The American Revolution was born in the bars, shops, and food cafes of New
England. The progressive idea of being freer under a fairer world system was
not understood by many colonists, but talking, reasoning and
visualizing a better way enlightened enough people that
the mental yoke of accepting the colonial system was broken. Now the neo-colonial
system of trade is understood to be destroying personal freedom in a
backward system of global relations that creates master and slave nations,
while harming our middle class and increasing the division of American
society into rich and poor. Americans must realize that the trade system has
evolved into a race to the bottom. This reality and others can be exposed in a new cafe
system centered on ideas and action.The
fair trade cafe system envisioned by the Living Wage franchise of stores,
cafes and progressive centers is the place where you make truly free
and fair trade work. The franchise of cafes will grow together, such that
the system they create will strengthen each other's stores. The franchise owners will
have an increasingly valuable asset - unity.
Let's start right now.
Responsible Purchasing
Increasingly people know that every time they spend money their transaction
is the culmination of a system of relationships from the moment of
production where resources and labor create the item to that very moment
where the item is held in their hands and its monetary value is exchanged.
The prior conditions of production are related to a consumer's moment of purchase.
A consciousness and concern for the producers' work conditions and quality of
life is spreading and creating what we call the
"intentional consumer". People want to do the right thing but it's not easy to figure out how.
Problem solved! Your cafe will be a part of a new trade system that makes doing the
right thing simple. Cafe computers will bring up the Living Wage web
sites that contain cultural connections on its fair trade imports with fast links on its desktop to Co-op Americas "Green Pages" and
the Labor Movements "Union Label" sites. Living Wage makes it easy for you to provide the national and
international information necessary on your cafe computer at low cost, a few $500 computers and high speed
internet. The franchise provides the information and links to make your
customer's information search quick and accurate. The cafe will also be a
focal point in the community to research every purchase from a t-shirt to an
automobile.
Responsible Travel
At $468 billion travel is the world's largest industry, but
the industry is in decline with the growth of the internet and demise
of the travel agent booking structure. The corporate elimination of the travel agent is what makes
"intentional travel consultancy" a new opportunity. A cafe system of
travel information and services is poised to bring customers to your store
and cafe. The internet provides a plethora of overwhelming disinformation and advertising
that misdirect a traveler into an exploitive and meaningless trip.
Travelers need independent and honest information. Your cafe will have the
advice of experienced progressive travelers to help your customers
choose their interests and save money. The Living Wage franchise provides
the information that brings people to your cafe and allows you to sell travel items and services. There are multiple information elements that your
cafe can provide: where to go, what to bring,
what to do, best flight deals, how to visit and
relate to people in different countries, etc. Living Wage will provide all of this
information and advice on its websites, and only you and members of the
franchise can provide the info in your cafe.
Your Cafe
We encourage the location of your World Traveler
Cafe (WTC) near universities, culturally interesting areas, or
progressively minded populations, in an attempt to create an activist-based,
cross-cultural learning experience. WTC local franchise owners have high
levels of autonomy to create a productive and enjoyable environment given
their unique communities. WTC will plan activities to help your cafe present the ideal forum for the
showcasing of foreign films, documentaries, academic
and foreign student lectures, and local world traveler discussions. Indeed,
this can be the perfect way to bridge the gap between international students
and the local community.
To introduce new regions (history, food, and culture),
a "featured country/area of the month" can be offered. Cafes may be able
to work together to hold regional online chats with special guests, in any WTC in the world.
Living Wage information and activities will create the opportunity for
travelers to discuss where they have been and where they may go next.
World Traveler Cafe E-Guidebooks:
It is standard in the guidebook
industry that a typical freshly-published book contains two-year old
information at the time that the traveler first touches it. Though not as
problematic for the traveler visiting countries with stable prices and
conditions, in the developing world, prices and availability of transport,
routes, housing, and food change weekly. Downloadable e-books, up-to-date
and personalized, can revolutionize the entire industry. If a
substantial number of member-travelers submit timely information on cafe
computers, then a real updated e-travel-guidebook results. This gives the
traveler access to information before and during a trip! Intentional
travelers pay for and download e-books, custom-tailored to specific
locations, interests (art, architecture, battlefields, politics, sociology),
and budget. The traveler carries only what is needed in paper or electronic
form, with the ability to update en route. The traveler then contributes
back to the e-books, by providing updated information. In this way,
the traveler helps to create a responsible tourism guide and you, the store owner, have a valuable asset!
