Celebrate, Learn and Act @ Slow Food Nation 2008
Aug 29 - Sept 1, Civic Center/Fort Mason
San Francisco
My second foray into food marketing is Slow Food Nation 2008, the first ever mega Slow Food event on North American soil. This inaugural event has about 15 staff (ramped up over the last 6 months) and probably about 50 volunteer staff behind it. A monster of an event, it has Slow Hikes, Slow Dinners, Taste Pavilions (tantalizing produce), Marketplace (a showcase of Californian farmers and purveyors), a Slow Rocks concert, 2 fundraising dinners, a Petition on Farm Bill, Food-for-Thought seminar series, a Changemakers Day (for food activists to make a difference) and more...
The wonderful thing about working in a non-profit food organization is that there are always some beautiful food products around - grapefruits and apricots from a colleague's home, grilled or pickled home grown zucchinis, berries brought by some farmers and always some beautiful olive oils, bread and cheese. I've never been so busy in my life, never felt so stretched in my life either. Reckon that's quite common in the non-profit world since resources are so tight.
Marketing is in my DNA but marketing in the non-profit world has to balance commercialization (maximizing revenue and funds raised) with the cause that the non-profit agency represents and the unavoidable public criticisms (in our case, that slow food is elite!). That is something new to me; sometimes I feel like I'm racing a German car but with handbrakes on! But all being said, viva la Slow Food and make this event be a tremendous success!
