Usually after the Fair Trade Market I feel exhausted but exhilarated. This year - more just exhausted, really. Although the event was reasonably well attended, numbers and overall takings were down somewhat on last year, which was disappointing after so much hard work.
However, it was still a good event - the tables of crafts looked enticing, I met some new people, and interesting conversations went on around the room. We could all have spent the day at home or at the mall, in which case we'd have raised no money for girls' scholarships in Guatemala, or for kids saved from the sex trade in Vietnam; nothing for women's projects in Kenya, for refugees in Thailand or for the families of Bosnian war widows...the list goes on and on. So, although I wish we'd been even more successful, I'm still proud of what we achieved today.
I'm also looking forward to a meeting in the New Year with some of the key players at the market to discuss how we can get the numbers up again for next year - a chance to play with ideas and learn some new marketing skills...should be fun!
Many congratulations on your successful fair trade market Sorry to hear that your takings were down this year but what you have achieved will help your various causes
ReplyDeleteEven Tesco are down this year. High Streets are struggling. Innovative marketing needed. Does the Market have its own ago page or blog or something to involve customers year round eg monthly newsletter
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