arbour day event results

7/31/2019 Arbour Day Event Results

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Feeding The Self/ Engen Arbor day event results summaryFeeding The Self is a trademark of Apotheosis, PBO# 930038248

Background

Prior eventEarlier this year we organised an event to promote our organization and provide an opportunity

for guests to engage in productive networking. There appeared to be a done way of going about

organizing an event like this, a way we disagreed with. We had arranged to have the event at the

Riverside Hotel, a lovely venue with all the bells and whistles one might wish for.

The standard approach for these networking events would be to have tables set up throughout

the venue which were bought out by groups of people. These predetermined groups would be

served and addressed where they sat. We were immediately struck by how inefficient this was if one

wanted to promote any real sort of networking interaction amongst guests.

Our final decision for the event plan was to have a number of chairs facing the front where theguests could sit come speech time. A buffet table was put at the back of the room, and between

these two sections was open space and a few high tables without any chairs. The tea and coffee

station was placed in a small foyer outside the room. This arrangement subtly yet forcefully

encouraged guests to move around and intermingle; if they were all sitting at set tables, as at most

events of this type, it would be very difficult for different groups and organizations to socialize.

The end result of this organizational decision was the resounding success of the event. We were

approached by a number of people, including a high powered CEO who congratulated us on one of

the best networking events they had attended, despite it being our first.

Arbour day event setup

From this, we realized the key was to make it the event encourage the free flow of people

throughout the venue, and not consign them to a single chaired area, where they would be spoken

at for the duration of the event. We also wanted to ensure direct interaction not only between the

guests, but also with the venue and the objects that we planned to give out in a goodie bag.

The event was hosted at a superb example of a true eco school, called The Birches preprimary.

The school itself boasted a wide range of eco/environmental sights, from a food forest to a

permaculture garden. We placed table and stewards at various locations around the venue. Each

location held food and an item for the goodie bag, so that after arriving and signing in, the guest

would be given their empty goodie bag and the first gift, then travel around the venue, interactingwith other guests, the stewards and the school itself, all the while picking up objects for their bag.

This allowed the guests to actively engage with each item given, as the steward would interact with

them about the item. Furthermore, these tables would then act as meeting hubs, and the goodies

given out would then become talking points and served as conversation icebreakers.

We decided to have a fluid timetable that began at 9:00am and ended at 13:00pm, with no set

events, so people could come at a time of their convenience. This allowed people who ordinarily

would not have been able to come through time conflict to make it, but it also helped promote a

sense of relaxation. All objects given out during the event were related directly to networking itself

or were environmentally themed, with the intent that a full bag would contain everything needed to

get started with gardening yourself, from seeds and tools to guides and notebooks.


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Event results

summary

The event plan turned out to be immensely successful once implemented. The one issue we

encountered was that guests tended to move in a fairly set line from start to finish, so we moved in a

few of the goodie stalls closer to this central route and the problem was solved. We found that our

theoretical plans translated very well into practice, with obvious and meaningfully engagement

between every attendee and participant to the event. Feedback received has been universally

positive as well.

Goodie bag

The goodie bag was designed to operate as an all-in-one kit that would allow a recipient to

immediately get on with starting a garden at home, with all the equipment and advice they would

need. It was also designed to engage interest, especially among children, and finally to give all

recipient organisations the basis for a developed contact list through the Orange book. The contents

of the goodie bag were as follows:

- A copy of the Feeding the Self (FTS) Dummies guide to gardening. A set of 12 simplesessions that promise to be fun, educational activities that will help turn yourself or your

child into a budding gardener.

- A condensed 4 page gardening pamphlet designed using the FTS materials, suitable forsticking to the fridge.

- The FTS Orange Book. This booklet is brightly coloured and noticeable contact bookcontaining the details of the relevant parties who attended the event. This in particular was

greatly sought after, as something that appears to be lacking in the NGO environment are

publicly accessible lists that help people get in contact with like minds.

- 2 sets ofFTS & Engen related stickers. Everyone loves stickers, so we are happy to use themas bribes to entice people into thinking about the environment.

- A three piece pack of metal tools containing a trowel (spade) and two types of gardeningfork.

- A set ofgardening gloves.- A lovely pen and notepad set made from recycled materials.- An Engen branded water bottle and lanyard. Gardening is thirsty work, and losing ones keys

in the garden can be most unpleasant.- Last but not least is the goodie bag itself, made from recycled billboard material, these

sturdy bags were created and kindly donated by Crushed Lemon. They are perfectly sized

and very durable.


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Excess bag recipients

Following the success of the event, we had a number of surplus goodie bags. These bags are

being handed out to relevant and deserving people or organizations. For example, bags were given

to Crossroads, the Vukukhanye foster home and the Childrens Rights Centre. Furthermore, the

cleaning staff at the Birches expressed an interest in the gardening information, so we ensured that

they all received a bag as well.

