On Thursday March 22nd, Marc and I decided to take on organizing a cash mob for National Cash Mob Day. Even though we did not have much time to plan, I still wanted to go for it. I figured that at worst, Marc and I will be making a local business owner happy with a little free publicity.
I turned to twitter and searched for #cashmob and #nationalcashmobday but was unsuccessful in finding an organized cash mob in the East Bay. I was ready to contact local business owners and research whether I needed to get a permit in order to set one up when a friend of ours said that he found one already set up. Heather Mellon of Castro Valley Patch in conjunction with Castro Valley/Eden Area Chamber of Commerce chose to “mob” San Lorenzo’s Gala Bakery and Castro Valley’s Trader Sporting Goods on National Cash Mob Day.
We were so excited to be able to just hop on what they already organized. We decided to focus our efforts into supporting Gala Bakery given the time constraint. By the end of Thursday night, we created a Facebook Event and a digital flyer, sent out personal messages to friends and family, used twitter and instagram to publicize our efforts, and contacted Heather. We amped up the marketing of the event on Friday, March 23rd by asking friends and family to circulate our digital flyer and sharing our Facebook event. The word got out and we had 32 people confirmed by Friday night. To take a break from all things high-tech my high school friends and I also had a poster-making party using markers and construction paper to prepare for the big day.
I have the best friends in the world! My besties and I made a gazillion posters on a Friday night.
We were a little worried that the rain was going to deter people from showing up. However, as soon as we met Heather and Suzanne from the Castro Valley/EdenArea Chamber of Commerce, I was immediately rejuvinated. Their posters, buy local stickers and energy affirmed what I had known all along – the East Bay just needs a little push in sparking this movement.
Here’s Marc with his “We Love Gala” sign
We started with 7 people at 9 am and as the day went on, more and more cash mobbers arrived. By 11 am, we had counted 74 people! The people who said they were participating came, we had several walk-ins who were curious by our posters, and personal friends and loyal customers of Gala Bakery showing their support. We even had several photographers documenting the event which I am looking forward to sharing on ShiftLocal. Gala Bakery owners and staff were friendly and cheerful and they even provided free coffee to all of us mobbers.
Cash mobbers of all ages! Here’s my mom and dad with my super cute 6-year-old sister.
In all, it was an amazing experience being part of National Cash Mob Day. We got to spend quality time with our friends and family at a cute local business with delicious cupcakes and other pastries and wonderful customer service and we met a lot of great people who are passionate about supporting local businesses. Thank you to everyone who help make this cash mob a success. We’re definitely excited to do more cash mobs in the near future.
Contact us if you are interested in participating in a future cash mob or if you want to nominate a local business that you love. You can also connect with San Lorenzo Cash Mob on Facebook or on Twitter (@cashmobslz), or via email at cashmobslz@gmail.com.
Happy National Cash Mob Day!
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