Public Event in Norwich

The Gift- An introductory event held in Norwich in April

This was the first event for a long time in Norwich that was directly aimed at the general public. It was inspired by the possibility of a visit from Charan Anand in April.


The preparation
We had quite a few conference calls and invited those to help who felt really happy to put it together, re Maharaji’s emphasis nowadays on enjoying participation.

We divided into one team for publicity for the event and another on the content of the programme.

We decide to hold it at an arts centre called appropriately, The King of Hearts.

The publicity was through posters in as many places as we could find put up about 2-3 weeks before the event. Also an article and advert in two local alternative magazines Eco Echo and The Triangle. We had already written and had published in EcoEcho several articles over the months before the event by different premies in Norwich.

We also decided to offer tickets even though it was a free event. They were placed in a central location and at the venue and about 12 were taken or reserved before the event. We thought this might seem more ‘normal’ than an invitation which is usually personal.

The event
Just before the event we heard that Charanand was definitely not available, so we had to step up ourselves and explain that our speaker was not coming which obviously was a disappointment to us and those who came.

However, four of us gave personal short expressions, two of which included poems and one a pocket history of Prem Rawat and his message. Then we showed Finite and Infinite, the whole programme lasting about 1 hour.

The outcome
There were 35 new people.15 had come from reading the article in EcoEcho, the others were invited by premies or had seen a poster. 8 copies of Introduction to the keys taken and many free DVDs and printed material.
Many people stayed afterwards for refreshments (a small bar in the café) and to chat to us.

Comments then and since.
‘I had to come in case it was important and I have been really touched’
‘As soon as I walked in I felt something very special and different’ (These two people are now on key2.)

One of the centre staff said she felt it was the one of the nicest events they had had there.

Learnings
It was not all smooth sailing. As ever we have learnt a lot about what is needed to present the message efficiently, simply and from the heart. However, it was very enjoyable for us to find that, as he is always telling us, people are thirsty and want to hear his message.

Our next event will be much smaller, an open day at the Words of Peace centre in Norwich with screenings of 1/2 hour videos through out the day.

The centre is a great asset both to the premies in this area and to aspirants for the keys library, but outreach is needed to bring it to the attention of the general public and that is our focus at present.

Margaret Goodyear