Additional offerings for the newbies?

[TheMonkeyKing]

Hey all
I've been to many of these loozas and I've wondered if we should encourage more new people to attend.

Basically we have the folks who come year after year and know each other. There are those (like me) who know a few folks and know about the event.

Then there are the ones who stumble upon it, either hearing about it, passionate about tomatoes, or saw the website and found it interesting.

While we'd like most everyone bring tomatoes from their gardens, some have either a bad year or didn't start one.

- For those new to the event, we can suggest they bring a tomato from the store. Just one. That way they can cut up the store bought tomato and then judge it (smell, color, taste) against home grown.

- At the event, have a paper copy (or link to this website or the tomatopalooza site) that tells the person how a tomato from the store differs from a garden. Also, how much does it cost to grow, compared to store bought, etc.

- How to grow a tomato, especially the dwarf tomato project. Show the new folks how easy it is start.

Basically, we should encourage new folks to come and just be there and then encourage participation so that they come back next year with their fruits and their stories. And in turn they help the new ones, knowing how they got here in the first place.

Also, what I am suggesting is not and should never be expensive, either to us or to anyone new. The idea is to create sustainable participation.

[Lee]

See my post in the Who, What, Where..... thread...

Lee