Stuart Brown, Lib Dem Regional Development Officer for South Central England, takes us through how to build your street stall kit so you are ready to campaign on any issue at the drop of a hat:
From pop-up street surgeries to taking part in organised community events, high-visibility campaigning offers Liberal Democrats extra opportunities to engage with our communities, on top of our regular Focus newsletters and doorstep chats. In this guide, I’ll be taking a look at some of the essential pieces of kit you may want to invest in to put together your own ready-to-go street stall.
If you’re planning on doing a pop-up street stall or surgery, it’s always a good idea to check who owns the land you’re planning to run it on – if it’s the local Council you may need to get permission or a permit from the relevant department. If it’s private land, such as part of a shopping precinct, there may be a management company you need to check with.
Once you have your stall kit together, it’s also worth including an inventory of what equipment and furniture is included, and even a sign-out sheet if lots of different people will be using it.
So what sort of things should you include? This is by no means an exhaustive or prescriptive list, but should give you a good starting point. You own local budget may mean that you aren’t able to get everything, or that you might need to build the kit up over time.
Basics
Folding Table – an essential if you want to lay out sample literature, petition sheets, or marketing collateral (giveaway freebies like branded pens, bottle openers, keychains etc)
A-Frame – attract people to your stall by highlighting what you are campaigning on, or advertise that you’re doing public advice drop-ins. Also great for showcasing your literature. Works best with either A2 (420x594mm) or A1 (594x841mm) size – just remember you’ll need to fill whatever space you use.
Stationery – a good supply of biros, highlighters, sticky dots, scissors, rulers etc
Clipboards – campaigning outdoors can get windy, and the last thing you want is for a stack of petition sheets full of people’s data blowing away in the wind. Securing them to a clip-board will not only prevent this, but keeps them all in one place to find for data entry later on.
Fastenings – as mentioned, wind is often a factor. You never know what you’ll need to tie down or secure. Keeping a supply of cable-ties, Sellotape, duct tape, string, and even paper clips and foldback clips. If you’re using a table cloth (see below) you may want to get table cloth clips as well.
Gazebo / tent – depending on where you are running your stall, you may choose to include or exclude a gazebo. For instance, in front of the entrance to a shopping parade on a narrow high street, there may not be space for it. However if you’re taking a stall space at a local market, community fair or larger outdoor events, lots of event organisers expect exhibitors to bring their own gazebo or tent. Especially as our weather can change so quickly, you may find a sudden shower brings more people to your stall, giving you an extra chance to interact with them.
Storage tub – ideal for keeping your kit all in one place, ready to deploy as and when needed.
Bin bags – all events inevitably generate rubbish. A roll of bin bags in your kit means you can leave an area as clean (or cleaner) than when you found it.
Branded
Table cloth – visually gives a much better image than a bare table, and helps people see who you are from a distance. Using black logos on a bright yellow cloth is very visually distinctive.
Feather Flags – also known as Festival flags, these tear-drop shaped cloth flags are much more suited to outdoor campaigning than roller-banners, as most come with a weighted base, and will swivel with the wind rather than resist it. Great for basic branding “Local Party Liberal Democrats”
Vinyl / cloth banners – great for decorating the front of your table, erecting on poles behind you, or adorning the back of your gazebo, a long banner helps people identify you and why you are there. These can be as simple as just the party logo, local party name, or even have Lib Dem branded banners for different events – lots of places have special banners for Pride events that they can use year after year.
Gazebo coverings – while most gazebos come with a generic cover and/or side panels, some manufacturers can print custom gazebo coverings. Not only useful for advertising the party’s presence at an event, a bright yellow gazebo is a really clear meeting point for volunteers!
Printed materials
Literature – having examples of your most recent Focus for people to read is great. You can also provide fliers on any single-issue campaigns you may be running (perhaps with a link or QR code to your website or an online survey or petition). Some groups within the Party can also provide materials for particular events; Young Liberals often produce campaign packs for Freshers Fairs if you have a University or College campus in your area; LGBT+ Lib Dems have some printable materials already on the Campaign Hub for stalls at Pride events.
Survey / petition – giving people something to interact with at your stall not only means we can raise awareness of (and get them to back) a local campaign, it also gives us an opportunity for people to give us their email address, and keeps them at your stall for longer, giving you the chance to have a conversation with them.
Plain paper / casework pro-forma – it’s highly likely that you will pick up casework at public events, especially if you are doing a drop-in street surgery. Have a small supply of plain paper, or produce a casework pro-forma (a template where you can make notes about the issue, and take contact details for getting back to the resident – don’t forget to include a data Fair Processing Notice or make sure to give the resident a calling card including an FPN).
Decorations & Marketing collateral
Flags – brighten up your stall area with some colourful flags – even better if they are event appropriate.
Balloons – great for events where there are likely to be families, children love running around with balloons. They can potentially be controversial around single-use plastics and the environmental impact; you can get biodegradable balloons but there is some question on how degradable they actually are. You may want to consider small paper/card flags instead.
Pens / keychains / fridge magnets / bottle openers etc – there are no end of print companies that will create marketing collateral – freebie giveaway items – that you can hand out to people; not only do people love getting free stuff, but the branding means they will remember where they got it. Cost is the only limiting factor here, as many printers will offer cheaper per-item prices for larger orders, or require a minimum order quantity for custom items, so bear your budget in mind. Also take care during regulated periods as some opposition parties may try to accuse you of treating!