happy to take them.

In fact, I only got two “no’s”,: one in a charity shop, where the cashier nicely said that they had a policy of only advertising their own things (I didn’t try any other big-name charity shops after this, as I suspect they would be the same), and another where the owner kindly explained that they didn’t have much counter space to display them and the nature of her interactions with customers was such that there wouldn’t be much chance to mention them – they’d tried it before with other advertising and it just hadn’t worked – and she even suggested a few other places to try, so still very positive.

In other shops, a couple had special tables where they put local flyers, some said they’d leave them on the counter or put one in the window, some said they’d put them in the staffroom, and some took them without much comment, possibly just wanting to get rid of me!  Many of these were independent shops: we’re lucky to have quite a few in town.  So there we go: I’ve learned about another way of publicising an event.

Other leaders in my District and Division have been working equally hard if not harder on publicity: with posters, on the radio, on social media, in clubs and societies and at church, by word of mouth to friends and acquaintances.  I’m writing this before the event, and we’re all crossing our fingers and toes that our efforts will pay off and we’ll have a good turnout!