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Community Appearances
So,
what's the big
deal?
Appearances are becoming a larger and more important part of a mascot's
job description for a number of reasons:
1. If you work with a team, the
mascot is always more accessible for community support. "Having
(mascots) on board full time will also allow us to become more involved
in the community. It will
bring a new sense of pride to the Blue Jays organization," said Terry
Zuk, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing.
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2.
Finding and implementing paid
appearances is a direct way for a mascot to generate "concrete worth"
to the organization. I.E. - the team can see in a definite way how the
mascot is impacting the community.
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3. That money comes in handy for
travel, wear-and-tear, meals, rent, etc....
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But I've never charged before!
When clowns
and magicians start out they don't charge either.
Eventually they get
good enough or smart enough to charge.
Most "top
four league"
mascots charge for appearances. Many Div. 1
colleges do, too.
Ask around your area which mascots, magicians, and
clowns charge, how
much, what is the breakdown of their charges
before pursuing
any fees. Usually there is a scaled fee setup for youth
organizations, corporations,
sponsors, non sponsors, schools, non-profit
agencies, charities, etc.
Again, it all depends on
your region and the team.
So now
what?
Okay now
figure out
where your mascot fits in. If you are a AAA baseball
mascot you don't
want to charge the
same as your local NFL team. Work
yourself in competitively. See if
your organization has
any items in stock
for you to give away at these events, or if there
are things you can add to
the price of the
appearance to make
it more valuable. For example, add
an extra few dollars to a birthday party visit and the child
gets a T-shirt
or cap. Or the extra few dollars helps to pay for
ordering stickers with
your logo on it. Draw up a reasonable scale and check it out with your
marketing staff. These guys understand the community and often can
gauge your fees correctly.
Ring My
Bell!
Okay, now
draw up a
list of potential events. Find contact phone numbers
and start calling.
Remember you are giving a performance. Using the
term "appearance"
doesn't sound like
all that much work! Explain what
you will do at that specific event. At
a parade will you walk the route, shake
hands on either side,
or ride in a car
and toss things? Whatever you tell
them you will do, make sure you do
it. Keep your promises and you'll
keep your events year
after year.
Contact
events between
two and three months in advance of the date.
Too earlier and they'll
forget you. Too later and they'll usually have spent
their budget. The
larger the event the
earlier you should call.
Make sure you get phone and mailing information from your sources.
Many
community festivals now have box office numbers that stay the
same each year as
their
committee members rotate in and out of activity.
Even if you can't do the event this year you can hold onto the
information
for the following year.
Think
extensively:
Little
leagues hold
more than one big event. There are registration days,
Parent's Nights,
picnics, all star games, parades, Opening Ceremonies,
etc. Don't just
ask about one
event that a group might hold. This is a
great thing to remember when
dealing with schools. Think about all the
school events and
parties you had to look
forward to each year!
Ask about them all!
Expose
Yourself to
the Community
Of course,
written
information is also good. Do you have the opportunity
to make a
brochure? Send photographs? Post cards? Even just printing
up business cards off
your computer
is helpful. Send a professional
cover letter, generally pumping up the
excitement your mascot can bring
to the event in
question and see what happens! Whomever you send to
you
should also follow-up with a call three to four business
days later to
see if they have receivedyour information. This would be a good time to
see if there are
any questions about the information you have provided
them.
HEY!
They booked me!
Congratulations!
Now,
what do you need from that event?
Develop an
appearance
agreement form that the event host can fill out,
to provide driving
directions for your performer, a brief explanation of
what the mascot will
be expected to do at
the event, etc.
The
agreement form is
also beneficial to explain to your event host that
the mascot needs a
clean, private place to change. Bathrooms are not
an option because of
the sanitary concerns.
Offices, meeting rooms, etc.
are great - especially if the mascot must
leave their car keys and wallet
in a secure place. (I've
had my escort's purse and
our car keys stolen
from a zoo staff room we changed in once. While the
appearance was
done non-gratis we wound up losing a lot more than we ever
bargained for!)
If your
organization
cannot provide an escort for your performer at every
event simply add
that the event must provide an adult escort. If something
should happen to the performer at
the event you will want someone
mature enough to control the crowd.
