I recently traveled to the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island in Providence, Rhode Island, for An Evening of Jewish Renaissance, their annual event offering an evening of cultural events, largely built around authors and their books.

It’s wonderful for the community: a one-night invasion of inspiring and fascinating content, across multiple sessions, where participants can choose which to attend and when. For me, however, it meant I was not only in competition with my fellow authors for audience but I also couldn’t check out their wonderful offerings as well (like going to a candy store and having to stand in a corner selling Snickerbars when all you really want to do is go shopping!).

This is how I promoted by two offerings:

Seltzer: A Recipe for Delight

Put over a decade of seltzer research into a room. Fill with a dash of nostalgia, a slice of history, and a helping of personal interest stories. Squeeze in a spritz of Pamplemousse and Unicorn Kisses. Sprinkle with seltzer poems, health recommendations, and ethnic identity. Stir once and serve. Drink before the foam disappears.

Dramatic Readings from Seltzertopia, in 2 Parts

Part 1: The Egg Cream Mafia: “The only thing keeping the mafia hit man from the 13-year old soda jerk was an egg cream…”

Part 2: Bring Me Your Empties! “Spend a day traveling Brooklyn with Eli the Seltzer Man, the oldest in the country.”

On the plus side, I got to mix things up – offering my road show one hour then doing a straight-up book reading during the next. Also, a local friend, Joyce, came by, who I hadn’t seen in years, who showed me the Providence night-life , which was wonderful.

For all the image please go here.