Spontaneous Sharing
Last week, I was on vacation. I put my energy into doing lots of cycling around Vancouver and beyond. If you are able to and like getting on your bike just for the enjoyment of exploring then it’s amazing what you can discover.
On Saturday, I took a random ride down one of my regular bike paths to get downtown. At that time, I didn’t know where I was headed or for how long I would be out. On my route home, I stumbled upon the “Amazing Grilled Cheese Giveaway.”
This event was taking place for the third straight year.
What happens at this event? Well, when you cycle by the tent, you hear “Free Grilled Cheese Sandwiches” being broadcast on a megaphone. There is a tent set up where volunteers are working hard at the grill and a gigantic mock grill cheese sandwich rotates around high above the ground to attract the attention of passers-by.
During the event, cyclists are gifted with a wedge of one of the just-made sandwiches. Music comes from one of the neighbourhood houses and people are lined along the street on the curb socializing with one another while eating their delicious grilled cheese sandwiches. I can see how an event like this brings people together.
The concept was developed by Toby Armitt and Joni McKervey based on the idea of “spontaneous sharing” which they discovered at an annual pop culture event in the Nevada desert called “Burning Man.”
Based on this concept, what type of spontaneous sharing would make your business stand out from the competition?