SFShenanigans 2nd Annual Free Hugs Event -June 21st 2008

Hello Shenanigan Fans! Come one, come all! We're doing it again! Let's give away some Free Hugs!

Let's meet at Geary and Powell from about 2PM to 5PM on Saturday June 21st, on the North-East corner of the street right next to the giant heart at the corner of Union Square. Bring self-styled FREE HUGS hats, shirts, posters, buttons, or whatever!


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Last year we accidentally scheduled our Free Hugs during San Francisco's Gay Pride weekend. To reduce the conflict for any would-be Huggers, we're moving it to the previous Saturday.

(To read more of the Free Hugs history, check out this post from a Free Hugs event in Boulder, CO.)

Update (16 June 2008): To get you prepared for this weekend's Free Hugs event, we have posted "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Free Huggers".

FLASHDANCE!

Hello Shenanigan Fans!

I know, I know... Long time no see... Sorry, I've been a busy little Beastie!

Anywhoo... Agent O.Range brought this weekend's FLASHDANCE to my attention.

Here's the deets:
FLASHDANCE 13 THIS SATURDAY (4/19/2008): 24th Street BART
Our next FREE outdoor dance party will be: Saturday 4/19 from 7:00PM
to 9:00PM at 24th St BART PLAZA - 24th & Mission

For more info about FLASHDANCE in general: http://www.deeptrouble.com/flashdance/
For the specifics of this next event: http://www.deeptrouble.com/nextfd.html

Get Out And Dance!

DANCEOFF!! - SF Event Via Improv Everywhere Global

Hey there!

Though the SFShenanigans are still on sabbatical cooking up some more events, we did want to share with you an upcoming event from a related organization.

Via Improv Everywhere's "Improv Everywhere Global" social network on Ning.com, the San Francisco contingent are planning an event called "DANCEOFF!!".

Here's a link to the most up-to-date info: http://improveverywhere.ning.com/group/sanfrancisco/forum/topic/show?id=1982446%3ATopic%3A107463

It seems the rehearsal is scheduled for Saturday April 12th at 3PM at Yerba Buena Gardens. The target location is Union Square.

Get out the dance! :-)

We're ALIIIIVE!!

Hello readers!

Sorry for the un-announced sabbatical... The SFShenanigans crew decided to take some time off of the merry-making for a couple of months...

Though, we are still in this sabbatical, we are pleased to announce the re-discovery of several incriminating photos that were long ago promised... Here they are:






We'll let you know if any other Shenanigans come up!

Free Hugs Debrief - Boulder Colorado Edition

SFShenanigans and Free Hugs History: In the fall of 2006 while living in Colorado, Agent TheBeast came across this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr3x_RRJdd4) of the "Free Hugs" campaign lead by Juan Mann. The simple beauty of hugging strangers, just because you can, was an infectious and intriguing idea.

Agent TheBeast wanted someone to organize an event like this in his area, but the realization came that he himself could/should be that "someone". So he sent out some emails asking friends to embark upon this social experiment with him. This rag-tag group of huggers targeted the "Fall Festival" being held on Boulder's popular Pearl Street Mall.

The event was a smashing success, with up to 15 people giving out hugs, and hundreds of people receiving hugs. There was even a gaggle of 5th grade girls who put on some impromptu-marker'ed Free Hugs t-shirts to dole out the hugs.

When Agent TheBeast joined the SFShenanigans (after having moved to San Francisco) in the Spring of 2007, he convinced the SFShenanigans that while "Free Hugs" may not be a 'shenanigan' per se, it is a very good-natured, break-social-norms-in-public type of event. The SFShenanigans agreed, and since then the SFShenanigans blog has become the new face for a San Francisco based group of huggers.

Most Recent Incarnation: Unlike the last Free Hugs event (http://sfshenanigans.blogspot.com/2007/06/free-hugs-debrief.html) that took place in San Francisco, Agent TheBeast brought the Free Hugs campaign back to Boulder's Farmer's Market while on a short weekend trip back to that city.


Via an extended network of friends, Agent TheBeast was able to round up several fantastic huggers: Agent Del, Agent Bobalicious, Agent Michelle, Agent Robin, and Agent Katherine. We also had a couple of "ringers" in our midst, as Agent UncleDave brought along three of the most well received huggers: Agent Kaylee, Agent Shanley, and Agent Evie.

