Hello Bostonians!

On Sunday I joined near 200 volunteers in giving out nametags to baseball participants of every age and involvement- from hundreds of Sox fans to Toronto fans to Pathe the 7-11 guy to Ron the flier distributer, Yaya the musician and Jeff (thanks for the tips guys!)!

I has such an awesome time. I spoke to people I would not have approached otherwise. You know what? I don't know that I have laughed that much in a long time. I know I was supposed to be impacting the community, but I was affected.
I loved talking to people.

Watching people smile as I called my nametag call to the exhausted hot masses fresh from the subway made it so worthwhile. Most everyone said yes to wearing a nametag when asked. Some figured I was just part of the Fenway experience (I was!). As one nametag participant said, " I said no to you at first, but by the end it was too much fun not to participate! So here's my name!"

I had such an incredible time and met more incredible people. I can't wait to do this again. I wonder what stories I'll hear next time.

If you were there, tell me what you thought! Who was your favorite? (Mine was Jeff.)

The energy that Joseph inspired and the volunteers exuded had the entire City of Boston smiling. Men, Women and children from all different walks of life were joined together wearing name tags & exchanging greetings at America's favorite pastime.

I was proud to be a volunteer at this event and help represent the City of Boston as a freindly and engaged place with a strong sense of community. Thank you Joseph and thank you to everyone that made this day work.

This seems like it was a huge success. As with any social change movement, any small step forward makes things worth the effort. Thus, even if only one fan donned a nametag, it would have been one more friendly face, one more person who cared. So, the fact that 10,000 people were willing to wear a nametage is HUGE! Way to go guys!

Joyce King, wife of south end activist Mel King recently gave a speech after receiving an award for her community activism. She spoke about what what true community activism means to her. She said that activism isn't always about attending rallys and protests. It isn't always about advocacy and politics--though important and necessary at times. Joyce argued that a true community activist is someone who smiles at a stranger in the grocery store. Community activists say hello to people on the street, bring coffee to neighbors, wish people a good day, and even wear nametags from time to time:). In essence, according to Joyce, community activists are defined as activists because they are proactive about building and creating community, in a world that has become comfortable in its isolation and lack of connection from each other.

So, thank you, to all the nametag wearing community activists, who helped build and create community on sunday. It is truly inspiring.
emily

SUCCESS! I have been active member of Boston's community for 8 years now and Nametag Day at Fenway Park was the best organized, largest and most impactful grass roots community event that I have bben a part of. I want to congratulate everyone that contributed to it's success and for expressing their voice by engaging strangers and encouraging community building.