Our local
Democratic club wanted to do something special before the upcoming primary. We wanted to bring voters and candidates together, do some good voter education, and have some fun doing it. A debate? Nah, bunches of those already. A panel? Too boring. A rally? Takes too long to let everyone speak.
Then, we thought of it: a Candidate Fair! All the candidates in one place, with booths lined up like the midway, and the voters go from one to the other, asking questions, signing up to volunteer, getting handouts, and maybe even getting into some actual discussions on the issues! What a concept!
This past Wednesday was our first (but definitely not last) Candidate Fair, and a good time was had by all. Jump below the fold for some pix and more details.
This year in Kentucky we have not only the partisan primaries as usual, but the judicial races have opened up as well, and the judicial candidates can campaign. So, we decided to invite all the Democratic and non-partisan candidates, whether they had a primary challenger or not. We offered each one a 10x10 space, a table and chairs, and the freedom to rearrange or decorate their space any way they wanted. The only real rule was you
had to stay in your space. We didn't want some candidates staying put, so the voters could come to them, while other candidates could "work the room."
The first problem was, we didn't anticipate the number of judicial candidates. We were thinking the invitation list would be about 30 or 40, and if we had 20 show up it would be a good first effort. When we finally listed all the candidates, it came to 159! Whoops -- better go check out the floor space again: 159 x 10 x 10 = 15,900 square feet of space needed.
The UAW Hall where we meet (thanks, UAW!) has about 5,000 s.f. of space, so we cut the space for the booths to 6x8 (the length of the folding tables and some room to stand). That left us room for about 50 candidates, once we took out room for aisles, refreshments, sign-in, and ballots (more on this in a minute).
We emailed and mailed the invitation, with a deadline of April 1, and in came the responses. We made our list, checked it twice, and here's how it went:
We started setting up about 3 PM. We put the tables in long rows, parallel to the doors, so no one could claim being in a "better" position.
Of course, we had to have some Red, White, and Blue, so we used different tablecloths on each table.
One of the coolest things was we had sample ballots for everyone attending, based on their precinct. That way, they could see who was going to be in the primary for their part of town, and be sure to visit those candidates first.
About 5 PM the candidates and their volunteers started arriving to set up their booths. Some of them were even color-coordinated!
From 6 to 7:30 the voters came and began walking the aisles, talking with candidates. There was lots of interaction across the tables:
Best of all, there was a room full of candidates meeting a room full of voters and activists:
The Results
- We had 55 candidates sign up, which meant we had to set up some overflow tables at the end of the room.
- We had about 150 members and guests go through the fair, based on signups (some may not have signed in).
- We had two local media crews show up and do stories on the event.
- And, we got 11 new or renewed members into the club.
The best result, though, was the sense of both energy and optimism that permeated the evening. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, AND they left feeling good about their candidates, their club, and their party. As a friend of mine says, "It was LARGE fun!"
If you have enough candidates, and a large enough space, I encourage you to give it a try. It's a very efficient way to bring voters and candidates together, plus it's energizing to have that many Dems in one place. A number of people have asked us to do another one after the primary, and we're considering it. For now, though, we're just remembering a fun night, and wanted to share it with you.