Draft GBYS Map Released!

Hand Out Map for Yard Sale Shoppers

Thanks to all who have signed up so far.

I've taken all the information on participants through Sunday and produced the attached draft map. When finalized, we can each print a supply to handout to shoppers on April 19th.

This is just a draft, but wanted to give you an idea of what we're currently working on to help make the event easy for both participants and attendees.

If you've signed up for the yard sale, please check the map to see if your location is listed properly. If you need any corrections, please email me at Fortinandrew@hotmail.com

The file is also posted on the Brookland Yahoo group page in the Great Brookland Yard Sale Folder and is called "GBYS Draft Map.pdf".

Remember this is just the draft. We'll let you know when the final map is ready to print.

Planning Your Yard Sale

Dealing with the clutter, sorting your stuff

The Great Brookland Yard Sale is just 20 days away and it's never too early to start planning. Here's a couple of tips to get you moving.

Have a plan.

Most people dread combing through the house top to bottom looking for yard sale items. Don't. Take baby steps and spend a half hour to an hour a day in each room sorting through items. Price your items as you go to save time. If you are unsure of a reasonable price, try checking e-bay to see what similar items are going for. Set a side a corner of a room to place your yard sale items.

It's in the bag

Yard sales are a great way to reuse those old grocery bags filling up the cabinet under the sink. So take a quick inventory and set aside enough bags so your shoppers can carry away their purchases. The easy it is to carry, the easier it is to buy more items. Also, start saving the newspaper to wrap your more delicate items.

Think about the sale day.

Remember there are more than 30 yard sales scheduled for April 19th. The planning committee is producing maps for participants to hand out to shoppers, but you should also think about placing signs to direct people to your individual yard sale. The main corridors will be 12th and 13th Streets, NE (as well as the other main arteries like Michigan and Rhode Island) for the farther out sales). Oh yes, and adopt a sign from the map (red indicators on the google map) to direct passing cars into Brookland.

A little Change will do you good

Don't forget to be prepared with enough small bills and coins to make some change. You'll need a good supply of one's, several fives, a couple of tens and a good supply of coins.

Read All About It

There are helpful links to yard sale tips on the links to the left of this page. Check em out.


Good luck with your yard sale preparations. Think positively, keep things in perspective and keep telling everyone you know about the upcoming sale!

CALL FOR STORIES!

Make your yard sale stand out!

With 31 yard sales and counting, shoppers will have a range of choices when they come to Brookland on April 19th. Want to increase your chances of connecting to potential shoppers?

The best way to attract eager shoppers for your gently used items is to market your sale. In other words, to tell your "Yard Sale Story".

Here's how:

• Make a list of your big ticket or unique sale items
  Take some digital pictures of these items
• Write up a short list or description or your yard sale, include information about your life in Brookland to personalize it.
• Email your photos, list of items or 'yard sale story' to me at Fortinandrew@hotmail.com
• I'll post them to the blog, then link your story to the yard sale google map! (Note: your story may be edited for space or appropriateness)

Remember, all this technology is not a substitute for all of our collective efforts in getting the word out. But a yard sale story is a great way to distinguish you sale from all the others!

More Pubilcity!

GBYS Added to WTOP Funformation Calendar!

Another great posting for our event. WTOP has added the Great Brookland Yard Sale to its Funformation Calendar! You can view the posting here.

Remember, grassroots word of mouth is really the key to any yard sale success, so each of us should be posting and distributing the yard sale fliers and telling our friends and co-workers about the event.

Let's Get the Word Out!

Post them signs!

OK Team Brookland, we're three weeks out from the Yard Sale. Time to get the word out.

As posted below, the planning committee has been working to post ads in local press, get the word out on local blogs and we've even developed a flier to post at work, at church, or in businesses across the region.

Our success depends on each of us taking small steps to get the word out.

Please take some time this weekend to distribute the Great Brookland Yard Sale Flier to local churches, businesses, civic groups or hand out to coworkers or post on work activity boards.

Today I was on Capitol Hill for some meetings. I posted the flier on the activity bulletin board outside the House Cafeteria in the Rayburn Building (See picture above). The Hill is full of hard working and underpaid young people would love probably love to get some good deals at our event.

