Interested In Flash Mobs?
Dear Friends & Neighbors,
Wall Mural at Orlando International Airport 4 (credit: Windermere Sun-Susan Sun Nunamaker)
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My first personal exposure to flash mob occurred in Melbourne, Australia, at the Royal Botanic Garden of Melbourne, Australia, in 2012. What a splendid surprise it was to be suddenly serenaded by a group of Australian law students, singing John Farnham’s “You’re The Voice” at the top of their lungs, full of gusto!
A flash mob (or flashmob) is a group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual and seemingly pointless act for a brief time, then quickly disperse, often for the purposes of entertainment, satire, and artistic expression. Flash mobs are organized via telecommunications, social media, or viral emails. The term, coined in 2003, is generally not applied to events and performances organized for the purposes of politics (such as protests), commercial advertisement, publicity stunts that involve public relation firms, or paid professionals. In these cases of a planned purpose for the social activity in question, the term smart mobs is often applied instead.
Since 2012, I’ve been exposed to more and more wonderful flash mobs, with musical instruments, with singing, with dancing…..there is no limit to human capacity for sharing joy and love of music and dance, some times at the most unexpected places. From arts and music, we find that regardless which part of the world one is from, one has much in common with all others…yes, we are all connected and influenced by every one else on planet earth. Below, I’d like to share with you different flash mobs gathered from different corners of the planet earth. Enjoy!
First flash mob
The first flash mobs were created in Manhattan in 2003, by Bill Wasik, senior editor of Harper’s Magazine. The first attempt was unsuccessful after the targeted retail store was tipped off about the plan for people to gather. Wasik avoided such problems during the first successful flash mob, which occurred on June 17, 2003 at Macy’s department store, by sending participants to preliminary staging areas—in four Manhattan bars—where they received further instructions about the ultimate event and location just before the event began.
More than 130 people converged upon the ninth floor rug department of the store, gathering around an expensive rug. Anyone approached by a sales assistant was advised to say that the gatherers lived together in a warehouse on the outskirts of New York, that they were shopping for a “love rug”, and that they made all their purchase decisions as a group. Subsequently, 200 people flooded the lobby and mezzanine of the Hyatt hotel in synchronized applause for about 15 seconds, and a shoe boutique in SoHo was invaded by participants pretending to be tourists on a bus trip.
Wasik claimed that he created flash mobs as a social experiment designed to poke fun at hipsters and to highlight the cultural atmosphere of conformity and of wanting to be an insider or part of “the next big thing”. The Vancouver Sun wrote, “It may have backfired on him … [Wasik] may instead have ended up giving conformity a vehicle that allowed it to appear nonconforming.” In another interview he said “the mobs started as a kind of playful social experiment meant to encourage spontaneity and big gatherings to temporarily take over commercial and public areas simply to show that they could”
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Now, for those of you curious about what flash mobs have occurred here in Central Florida area, shared below:
For some of you who may be contemplating marriage/wedding proposal, trying to figure out a way to express your love for your future significant other…..Central Floridians/Floridians may be able to help you out. Just take a look at these videos below:
For those of you who may be interested in taking part in helping another to express himself/herself, check out this meetup group below:
https://www.meetup.com/Flash-Mob-America-Florida/events/235993334/
As for me, I find that life is full of amazing things to write about or to experience. I tip my hat off to Wasik and all Flash Mob choreographers and participants, for bringing us these momentary pleasures, just for the hack of it!
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