Whilst standing as a loose group of huggers, the young lady in charge of the Farmer's Market came by to speak to the group. Some feared for the worst, but not to worry! "I love you guys. I really want you guys to stay here all day, just please make sure to leave a path so people can get by." How's that for an "official sanction"?


Agent Del really upped the ante as far as competitive hugging is concerned. First, he shows up with an eminently huggable orange fuzzy coat. Then, he slashes his prices, adding "10% Off" to his sign. That's a great deal at twice the price! Luckily, there was such a high demand for hugs that day that none of the other huggers went under-employed!

Yes, many hugs were had that day. (Even doggie-hugs!) At the end of the day all the huggers left tired but smiling.

Wrap-Up: One of the best things about the Free Hugs campaign is how catchy it is. Agent UncleDave reports that his three Agents are feeling empowered and still enthusiastic, asking "When can we do it again?"

The answer: Anytime, girls. Anytime.

Free Hugs - Boulder Colorado Edition - October 20

It turns out that the next (non-)Shenanigan is going to be held in Boulder, CO!

Agent TheBeast is traveling back to Boulder for a social weekend, and seeing as that's where he executed his first "Free Hugs" event, he thought it would be appropriate to revive the tradition there!

Along with some remote SFShenanigans fans, the group will be "setting up shop" from 11AM to 2PM at the Boulder Farmer's Market located at "the 1700 block of 13th Street".

If you know any Boulderites (or Denverites) who would enjoy handing out hugs, let 'em know we're comin'!

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/artistmelissa

Christmas In August Debrief

Concept: Incite "spontaneous" singing amongst audience members.

Plan: Have a couple of the SFShenanigans team members start singing fairly well-known Christmas carols on the BART. Have a couple other SFShenanigans team members on the same train as "plants" to seemingly spontaneously start singing along.

Challenges: Running afoul of the law, and actually getting people to sing along.



Execution: Agent Wyrd and Agent Crook wore Santa hats and were obviously in the 'Holiday Spirit'. Agent Monster, Agent Hook, Agent Awesome, and Agent TheBeast all tried to maintain an air of indifference when boarding the same train car as Agent Wyrd and Agent Crook. The "plant" agents spaced themselves throughout the car to spread the joy. When Agent Wyrd and Agent Crook started singing, the other agents started singing along, in seemingly distracted or sheepish fashion. After one or two stops, the whole team left the car to start all over again on another train.

Mission Report from Agent TheBeast
Knowing that the BART police were probably looking for a mass of would-be carolers made the approach to the event an experience unto itself. For the first time ever, I felt like a fugitive. I scoped out the BART station entrance before walking in, I specifically skirted a couple of uniformed officers, and I was very conscious to avoid eye contact with the officers. However, all the build-up about police interference before the event turned out to be a non-issue, and we didn't once get spoken to by any official.

As the Agents assembled, we also had a member of the press join us. The SFWeekly reporter interviewed us for a while, and tagged along as an observer for several runs of caroling. (Interesting to note: most, but not all, of the SFShenanigan facts in the article were correct.)

Once we got started, it took us a couple of runs to get our system down. One stop on the BART was too short to get any crowd momentum, so we expanded to two or three stops for a given car. At the beginning we also had a tendency of clumping up on the platform to discuss the round, but this broke the illusion for anyone who was getting off the trains at the same time as us, so we worked ourselves into a practiced nonchalance...



The audience reactions are really some of the funniest things that happen. The cutest was a little girl who was hanging over her seat to watch the jolly dressed folks, and clapped her little heart out at the end of each song. And, she wasn't the only applause we got throughout the day...

Agent Monster was able to incite the following conversation during "The Twelve Days of Christmas":

Agent Monster: Do you remember these?
Tourist Wife: No, I can't get them...
Tourist Husband: [grinning] I remembered them when I was 12!

From the "bah, humbug" contingent we got these two gems: "All I can say is it's too soon for this..." and "I don't like Christmas enough for this..."

There were several people who were just happy to see the caroling happen, greeting us with "God bless you" or an appropriate "Merry Christmas".

One man tried to sum up our oddity: "Only in San Francisco..."