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!