Shawano County Fair & MP Bridget: A short interview

Bridget Kielas-Fecyk is a member of parliament of the space nation of Asgardia. She is an invaluable member of the Safety and Security Committee. We at Arcane Space were honoured to get an opportunity to chat with AMP Bridget earlier this week. We were able to ask her about the recent event that she participated in, and multiple things related to it.

While juggling work, parliamentary proceedings and various other things, MP Bridget worked tirelessly to set-up a booth at the Shawano County Fair, Wisconsin, US. Working all alone, and with a determination to actually see it happen, she sets an impressive example of what anyone can achieve, should they truly believe in it.

The 139th Annual Shawano County Fair was held from Wednesday, 2nd September to Sunday, 7th September. MP Bridget also participated and set-up a booth to spread knowledge and awareness.

We spoke in quite a detail and are glad to bring to you this short interview.

AS Representative: Were you satisfied with the response of the people who came over to your stall?

AMP Bridget: Yes, I was. While there were some that were dubious, and a couple that laughed, most were genuinely interested. Especially families with kids and many families with teens.

AS Representative: During the course of the meeting, did you come across an idea/suggestion that you feel the community would benefit with?

AMP Bridget: They thought we should do more public events or put out ads, something to really show who we are, what we are, and what we have to offer.

AS Representative: Would you happen to agree with them?

AMP Bridget: Yes, I do. If I hadn't been told about the existence of Asgardia back in 2016, which is when I joined, I would not, now, even know it exists at all. So I know where people are coming from. Around here, no one even knew it existed. So how would they know to even look? The only way they know about any "Asgard" at all is due to the Marvel movies.

AS Representative: Do you think that there was any aspect of the event that could have been better?

AMP Bridget: If I'd had more support, I could've made the booth a lot nicer and had much better displays. One of the downsides is that, without ME there, and the laptop with the video, when you went by the booth, it didn't really tell who and what Asgardia is. That was a common comment I received. But I didn't have time, or the funds, to get more displays. And if I'd had people here to help me, I don't think it’d have been so hard on me.

AS Representative: Do you plan to organise/host similar meet-ups in the future?

AMP Bridget: Yes, I do. This was successful even if it was small. If we can expand that we can get more people in and more paying members. And that's the ultimate goal, right?

AS Representative: Is there any else that you would like to tell us regarding the event that might be important?

AMP Bridget: While I was not able to go there until 5 PM on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, due to work, Saturday was 9 am until 9 PM. The other days were 5 PM to 9 PM.

While the fair was not as heavily attended this year, and there were far fewer vendors, that was due to the virus outbreak. Still, it was a lot of fun.

We had several families who visited most of whom took both the Emergency pamphlet and the flier to get more information about us. In the course of the fair, I managed to actually get 19 people to sign up. One who paid their membership, but two others who, if they like what they see on the web site, will be going for paid memberships as well. As I said, I talked to two news stations and the local paper will be interviewing me in a few days after the fair is over as they do the wrap-up piece.

While it was just a small, local, county fair, the impact of it was large as far as getting the word out there that we exist. And if others did this, given there are a hundred parliamentary members, we could easily get hundreds of new paid members within a year.

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So, there you have it, ladies and gentlemen. Straight from the horse’s mouth, so to speak. A success story if I had to say it myself. Right from setting up a booth to actually getting people to pay for their residency on the spot, pretty impressive.

Hundreds of thousands of active folk in Asgardia, and even if one of them takes the initiative and does something like this, it makes a difference! Have you done anything similar recently? Get in touch! Do you have an upcoming event? Do let us know! We’d love to hear from you.

Should you request any sort of assistance in covering any event or anything that we might be able to do, we’d be happy to help out. Feel free to reach out to us!

Arcane Space Team Rajat Raina and Carolina V. Jiménez