I abhor Black Friday and, since my current job is with the dot coms, Cyber Monday. I just want to hide from the inhumanity. I love the idea of Small Business Saturday. I would have visited some of my favorites on Pearl Street in Boulder this year if I wasn't working massive overtime (ah the holidays.... the time of 16+ hour sales shifts followed by announcements of cut hours). My thoughts on the matter are more like....
I followed #BlackFriday on Twitter just for giggles during my breaks working the late, late shift on Thanksgiving night. As the box stores opened from east coast to west coast, all I could do was shake my head. Threats, strikes, tramplings, tazings, and the odd food truck that showed up in a Target shopping lot around 1 am to sell to people freezing in line to get in to the store.
Mom and I waxed poetic Black Friday morning about how we used to love going out shopping on that day. Not for the deals, but because that's when all the holiday decorations were finally up and it was considered a family outing as most people had the day off. We would go to the Bristol Mall in Tennessee and wander around, get some lunch at some bistro to contemplate what we wanted to get friends and family, and finish off by the obligatory annual trips to Toys R Us (we didn't have one in Kingsport) and Atlantis (a really cool new age store that went out of business years ago). Then, we'd head home to Kingsport for dinner and a movie in the living room while scheduling events vs. when we'd put up the tree. The outdoor lights went up the next day.
Nowadays.... Michael's is playing Jackson 5's "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" and Macy's puts up its holiday decor the week before Halloween. Here in Denver, KOSI, the "at work radio station", started playing 24/7 holiday tunes on Nov. 12. So, I take it Veteran's day is the new benchmark? All holiday stuff has to be done by then?
How about no.
In all of this insanity, a new trend has emerged on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving. It was called "Giving Tuesday" to follow Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday. The idea is to give to charities either on your own or as a gift. After Hurricane Sandy, it was quite timely. I saw ads all over facebook for various charities and non-profits asking for donations or giving gifts for donations for that day. Museums got in on the action too, and I saw several small museums reminding their social media followers that a membership to a museum/zoo/aquarium makes a great gift. The sales pitch wasn't nearly as loud as the electronics departments of the box stores, however. I have to wonder if many noticed. I did see a report that donations to various charities were up this year on that day. Whether that was because of the hurricane, the new fires in Colorado (just rename our state Mordor and be done with it), or because it was Giving Tuesday, I don't think we'll ever rightfully know. Too many odd variables to make an accurate assessment. Forbes picked up on the museum membership on Giving Tuesday idea this year in the following excellent article...
http://www.forbes.com/sites/deborahljacobs/2012/11/27/last-minute-gift-idea-museum-memberships-do-triple-duty/
What a great idea! In the arts section of the Sunday paper of Thanksgiving weekend, how about museums advertise memberships as gifts for Giving Tuesday? There were none in the Denver Post. Next year mayhaps? Anyone? We have an organization here, the SCFD, which funnels tax dollars to the area arts and humanities businesses (the Molly Brown House, the Symphony, the Museum of Nature and Science, the DAM, etc, etc, etc). I have to wonder if they could pool their advertising and market this new trend since the holidays are pretty much a shut down for everything else. I haven't seen anything of this nature around town. A full page ad in the Post shouldn't break the budget.
The job search continues. I am at 411 resumes scattered over the past 18 months around North America, all for similar museum positions. This "fiscal cliff" in DC is concerning me as is the appointment of a new head of the NEA. I hope hiring ramps up. Things are improving out there. The cruises I sell in my day job are going up and up in cost and more and more people are willingly paying $10k for vacations without batting an eye. Museums at sea? Hmmmmm, it's not an untapped resource. The Museum of Glass already has glassblowing at sea on select Celebrity ships. But that's another subject for another time.
In the meantime, go Broncos! One quarter away from cinching the AFC West title.....
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