Behind the Scenes: The Final Stretch

With just a mere five days between now and The Soulful Chicago Book Fair, it's fair to say that we have hit the final stretch. Though this week is jam packed, I had a chance to talk about what this final stretch looks like from The Soulful Chicago Book Fair's founder, Asadah Kirkland. So here's a little behind the scenes look of the work that's being put in in these final days.

As I write this, across the city signs promoting the fair are popping up in the windows of businesses, in Chicagoan's yards, and even in front of the library on 35th and State. "Dissemination Nation" as Kirkland calls it is in full swing. But it isn't magic that's creating this momentum, it is good, old fashion foot work. In the last few days organizers have been doing the hard work of distributing these marketing materials. But that doesn't mean it's been all smooth sailing.

Kirkland shared a story with me about how she ordered 5,000 copies of a promotional poster only to find out at the last moment that the poster said the fair would be on Saturday, instead of Sunday. So the question was, what to do with all of the posters. Well, Asadah and the graphic designer rallied and created a label which would cover the misinformation neatly. All that was left was to manually affix the labels to the posters which, is a big job. But it'll get done. The final stretch of any major event is typically filled with last minute faux pas but, The Soulful Chicago Book Fair is up for the task of managing any issues as they arise. In no small part due to the talent and cleverness of the event's organizers. But that's only half of the tasks for the week.

With the Book Fair approaching there is still fund raising to be done. The Fair is imminent but, there is a lot to do in these few days and the SCBF is dedicated to making sure the event occurs but also, that everyone has a positive experience both attendees and those who offer their services to the running of the event. If you would like to lend a hand in this you can head over to here. All in all, it's a full schedule for everyone involved, but it will be incredibly exciting to see all of this hard work pay off in full this Sunday on 61st Street between Cottage Grove and Martin Luther King Drive.