Green Festival

Location: Navy Pier

Date: Sunday, May 19, 2013; 1:00-4:30 pm

I had somehow managed to get myself on the mailing list of a group that was involved in the organization of ‘Chicago Green Festival’.  A two-day event at Navy Pier, this was a celebration of all things eco-friendly and organic; including vegetarian and vegan food, eco-fashion exhibits, organic wine and beer garden and something called ‘Green Cinema’.  Furthermore, there was going to be a marketplace with products and services from local and national green and sustainable businesses and organizations.  A woman named Elsa was sending all the emails and I wrote to her exhibiting my interest in volunteering.  Elsa is one of the most enthusiastic people I have encountered and not only did she send me information on how I could participate, she was most encouraging and even invited me to attend some of their planning meetings, complete with vegan food!  The timing and location did not permit me to attend the meetings, but I did go online and sign-up for one of the sessions of this two-day event.  There were multiple roles that I could do, including a ‘Green Team’ member to manage the waste.  Having done that once before, I rather decided to nominate myself as a ‘Miscellaneous Helper’, meaning they would assign me wherever the need was the most. 

My cash register

Elsa was sending daily emails counting down to the festival, and I must say that her enthusiasm was more infectious than irritating.  After my morning’s event, I returned home and I was looking forward to going for the festival in the afternoon.  Irina was coming as well and we arrived at Navy Pier a little after 1 pm.  I had been to Navy Pier several times, both when I used to visit Chicago as a tourist, and now as a resident for movies and shows.  However, I had never attended any of the exhibitions that are always on in their big halls.  We made our way to the volunteer check-in outside the exhibit hall and while Irina would be helping out at the ‘Green Car’ station, I would be at registration, more specifically at the cash register.  Back in Pittsburgh, I used to volunteer at ‘Ten Thousand Villages’ store and my role there was at the cash register.  But it was a long time ago and I mentioned to Allen, my supervisor, that I would need a crash course.  He said not to worry and watch the girl who was currently operating one of the registers.  All one had to do was enter the amount in the register, click a button to open it and make the payment transaction.  We also had to check against a form to indicate type of payment and the put a wristband on the customers, which was also their ticket.  But there was a twist to all of this.

The wristbands

Allen told me that more than 90% of the visitors were coming in for free or through donations of cans of food.  You could either produce one of the free visitor passes that were being handed out by various establishments throughout Navy Pier and also in the city; or else you could bring 3 cans of food as donation, and gain entry for the day.  He told me that since many people were going through these routes, I should make “most of the paying customers”, by not encouraging them to seek out a free pass.  Now, this did not mean Allen was a heartless person, on the contrary he was quite nice, but these events cost money and gate receipts, however minimal, would help.  I asked Allen how they were breaking even and he said that most of the costs were covered by vendors, though there was still other expense in hosting a festival such as this. 

I started by observing the girl at the register and very soon got the hang of it.  I was then serving the visitors and sure enough, only 5% were actually paying the full entry fee of $15.  I also learned how to do the credit card transaction, though that was required only once the entire time that I was there.  In fact, I was surprised that some people were actually paying to get in, when almost everyone was either producing a coupon or had brought cans for donation.  I mentioned to Allen that they could make more money by doing away with free entry and instead dropping the ticket prices down to $1.  There was no doubt in my mind that not only would people pay that nominal fee to enter, it may even attract a bigger crowd.  I was trying to do my best to mark-off the form accurately to depict method of payment, or non-payment, but it really was nothing more than a survey.  One of my biggest challenges was ensuring the wristband was put on in a proper manner, for it does take some practice to ensure that the overlap is seamless.  In any case, I was doing a decent job and people visiting were friendly enough to not care if I was shoddy.  The wristbands were only for adults and two little boys insisted that I give them bands similar to their parents.  I confirmed that the bands did not entitle anyone to alcoholic beverages and since they did not, I put one on each of them and said, “You are both adults now”, which amused their parents and everyone else around.  While I was feeling good about my role, it did shame me at one stage when two very old ladies came and we charged them the senior price of admission.  I had seen enough people walk in through the doors for free and I personally felt that these two should have been given the same privilege, but Allen’s words on how we had to get what we could were still ringing in my ears and I am sure that he did not make these rules.

The exhibition floor

Around 4 pm, Allen said that since there was only an hour left to go, we should just shut down the box-office and let people in.  This suited me since I wanted to explore the floor.  I thanked Allen and he gave me a bear hug.  He really was a nice guy and I told him that I would very much like to meet Elsa and thank her as well.  He said he would track her down and I went inside to walk around.  It was a busy floor with vendors sampling organic food and eco-friendly products.  Ford was exhibiting their Hybrid car and also letting people do a test drive.  This is where Irina was, and her job was to take people down to the parking area where Ford would ask the visitors for their choice of vehicle to test drive and then they could actually do it on a test circuit.  I told her that I could help out with a few people and I took down my first customer soon.  I chatted with him on the way down and he was as enthusiastic as anyone for this test drive.  Talking with him it was apparent that buying a new car was probably beyond his means, and this was probably his only chance at this time to drive a car such as this.  To their credit, Ford was not discriminating on who gets to drive and welcomed everyone with the same respect and courtesy. 

With the hybrid car

On my way up I heard Allen call out for me and said that he had managed to track down Elsa and introduced me to her.  I told her how invigorating her emails were and she actually had tears in her eyes.  She said that it was rare for someone to compliment her enthusiasm and it meant a lot.  Like Allen, she hugged me as well and I realized how fortunate I had been to be able to come and help out these people and at this event.  Everyone involved had been great, the organizers, the visitors and the vendors.  There was a very different energy to the entire place, a very calming one.  Plus, everyone was enjoying themselves, even the two old ladies who had bought tickets were actively engaged in discussions with one vendor when I saw them inside.  Having seen some of the organizers, something told me that there was a lot of trust between the people here - why, I was operating the cash register without having undergone a background check as with some other events.  Perhaps it takes a certain type of character to advocate an environmental cause, and while I may not strictly follow all of their beliefs, my life could certainly do with meeting more people like Allen and Elsa.