Erik Guerra

Social Movement

MW 3:30-4:45 P.M.

START Event: Tabling

Tabling is a well known social movement tactic. Personally I had never tabled in my life. In order to spread information about rising tuition my group and I did some tabling by the freedom of speech area at Fresno State. Since this would be a first time experience for me I was a little nervous. Once being there and finally participating in the tabling tactic I quickly felt the situation comfortable and fun.

As a group we first made a poster to let people know what out cause was. This poster was to be set up on our table. We also set up a clipboard so that we could hold a petition against rising tuition. We tried to speak with people who would pass by and inform them of our cause. The poster alone did its job and some people came up to our table and asked us questions about the rise of tuition.

At first when I arrived most people seemed to walk back and just glance our way. After this continued to happen I began trying to get the attention of people. I tried to talk to those who seemed interested in what we had to say. This helped quite a bit. People were being nice and allowed themselves to hear what I had to say. I was able to have more people sign our petition as well.

For my first time tabling I found this tactic to be a wonderful experience. I enjoyed being outdoors and speaking to people. Informing people about the rise in tuition was one thing but to see their expression when they learned the actual facts was awesome as well. If I could change anything it would probably be to just have more facts and resources for people who seemed genuinely interested in our cause.