So download the flier and make a commitment to get it posted in a nearby business or pass it on to at least three people over the weekend. The flier may be downloaded here. If that link doesn't work, email me at Fortinandrew@hotmail.com and I'll email it to you. It may also be found in the "Files" section of the Brookland Yahoo group in the "Great Brookland Yard Sale" folder.

Also, if you let us know where you posted the flier, I'll add it to the Yard Sale Map by making it with a light blue push pin. Take a picture of the posting with your cell phone and we'll show it on the blog!

Yard Sale Ad Running in the Post

More Publicity!

The Washington Post finally got around to posting our online add today. You can view it here.

Again, to date we are running the following ads:
1) Craiglist
2) DC City Paper - Print and Online for the next 3 weeks
3) Washington Post Online.

Local Media and Blogs:
1) Brookland Heartbeat - story on yard sale in the works!
2) Stop, Blog and Roll
3) Best of Washington, DC Blog


More updates to come, but we're gonna keep on getting the word out.

Promotion Signs and Fliers 4 U!

Hand 'em out, Post 'em Up!

Once again, Jenny on Taylor has put together a truly awesome yard sale flier for us to use to promote the Great Brookland Yard Sale!

The first set of fliers were designed to share with friends and neighbors to spread the word and get folks to sign up. Please hand these out to help us get more participants. Info on downloading them can be found here.

The new flier, is for you to put up in your office, at local businesses, give to area churches or civic groups to do some grassroots work in promoting the big event. Let's make it happen Brookland!

The flier is in both color (here) and black and white (here). If these links don't work, the files can be found on the listserve, in the files section, in a file called Great Brookland Yard Sale, and the file names are promo_flyer2_color.pdf or promo_Flyer2_bw.pdf.

And if none of that works, just email me and I'll send them over to you. Fortinandrew@hotmail.com

Thanks in advance for helping get these posted and distributed around town.

Sign Up Information

Still want to sign up?

Here's how. 

WOW!

Great Job Brookland!

I was floored walking home from the metro tonight when I saw one of Jenny's signs promoting the yard sale posted along 10th Street! 

Keep up the good work Brookland!  In addition we are now at 24 houses representing more than 30 families participating. 

I'll post a direct link to the new promo fliers in the morning. Keep an eye out for more info on how you can help us promote the big event!

City Paper Ad

Print and Electronic Ads Posted

We continue to get the word out about the Great Brookland Yard Sale. For the next three weeks the Washington City Paper will be running a print ad as well as an online ad. that will be on their website. Both the print ad and the online ad link to the yard sale blog!

You can view the online ad here.

(The photo is my house.)

To date we will be having stories or ads running in:
Brookland Heartbeat
City Paper
Craigslist
and local blogs
more to come...

Sign O' The Times

Volunteers Needed For Signage

Looking for four of five volunteers to create and place signage around the perimeter of Brookland the morning of April 19th.

Five suggested signage locations are flagged on the yard sale map. (Red Push Pins)
This signage is to pull traffic off of main arteries and into Brookland proper.

Be creative and make sure the sign is big enough to read.

If you'd like to volunteer for one of the five perimeter signs, or even a sign at another location email Andrew at Fortinandrew@hotmail.com

Details will follow of signage to direct folks once inside Brookland.

Thanks!

Call for Action!

Great Brookland Yard Sale Flier!



Greetings Neighbors! Jenny has put together an awesome Brookland Yard Sale Flier for us.

You can down load it from the Brookland Yahoo Group. Here's how:
Log into the Brookland Yahoo Group

1. From the menu on the left select "Files"
2. Go to the Great Brookland Yard Sale Folder (about ten files down)
3. Click on the folder
4. The file names are: sale_preflyer.pdf (8.5x11) or sale_preflyer_sm.pdf (leaflet size)
5. Print and hand out for friends or post at business in the metro area.

OR email me at Fortinandrew@hotmail.com and I'll send you the fliers!


Hand these out to friends and neighbors so we can get as many participants as possible.


Thanks a million Jenny!

