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!

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!

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.

Check Your Local Listings

Shinerama is an awesome event that brings in vital funds for supporting Cystic Fibrosis Canada’s efforts to further quality CF research and care. We know how very important this is, but there’s another great benefit to Shinerama.  It gets students involved in the community, and the community involved in Shinerama.

Shinerama volunteers from MTA at a community Canada Day BBQ in Sackville, NB

This might be easy to shrug off if you’ve never thought much of volunteering before, or simply haven’t been in a position to have the opportunity.  But as every Shinerama veteran can tell you, once you’ve been bitten by the Shine bug, it just feels right to be involved!  You experience the joy of making new friends, helping connect with your community, and knowing deep down that what you’re doing is making a difference in a real person’s life.  The grown-up words for these wonderful things are philanthropy and civic engagement.  Hit the jump to read more!

Upcoming Events: Gala and Softball Tournament at Nipissing & Canadore

Get on your fancy clothes and softball gloves this weekend at Nipissing & Canadore! (but not at the same time..)

From Campaign Coordinator's Nicole Brady and Colby Clarke:

This weekend we have two amazing events taking place that everyone can enjoy. We have a Gala taking place on Friday, July 20, and a Softball Tournament taking place on Saturday and Sunday (July 21-22).

Read on for all the details!

Track ALL the Dollars: Campaign Budgeting Refresher

Today we’re revisiting our most requested topic from May’s National Leadership Conference. Welcome (back) to the lovely world of campaign budgeting! In simple terms, this is your financial plan for a smooth-sailing campaign. Someone has to pay for those awesome t-shirts!

Shiners at Dalhousie University collect donations on Shine Day

Shinerama Memories - Mount Allison University

We asked you to send us your super shiny memories! 

We want to hear from you! Send your favourite, cherished, hilarious, or just plain awesome memories of your Shinerama experiences to shinerama@cysticfibrosis.ca.

This Shinerama Memory comes to us from Elyse Thibeault of Mount Allison University.

My friend Sydney and I were site leaders on Shine Day last September, and I think this story proves the devotion Mount Allison University students have towards Shinerama!

Shinerama Regional Conferences

It's that time of year - Shinerama Regional Conferences are fast approaching!

Ontario & Quebec: July 13-14^th, Waterloo

Registration deadline: July 4^th

Atlantic: July 20-22^nd, Halifax

Registration deadline: July 6^th

British Columbia & Alberta: July 21^st, Vancouver

Saskatchewan & Manitoba: July 28^th, Edmonton

A little afternoon refreshment at Brock Shinerama 2010

Read on for more exciting details about Regional Conferences!

Secrets to Success: Secondary Fundraisers

What’s the best way to drum up summer Shine dollars?? Secondary Fundraisers!

Everyone knows it is MUCH easier to reach your grand goal when you break it up into reasonable chunks.  This is where Secondary Fundraisers come in – they have the power to make or break your campaign!

Saint Mary's University Football Team at a Carwash Secondary Fundraiser 2011

Read on for all the details of how you can make 

Secondary Fundraisers work for you!

Shinerama.ca is LIVE!

2011 Shine Day Opening Ceremonies at Saint Mary's University, Halifax NS

Want to know what it takes to be an online fundraising guru? Check out our 6 Steps and you’ll be one in no time! 

Keeping Your Committee Motivated ALL SUMMER LONG!

 

I wanted to write this post because I truly feel that setting up a solid committee makes your experience as a Shinerama coordinator easier and much more enjoyable. As a Shinerama leader, delegation will become your most important responsibility! Section 3 of your resource manual will give you all sorts of hints on how to recruit volunteers and how to organize your committee. But how do you make them stick around and continue to help out? Check out my four tips to a shinier, more motivated committee! 

Welcome to Shinerama 2012!

Welcome to Shinerama 2012! 

Our Shinerama Blog will serve as a great source for all things Shinerama and Cystic Fibrosis Canada related over the course of our 2012 campaign.  As Chair I get the chance to break the ice and be the first to post to our blog (perks of the job).  Apart from a big welcome to all of you, I would take the first blog post to introduce myself and tell you my Shinerama story. Hit the jump to hear all about it!

Shinerama Regional Meetings 2011

Hello Shiner-Nation! 

I just thought I would take a minute or two and blog about the upcoming Regional Conferences.


Firstly I wanted to say that I'm very much looking forward to seeing everyone at the Ont/Que, Sas/Man, and Atlantic Regional conferences. I'm sure they will all be a blast! BC/Alb I really wish I could make it out there and share some Shine-Love... maybe next year. Have fun!

So why do we have Regionals?

The reason that we host these mini-conferences (some of them not so mini) is to try and provide you all with the tools and support to help you all run successful campaigns. What we find is that the National Shinerama Conference is where we can educate all the campaign directors on what cystic fibrosis is, what Cystic Fibrosis Canada does, what Shinerama is, what things you should concentrate on...you know all that fun stuff. During the Regional Conference we get a chance to catch up on where your campaign is at the midway point, hear some successes and not so successes from May-July, introduce your school's committee members to Shinerama, and most of all get everyone focused and energized for the rest of the summer straight through the end of the campaign.

What will be covered at the Regionals?

The Regional Directors have been working hard to get your feedback and getting the input from our Campaign Advisors to come up with agendas that will more or less rock your worlds. Expect guest speakers from the CF community to come in and share their stories with you. We'll be going over our Shinerama.ca results so far and setting expectations going forward. We'll be doing teach-outs to everyone about our Text Giving. Probably most importantly though there will be lots of opportunities for everyone to share their experiences so far and for everyone to learn from each other's campaigns.

What if I can't make it to my Regional?

Have no fear - we will not leave you hanging. After each Regional the Regional Director will send out a summary of what went on to everyone over our listserve! That way if you couldn't make it to yours you'll still know what went on! Sound good?


Hope all is well and remember that I'm always a quick call, email, or tweet away!


Ryan Mcdermott
National Shinerama Chair