The Art of Representation

I just spent eight hours managing our college's table at the annual Twin Cities Pride Festival in Loring Park, Minneapolis. For the most part, the volunteers who agreed to staff the table showed up - eventually - and represented the college pretty well. Students included Tammy (with her daughter Shannon), Courtney, Selena, Fanneice, Thomas for a moment or two. Staff included myself, Wade, Brian, Jill and her beau Zach. Tomorrow we'll have another half-dozen folks, and this total number of volunteers (could be 18!) is the highest it's been since I took over as Q&S Club advisor (and Pride table czar).

Only two other two-year MnSCU colleges from the Metro area were there: MCTC and St. Paul College. Last year, we also had Inver Hills and Anoka-Ramsey. This year, we were supposed to have Dakota County, but they cancelled at the last minute. Hmmm. Four-year MnSCU institutions were Metro State (of course with its full-time staff and university support), Moorhead (the same group of leather men always sits at a table with about 4 brochures), and Bemidji State (They get the award for driving the farthest distance!).

The MnSCU section of College Row was least inviting, I think (despite the Smarties I bought to hand out and despite Brian's feather boas decorating our canopy). Other colleges had games, prizes, photo collages, plenty of giveaways, and trained admissions people as greeters. One of the private colleges, St. Mary's, had a Hawaiian theme, complete with a limbo pole and grass hut.

But we managed to chat with over 40 festival goers, including the father of a former Century student, current Century instructors, and current Century students who didn't know we had a Q&S club or an Intro to GLBT Studies course at the college (note to self: advertise!!). Five folks signed our email list, and that should help us build the club next fall when I'm on sabbatical and Brian takes over as club advisor.

Tomorrow we'll be out again - luckily we have a cool site under a tree and under our canopy. I haven't yet made rice krispy bars like I did for today's gang - I guess I'll have to whip some up in the morning.