NavyLT, we in MI hold picnics too. I've never been to one due to the drive and the timeframes. As far as I know, no one has been shot at these picnics
My experiences here in Ann Arbor are closer to non-experiences. Nothing really happens. People look and stare but that's about it. I would find it funny if they thought I was a threat pushing my shopping cart with my eggplant and asparagus. I think most people think that OC'ers are just LEOs. I tend to wear cargo or dress pants/shorts with button up shirts or polos, 5.11 6" ATAC boots (awesome boots), and a random belt wherever I am regardless of carry status. Most OC'ers that I have seen wear about the same (some wear jeans with a tucked in shirt or some variation).
I was mildly skeptical about OCing before I did it, especially in a city like Ann Arbor. Now that I've done it I'm more than convinced that it helps the image of gun owners.
sixgun, part of OCing in MI is LEO education... It has gotten much much better recently, with less and less "incidents" between OC'ers and LEO's. Most (not all!) of these incidents were LEO's who were simply unaware of the laws. Some of these incidents were OC'ers pushing boundaries they should not have been pushing.
As far as public education, a lot of interesting work goes into that. Right now in the city of Rochester, there is a really cool festival called Arts, Beats, and Eats. The organization that puts on the festival has banned guns from the premises. The problem with that is that the festival is held on city streets and no one can ban guns on city streets (public place and MI has a pre-emption law, city is leasing the property). Some OC'ers really wanted to attend the event and pointed out to the organizers that the clause in the contract was invalid. So the city of Rochester started playing with the contract and trying to redefine areas and apply other laws that didn't apply etc etc. Long story short, it's now all over the new herre in SE Michigan. Anyone that has listened to the nightly news now knows that OCing is legal in MI.
Then there are the countless individual interactions that occur every day. Hearts and minds, one by one.