We decided to organise this mob a little bit differently by playing around with the method of delivering instructions. In our previous two mobs we had asked people to email us to register their interest anytime before the mob, then the day before the event we would email all these people and tell them some instructions that they would need to follow on the day of the mob to get the full instructions. All this secrecy was to ensure that the general public/ business owners/ police/ security/ council didn’t have advance notice of our plans and wouldn’t be prepared for our coming or try to stop the event. I think it also added another level to the mob as it was like a Mission Impossible movie, making it more fun for both organisers and participants. However, the secrecy undoubtably had an effect on our attendance because, lets face it, people like to know what they’re getting themselves into especially if its potentially embarrasing.This time we decided to give the instructions out upfront to see how things turned out. The instructions were posted on the Facebook event and emailed out to everyone on our mailing list. Here they are:
Introducing AFM #3: “They don’t have pepsi!?”
We’re going to fill an area with mobbers (the cinema’s lobby), make a commotion about something (“They don’t have pepsi!?”) and vacate the area, leaving an empty void and confused and bewildered staff and moviegoers alike.
So, here’s the instructions for this evening, and we’ll see you there!
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1 – Everyone spreds themselves amongst the Cinema’s lobby area. Get in line at the Candy bar, play the games in the lobby, stand in groups with your friends, try to get some seats at one of the tables around the area… Make sure you’re in position by around 7:15pm. Favour the left side as well, facing the candy bar. Some people should fill out, but the majority will happen on the left.
2 – Three “key mobbers” will get in line at the Candy Bar. Most of you have seen/met Mr. Penguin (Nick) before so keep an eye out for him. (about 7:25pm)
3 – Mobber 1 gets to the front of the line, and asks for a pepsi. (roughly 7:30pm)
4 – After being told that they don’t sell pepsi, mobber 1 asks loudly “You don’t have pepsi?”
5 – Mobber 2 continues with “What’s this? They don’t have pepsi?”
6 – Mobber 3 further back, “They don’t have pepsi!?”
7 – General mobbers start “HURMF”ing and “They don’t have pepsi?”ing, making a growing commotion.
8 – Flash mob gets upset and leaves the cinema area.
**In addition to the instructions above: We have organised a bunch of people to be in the line for the candy bar on the left hand side to set off the mob. Look for me (tall guy with short brown hair, blue polo shirt and light coloured shorts) nearer the back of the line at around 7:30.
We want mobbers to gather themselves mostly on the left hand side in between the ticket booth and the candy bar.
Once you hear the initial ‘theres no pepsi’ that is the cue to start the commotion. The initial mobbers will start walking away after a time and the mobbers should all follow in a group, continuing the commotion.
Mobbers are invited to meet afterwards outside the New York bar and grill.
AFM Organisers
Check out the video:
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBSgA6WSdvk]
Heres how it went:
For this mob I stood aside as the ‘Mob Leader’ and we organised some other people to set off the mob. Mobber 1: the mobber who originally asked the question: Can I have a Pepsi? was played by Barny Smith. His mate, Mobber 2, who chimed in with: Did you say you don’t have pepsi? was played by Paul Whan. We used a digital recording device which Barny held, pretending it was a phone, to record the dialogue. Apparently the security are quite strict about to filming in the building so our cameramen had to be quite covert. I would also like to thank Ken Kimber and Sam King for their excellent filming once again.
There are two things which you need to pull off a good mob. First you need a large mobber turnout, and secondly you need a large number of bystanders to witness the mob. In AFM#1 we acheived both of these things, in #2 we acheived neither and in this one (#3) we had a large turnout, around 30-40 people I think, but the cinema lobby itself was quite bare. However, this also worked to our advantage because basically everyone who was in the area was a mobber so it was quite a noticable effect when we all got up and left at once in disgust leaving the couple of movie-goers and the candybar staff slack jawed.
It was great to see a number of people getting into it with their ‘They don’t have Pepsi-ing?’ We didn’t have any problems with security or anything so it looks like the method of giving out the instructions up-front didn’t have any noticable effects. If you participated feel free to leave a comment below and tell us about your mobbing experience.
See you at the next mob
-Nick