Tail pulling, groin kicking, head
smacking are commonplace
to older kids who
are near mascots.
I often
place in my
agreement form that if the costume becomes
damaged, or the health
and well being of the performer is threatened
the performer can decide
to cancel the appearance
without refund.
When an event host reads this they normally try to be a
little more
cooperative with providing support.
You also
want to be
able to park as close to the event as possible.
Make sure your event
host provides the proper parking lot passes, event
passes, etc. for the
performer before the
person event gets to the event.
Man that
was great!
Now what?
Do what
other
businesses do - get some feedback. Send a letter asking
for the event
organizer's input and especially if there may be a repeat
performance for the following year.
What our
MascotSpeak
Members Have to Say:
"I own one
full
mascot suit (a bear) and have located the costume rental
shop in the
area (not a great selection here, but in other cities this is a
resource to check
out). Knowing what might be available, I then started
contacted places
- places that have events, kids, whatever. I contacted
the local 'Y',
a home for teenage girls, the public radio station that was
advertising
a fundraising event, etc. I told whoever I met, for example,
I went to a play and started
talking tosomeone and when they said they
worked for a commercial radio
station, I gave him the "That station
needs a mascot, let
me tell you why" story. He
asked me to pull
together a proposal (which I did).
I began
attending the
professional luncheon and newcomers groups
and introducing myself with
both the 'regular' work I do and as a
mascot for hire. Just
saying it enough has led to
several 'gigs' and
from someone who met me telling someone they knew. I ended
up doing 2 events
for the public radio station (and giving out some
business cards I had
made
up to some attendees), a morning at an
elementary and middle
school, at 'Riverfest'
for a city council
candidate, a birthday party, and soon, at a Parade
(this will be
great exposure and I am hoping to have two handlers who, along with
carrying lots of water, can offer a business card to anyone who might
ask along the way).
I called all four temp agencies in the area and
let them know I was
available if any client should call looking for
someone to get in a
suit of some kind and
promote whatever their
thing is. I followed up by mailing a letter for
files. At a recent
Chamber
of Commerce business expo, I gave my card out at several booths
offering to be one thing or another to help them promote their cause
(apparently Gold's Gym
mascot is a gorilla - who knew? The local
club manager said he has a
suit, and was excited to take my card to
have someone who might
get in it!)
Some of the above appearances
have been paid, some not. I figure free
work
is just part of building a
contact base and a
client list. I have
just discovered that many
of the
middle schools in the area have animal emblems of a sort, though
not actual mascots (they don't have competitive sport teams).
However, I did hand
a card to the principal of a Middle School. As it
is unlikely that they
would put middle school aged kids in a fur suit,
I offered to come up with a
tiger outfit if he ever wanted to have a
tiger at an event." -
Sandia
"Get your
advertising
sales staff involved....get them to help you find
sponsors, and develop
potential paid appearances. Learn to barter
tickets and/or appearances
for some things you
need (props etc).
...and don't be afraid to ask advice along the way.
In return for them
helping you, you should always help them (sales dept) close a
deal...
even if you aren't being compensated. ALSO find out what the
team
and the building will let you sell (find out conflicts)" - KixxSoccerroo
| Where do you
look for
events? |
Newspapers:
Thursday
and Friday are usually the days when weekend events are scheduled.
Sometimes you have to collect these announcements for the following year, but it helps out a
lot! |
| Tourism Calendars: Check
out your local convention and visitor's bureau, highway rest stop, or
call your local tourism departments. Many towns and cities send their travel
publications to these bureaus. You can also call each local town and
ask
them about annual parades, fairs, festivals, etc. Make sure you find
out who the contact person and phone number is! |
Tourism Web sites:
Everyone
is getting connected! AAA is a great place to start, but also go to
your state's, county's and city's tourism web sites and check out what
they have
there! |
Youth Organizations:
Churches
schools, little leagues, community youth basketball, parks and
recreation departments, scouts, Campfire, camps, whoo! There are easily
1,000
youth organizations
within your region if you know where to find them! Let your fingers do
the
walking in the Yellow Pages.. or again, surf online for some of these
organizations via your favorite search engine! |
Referrals:
Sometimes
when you call a group they can offer other towns' events to you. Many
community
event organizations share information to make each other's events better each year.
