Massachusetts

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Comment by Rob Wilson on February 10, 2009 at 9:44pm

Yes, I thought about that after I wrote it, that some people may actually be older than me...I was around, but too young to march on Washington.

By the way watch for the story on the local Boston ABC news tonight at 11.

Comment by CarolH on February 10, 2009 at 3:21pm

Hi everyone,
So sorry that I won't be able to participate - just had surgery on Monday and tho' it was minor, I'm not yet able to be out and about. BTW Rob, I got a chuckle from your comment about 'missing the 60s'...hmmm, not true for all of us. Makes me feel like an 'ancient' - haha. Best of luck with rally - hopefully, the milder weather will encourage folks to stop and listen. Thinking of you all, Carol

Comment by Rob Wilson on February 10, 2009 at 2:58pm

If you haven't heard, we are having a press conference & rally at Hatched, 5 Green St. Jamaica Plain (BOSTON), MA. It starts at 5:30pm TODAY (2/10). I hope you can all make it. We look forward to seeing you.

Comment by Jen at LivingPlaying on February 9, 2009 at 10:31am

Hello everyone-

I posted to the HTA list serv and the HTA google group documents section the final draft of the press release aimed at promoting tomorrow's event. I'm not sure if there is a place to post documents here, but if so I'll try to post the draft here as well.

Jen

Comment by hatched on February 8, 2009 at 10:10am

I was thinking of what was already in place. It seems that the media (npr reprt etc.) are telling the public that without the testing rules in place, they will be left with unsafe toys to purchase. If anything is 'misinformation,' it is this. Now, particularly with the ruling of 2/6 affirming the exemption for natural materials, we need to give consumers assurance that this was a good, sensible move on the part of the CPSC.

Comment by Rob Wilson on February 8, 2009 at 1:23am

I think this sounds good. I will also have Ellen contact our customers in Boston to see if they can come. In terms of the regulations already in place, do you mean about 3rd party testing required for paint, etc., or what was in place before CPSIA?

Comment by hatched on February 7, 2009 at 8:57pm

Hi Everyone,

Yes, I would be very happy to host. Sounds like Boomerangs might be tricky given the management structure. I think if we scheduled it for 5pm we could get a good group of folks to turn up.

I had at one point thrown out the idea of hosting a showcase of artisan works but sort of dropped this after the stay got put through. I think it's too late to get this together for Tuesday, but I would like to do something in the future. Kiki, if you know a group of local makers who might want to join in at such short notice, I would be willing to work on something.

Any feedback on the idea of providing the public with info. on the safety regs. already in place? I think sending a positive message, in addition to the protest (of course), might be appealing to the press and would help to counteract the comments about 'misinformation' campaigns floating around the internet.

I would also be willing to work on contacting the press on Monday morning or tomorrow if that's appropriate (I'll ask a PR friend for advice on max. impact).

Comment by Rob Wilson on February 7, 2009 at 6:34pm

I sent a response by email to HTA, but for those that are not part of that, I agree the coffin is melodramatic, and requires a lot of people to work. I was hoping for better ideas. I do think an event at Hatched and/or Boomerangs is better. Should we start focusing our plans on that?

Jen, are you up for writing a press release? You are soooo good at that! :-)

We would also need to have people actually call the media. Contact Senator's & Congressman's offices for comments (and invite them to participate). It is really late here....so any other thoughts, and volunteers for helping to make this a success?

Comment by Kiki on February 7, 2009 at 4:12pm

I tend to agree with Jen - I think a protest would be great but if only a few dozen people show up, won't it minimize the effect we're looking for?
I posted (and posted) on Etsy this morning trying to see how many people we could get and I got a big fat 1.

I feel like the coffin idea is a bit melodramatic. But if it's really what everyone wants to do then I will go along. I am really feeling like this could have been good if we started planning weeks ago - do you think we can get enough people to come on such short notice?

Comment by Jen at LivingPlaying on February 7, 2009 at 11:37am

Hi Everyone-

Sorry to be out of pocket.

I like the idea of a media event. Since I don't have a retail store (I'm only online) I don't think my rolling racks of toys in my basement will be a compelling backdrop. :p

I'll bring up the discussion on the HTA list-serve. How many eastern MA members do we have?

I think a funeral march is an interesting idea. I have no idea where to get a coffin, however. But perhaps we could retrofit a long and narrow cardboard box? Paint it black, make it open casket and put some beautiful toys inside. My only concern is that if we don't have a critical mass of people (like, at least 100) we will do the opposite of what we hope to achieve. We'll end up minimizing the impact of the law instead of drawing attention to the devastating impact.

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