Cillas chickens

The venue rental fee given to the school for hosting the event was put straight into the schools

continued goal for sustainability by going towards the purchase of 6 egg producing hens and the

construction of an outside roof for the area housing the chicken run.

Photos

We had hired a photographer to document the event itself, so there are many pictures available,with updates still coming in. These are available fromour Dropbox gallery (please email for link) or

our facebook page, which has a curated selection.

We have also tried to document the hand-over of goodie bags to deserving organizations (e.g.

Childrens Rights Centre, Crossroads) in the period after the event. Part of the agreement for

receiving trees would be to supply photos of the planting or post planting, and we will be receiving

pictures in this regard over the next few weeks.

Tools & seeds for Cato Crest

Cato Crest primary school requested that if we had any excess tool kits would we donate some

of them to the school. Cato Crest Primary caters to a very economically disadvantaged community

and has a large group of children devoted to the idea of growing food on the school grounds.

Unfortunately the school is woefully unequipped, and on a previous trip to the school witnessed the

children having to resort to sticks, and broken signs as digging implements. The children and

teachers have the heart and the will, but just not the tools. After witnessing this first hand, we were

more than happy to comply with their request, donating a box of surplus three piece tool kits.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/4phbfz2s5218yyl/VaACb_Woamhttps://www.dropbox.com/sh/4phbfz2s5218yyl/VaACb_Woamhttps://www.dropbox.com/sh/4phbfz2s5218yyl/VaACb_Woamhttp://www.facebook.com/pages/Feeding-The-Self/295537127145275http://www.facebook.com/pages/Feeding-The-Self/295537127145275http://www.facebook.com/pages/Feeding-The-Self/295537127145275https://www.dropbox.com/sh/4phbfz2s5218yyl/VaACb_Woam


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Goodie bag recipients

The following organisations received goodie bags:

Businesses & partners Schools - primary Schools - secondary

Treats Allandale Clairwood

KTF agencies Beaconridge CommercialCrushed Lemon Burnwood King Shaka High

Subz Panties and Pads Cato Crest Northbury High

Bokashi Bran Claire Ellis Brown Ogwini Technical

Nedbank/BOE Glenmore Overport

Umbumbulo Agrihub Gokul Reservoir Hills

Engen Hillview Sastri Park

Green Thumbs MLS Blackburn Umlazi Comtech

Students In Free Enterprise Morningside Zwelethu High

Inventive Trading cc Nagari Pracharni eLangeni FET colleges

Kuhle Life Northdale Mason Lincoln Special

Ocean View House Ningizimu Special

NGOs Orient Heights Parkridge College

Open Door Ottawa

The Human Elephant Foundation Overport srs

Community groups, homes &

shelters

Urban Earth Panorama Hands On Foundation

Lovelife Trust Quarry Heights Helping Hands

Crossroads KZN Rippon Woza Moya

Diakonia Rustic Manor Children's Rights Centre

Tree Siphosethu The Open Door Crises Care Centre

The Human Elephant Foundation Springfield Hindi Vukukhanye Foster home

Thisability St Augustine's

ELET St Leo's

The Valley Trust

Mila Project Schools - pre-primary

Whizz-kids Glenridge

Bioregional Joyce Broadhead

WESSA North Coast region Montpelier

Wildlands Conservation Trust The BirchesImagine Durban Treetops

Trees and Food for Africa

WESSA Eco-schools

Doula


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Tree recipients

Tree recipients: summary

There is a full list at the end of this document of organisations that received trees, along with

numbers of trees for each organization. Around 50 tree were also distributed at the event to

attendees from various organisations. Finally, 14 trees were given as a final gift to the Birches for

hand out to participants of a permaculture course being run at the schools.

Below are schools and organisations got trees delivered to them, along with relevant quantities.

The 130 trees for WESSA Eco-Schools were distributed to a wide variety of schools in the greater

Durban area.

Trees Location Trees Location

130 WESSA Eco-schools 12 The Open Door Crises Care Centre

30 Crossroads KZN 12 Various schools

16 Inventive Trading cc 10 Children's Rights Centre

15 Allandale 10 Hands On Foundation

15 Burnwood 10 Mason Lincoln Special

15 Commercial 10 Ningizimu Special

15 Embury College 10 The Valley Trust

15 George Campbell of Technology 10 Vukukhanye Foster home

15 Hillview 10 Woza Moya

15 King Shaka High 6 Ansari sustainable living

15 Morningside 6 Lovelife Trust

15 Nagari Pracharni 6 Ocean View House

15 Northbury High 6 St Augustine's15 Northdale 6 St Leo's

15 Ogwini Technical 5 Bioregional

15 Orient Heights 5 Bluff Eco Park

15 Overport 5 Cato Crest

15 Overport srs 5 Gokul

15 Panorama 5 MLS Blackburn

15 Parkridge College 5 Whizz-kids

15 Reservoir Hills 3 Claire Ellis Brown

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