By Brian Grimmer
The law in Washington state recognizes the
medical efficacy of Cannabis with medical-use of the plant has been permitted
under state law since 1998. In 2012,
Washington voters chose to legalize the recreational use of cannabis. These defiant stances taken against the
failed “War on drugs” are the result of successful political organizing.
Through effective leadership, cannabis
culture has become a large and powerful social movement and political force in
Washington state. While successfully
changing social attitudes and the legal status of cannabis in the Evergreen
State, the movement has also legitimized an industry. As the social stigmas associated with
cannabis decrease with continued social acceptance as reflected by Gallup opinion
polls (Swift, 2013) and successful political initiatives for cannabis
legalization in Colorado and Washington (Hawken, Caulkins, Kilmer, and Kleiman,
2013), skills once considered criminal are becoming legitimate tax-paying career
paths and academic subjects of study.
Even with legalization a reality in
Washington, the cannabis movement in Seattle remains politically active and
committed to continued cannabis law reform.
One such organization at the forefront of cannabis legalization is Seattle
Hempfest. Publicized as a “protestival”
(McPeak, 2011), directors of Seattle Hempfest have successfully developed and
facilitated the free annual public event in Seattle for the past 22 years to celebrate
cannabis culture and advocate for cannabis law reform through education and
entertainment (Seattle Hempfest History, n.d.).
In this paper, I shall examine the
organizational structure of Seattle Hempfest from my perspective as a volunteer. Secondly, I shall examine the communication
methods and leadership styles employed in critical roles within the
organization and during events gathered in the course of personal interviews
and research. Within this section, I
will also discuss a perceived shortcoming and deserved accolades in the areas
of organizational communication. Lastly,
I will show how effective communications methods contribute to the success of
the organization as a whole.
My wife and I have been involved with
Hempfest for two and three years respectively as event staff, or Hempfest volunteers. I was invited to speak at my first Seattle
Hempfest in 2011 about my activism at Central Washington University. I felt obliged to volunteer as I was so
honored to be a part of Seattle Hempfest.
During my past three years of volunteer
service, I also conducted sociological research and recorded my social
observations to gather data for my undergraduate research projects. Overall, I have found the cannabis culture to
be very welcoming and accepting of diversity and people wanting to learn by
doing. Long-term friendships frequently develop
among volunteers. Within the
organization, I have made several friends I now view as family. Even now, as I write this paper, I am living
in a house with 4 other Hempfest volunteers.
The reasons people get involved Hempfest
vary by the individual (Punyon, 2012). On
a personal level, I volunteer because I desire the hands-on experience so that
I may further my educational and career goals.
Additionally, I volunteer out of pride in knowing that I am doing
something positive to change the social perceptions of cannabis while actively giving
back to the community. For some at
Hempfest, the urgency of commerce takes precedent as changing laws allow for
the conducting of business transactions in the commodity of cannabis.
Some Hempfest best volunteers are
Seattle’s homeless and transient population.
For many people, participating in the event provides them with a sense
of belonging and self-worth (Black, personal interview, 2013). In the spirit of community service, hot meals
are available during the event to feed those helping with set-up and daily operations. Additionally, several Seattle businesses
recognize the efforts of Hempfest staff volunteers as the event provides good job
experience and transferable skills (Phun, personal communication, 2013).
While I have only experienced three
events, the first Hempfest was held in 1991 in Seattle’s Gasworks Park (McPeak,
2011). The purpose of the Seattle
Hempfest is best summarized in the organization’s mission statement: “Seattle
Hempfest was founded in the belief that the public is better served when
citizens and public officials work cooperatively in order to successfully
accomplish common goals” (Mission, n.d.).
With companies such as Boeing, Microsoft,
Google, and Amazon, located in the city in addition to the University of
Washington, it is easy to see that Seattle values and embraces education. For Seattle Hempfest, education is a key element
of the organization’s success (Sharon Whitson, n.d.). Even the Seattle Police Department participates
in a good-natured attempt to educate the public by handing out free Doritos
with stickers warning patrons about the limits of cannabis possession under Washington
state law (Johnson, 2013; Livingston, 2013).
While educating the public about cannabis is
the primary focus of the festival, the organization operates a small office and
retail storefront called Hempfest Central in the Seattle suburb of Lake City. From this location, the organization conducts
the business operations of the festival. The business operations of Seattle Hempfest centers
on the non-profit entity Seattle Events (Mission, n.d.).
The leader of Seattle Hempfest is Vivian
McPeak, co-founder and executive director of Seattle Events. McPeak provides what Baack refers to as strategic
management for the organization (2012). As
a non-profit entity in Washington State, McPeak is required to report to the
board of directors, commonly referred to within the organization as the
Steering Committee. Also providing
strategic planning are John Davis, who serves as chairman of the board, and Sharon
Whitson, who serves as general manager.
Below the Steering Committee, the leadership branches off into what
Baack refers to as tactical management (2012).
This is the level where leaders with specific skills and specialties
make up dedicated leadership teams and Core Staff members needed to manage such
a large public event (Phun, personal communication, 2013).
