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..."

Christmas In August Pre-Debrief

Well, for all the build-up, the event went off without a hitch!

This is a short post, as several of us are going out of town. Upon return Agent Reports, photos, and an expanded debrief will be posted.

We had 6 fantastic agents show up! Thank you to Agent Wyrd for organizing, and to the following Agents for coming out to sing: Agent Hook, Agent Crook, Agent Monster, Agent Awesome, and Agent TheBeast.

More info and Mission Reports will be posted sometime next week!

Aug 26 - Christmas In August - Running Afoul of the Law

Whoa!

Agent Shannou had her peepers peeled, and found a mention of our next event on BoingBoing... They reference the write up that Scott Beale of Laughing Squid did on our next event. Specifically, there's a comment that surprises me:

I noticed that on Sunday, you’re encouraging folks to go to the Powell Street BART Station to take part in a Christmas in August event this Sunday at 2:30pm. Sounds fun!
There’s one problem though and that is you could face an embarrasing run-in with the BART Police. The reason is that you don’t have a Free Speech Permit, which my department issues. The good news is you can easily get one, and they’re free. The bad news is it’s too late to get one by August 26 because you need to submit your application no less than 7 days in advance. Here’s how you get an application: www.bart.gov/freespeech/.

D'oh!

Well, we'll see what happens... As of right now, the event is still on!

Agent TheBeast

(Image found on Google, and borrowed from: http://www.nobodyforpresident.org/tour.html)

Aug 26 - Christmas In August

Agent Wyrd has kindly accepted the challenge of hosting the next Shenanigan, and she's come up with a good one!

Well, we've done Halloween in July, and now it's time for Christmas in August. And what is more Christmas-y than carols? Singing carols makes the singer happy, and more importantly it makes the listener smile.

The plan is simple: We sing carols carols, in August, aboard BART trains. I'll provide the song sheet, you provide your voice, we all have fun.

When and where shall we meet?
Sunday, August 26
2:30pm
Powell BART Station, West end of the platform.

I'll be wearing a Santa hat for easy spotting!

Agent Wyrd

Treat Or Trick Debrief

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.