Chapter Sections
1. Undercover Investigator
2. Video Activist
3. Animal Friendly Traveller
4. Preacher
5. Animal Rescuer
6. Investigative Reporter
7. Media Watcher
8. Philosopher
9. Flyer
10. Personal Activist
11. Animal Lawyer
12. Politician
13. Prisoner Supporter
14. Public & School Speaker
15. Aerial Snooper
16. Scientific Investigator
17. Solo Information Worker
18. Street Theatre Actor
19. Teacher
20. Voluntary Worker Abroad
How to Do Animal Rights - and Win the War on Animals
Be a solo information worker for animal rights by assembling and displaying to the public the information and eye-catching material from the larger animal activist organisations. Collect booklets, brochures, pamphlets, posters, newsletters, stickers, badges, and petitions for people to sign. Many organisations will be delighted to give you their donation collection tins. Get a portable table to arrange and display your 'wares' on and pick a site where you can set up your information centre. Try street markets, fairs and festivals, wherever you can pitch shop and lots of people pass by.
Practical items to take with you are a table cloth, a transparent water-proof cloth for when wet weather threatens, paperweights for windy days and victuals to sustain you. Get a portable chair unless you intend standing all day. Ask the appropriate authorities beforehand if you need permission to set up where you intend, there may be restrictions, and get the official's name in case you have to refer back to them because of any problem.
Engage in polite conversation with people who approach your centre. Should they be particularly interested in animal rights, you might convince them to take on a practical role of some sort (with you or an animal rights organisation). In this case do not let them go without getting their contact address or phone number and get in touch with them again soon or their initial willingness may cool. Do not waste time disputing issues with convinced detractors or by converting the already converted when you might miss other people standing nearby who may be more sympathetic. Be friendly, helpful and patient to win 'hearts and minds'.
Portable display boards bearing pictures, text and documents will make an attractive background. Arrange your display boards around the back and sides of your table. The boards could treble the working area of your information shop. They can be single or double width, hinged together with plastic or tape, and be single or double tiered (one on top of the other) and be made of laminated plywood for lightness and strength. Suitable dimensions are in the region of 0.5 thick x 65 wide x 100 high in centimetres (about 0.25 x 25 x 40 in inches) that you are able to carry comfortably and your art or hardware shop can supply.
Cover the boards with coloured cardboard and pin or stick your material to them. Place a heading in large letters over the top of each board, like 'Factory Farming Tortures Animals', or 'Veal Calf Outrage', or 'Animals Made Into Fur Brushes'. Add pictures with simple and concise text next to them for the passing crowds to read. The less text you write, the more people will remember! Passers-by may not want to hang around long to read, so 'bear-bones' text is best. Let the pictures carry the impact and it is that which people will recall most vividly.
At times it is appropriate to offer a payment or donation to your suppliers for your stock of information, especially if your suppliers are among the smaller organisations. Their material can be expensive to produce so work hard to distribute it to best advantage. Let 'Persuade to Convert' be your information centre's motto!
| How to Do Animal Rights - and Win the War on Animals. © Roger (Ben) Panaman, April 2008. All rights reserved. |