Should Mumsnet be going to Baby Show ? We need your views

[carriemumsnet]

Hi all

Reposting this here from the Baby Show volunteers thread to make sure we get widest response....

Basically we've had a great response to our appeal for help running a stall at the Baby Show. But now something has come up and, as usual, we want you to contribute to our decision. We've had an email from a mumsnetter saying that Clarion, the Baby Show organisers, also organise arms fairs and questioning whether, in that case, Mumsnet should be associated with them.

I don't think any of us are pro arms, but you could argue that Clarion aren't manufacturing or selling arms, they're just the organisers of a fair.

If we attend the Baby Show we have the chance to introduce Mumsnet (a good thing we hope you'll agree ) to several thousand mums-to-be who will then find out, for example, why lots of Mumsnetters boycott Nestle as well as the truth about fruit shoots and Greggs sausage rolls.

Or we pull out now. It's another one of those 'where do you draw the line?' discussions and we're torn. What do you think?

MNHQ

[MARGOsBeenPlayingWithMyNooNoo]

Don't keep yourself up all night worrying about it Justine.

Most of us here are gun-runners, drinkers of Fruit-shoots and wait outside Greggs until they open to ensure they get a freshly baked sausage roll .

[umberella]

i went to this when it came to glasgow last year -then got lots and lots of holiday scam phonecalls as a result of filling out two 'competition' forms.

the whole experience was rather depressing tbh, although i DID buy two very tasteful rattles...

it was all a bit 'cattle market' for me.

i like to think of MN as something slightly more 'maverick' than this -i actually can't imagine you there.

[theSuburbanDryad]

Email Mark Thomas, and ask him.

I'd say don't go.

[theSuburbanDryad]

Dh (the PR guru) says to email Clarion back, and ask them if any companies which sell guns or bombs are represented at these trade fairs, and if they can't give you a yes or no answer then they're talking shit.

[Cadelaide]

I go to Clarion shows for my business. Wouldn't have a business any more if I didn't.

I didn't know about the arms thing, but I shall continue to visit Clarion shows.

[spookycharlotte121]

I havnt read the whole thread but I think you should go. Mumsnet has been a life line to me and has helped me out so many times when I have needed a sympathetic ear of someone to make me smile when times were tough. The whole point of going to the fair is to as you say make thousands of women aware that MN exists. Could be a life saver to many of them in the near future. I think you have to think of the pro's against the cons. Yes they (clarion or whatever theyre called) might be benefitting from something terrible, but by attending this fair it might also help many mums in need of a support network. Perhaps you could email them with your concerns and see what their responce is?

[2sugars]

Bloody hell. I used to work for Reed Elsevier. Under the guise of Heinemann Educational Books

[arfishy]

When I first read this thread I thought - of course they should be there. Mumsnet is for mums and what better place to find them?

I went to the baby fair when I was pg in 2002 and picked up some good advice on reusable nappies and got special fair prices on a number of things that I genuinely needed - it's not all about pram huns (although I did get sucked into a £150 leather Baby Bjorn carrier ). Having said that the Earls court venue is rubbish for mums with buggies (unless this has changed recently) - there is no buggy access and they had hordes of buggy carrying lackeys to get the buggies up the stairs and they certainly should make the effort to have disabled access.

Then I read the views about the links with arms fairs - typical of mumsnetters and what makes mumsnet a better place than bounty et al. A very good point.

However, I think that we all deal with companies affiliated with arms/animal testing/humans rights abuse on a very regular basis. Do we all have savings in accounts knowing that they aren't going to be used to invest in companies that we don't approve of? Did you know that labour had £12 million in funding from defence contrators?

Do we all still shop at Gap despite their child labour issues? At Asda despite Walmart's employment rights issues? Eat KitKats? Vote Labour?

I think maybe telling MHHQ not to go is taking the moral high ground too far, especially if they are unable to get their message of 'why' across in the media.

[Bubbaluv]

If no or little cash will change hands then you won't be directly supporting Clarion, so I think you should go. No point all of us sitting behind our computers feeling smug and morally superior - that's not what MN is for, although some people do make you wonder! Provide a tent for disabled babychanging if the venue won't.

[zippitippitoes]

obviously they will be supporting clarion bu advertising for them lol

if this thread is anything to go by then the issue doesnt seem to be one that concerns mumsnetters

which does surprise me

[Jux]

So if you go, you'll be advertising Clarion on the site?

[SwedeLantern]

Running an ad for a Post Office credit card (at 16.9% APR) on this thread and giving sticky status to a thread requesting information (for the Press Association) re credit crunch spending creates an interesting juxtaposition.

[vonsudenfed]

Jux- I too am v confused about the reciprocal advertising thing too. Perhaps we'll all be invited to the arms fair next time round?

But I'm not sure that the lack of payment makes any difference at all. Just because you're swapping a gun for ducks, doesn't mean you're not paying for it, or the deal is any more or less moral. I think this is a bit of a red herring.

And arfishy - yes, I try to. Our money is in the Co-op (such as we have), I don't shop at Asda (or Lidl) because of their labour relations. I can't afford to be perfect - esp where clothes are concerned - but I do try and think about the impact of where I spend my money. It's almost the only means of expression left to me these days.

[WeirdCod]

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[theSuburbanDryad]

Cod

Is that strictly necessary, dear?

[Jux]

Perhaps they'll be advertising arms fairs on the site?

Agree, makes no difference whether money changes hands or advertising, really.

[fourlittlefeet]

I think you should go. The positive impact you have on many lucky mothers, fathers, and babies lives will be far greater and more positive than any 'negative' action.

[zippitippitoes]

well presumably they will be advertising the baby show oin eht e site lol

[MrsThierryHenry]

If you look hard enough you'll find everyone is connected to something or someone dodgy. I have an infinitessimally small, tenuous connection to the Clintons. Which means I'm also linked to Dubya. Yeah, exactly. Couldn't get any dodgier.

Go ahead and do it. You have my blessing.