American Experiment at the Fair

We sponsored WCCO radio at the Minnesota State Fair today, and spent the day at the WCCO booth. Plugs for the Center played on WCCO twice per hour, either as sponsor announcements or as ads, and we gave away 400 copies of our magazine, Thinking Minnesota, which is hot off the press in a special State Fair edition. We greeted old friends and made a lot of new ones.

This is what our spot at the WCCO booth looked like:

We had a steady stream of Minnesotans picking up magazines, registering to win a t-shirt or hat, or just chatting. Here you see Center VP Peter Nelson manning the booth:

It was interesting to see how visitors responded to Thinking Minnesota. Most found it intriguing, and took a copy. Some saw the word “thinking” and decided, apparently, that it wasn’t for them. But everywhere we looked, we could see people reading our magazine:

Here are Kristen Sheehan, our Development Director, and I manning the booth. Kristen is on the left.

And here she is passing out copies of Thinking Minnesota to WCCO fans who are resting their feet while listening to the broadcast:

I saved this one for last: the great Sid Hartman arrives at the WCCO booth to do his radio bit with his son Chad, and picks up a copy of Thinking Minnesota on his way in:

Whenever we do something like this, I think about the parable of the seeds: some fall on the path, or in shallow soil, or among thorns. But some–happily!–fall on fertile soil. I am pretty sure that we planted some successful seeds today, with our radio presence, our Fair presence, and our magazine.

Participating in the Minnesota State Fair is an easy decision for the Center. We are Minnesota’s Think Tank, and the Fair is Minnesota’s Great Get-Together. What better venue to spread our messages of free markets, limited government, economic growth, government accountability and equal opportunity for all?