Long-time readers will know that I’ve been going to Commonwealth Shakespeare’s performances on Boston Common for something like 20 years. (I actually just went back and counted – 20 shows, including this year’s!)
Last year I had the idea to bring my little bag of Shakespeare toys I’ve been creating over the years – 3d printed busts, stickers, magnets, etc… It was a huge hit. I was actually told that I bring joy. Made my day.
So this year I wanted to repeat the performance. I brought my bag of toys and began looking for my victims. Unlike last year, there didn’t seem to be many volunteers wandering around. In fact, I really saw only one young man who sort of wandered past us at least three times. But he clearly had a STAFF shirt on, so he counts. I called him over.
He maneuvered his way through the labyrinth of people on blankets, said hello, and asked how he could help us. I said, “Have a tiny Shakespeare” and presented him with his gift. He said, and I’m quoting here, “Oh wait are you serious? This is so fucking cool!”
Mission accomplished. We talked for a bit about our mutual appreciation of Shakespeare outdoors, how we had only missed 2 shows in almost 25 years, and how his friends were in the show. He thanked me again; I said Be sure to make your friends jealous.
I then scope out my next victim. There are three older ladies who have positioned themselves behind us, and I’ve definitely got at least 3 Shakespeares in my bag, but I never find the opportunity to break in. I don’t want to be rude.
I notice that the concession stand’s got no line at the moment. There are two volunteers sitting in stools behind a cart. I head over.
Seeing me coming, they say, “Hi, how’s it going? How can we help you?”
I place two 3d Shakespeares on the cart and say something like, “I thought you might like some tiny Shakespeares.”
Guy hops out of his seat and says, “Oh wait seriously? Are those those things? You’re the guy? We’ve heard about you!”
I sure wasn’t expecting that! I said, “Wait, what? You’ve heard of me? That’s different.”
The girl in the other chair nodded and said, “You’re kind of famous.”
I have absolutely no idea how these stories are connected. I don’t know if there’s a story that carried over from last year. Or if the one guy that I gave the first Shakespeare to this year actually did run around saying, “Look what I got!” I most certainly did not expect the reaction I got.
Of course, now I want more. I wish I’d brought more Shakespeares. I wish I were in a position to go to the performance more days. I wish I did a better job of marketing! There’s nothing about the Shakespeares that says “Shakespeare Geek” anywhere. When people ask my name, I’ll mention ShakespeareGeek.com, but it’s not like most people are going to remember that after the fact.
This year, I’ll be exploring ideas to make my little buddies a better marketing tool. If I can swing it, they’ll have NFC tags embedded so if you get it too close to your phone it’ll bring up my website 🙂 Or maybe I can create a URL shortener so that I can print it somewhere on the back. I’m definitely going to bring more – more colors, more sizes – and I’m definitely going to be way more proactive and obvious about giving them away. The idea crossed my mind about tying a little parachute to them and just throwing them into the crowd, but that probably….wouldn’t…..fly? I’ll see myself out.
Oh, how was the show? That’s the next post 🙂