Hello everyone! This will be my 3rd year working with Relay For Life... my first just participating with my team as team captain, last year as Entertainment/Activities Chair and this coming year I will be the Event Chair... have I lost my mind!? haha :) I would greatly appreciate any comments or tips that anybody might have with a little bit more experience than me!
This year will be the 10th year for our event, so we are doing a HAPPY BIRTHDAY theme.
I'd really like to involve youth a lot more at this Relay and would also welcome any suggestions on how your Relays have been successful with this in the past.
Thank you so much in advance!
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September 17, 2009 - 3:56pm
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Hi Megan,
This is my 3rd year. My 6th Relay, I relay hop Last year I was Entertainment Committee Chair. (last minute). This year I am the Event Chair also. My hometown is where I will be the Event Chair and last year was the towns frist event back at the high school. (we underwent all new school constructions for a couple years and the event had moved a couple times) So last year there wasn't even a committee, just a bunch of wonderful women voulnteers. This year we are going traditional with a full committee. I am so excited. This weekend I am going to event training in Columbus Ohio. Please feel free to write me back, I can give you my e-mail address too, that way we can vent, cry, and celebrate together!
Heather Powell
Event Chair
2010 New Carlilse Relay for Life
www.relayforlife.org/newcarlisle
heatherabyron.powell@gmail.com
Youth Involvement/Birthday Theme
My 2009 Relay was themed Birthdays. I contacted several of the elementary schools in the area and with the teachers approval had the students color birthday/celebration cards for the survivors. I searched online for some ideas and then created my own in microsoft word so I had control of the text and art placement. Then I asked the teachers to help me invited the students and their families out to our relay so they could help us celebrate the survivors.
New Event Chair
Hi Megan, Just think of all the things that you really love about Relay and expand on those! What worked, what didn't. Remember that as event chair, you are the manager of a group of committees. You need to delegate and let them flourish. The more folks you have on committees the less work they each have to handle. The more the merrier and the more new ideas to keep things fresh! In my time as event chair I learned from folks who had been with Relay much longer than I had. I wasn't afraid to ask questions and tried not to assume anything. I reached out to friends and family, great team captains, enthusiastic survivors and had them all reach out to their circles of friends. Our committees keep growing each year. We got a huge boost from our local high school where we hold the event when all four class councils decided to have Relay For Life as their class community service focus this past year. We had 15 teams from that school alone...and we had even more youth teams from other schools. Youth teams brought a wonderful energy to our Relay. It's our 10th year, too so we'll be building on "2010" for our Survivor luncheon theme and savings all we can from New Year's celebrations as far as decorations go. Have fun!!
Mary, CPS-3 Chair, Relay For Life of Willow Glen (San Jose, CA)
Joined: 2007-09-26