photo by benimoto

I spent Tuesday night and Wednesday at the California Governor’s Conference for Women.   It’s my second year volunteering with a non-profit at their booth in the exhibitor’s hall.

Thus, my conference experience is a bit different than those that bought tickets or were given ones by their employers.

There are two primary types of exhibitors — corporations and nonprofits.  Non-profits rent booths to raise the profile of their organizations and philanthropic work, as well as to add as many names as possible to their e-mail lists. With non-profits, you’re more apt to get a brochure than a bag of chips or a notebook, so traffic at these booths tends to be sporatic at best. Corporations typically come laden with all sorts of schwag to hand off to the greedy consumer masses, whose hearts swell at the thought of collecting “free stuff. In fact, attendees are given tote bags as they check in, semi-filled with product samples, to allow for the the collection of all sorts of promotional items and snack foods.

This year, the organization I went with brought a “wheel of philanthropy.”  It’s essentially a prize wheel.  The majority of the slots were filled with ice breaker questions  like, “How do you serve your community?,”  “How do you pamper yourself?” and “Who inspires you?”  The questions are meant to open up a dialogue, so that we can ultimately point out the benefits of membership.  But 2 of the landing spaces offered raffle tickets (for a 1-year membership and a $100 gift card to a Los Angeles area skin spa chain), and 2 others offered up a free lip gloss.

Clearly, the Programs Manager struck gold.  That wheel drew women in like flies to honey, since a good spin could land you a free lip gloss or an entry into a raffle.  We had a steady line of women throughout the day (nonprofits generally don’t get lines without a celebrity assist), waiting to spin that wheel.  Those landing on the raffle ticket spots didn’t even need to know what we were giving away, before they gladly signed up for our mailing list and a chance to win something, anything.  Our presence at the conference meant hundreds of new names on the mailing list.

After a day and half working the conference, I’ve drawn two polar opposite conclusions.

On the one hand, the women in attendance were incredibly dedicated to their communities.  I talked to social workers, grad students of social work, teachers and mentors through Big Brothers/Sisters.  One remained a member of the local parent teacher organization, though she has no kids left in the system.  Others served on charity boards, raised funds to provide a constructive environment for women recently released from prison and ran drives to collect suits for low income women looking for work.  Some volunteered at soup kitchens or animal shelters. They led Bible study sessions and soup kitchens, led scout troops and ran marathons for medical research. Most women remained actively involved in multiple community service projects and seemed unimpressed by their own remarkable contributions to society.

Community organizing in its many incarnations is natural to the women in attendance.  They’re at a leadership conference, so I should have expected to hear about this devotion beyond self.

Alternately, I’m rather dismayed by the behavior of a fairly large minority of women at the conference who looked at the exhibit hall as a freebie take-all. When a company brings product samples, it doesn’t mean take 5 since they’re sitting out in the open.  Self control and moderation should kick in at some point, as you realize you’re not the only person in the exhibition hall.

By the end of the conference, my booth’s volunteers were a bit flabberghasted.  Women salivating over the lip glosses, asking “are these free?”  The disappointment clearly stamped across their faces when they were told “no, you need to ‘spin and win.’”  Women who upon landing a question space, not a free lip gloss, turned and walked away, ignoring those staffing the table. The woman who tried to covertly grab an entire handful of lip products, not just one, surprised to find herself foiled by an eagle-eye volunteer who explained they aren’t samples.  The women who strategically stay and chat for a few minutes about the thought-provoking question they landed on, before picking up a lip gloss and saying, “come on, I can take one, right?,” suggesting with their eyes that yes, I played your game, now give me what I want.

And my personal favorite, the woman who approached at the end of the day Wednesday, refusing to make eye contact with any of the volunteers, who tries to help herself to the remaining lip glosses. She summed up the attitude of that minority of gluttonous women who tried to stock up like  Christmas came early.

Our exchange, emphasis mine:

Me: I’m sorry. Those aren’t freebies.

Lady: It’s the end of the event; you have to get rid of them.

Me: Actually, we don’t. We’re a non-profit.

Lady: Oh (with disdain).  You’re going to take them back with you.

Me: Yes we are. We can use them at another event.

Lady: looks longingly one last time at the lip gloss (ironically, the shade Goddess) before turning abruptly and heading towards the exit. No “spin and win” for her.

Since I had the opportunity to sit in on one of the panel sessions, I am trying to convince myself that this ballsy minority merely found itself overwhelmed by the exhibition hall.  The moderated discussions taking place at the Conference Hall were intense and served to inspire us all to do more.  We just have to find a place to store all the pens, notebooks, highlighters, charm necklaces, snack food packages and cosmetic samples first.