We have always had a 12 hour Relay - which is the norm for our area. The idea of a 24 hour Relay brings about responses such as - 'we're not ready for it', 'we don't have the participation for it', 'we're too small', etc. (Our Committee is 45+ people for 2008, Teams last year was 35, but the year before was 60, and income for '07 was around $120k)
Has anyone gone from a 12 hour to a 24 hour Relay? How'd that go? What was the Committee response? What was the Team response? What was the ACS Staff response? What did you do right...what would you do differently? Why do you have a 24 hour Relay?
Those of you who have a 24 hour Relay, why? How large is your Committee? How many Teams do you have? If you've ever been to a 12 hour Relay, how is it different from a 24 hour Relay? What does a 24 hour program look like?
Hi ....I hope you consider doing a 24 hour Relay...here in PA.....we all have 24 hour Relays....I actually never knew until I went to FL for a conf. that some did 12 hours. Here is my thoughts.....You work so hard all year around....why not spread out the FUN!! The 24 hours goes by pretty fast. We start at 6pm on Friday and go into Saturday where we have closing at 5pm (saturday evening) which last for about 45 min. to a hour.
The night is the best time to walk (its usually cooler) and the kids love it. Its just one big slumber party.
When people ask us why the 24 hours.....Its because Cancer Never Sleeps! I was told when I first started that each hour of the Relay represents 24 hours of a person with cancer. The morning....noon and Night. Hence the moon and sun!
We love it!!! Hope you try it out for your next event....I bet people will enjoy it too.
Best Wishes!
jena
September 6, 2007 - 7:06pm login or register to post comments
ShellTheShark
Posts: 1
Joined: 2007-09-02
We have a 24 hour
My Relay is 24 hours. actually, it is around 21 hours...
It is a pretty large Relay, and continues to grow. I don't know exact numbers, butours is so much fun, and pretty big.
a 24 hour relay is much more fun than a 12.
that would be the main reason for switching. of course, another huge plus is more time to raise more money.
I am a first time captain (and 15 years old), and not much has been planned for this year's yet...
September 2, 2007 - 3:14pm login or register to post comments
relaydivajuli
Posts: 152
Joined: 2006-11-06
24 hour relaying
Hi Madonna,
Ours is a 24 hour Relay and while the night-time can seem a little long while you're walking around the track, in general it always seems like we have so much to do that 24 hours isn't long enough! This year our schedule (in general) looked something like this:
10:00 AM Saturday with Opening Ceremonies and Survivor Lap 11:00ish Oncologist speaker/questions & answers noon Entertainment/lunch 1:00 Talent Show 2:00 entertainment/silly hat lap 3:00 Talent Show 4:00 Entertainment 5:00 Miss Relay Contents 6:00 Road to Recovery Race 7:00 Entertainment/dinner 8:00 Survivor Reception & Dessert in VIP Tent 9:00 Luminaria 10:00 Quiet Time 7:00 Breakfast 8:00 Trash pickup lap 9:00 Closing Ceremonies 10:00 say farewell until it all begins again!
During much of this this time we have Silent Auction, Relay Gear, Kids Camp, Luminaria Tent, Surivivor/VIP Tent & the AutoBody Shop open for people to do things. And various theme laps are also incorporated into the day, as well as various Mission Moments and spotight announcements about things going on, what teams are doing at their tents, fundraisers, etc.
Our Relay tries to keep things quiet at night for our neighbors, but our Sound Guy transmits to a pre-designated radio frequency and shows movies all night that people can watch and listen to on their radio with headphones as they walk...if they want.
We found that the entertainment that the most people paid attention to was provided by our own Relayers. The Talent Show was a big hit and everybody came up and watched. Whereas the other entertainment - while good - was only spotty when it came to catching people's attention.
In the Kids Camp area we have a jumpy house and various crafts and games going on. One year the gal in charge was a Girl Scout and had the younger girls do Try-Its and got a Boy Scout to do the Cub Scout version of that...where they can get scouting awards for trying various activities. That was very popular, as well.
August 29, 2007 - 3:37pm login or register to post comments
cindyslife
Posts: 1
Joined: 2007-08-29
24-hr.relay
I wondered about this too. Ours was a 16-hr.relay(6pm.-10am.).This went over well but it seemed to short.I would like to see a24hr. relay.There was so much time &work involved.It seemed to me by extending the event it would be more fun and also bring in the extra money for the cause.Everything could be more enjoyable if it was held longer so the event could be enjoyed more.I was having a great time but it seemed to be over just about the time everyone started to have fun. Maybe it could be held for 24-hrs. in the near future.
August 29, 2007 - 2:39am login or register to post comments
kluette
Posts: 4
Joined: 2007-01-24
Data on $$ raised for longer events
If you're thinking about extending the length of your Relay, there's good reason -- actually about 30,000 good reasons....
I don't have the exact figures, but the average net income of events that are 12 hours or less is about $41,000 vs. the avg. net income of events that are 19+ hours which is approximately $71,000.
The longer the event, the more opportunities for the community to come out and be a part of the event; better for shift workers or those who work nights to be a part of the event; and more hours for on-site fundraising!
Good luck!!
September 4, 2007 - 1:26pm login or register to post comments
Joined: 2006-11-06