Broadway Cares, Equity Fights AIDS Flea Market

This weekend I volunteered at the Broadway Cares, Equity Fights AIDS Flea Market on Sunday. It was the second year that I had helped out a business associate/friend of mine at the table that he and his company run. Now that I'm taking this course, I completely viewed the event differently this year!

First, I couldn't help but think about all the planning and staffing that went into the event. 44th St was shut down between Times Sq and 8th Avenue, which of course takes some big planning by itself! I noticed how tables were set up and broken down by staff members, who also aided each table with water, cash drop services, credit card services, etc. At the end of the day, I even noticed the Times Sq alliance people cleaning up the streets (something I never would have noticed about an event before this class!) Despite how well this ran, I still feel like some people stumbling across this event in a very popular place would not have known exactly what they were coming across, or it's charitable nature. There wasn't enough signage in generally to really make sure that message got across (which is important for a charitable event such as this one!)

The event was a HUGE tourism boost for the city. I had a customer at our table who told me how he comes to the city every year from Michigan for this event. Others told us how they were only in town for a few days but had stumbled happily across the event by chance. One British woman said she'd wished she'd heard about it earlier in the day because she would have arrived earlier and spent a lot more money! While all procedes went to charity, it still promoted theater in New York and got those customers who came specifically for the event to use various services in the surrounding economy.

Most importantly, I really enjoyed the happy sense of community that they event had. Everyone there, including myself, was interested not only in the buying and selling, but also in talking about theatre, in meeting theatre celebrities who were present, and in meeting each other. In this way, the event operated as more than just an economic, charitable, or tourism tool. It really provided communal and social value.

And even after just working at one table for 5 hours, I was exhausted. I can only imagine how the event organizers must feel!