PRINCE GEORGE – What a great October we had during Small Business Month! After finally finishing with the mobsters who attended our 1920s inspired Business Excellence Awards on October 24, we are now facing a mob of a different kind: a Cash Mob.
A Cash Mob is an initiative, often organized by Chambers of Commerce or other business agencies, with intentions of supporting local businesses. If you’ve never witnessed a Cash Mob, it is quite exciting to be part of one and witness the energy that builds when good people come together to support great businesses. The buzz surrounding the event is deafening.
On a preselected date, local residents are encouraged through social media and other communications to assemble at one preselected local business to make purchases of $20 or more. The main purpose of these mobs is to support both local businesses and the overall community. The benefits for the business are an increase in sales and a raised profile in the community.
They may also serve a secondary purpose in providing social opportunities for those who show up for the mob and stay to visit and network. Cash Mobs are also great for community building, as one of the aims is bringing people together in one place for a common goal.
Our Chamber has cohosted two Cash Mobs so far with the team from Hell Yeah Prince George on Facebook. They took place on separate occasions at Books and Company and the Two Rivers Art Gallery gift shop. They were so much fun, well attended and made the business owners and staff feel appreciated and supported by their community.
Coming up on December 19, we are planning a Cash Mob in Prince George taking place between 10AM-12NOON. The process we use to select the business to be ‘mobbed’ is an open nomination process through Facebook. Anyone can suggest a deserving business to us by commenting on the social media posts.
We take all the nominations into consideration before presenting a narrowed down list of ‘mob-able’ businesses to one of our Chamber committees for final selection. Only Chamber member businesses are eligible for cash mobbing and they must have a retail component to their business so that visitors can support them by making purchases.
Then, on the day of the mob, our staff team is on hand to hype-up the event in-store and to promote the Cash Mob activities by live Tweeting the event and sharing photos and experiences through Facebook.
It is truly difficult to measure the joy and pride that businesses feel when their customers and community appreciate them. Going into, and staying in, business is not an easy process. So when your community reaches out to you to say thanks for being a part of the profile of our city of Prince George, it creates a supportive dynamic that continues to give back.
– Christie Ray is the CEO of the Prince George Chamber of Commerce. She can be reached at christie.ray@pgchamber.bc.ca.