The old "Travel Agent" structure is gone, allowing the opportunity for the
cafe to combine travel discussion with e-guide books, creating a new form of
travel consultancy and responsible tourism.
Traveler Feedback and Consignment Sale:
Upon return, intentional travelers are
encouraged to schedule an e-book update session and lead a discussion at the
Cafe. By advertising travel reports, the Cafe attracts new travelers.
Travelers love to recount stories and give free advice to other travelers.
(Create your own backpacker community at home!) Travelers can also sell
handicraft goods, purchased during their trip on a consignment basis at
your cafe. Travelers will be informed of locations to purchase directly from
fair trade sellers. Our guide and purchasing instructions will help
travelers find fair trade goods abroad. This is a
way for a traveler to make use of their free luggage allotment and earn some
money towards travel expenses. This promotes travel and discussion, which
leads to even more global understanding!
World Traveler Cafe Ambassador Program:
The World Travel Ambassador is
encouraged to volunteer during their trip, to make their journey a real
learning experience. The volunteer effort may be with an NGO, helping the
cafe establish and verify new need for fair trade production, making site visits in villages to
take photos for the Living Wage website, or even teaching English (a real need). The
website is a natural way to link NGO opportunities with traveler abilities.
NGOs and other organizations may provide training or direction to make a
travel experience something more than the usual. Ambassadors will facilitate
international fair trade and experience meaningful, culturally-responsible
travel.
All Ambassadors will receive letters and a website listing to verify their
work.
Travel Accessories:
Your cafe can sell and rent travel
accessories, with an eye towards updates in travel technology that our
unique travel cafe system is poised to create. For example, we may be
the first to rent a GPS system to travelers, for directional use and for friends and family to
monitor their trip. Travelers can also rent a global mobile
phone or a handheld personal data assistant (PDA or palm pilot) with their
e-guide book loaded on it. The cafe can host a website page for
the traveler to post pictures and stories of their journey to update friends
and family and produce a final travel book of their adventures. Other items include the more conventional
backpacks, medical kits, mosquito netting, sleep sacks, and money belts.
Traveler Services Available for the 2004 Season
Responsible travelers signed up at your cafe for the e-guide can use a
Living Wage website to build a travel book of experiences. While traveling,
digital photos and stories can be posted to the travelers page for friends
and family. The traveler will have constant access to the e-guide
data to post updates. During and
upon completion of a trip the traveler can paste site descriptions from the
e-guide to match their pictures and itinerary and download a final
personalized travel book onto the cafe or home computer. An electronic or
printed version of the trip can be given as a coffee table book by the
traveler. This allows constant updates and viewing while traveling and a
final version when ready. Digital cameras and other equipment can also be rented
from the cafe.
Postal Services
Living Wage will help you set up an easy mail service at your cafe.
One table can be for wrapping, weighing and preparing mail with information
on postal rates, UPS and FedEx. This is an important service that has led to
the existence of private chain mail services which you can also sell.
Providing this service for free (just the cost of paper and postage)
with the purchase of a fair trade item creates a one stop gift and mail shop.
Many other services and options for a cafe are listed
under the previous page "Expand the Franchise System" which explains how a
model progressive "Center" can created. That is a much larger
undertaking but you might get a few more service ideas there that will fit
with your cafe location and interests.
How to make a Store or Cafe Happen
You can help create a new store from scratch or help an existing cafe in
your community convert. Please see "Model Living Wage Store" for ideas and
:"Frequently Asked Questions" for more detail. For ideas on financing or
forming a group of investors see "Investment Partnering".
Existing Cafes can easily convert. In fact, the owners will operate much the
way they have except that they will see more customers who have more things
to buy. Expanding services and products is easy and you can help a cafe
convert in your area by just printing out this page and taking it to them.
(See the next page on the Model Living Wage Store to
understand the international products' cultural connection).
