The Signs

Shown under each image is its index number, the date it was created and the date it was first aired in public.

design of sign yg05
YG05: 5/3/08; 6/3.

design of sign yg07
YG07: 7/3/08; 8/3.

design of sign yg10
YG10: 8/3/08; 9/3.

design of sign yg11
YG12: 10/3/08; 11/3.

design of sign yg14
YG14: 16/3/08; 17/3.

design of sign yg16
YG16: 23/3/08; 27/3.

design of sign yg18
YG18: 30/3/08; 31/3.

design of sign yg21
YG21: 15/4/08; 16/4.

design of sign yg18
YG24: 15/4/08; 16/4.

The Yawn Guy: Sign-Walking
and Street Sessions

As an experiment, I have been walking around locally in Newcastle, North-East England, with a double-sided sign on a pole, promoting my Yawnguy services.

Each sign is A2 size (420mm x 594mm, or 16.5" x 23.4"), and both are enclosed in an A2-size plastic cover to keep out the rain. The pole is 32mm plastic pipe, extends 42" below the whole sign-holder, and is very securely fastened onto a sheet of A2 foamboard so the strong, gusty North-East winds don't blow it all apart.

Here is a log of which signs I displayed where:

March 2008

Thu 6: YG05, YG06; 11:30 - 2:30; Newcastle City Center; foot-traffic only, about 100 people a minute; mostly adult shoppers in casual clothing.

Sat 8: YG07, YG08; 11:30 - 2:30; City Center; foot-traffic only, about 120 people a minute; mostly adult shoppers in casual clothing on Northumberland St.; Monument Square and adjacent area on Blackett Street by Old Eldon Square had a couple hundred teenagers just hanging out.

Sun 9: YG08, YG10; 1:00 - 4:00; City Center; foot-traffic only, about 70 people a minute; mostly adult shoppers in casual clothing, a few more children; some teenagers shopping but not the crowd hanging out like Saturday.

Mon 10: YG10, YG11; 1:00 - 4:00; City Center; same pedestrian description as before. Approached by two journalism students from Newcastle University, they want to do an interview sometime. I referred them to website, but I omitted to get their contact details. Whoops. They suggested I put URL on sign. Good point. I think I should also put "Ask Me about..." too.

Tue 11: YG11, YG12; 7:55 - 8:20; 8:45 - 9:10 Jubilee Rd/Great North Rd; foot-traffic ave. maybe 3 adults and 3 kids a minute; almost all the adults in business clothes and the kids going to school. Vehicle traffic too, approx. 20 cars and one bus a minute. I always wanted to walk around with a big sign saying "Repent! The end is nigh!" I couldn't fit in the "Repent", but I did the rest. Mission accomplished. :). I walked by (without a sign) at 4:10pm and people were leaving to go home; so it looks like they have staggered working hours of 8-4, 8:30-4:30 and 9-5. Very windy today, too exposed to hold a sign up for long.

Wed 12: YG12, YG13; 7:45 - 9:00 Jubilee Rd/Great North Rd; same numbers as above. Waved and smiled and said good morning to a lot of people. About 10% responded. Very windy. Showers. I tried to rotate signs every 10 seconds.

Thu 13: YG05, YG12; 7:45 - 8:45 Jubilee Rd/Great North Rd; I did a better count: it's probably about 100 people a minute, with foot-traffic and vehicle traffic included. I tried to rotate signs every 10 seconds. Then 3:00 - 5:00 in the city centre, with sign-twirling every 5 seconds. A cameraman from the Evening Chronicle video'd me, whatever that means as it is print media and it was a TV camera.

Sat 15: (N/A); 11:00 - 3:15; Sunderland, Fawcett Street. This was a protest demo with a group of people, at which part of my sign still promoted free sessions with Yawnguy at www.yawnguy.com.

Mon 17: YG12, YG14; 12:00 - 3:00; City Center; same pedestrian description as before. Rotated sign every 4/5 seconds. In two locations, where people approached from all four sides (Monument Square and Haymarket), I rotated it a quarter-turn at a time instead of a half-turn at a time.

