From Middleborough, Massachusetts:

Just thought you would like to know what a success our Mob was on Friday. The Main Drag, a new hole in wall sandwich shop in downtown Middleborough Massachusetts had about 50 new customers, not to mention overflow on the days preceding and following. With only 100-odd people in our FB group, I was hoping for 10-15. Seems that word of mouth spread very far beyond the group.

In addition to tasty sandwiches from the mobbed business, a local accounting firm sent over a bucket plastered with Cash Mob logo stickers and business cards and filled with truffles and other candies  as a way to say thank you to the community for supporting local businesses and to get a little of their own marketing bang from the mob.

Says the owner:

“To all the cash mobsters and then some who came out to support my shop last Friday, thank you, thank you so much. I hope everyone was happy with their order and will return again. This is so great for the local shop owners. I had a blast, and was very tired at the end of the day. Thanks again………The Main Drag”

Keep up the good work!

Stu

Farmer’s Market CASH MOB    Saturday June 2, 2012 meet at 9:30 am

Countryside Farmers’ Market at Howe Meadow in Cuyahoga Valley National Park

        follow us on Twitter @countrysidechix

4040 Riverview Rd., Peninsula, OH, 44264   (a mere 20 miles from downtown Cleveland, easy access from I-77 and 271) 

Visit with the farmers and vendors in the intimate setting of the market where they share the fruit of their labors. Enjoy chefs demos and the musical styling of Ryann Anderson while you stroll the market. Bring the family and your hiking shoes or bikes and enjoy the beauty of the national park located in your own back yard. Bike to the Winking Lizard, hike to Blue Hen Falls, whatever your pleasure the CVNP has something for you.

                       At the Cash Mob, there are three rules:

1.      Spend $20;

2.      Meet three people you didn’t know before;

and 3.      HAVE FUN!!!

Market Product Report as of 5/26

~ breakfast burritos ~ specialty flours ~ oodles of homemade jam ~ Tuscan glaze ~ plants galore!  Peonies, tomatoes, bulbs, rhubarb and more! ~ veggie filets ~ farmstead smoked Swiss cheese and cream cheese ~ bok choy ~ buffalo patties ~ buffalo hot dogs ~ fresh pasta ~ vegan waffles ~ fresh roasted select grade coffee ~ nitrate-free bacon ~ ham steaks ~ sausage rolls ~ grass-fed cheese ~ botanical art greeting cards ~ sweet, crunchy carrots ~ strawberries ~ apples ~ one-of-a-kind jewelry ~ honey ~ Key Lime chevre ~ pierogies ~ tempting macarons ~ multigrain pancake and waffle mix ~ double chocolate croissants ~ hand-crocheted dishcloths ~ romaine lettuce ~ beets ~ turnips ~   kale ~ knife sharpening ~ breakfast links ~ lemon & sea salt zesty salad topping ~ buttercrunch lettuce ~ spinach pies ~ fresh chicken, whole and cuts ~ veal steaks (t-bone, rib steaks, sirloin) and brisket ~ guacamole and fresh home cooked corn chips ~ yummy focaccia ~ hothouse tomatoes ~ spinach ~ hand-crafted chocolates ~ spring crab salad ~ shiitake mushrooms ~ and much, much more!

Countryside Conservancy and Market: Protecting farmland, supporting farmers, and growing a healthy local food economy. We connect communities and farmers, provide alternate market choices, and create venues that foster civic engagement through fun and informal education.

Our original idea of how to run a Cash Mob was pretty basic.  One of the things about Cash Mobs, though, is that we have also made it easy for people to create variations and innovations on how they operate.  Here are a few; we invite other ideas in the comments!

• Do one at a grocery store or farmers market, and let everyone know ahead of time so that they wait to buy their groceries together.
• Have a Cash Mob over a window of time, rather than having everyone meet at the same time (particularly good for restaurants).
• Have a Cash Mob at lunch in a restaurant, and warn the restaurant ahead of time.  Make sure that the mobbers know ahead of time, too, so they don’t bring their lunches!
• Focus on an activity – for example, bowling, miniature golf, batting cages, go kart racing, etc.  Scramble people up so that they’re with people they don’t know.
• Give each mobber a question to ask others to get responses – for example, “what is the first concert you remember going to?” Anyone asked has to respond and describe their answer.
• Remember Alice in Wonderland’s tea party, where they play Clean Cups?  When you’re at the post-mob, make sure that everyone circulates and cycles around so that they don’t talk to the same people the entire night.

Any other suggestions or variations that you’d recommend – or that you would caution others against adopting?

It seems like every few years someone else comes out with a study showing that there is a leadership vacuum in government/business/America/the world, and that new leaders are needed.  This appears to be a constant, consistent problem, and nobody knows, really, what to do it.

Something that is continually inspiring to me is that we’ve had the opportunity to help people in each community develop their leadership ability by organizing Cash Mobs.  I was part of a Cash Mob last week organized by Heather Diana Vaselaney here in Cleveland.  Heather just graduated from college a few years ago and is now selling jewelry that she designs and makes.  She was really nervous about organizing a Cash Mob; she was worried that nobody would show up, that they wouldn’t be into it, that she wouldn’t be able to talk to people, etc.

When I first arrived, I was nervous, too – it was me, her and her boyfriend outside of the store.  But then a few people drove up, and a few more, and a few more, and suddenly there was a growing crowd on the sidewalk.  She put it off as long as possible, but finally she called everyone into a circle and gave a little speech; she thanked everyone for coming, described the store that we were going to, and then…well, we mobbed.

She was beaming for the rest of the night.  I don’t know if she recognized it, but she had a sort of glow surrounding her; it was as if she’d overcome a huge hurdle.  Dale Carnegie describes the sort of emotional high that you get from leadership and public speaking in his books, and she had it.  It was great to see it happen to someone, though, especially when her mother showed up to meet everyone and see what her wayward daughter was getting up to.

That’s all, really.  It was great to see first-hand the sort of effect that Cash Mobs can have on a store, of course; StarPop got a ton of business, with a store full of people spending $40 or more each.  But it was even better to see Heather smile because she had done something great for the community, and herself.