Working with Seattle Hempfest as a
volunteer has provided the opportunity to conduct sociological research into
the cannabis culture over the past three years.
As part of this research, I have observed the leadership of Seattle
Hempfest in the performance of their roles during events. The expertise and talent possessed by the
people volunteering for the organization truly make the event possible.
As with any large event, vending provides
a large source of event funding. Understanding
this, the Seattle Hempfest crew works hard to take care of the vendors who
participate in the event. However, when
the day is done and it is time to clear the public out of the park, the staff
sometimes has to get tough with vendors trying make one more sale for the
night. Due to legal reasons, vendors cannot
sell cannabis at the event. This is another area where the volunteers and event
leadership are required to take an affirmative and staunch stance as such
behavior could potentially result in difficulties renewing event permits for
the next year.
My personal favorite aspect of Seattle
Hempfest is the speakers. Here is where
one can truly begin to understand the diversity of people involved in cannabis. After listening to the speakers at Hempfest
one soon realizes that the stereotypical cannabis user as portrayed in Cheech
and Chong films is rather demeaning. In
reality, cannabis users can be dirt poor or rich and famous, like Bill Gates
(Manes & Andrews, 1993).
Listening to the stories of people like
Kristina Flor, an activist whose father died in Federal custody (Press, 2012),
one quickly realizes that the government and law enforcement do not always play
fair when it comes to cannabis. Hear the
story of story of brave Mykayla Comstock, a 7-year-old girl from Oregon whose
cancer is in remission thanks to cannabis oil (Home Page, n.d.), and one can
begin to understand why so many people call cannabis medicine.
Walking along the hundreds of vendors, one
can listen to different vendors talk up the benefits of hemp soap, or how good hemp
fabrics are for the environment while the next vendor is busy selling bongs or
asking for donations for the particular cause they represent. With so many vendors, the frugal patron can
accumulate a fair amount of free swag and souvenirs with a bit of
determination. For those with the
financial means, Hempfest can be a buyer’s paradise for one in need of
cannabis-related paraphernalia, artwork, clothing, or jewelry.
In all the Seattle Hempfest provides a
public forum where cannabis enthusiasts can congregate freely and enjoy the
fruits of their activism efforts. While
sales of cannabis are still considered by law enforcement to be illegal
activities, cannabis consumption does occur at the Seattle Hempfest. As part of communicating a message of
responsibility and leadership, volunteers are expected to remove their Hempfest
tee-shirt and any identifying badges before partaking in the consumption of
cannabis (Phun, personal communication, 2011).
Failure to do so can result in the loss of
one’s position as a volunteer or even leadership position. Topping off the punishment, is the added
public surrendering of the offender’s Hempfest shirt to leadership. The loss of position and shirt can occur for
other offenses as well such as insubordination, harassment, or attacking
another person. If the offense is severe
enough and warrants such action, one can be escorted out of the event by law
enforcement and blacklisted from all future Hempfest events (Black, personal
communication, 2013).
Such a policy combined with the personal
pride attached to the possession of a Hempfest Staff shirt and the position
held with the organization inspires most people to pay attention to what they
are doing or risk literally losing their shirt.
In Seattle, a Hempfest staff tee shirt can often make the difference
between a getting good burger at the bar or getting a great burger at the
bar. As a result, one can typically see
a few Hempfest staff shirts on any given day in the city of Seattle.
With just the outreach performed during
the event by giving out staff shirts to the volunteers, Hempfest leadership has
succeeded in communicating their presence to the community in a positive
manner. For three days after the event,
volunteers are walk the length Myrtle Edwards Park to clean up the grounds and
leave the park cleaner than what it was before the event.
While such dedication certainly
communicates a degree of appreciation to the leaders of Seattle for granting
Seattle Events permission to use the park, the reality is that the fees charged
by the city for any remaining residuals found in the park such as litter,
graffiti, and stickers on signs, are financially crippling to an organization’s
bottom line (Phun, personal communication, 2013).
Seattle Hempfest costs in excess of
$800,000 to make into a reality (Johnson, 2013). This point is communicated to volunteers
doing the cleanup sweeps after the event who in turn vigilantly scrape off
stickers and graffiti from park surfaces and pick up the trash. The hope is to reduce the total number of
penalties charged by the city for incurred damages.
Seattle Hempfest is a success in Seattle
due to the dedication of its leadership and the support provided by the
community in the form of volunteers and patrons. While the cannabis industry is legal in the
states of Colorado and Washington, there remains a lot of work to legalize
cannabis in the remaining 48 states. As
the largest free cannabis rally in Washington, Seattle Hempfest will continue
to organize and provide a forum where activists can meet and voice their
opinions to the public.
References:
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D. (2012). The Nature of Communication in Professional Settings. Management
Communication (pp. 1-8). San Diego: Bridgepoint Education.
Hawken,
A., Caulkins, J., Kilmer, B. and Kleiman, M. (2013), Quasi-legal cannabis in
Colorado and Washington: local and national implications. Addiction, 108: 837–838. doi: 10.1111/add.12156
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Livingston,
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Manes,
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Punyon,
B. (2012, July 30). Why Volunteering is Important . Seattle Hempfest. Retrieved
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