Tue 18: YG05, YG12; 12:00 - 3:00; City Center; same pedestrian description as before. Rotated sign every 4/5 seconds.

Wed 19: YG05, YG13; 12:45 - 3:45; City Center; same pedestrian description as before. Rotated sign every 4/5 seconds.

Tue 25: YG05, YG13; 11:45 - 2:45; City Center; same pedestrian description as before. Rotated sign every 4/5 seconds. Snow and blustery past few days; cold but otherwise OK today.

Wed 26: YG05, YG13; 1:00 - 3:00; City Center; same pedestrian description as before. Rotated sign every 4/5 seconds.

Thu 27: YG05, YG13; YG15 (A3); YG 16 (A3) 1:15 - 3:45; City Center; same pedestrian description as before. Rotated sign every 4/5 seconds. Held an A3 sign without foamboard--a bit too flimsy. Note to self: chocolate is diuretic, so don't eat a chunk just before you start. :). (Cum. total to date = 33.5 hours)

Sun 30: YG05, YG13; 12:15 - 2:15; City Center; same pedestrian description as before. Rotated sign every 4/5 seconds. Brought an A3 sign with foamboard, but too windy to deploy. I should shout out re my wares instead of quietly showing the signs and occasionally saying hello to people who look at me. (Cum. total to date = 35.5 hours)

Mon 31: YG17, YG18; 12:30 - 3:30; City Center; same pedestrian description as before. Rotated sign every 4/5 seconds. Nice weather, mostly warm and sunny. Didn't do any shouting. :)(Cum. total to date = 38.5 hours)

April 2008: Street Sessions

Onto Phase 2: Live Group Auditing using a session script that repeats about every four minutes, allowing new people to continually join while existing people can also continue their own session. This is the script I used successfully when doing group sessions on Skypecast. I am using a portable PA unit on a tripod for sound amplification.

Tue 15: YG18, YG23; 2:00 - 4:00; City Center; still in Easter holidays, so lots of young people around in addition to the usual crowd. Rotated sign every 4/5 seconds. Raining earlier, so promo for session tomorrow only. No vocals. (Cum. total sign-walking to date = 40.5 hours; zero sessions.)

Wed 15:YG21, YG22, YG24; session 12:30 - 1:15; stationary at corner of Northumberland St. and Northumberland Rd. Regular Rub & Yawn four-minute-repeat session script. Weather was OK, no rain, little wind. PA Unit on extended tripod to amplify voice. About 50 passers-by per minute. No-one apparently did a session. Time for Plan B. :)

Sat 18: YG12, YG17; 2:15 - 3:15; City Center; still in Easter holidays, so lots of young people around in addition to the usual crowd. Did 35 surveys on people in all age groups. Most common stress items: school/work and money. (Cum. total sign-walking to date = 41.5 hours; sessions = 0:45.)

Tue 29: YG12, YG17; 12:15 - 2:15; Northumberland St. by Northumberland Rd. Repeating session script, recorded, of two simple stress-release procedures. Stood nearby holding sign. (Cum. total sign-walking to date = 41.5 hours; sessions = 2:45.)

May 2008: Street Sessions/Signs

Thu 8: YG12, YG17; 12:30 - 1:30; Northumberland St. No session, just walked and sat around. (Cum. total sign-walking to date = 42.5 hours; sessions = 2:45.)

Tue 20: YG12, YG17; 12:40 - 2:10; Northumberland St. No session, just walked and sat around. (Cum. total sign-walking to date = 44 hours; sessions = 2:45.)

Tue 27: YG17, YG28; 11:40 - 1:10; Northumberland St. No session, just walked and sat around. (Cum. total sign-walking to date = 45.5 hours; sessions = 2:45.)

Thu 29: YG17, YG28; 1:00 - 2:30; Northumberland St. No session, just walked and sat around. Also interviewed by local journalist for an hour. (Cum. total sign-walking to date = 47 hours; sessions = 2:45.)

Main Yawnguy page

This page is at www.yawnguy.com/signs