Hmmm,
this sharing thing sounds familiar, eh? |
Trouble Shooting for Mascots
What to Do:
1. Getting clobbered by kids:
Walk away. Tell a cheerleader or a
responsible adult. Preparation:
Know who to go to before the event
starts, and the permissible actions
you can take in this matter.
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What Not To Do:
1. Getting clobbered by kids: Don't
retaliate, "eye for an eye" or make
threats you can't back up (like "I'll
throw you out of the stadium").
Keep your cool.
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2. You get injured during
performance: Conservatively walk
away. Go to your changing room
and asess the damage. Inform your
contact person as to what happened.
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2. You get injured during performance:
Leave the area, return to your break area
with an escort/adult, assess the situation,
and decide if you will continue.
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3. Scared Child: Pull your actions in.
Make slow, slight movements so that
the child feels less threatened.
If the child continues to cry walk away.
No child is worth terrifying just to
preserve your score. In time that
child might remember your acceding
move.
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3. Scared Child:
Don't push a child to stop crying.
Don't sneak up on toddlers.
Don't tower over a frightened child.
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4. Picking up children: Careful!
Let the parents put the child in
your arms and take them out of your
arms. If it's an older child you can
hug them and pick them up halfway,
and set them down gently. Also,
when you hug, watch where your
hands go. Sometimes big fingered
paws reach out to places you don't
mean to reach!
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4. Picking up children: Don't grab a child
harshly, swing him/her around, and do your
best to check for bandages or scars.
I had an incident once where I sat a
kid on my lap who had third-degree burns
underneath his shirt. Better safe than sorry!
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5. Hugging/Touching Children:
Don't let your hand stray to any
part of a child (or anyone else) that
could be interpreted as unacceptable.
Many mascots have lost their jobs
due to "straying hands", and with
costumes that have long fingers,
and can't always be controlled well!!!
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5. Hugging/Touching Children: "When
dealing with children, I have always use
"the head and back" rule. When interacting
with them, you mess up their hair, pat on the
head, etc. For hugging it is on the back,
above the belt."
(Rochester Moose, credit)
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What MascotSpeak Members Say:
 As far as annoying cubs/kids go, best defense is a
good offense, go for the supersoaker!! :) Honestly
though, most of the time when kids can't catch a clue
walking away and getting yourself involved in something
else is the best way to go. If worse comes to
worse, sick them on your escort!!!" - Kid Simba
"Normally, if they hit me, I'll snarl at them. Or if they
are pulling my tail, I'll grab it at the base so they can't
rip it off, and I won't move. Give them the silent
treatment, perhaps tap my foot, shame shame my
fingers. I've found that the more you react, say like
pushing back a pusher, they more likely they'll
be to keep on coming at you." - Yippee
"if you have to work without an escort you should
scope out areas before you put on the costume for
safe spots. Areas like concession kitchens, roped off
sidelines, hovering around ushers and other staff
members helps. Come up with a "danger!" sign for
your staff and ushers and make sure you use it in a
serious way.
"Be careful about grabbing the kids by the hand or something, especially in this
lawsuit happy day and age. That's all anyone would need is to have your name, the
mascot's name, and the organization splattered on the front page of the newspaper.
"Mascot attacks defensless child"....Not good. Sometimes I get kids (usually 10-12
yr. old boys) who go off on me. If an usher or a cop is around, I tell them. I show
the cops the handcuff hands and he gets on the kids' case. If I'm signing and
someone is messing with me, I'll whisper to a parent to tell the kid to stop. They
help a lot." - Hugh Manatee
"I went to an ice hockey game last Friday. Coming from the amusement park
character vibe I was pretty shocked at the level of harassment the team mascot
had to put up with. Talk about rough- a trail of unattended and frenzied kids
would not give him any peace. The escort was doing his best to discipline the kids
and keep them in line. I've never seen the likes before. But the most impressive
thing was this mascot's ability to deal with the situation. It didn't outwardly phase
him at all. I would have thought such a reaction would come off poorly, like he was
just ignoring the kids instead of interacting with them, but at the time he came off
like a million bucks. Like he was above all that. The experience gave me a new
respect for everyone here who's written about that exact scenario before, and a new
reference on how to behave if I ever find myself in such a predicament" - Jay Pop
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