Washington Post Online

On-Line Listing of the GBYS

Starting in the next day or two, we've purchased a listing in the Washington Post On-Line Classifieds promoting the yard sale. The ad will read:

Great Brookland Yard Sale!
Neighborhood-wide yard sale in Brookland on April 19, from 10-4. More than 14 yard sales with 19 families participating. For details and a map, see http://www.brooklandblog.blogspot.com/

Once the ad goes up, it will run on-line for 7 days. A link will be posted once the ad runs.

(A $9.99 gift to all of you who are participating!)

Still Time to Sign Up

Help Us Make it 20 or More!

Still on the fence? Don't be, all indications point to a successful yard sale event.
There's still time to sign up for the Great Brookland Yard Sale. We've been picking up momentum all week and interest is growing. As to today here's where planning stands:

• More than 14 yard sale locations have signed up with 19 families participating.
• Local blogs including Stop-Blog and Roll, Best of Washington, DC and Historic Brookland have posted info on the event.
• Press releases have gone out to Brookland Heartbeat, DC's City Events Calendar and the Washington Post Events Calendar.
• An ad has been placed on DC Craig's list.

Join your neighbors on April 19th. Get rid of your clutter, make some money and help showcase one of DC's best neighborhoods!

Yard Sale Listing Posted on Craig's List

We Keep Getting the Word Out!

The Great Brookland Yard Sale Planning Committee (GBYS-PC) has posted a notice of our yard sale on the DC Craig's list. You can view the ad here.

Leading Blogs Help with Publicity

Stop, Blog and Roll & Best of Washington!

A big thank you to Brookland Jess for posting a great story on the Great Brookland Yard Sale on Stop, Blog and Roll. The story can be found here.

Also, Brooklander  Angela who runs Best of Washington, DC Blog has joined our effort with a posting about the GBYS! 

If you get a chance give Jess and Angela a shout out and a thanks for helping our effort.

14 and Counting!

Mapping Our Way to Success.

Just a day or so into the call for participants and 13 responses so far. (Not bad for a holiday weekend) You can see which of your neighbors are participating by accessing the map on the left side of the blog. 

Sign Up Information

Has moved down the page. Click here to see the details.

Getting the Word Out

Newspapers, Blogs and Word of Mouth

Hey neighbors. A flury of activity this weekend to put the elements in place for an exciting yard sale event. We've started contacting newspapers and blogs with word on the event and links to this blog. Brookland Heartbeat, Stop, Blog and Roll and the Washington Post Events page have been contacted. With more outreach happening this week.

The press release is posted below for you to read.

Announcing the Great Brookland Yard Sale, April 19, 2008

Come to Brookland on April 19, 2008 for the Great Brookland Yard Sale. Households throughout the Brookland neighborhood have joined together to hold yard sales on that Saturday between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. In addition to the individual yard sales, St. Anthony of Padua’s Church on 12th Street NE will be participating as well, with a yard sale in the church’s parking lot.

In joining together for the Great Yard sale, Brooklanders are inviting people from all over the Washington metro area to come to Brookland for a day of fun and great bargains. Andrew Fortin, an organizer of the event said, “With all of these yard sales going on at once, there’s no telling what treasures you’ll find! And, at the same time, we also want to showcase Brookland as a great D.C. neighborhood with a lot to offer.”

Yard sale organizers have posted a blog (brooklandblog.blogspot.com) with complete information on the Great Brookland Yard Sale, including a map of the area with participating homes highlighted, and information on some of the items that will be for sale. This information will be updated frequently as the sale approaches.

For more information contact Andrew S. Fortin at Fortinandrew@hotmail.com

We'll keep you posted and post links to any pubished material related to the event. In the mean time tell your friends, coworkers, local church and anyone else about the Yard Sale!

Watch it Grow!

Four and Counting!

Here's a snapshot of the Great Brookland Yard Sale map. Less than 24 hours into the sign up and four participants. Keep it up guys!

You can access the map on the link in the upper right hand corner.

Time to Sign Up!

There's been lot's of talk, but the time has come for action. The date is set, St. Anthony's is on board and we are ready to start signing people up for the 1st-ever, Great Brookland Yard Sale!

The sale will be on Saturday, April 19th, 2008
(Sunday the 20th for the rain date)

The time of the sale will be from 10AM until 4PM

Want to participate?

