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Chapter 4.22 Information Worker for Animal Rights
Assemble and display to the public the information and eye-catching material from the larger animal activist organisations. This is sometimes called tabling. Obtain a foldable table on which to arrange your goods, pick a site where to pitch it; this is your portable information centre. Try tabling at street markets, fairs and festivals, wherever you can lay out your ‘shop’ and lots of people pass by. Collect booklets, brochures, CD’s, videos, pamphlets, posters, newsletters, stickers, badges and petitions for people to sign and many organisations will give you their donation collection tins. Practical items to take with you are a tablecloth, a transparent waterproof cloth for wet weather, 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). Chat With Your Public Engage in polite conversation with people who approach your information centre. Should they be particularly interested in animal rights, sway them to take on a practical role of some sort (such as with you at your centre or with an animal rights organisation). Obtain their contact address or phone number if they are wiling and get in touch with them soon or their initial inclination 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 sympathetic. Aim to win ‘hearts and minds’.
The Tabling Portable Display Portable display panels bearing pictures, text and documents will make an attractive background to your centre. Arrange your display panels around the back and sides of the table. The panels could treble the working area of your information shop. They may be single or double width, hinged together with plastic or tape, and be single or double tiered (one on top of the other) and made of laminated plywood for lightness and strength. Suitable dimensions in centimetres are in the region of 0.5 thick x 65 wide x 100 high (about 0.25 x 25 x 40 in inches) that you are able to carry comfortably and that your local art or hardware shop can supply. Cover the panels with coloured cardboard. Place eye catching headings in big letters at the top. Stick pictures on with large text for passing people to read easily. Passers-by may not want to hang around long to read much, so make the text brief. Let the pictures carry the impact. It is the pictures that people will recall most vividly. The texts just adds a bit of information and the less text you write the more people will remember. Payments and Motto? At times it is appropriate to offer a payment or donation to your suppliers for your stock of information material, especially if your suppliers are among the smaller charity organisations as their material can be expensive to produce. Work hard to distribute it to best advantage. ‘Persuade to Convert’ could be your information centre’s motto?! ›› To Entries & Home |
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