Pub protest needs proper planning
Thursday, May 31, 2007 
Forest has been asked to support/publicise what sounds like a pub crawl in London on June 30th to protest against the smoking ban. We'd like to help but we need more information. I'm all for spontaneous, organic protest that develops a life of its own, but - privately at least - there has to be a clear goal and a clear plan of action.
If media coverage is the objective (with a view to conveying, to as wide an audience as possible, a strong anti-ban message from as many people as possible), the media will need the name/phone number of the principal organiser. There should be an agreed route (with estimated time of arrival at each venue), a start/finish time, estimated numbers etc etc.
Frankly, it would make sense to forget the pub crawl and choose a single smoker-friendly pub in central London and stay there all day, building up numbers from midday onwards. (Logistically, a pub crawl is fraught with difficulty, not least because the organisers will lose people from one pub to another and it will be difficult if not impossible to stick to a schedule.)
Media-wise, it would be far more effective to advertise an 'event' and invite journalists/broadcasters/photographers/camera crews to a single venue. (Again, logistically, it would be very difficult to arrange meeting times if everyone is moving around.)
Whatever happens, the organisers must confirm in advance that the media has permission to film inside or even outside the pub. You don't want to find that cameras crews, for example, are barred from the premises. (Many is the time that I have gone into a pub with a TV crew to be told that we can't film there. Sometimes we are allowed to film but the owner/manager doesn't want the pub identified or the faces of staff to be caught on camera.)
Best to find an independently managed pub where the owner can make that decision without deferring to a higher authority who will more often than not say no. Check the views of the owner/manager and the bar staff who may be working on the day. (It would be an own goal if organisers found that the manager/bar staff are overwhelmingly in favour of the ban!)
Location is important. It needs to be easy for the major news channels to get to. Type of pub is also important. Ideally, it should have good ventilation. A very smoky pub, while atmospheric, would be a hostage to fortune and would obscure the argument that good ventilation - not a total ban - is a solution to the problem of ETS.
Good luck to anyone planning an anti-ban protest. If you want our help or support, get in touch.
Reader Comments (13)
Sounds like good advice Simon. There was a link posted somewhere here to the site that was coordinating this but I forget what it was.
Hey There, im the event organiser. Just a little link for anyone who wants a bit of info on everything were doing,
were currently looking for an independently owned pub to host the main part of the event.
The official smoke is taking part at Euston station
May I suggest that this area is used to inform people about the protest venues.
We already know, now, that there will be protests on July 1st at
a) Euston Station
b) The Swan on Churchgate in Bolton
If there are any more, please let everyone know the time/venue etc.
Correction Jenny. The Euston Station event is the day before the ban starts.
I'll go with the Euston crowd but I really want a good event the next day.
You can all come to my pub and smoke on July 1st if you want, i will not be enforceing the ban at all.
www.thedoginn.org.uk
Wouldn't it be a good idea to have "Smoke outs", where large groups of smokers gather outside restaurants and pubs which have already banned smoking? The smokers could indulge, quite peacefully, in our "disgusting" habit, thus forcing the non smokers to walk through a thick cloud of smoke in order to get into the venue.
They asked for this law, we didn't, so why not force them to suffer, as they are going to force us (children aside that is).
Good idea Peter but wrong target. It wasn't non-smokers who asked for it. It was primarily a campaign coordinated by the likes of ASH.
Now if you want to do this outside their offices I am up for it. The London office is quite near Liverpool Street. Very easy to get to. Would be a lot of fun.
http://www.icanhelpit.co.uk/blog/default.asp
That is a gorgeous pub Tony. Pity it is so far from London.
http://www.icanhelpit.co.uk/blog/default.asp
You corrected me, Bernie, and rightly so, about the date of the Euston event. It's easy to 'get the wrong end of the stick' (wrong times and dates) so may I request that people who post messages give more precise details. Capt. Mainwaring would have suggested that we aim to become a 'formidable fighting force' and to do this we need to be efficient!! I've been on to the websites and like what I see very much. So far we have London, Hereford and Bolton - any more for any more?!
Jenny theres one in Chester:
http://rdg.facebook.com/event.php?eid=2357638037&ref=mf
Fellow smokers, I hope you will forgive my comments.
I can�t understand why there hasn�t been greater anger shown about the impending smoking ban on July 1st. On that day the social life of millions of people who enjoy smoking (I�m a pipe smoker of 37 years), particularly when going out for a drink � will effectively be destroyed forever.
We will be ostracised�treated like some kind of pariah, not worthy of social contact�made to go outside and indulge our guilty pleasure in some makeshift shelter. Yet the Chancellor will still be quite happy to take our �10 billion in taxes. We all understand that non-smokers need their own space inside a pub or restaurant. Well that�s fine but what about smokers having their space inside too, properly ventilated of course!
I therefore strongly believe that someone must be prepared to go into a pub, possibly with support from other smokers, and light up. Then invite the landlord to call the police when smokers refuse to put out their cigarettes or in my case, a pipe.
You must be prepared to be arrested, and subsequently refuse to pay the fine. The situation that arises then would be quite ridiculous � would the government be prepared to see decent ordinary people, imprisoned for simply defying a smoking ban?
This kind of action however needs to be properly organised and ongoing over a period of time � would you be willing to go that far. If not then our fight will be easily lost!
Chris F J Cyrnik
Fellow smokers, I hope you will forgive my comments.
I can’t understand why there hasn’t been greater anger shown about the impending smoking ban on July 1st. On that day the social life of millions of people who enjoy smoking (I’m a pipe smoker of 37 years), particularly when going out for a drink – will effectively be destroyed forever.
We will be ostracised…treated like some kind of pariah, not worthy of social contact…made to go outside and indulge our guilty pleasure in some makeshift shelter. Yet the Chancellor will still be quite happy to take our £10 billion in taxes. We all understand that non-smokers need their own space inside a pub or restaurant. Well that’s fine but what about smokers having their space inside too, properly ventilated of course!
I therefore strongly believe that someone must be prepared to go into a pub, possibly with support from other smokers, and light up. Then invite the landlord to call the police when smokers refuse to put out their cigarettes or in my case, a pipe.
You must be prepared to be arrested, and subsequently refuse to pay the fine. The situation that arises then would be quite ridiculous – would the government be prepared to see decent ordinary people, imprisoned for simply defying a smoking ban?
This kind of action however needs to be properly organised and ongoing over a period of time – would you be willing to go that far. If not then our fight will be easily lost!
Chris F J Cyrnik
So what events are there on Saturday (30/06/07)? Is the Euston event still on?