Welcome to Shinerama 2013!

Welcome to Shinerama 2013... Canada's 49th year of shining! I am delighted to welcome you all to the official kickoff of the 2013 Shinerama campaign. This year, students across Canada are committed to raising $1.16M, all towards the fight against cystic fibrosis (CF).

Coming Soon: Shinerama National Awards

What up Shiner-Nation!

I hope everyone's first month and a half of first semester is going phenomenal and that you are all being good by going to class and studying for your midterms well in advance!

Chances are you’re still working on a few things Shinerama related. The big thing of course is making sure you’ve all got your funds in (so go do that if you haven’t). But we like to keep the good shine times rolling all year and one way we do that is by recognizing your awesomeness. That’s where the Shinerama awards come in!

Want to Win $35,000 for Your Shinerama Campaign?

Listen up Shine Nation!

We’ve heard about an amazing contest that could net you an extra $35,000 (can we say WOW?!?!) for your Shinerama Campaign! The contest is being hosted by Koodo Mobile and is called The KOODONATION Online Throwdown.

http://koodo.sparked.com/koodocontest

How does it work?

Sign up as a microvolunteer and register with a Canadian University or College in the Throwdown contest.

Compete in a series of karma-inducing challenges to gain points.

The school team that earns the most points will win a $35,000 contribution to a Canadian registered charity of their choice.

The contest runs from November 5 until November 16, 2012.

What is Microvolunteering?

Microvolunteers are people who want to use their skills and expertise to help non-profits. In this contest, you can microvolunteer for a variety of challenge types and areas of interest. Microvolunteering is really cool because it is a way for you to participate from the comfort of your home at any time of day – comfy pants allowed!

How do I enter?

- Create an account by registering as a KOODONATION microvolunteer at www.koodonation.com

- Join a school team by registering with that team on the site. If there is no team yet for your school, you can create one and you will be the team captain.

- Sign in with Facebook is enabled, how convenient!

How do points work?

- 1 point is awarded for participation on each unique challenge (new challenges are added every day). Participation includes answering a challenge AND also commenting on another user's answer. Only one point will be awarded for each unique challenge, so multiple answers/comments on the same challenge will not increase your point total.

- 5 points are awarded for each thumbs up you receive.

- 25 points are awarded for each award received.

What are the rules?

You should definitely read the rules & regulations for this awesome contest.

Here are some of the important points to be aware of:

- Unfortunately, this contest does not include Quebec.

- You must be legal age in your province to participate.

- You cannot participate if you or someone in your household works for Telus.

- There is only one team per school.

- Alumni can join their school’s team.

- If someone you know wants to join but didn't go to University or College, they can join the School Team that best represents their geographic region.

- You are also allowed to use affinity towards a particular post-secondary institution to be a factor in your decision to join a School Team (aka you don’t need to live nearby to choose the school team that you want to support).

- This is a really cool contest!

*Please note, this information is summarized from KOODONATION'S site information. Please visit the original site to view full contest rules & regulations.

Go forth and microvolunteer!

Campaign Wrap Up: How to Put a Bow on it

For some of you, the time has come to gather all of your Shinerama threads together into one beautiful tapestry.  You've focused on being involved and raising a ton of money for a cause you may not have known much about a year ago but to which you've since shown tremendous dedication.

Once Shine Day is done, it isn’t *quite* the end of the road just yet. Let’s review the steps you need to complete in order to leave a beautiful legacy for your school and the lucky students who become a part of organizing Shinerama next year.

HOW TO CELEBRATE YOUR SHINERAMA SUCCESS

You've planned, organized, rallied, trained, prepared, partnered, communicated, laughed, and worked all summer for Shinerama. We know it’s close to your heart, and more than one night you've gone to sleep ticking off the boxes in your mental checklist of “Shinerama To-Do’s”.

Although it’s an incredibly rewarding experience that definitely pays off, we know that it takes a lot to organize and execute a great Shinerama campaign. Some days you might want to cheer from the roof tops with excitement and other days you may want to bury your head in the ground and hide. You want it to be perfect and you want it to be the best.

But after everything you and each person involved have put into it, how do you say thank you when it is all over? Do what Shine Leader Kevin Duquette does best… No, not take your shirt off. Talk about yourself!

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Shinerama Planners: (AKA) Planning a Logical Shine Day

Howdy, Shinerama lovers extraordinaire! Hopefully this blog post finds you well. At the very least, hopefully this blog post finds you on the edge of your seat, tapping your foot, reading anxiously to discover the 7 Habits. The thought of your energy and enthusiasm to read this post energizes and enthuses me… and I want to get to these 7 “crafty” points, however I rarely ‘drop knowledge’ without giving a little bit of background information with a philosophical twist. Prepare to be educated.

University of Victoria Shinerama Volunteers 2011

Light the Way: Getting Shinerama into the Hearts of O-week Volunteers

Every September, Post-Secondary Institutions across the nation welcome hundreds, if not thousands, of fresh-faced, sometimes excited, often terrified students to their respective campuses. During Orientation Week, these first year students are bombarded with tons of information about their new campus, classes, roommates, which bars to frequent or avoid, and the choicest online courses to take (for those interested, Carleton offers an excellent course called “Dinosaurs”).

Western University Orientation Week Rally

As a Shinerama volunteer or leader, you have likely been blessed with the daunting task of filling their fresh brains with even more information. Not only that, but also why they should care about that information. So the question arises, Kyle, how can I motivate Shiner Nation?

Why We Do What We Do for Shinerama

(Or the Story of How I Balled my Eyes Out at a Live Comedy Show)

For most of you coordinating or involved in a Shinerama Committee, your Shine Day is only a few weeks away. This likely also means you are starting to feel a bit (or a lot) of pressure and stress to get everything organized so that you can meet your fundraising goals. Of course, your goals are extremely important and we want you and your team to do all that you can to meet them and kick cystic fibrosis to the curb.

However, I wanted to take a minute and share an experience I had while coordinating a Shinerama campaign last September. The experience, although seemingly small, was THE most significant thing that happened to me during my involvement with the campaign, because it showed me exactly why it is we do what we do for Shinerama.

So here we go. 

So You Want To Be A (Social Media) Star...

Hey Shine Nation!  

As your campaigns have developed, so has your communications plan. How are you spreading the word about your events, your fundraising, and Shine Day? Most people would automatically turn to social media (SM), as it is the fastest way to connect with people, especially within your campus and community.

Social media can be an extremely useful tool in any Shinerama campaign, as long as it's done in a structured and planned way. An online presence for your Shinerama campaign helps to create awareness, increase volunteer involvement and event attendance, share news and information, and of course, to raise money for fighting cystic fibrosis!

Guest Post: Drew Dudley Shares the Shinerama Impact

Hi everyone! I wanted to share two brief experiences with you that speak to just how deeply Shinerama impacts Canadian lives.

I speak almost 150 times a year at present, and I don’t think a single one of them has gone by where I haven’t mentioned Shinerama in some way.  However, in some presentations, I talk a great deal about the campaign, the people I’ve met, and the things I’ve learned.