DISAPPOINTED IN YOUR TACTICS . . . if we had to rank the email subject lines that we'd least like to appear in our inbox, this would be at the top of the list.
Last week, shortly after we sent out our email newsletter, we got the following reply:
Dear Taylor and Dorothy,
I've been receiving emails from you two with comments regarding making the world a better place and the giving away of tickets for the World Domination Summit. The system you have chosen for allowing certain individuals to acquire extra votes rewards those with the most social capital. Your tips for finding others to invite also all rely on forms of privilege: they rely on access to universities and other online networks which in turn rely upon free time, unrestricted access to the internet and strong language skills, something many of us don't have. Is it any wonder that the frontrunner of the drawing is white? By rewarding those with easy access to technological tools and online communities you disenfranchise those who do not.
Oh no! We've been here before. Many of you might recall our email newsletter from January 2013, when we addressed the uncomfortable yet necessary topic of racial diversity (or the lack thereof) on GFJ. We hate to think that we've repeated the same mistake, yet again.
Although our first inclination is to beat ourselves up about our ignorance (how could we not see how this specific method alienates people that could benefit from the experience?), we can also stop, admit that we missed something, and remember that revolution takes practice. We know that our intentions are, above all, to provide a great opportunity, even if our execution misses the mark. And that's why we want to share this experience with you, along with some background on how it came to be.
We thought that our newsletter last week would inspire people into action by proving that you don't need an existing social network or some special key to be able to make the most of the contest. In this seemingly democratic system, everyone is on an equal playing field, and each person has the tools and resources that they need to be able to move forward. We wanted to let you know that you, alone, have just as much opportunity as anyone else out there, and you can seize it without anyone else's permission.
And we genuinely always hope for those things to be true.
But they are not - at least, not entirely. In the world in which we live, there is no completely even, democratic playing field. There are inconsistencies, limitations, discrimination, and unfair advantages. They are not always blatant or obvious, and are therefore often overlooked (at least by us, we must admit). We are grateful to the author of the email for opening our eyes to that, once again, and for voicing concerns that others might share.
But that wasn't all this voice had to say . . .
I'm aware that as business owners you two are seeking to increase the exposure of your business and the sort of pyramidal-scheme advertising provided by the drawing is a great way to gain more customers. What I take issue with is the language of humanitarian progress, social responsibility and ethics interspersed throughout the newsletters while your actions and methods of conducting business are no different than any other modern business seeking to amass wealth. I believe that in this case your desire to gain more customers through expanded advertising has led you to act in a way which contradicts the message put forth by your language.
OUCH. Not entirely untrue . . . yet not entirely spot on.
The reason why this really kicked us in the gut is because we DID have big reservations about using Contest Domination to run the contest. In fact, we thought about it for nearly 6 months, trying to come up with a better, more meaningful method. Maybe we didn't try hard enough, or maybe our elusive creative genius just took a sabbatical.
While we considered not giving away the tickets at all, for fear that we didn't have the perfect way to maximize the impact of doing so, we resigned to live by the always wise-yet-hard-to-practice 'secret of adulthood': Don't let PERFECT be the enemy of GOOD. (i.e. don't let your fear of not finding the PERFECT method trick you into doing nothing. In this case, two tickets given away in an imperfect way is better than no tickets given away at all.)
So when we read those words in the email, it was as if our worst fear, our deepest insecurity, had been realized and reflected back to us. To paraphrase: Your idea wasn't good enough and, in fact, it was worse than doing nothing at all.
As business owners, we struggle with exposure a lot. On the one hand, we'd love to say that we are immune to the desire to have 'big numbers'. We'd trade a million thoughtless users for 100 meaningful ones. We value quality over quantity in most everything we do, personally and professionally.
At the same time, we are in awe every time we meet a GFJ user; we find them to be among the kindest, most generous, well-intentioned, funniest, most creative, thoughtful people on the planet. Every time we interact with one of you, it sparks new ideas, and makes us feel like we are a part of something that has a bit of magic to it. And we just can't help but wonder: What would happen if more of us were connecting within this community? And so wishful thinking gets the best of us. One of us will say, 'Wow! We just hit 60,000 active users! How fantastic to know that there are so many great people out there.' And then the other will counter, 'Yeah, it's great. But isn't it crazy that there are over 8 million people that live in New York City alone? I wonder how many more of 'us' are out there?'
In a world where the recent question of whether #thedress is 'blue and black' or 'white and gold' gets it's own Wikipedia page and NY Times article (along with coverage from hundreds of other media outlets) we wonder why the deeper ideals that we hold so near and dear (pertaining to food and its connection to so many other aspects of life) never seem to be covered in mainstream media in as serious a way as the world of celebrity chefs, restaurant openings, or other obvious and/or outdated conversations.
So we go back and forth, between feeling content with the fact that our community members do such a wonderful job of spreading the word to others that truly care, and worrying that we are not doing our part in spreading the word ever farther and wider and connecting with folks that might be so thankful to know about GFJ's existence.
The truth is that of course we do want to amass wealth (or more appropriately 'well-th'). Not solely in the endlessly-growing monetary sense (as we always say, we want to make a living, not a killing) since our barometer of success is the ability to eat well, share good food with others, have the resources to build an abundant garden, and the time to help our friends, family, and neighbors in times of need or want. We measure true wealth by connection to the earth and other living things, an active reverence for the landscape, and the ability to continue to promote genuine sharing and caring.
We regret the possibility that we missed the mark or acted in a way that contradicted these goals and beliefs. We seek solace in more wise words from Gretchen Rubin: Sometimes material desires have a spiritual aspect. Our desire for ever-larger numbers and increased exposure is rooted in a hope and faith that there are like-minded people out there, and that bringing them together will deepen our collective impact.
 Even after 5 years, these emails are hard to write. We've spent the better part of a week with our stomach in knots - superficially wishing for the hidden 'eject' button or the classic Saved By The Bell 'time out' to allow us to sneak out of a sticky situation. But then we remember: Pay careful attention to anything you try to HIDE. The things that go wrong often make the best memories. Or at least, in our experience, lead to the most legitimate progress.
While the wheels are already in motion for our contest, we're scheming up some alternative ideas on how to convey our meaning more clearly. Stay tuned for more coverage next week.
We'll not pretend that the World Domination Summit is the best thing that could ever happen to someone, or that it is the only thing that one can do to get ahead. And winning our contest - while providing motivation for attending, and helping to reduce the cost by some measure - is still a big monetary commitment (especially for anyone that does not already live in Portland, OR). It isn't a cure-all, but it is a stake in the ground. If it floats your boat, we hope you'll consider entering and/or spreading the word to anyone else for whom it might be a good fit. If you're on the fence, just consider that Kid President will be there.
Enter your name and email for a chance to win. FYI we will never rent, sell, or otherwise share your contact information - or anyone else's. We just want to be able to contact you if you win.
THE CONTEST PAGE http://goodfoodjobs.com/wds
ENTER YOUR NAME & EMAIL FOR A CHANCE TO WIN http://contest.io/c/xyyebxsv
And, as always, don't hesitate to let us know if you have any questions. Thanks for being a part of our community, however imperfect it might be. We're hoping that flawed can be more perfect than perfection.
 Taylor & Dorothy
Co-Founders, Good Food Jobs
|