Please send in your name, address and time of sale (if different than the 10 am to 4pm default times) to Andrew Fortin at Fortinandrew@hotmail.com

We will use that information to create a printable map of all participants. The map will be posted to the listserve so all participants can print it up and have it available at each location. We'll also create a dynamic map you can access on the links on the upper left.

Additionally, we'll be posting a flier later this week you can print up and handout to friends, family, co-workers, your church, support group or what have you. The planning committee will be sending notices to local media, blogs and will put up a posting on craigslist.

This is a great opportunity not only to showcase Brookland, but to clean out some of that clutter...and perhaps for each of us to make a little $.

To be included on the printable map, please sign up by MARCH 29TH. You can always sign up after that date, but you'll only be included on the blog map.

If you have any questions, email them to us as well or post them in comments.

As a way to use this event to get to know our neighbors a little better, you can also write a brief story about yourself and your sale and we will post it here. Pictures welcome.

Looking forward to a fun event!

More News from St. Anthony's!

Do you want to participate in the Great Brookland Yard Sale but do not
live in Brookland or have the space? Join us on Saturday, April 19 for
our annual outdoor market! The 20th is our rain date.

St. Anthony is located in a prime location!!! We are on 12th Street
between Lawrence and Monroe. We'll begin at 10 AM and end at 4 PM.

Tables are now being reserved for $20.00 each. Call the Mike
Thomasian, (202) 526-4657, or email for more details.

thomasianm@centercityconsortium.org

We appreciate your support!

Moving Sale

Saturday, March 15, 2008


Leah, one of our neighbors on the 400 block of Franklin Street, is having a moving sale on Saturday, March, 15. Details are below. Check it out and get motivated for the Great Brookland Yard Sale scheduled for April.

Leah's email follows:

Hi,

We are finally putting the house on the market and needing to get rid of everything in it.
We have a huge list of items at super reasonable prices. We need to move this stuff out
:)

I will be taking pictures as I organize the items. I am also willing to schedule a walk through a few days before the sale or even as early as this weekend.

Feel free to contact me if you would like to know more information on any item.

Huge Moving Sale on Saturday, March 15 from 10 am <> through 2pm. This is a "Cash & Carry" sale. ONE Day only. Bring a truck or van for large items. Pick ups must be done between 10 am and 2 pm.

Kitchen Items:
Microwave stand-white-gently used Crystal wine glasses and goblets
Small compact freezer-older but works great
Dorm size refridgerator

Dining Area:
Older dining room table with small leaf, 4 chairs
TV Trays <4>

Living Room:
2 piece sofa and love seat-white-gently used
Sleeper sofa-older, orange in color, woven fabric-decent shape, some stains
27" Color TV-works great
19" Color TV-works great
Large book case- 5 shelves- gently used
2 black metal shelving units-used
Entertainment Center
Coffee Table-Surface has a heat mark on it
3 End tables, one is a glass top
Knick Knack stand-3 shelves
Recliner-Gently used-Blue
Framed Body Painting Images, signed and numbered by local artist
Misc Glassware, Vases etc
Stereo Console from the 70's. Great shape and works like a charm.
Upper part of a roll top desk, just the roll part. Can be placed on existing desk.

Bedroom:
Full sized pillow top mattress and box spring-gently used. One stain on mattress
1 dresser w/mirror 9 drawers-gently used
drawing table-used comes with chair
white book case 4 shelves-used but clean

Several large houseplants as well.
Brand new/never used BBQ

So many misc items... too many to list.

We will have computer things as well. We have several older monitors that work well. 2 Mac G3's that work. Misc computer items.

Leah
400 Block Franklin ST NE

Great News!

St. Anthony's Joins Great Brookland Yard Sale!

It may be more appropriate to say we're joining them, but either way we just got the following email from Jessica at St. Anthony's.

St. Anthony Catholic School will hosts its annual spring Outdoor Market
on Saturday, April 19. Many of the listserv readers have been our
vendors and/ or customers. We appreciate your support and generosity.

Tables are being rented for a $20.00 donation. All proceeds benefit the
school yearbook club. There will also be a white elephant table so your
donations are also welcome.

Contact Michael Thomasian for more details.
thomasianm@centercityconsortium.org
(202) 526-4657

Thank you in advance for your support. Your involvement will make this
a perfect neighborhood event!