Being involved in the Relay For Life as a team captain is a real long term commitment. We're excited to meet those who are passionate and motivated to beating cancer with us and being part of our unique way of celebrating that fight.
Some people will tell you that the Relay For Life is a 24 hour event to fight cancer, but any team captain who's done an event or two will tell you that the fight and their work can be a year round commitment. That's certainly a lot for any one person to shoulder alone, and part of what makes the Relay For Life a...well...relay, is that we are part of teams. So what can really make or break a successful team isn't who decides to be the captain, but who the captain chooses to ask to be on the team. Teams can be built from people around an office, friends in a church, family from a dinner table, or friends around town, but what makes a good team member isn't always a good pair of walking shoes and endless stories to round the track with, but how they help that team raise funds before the event.
At the team captain's meeting I likened a good Relay team to something like the Dirty Dozen or the A-Team: dependable friends with complimentary skills that knew how to communicate and trusted each other to succeed. We took some time to brainstorm some of the different qualities that the people on your team need to exhibit. So take a second, write down the names of your team members, think about who they are, and try to make sure you have all the holes filled you think you are going to need. Good teammates are the difference between a lot of hardwork and a rewarding FUN year round experience.

The RelAy-Team:

The Idea Expert: Need someone to point out some opportunities to do something new? Want someone to give you 10 new fundraising ideas to try at the drop of the hat? The idea expert is your person. This is usually a thinker. Sometimes you luck out and these are also the planners who excute the best way to pull off the idea, but isn't always the case. The Idea Expert is essential to motiviating your team to break out of boring patterns or jumpstart success.

The Do-er: The Do-er needs to know just a couple things: "What time do I need to be there and what do I need to wear?" These people usually have a well of enthusiasm and energy for the group, love keeping active, and are always happy to pitch in. Do-er's can be a little discouraged when talking about the "why nots" of an idea for your team and would much rather get out there and give it a go in whatever capacity you need. Do-er's are going to need some direction.

The Mingler: The sociable person who's always happy to chat. We are the face of a very serious illness, and having the human element is really important. Shaking hands, listening, talking, and being the face of your team when you would rather be knee deep in suds washing a car instead of talking to folks. The Mingler is often really good at making a personal connection, but that doesn't mean they are good at asking about donations or money. Thats why you might need...

The Fearless Asker: Doing a lunchtime barbecue in front of your office and needing some hot dogs? The Fearless asker simply needs to know who to call, and they might get you potato chips too. If you are at a restraunt and your waitress has a breast cancer pin on...guess who is going to ask them if they've heard about Relay? Bingo.

The Planner: Someone has to tell people where to go, where to be. Need someone to collect money? Planner will do that. Emails to go out to remind people about the upcoming bake sale? Done! Forget a sign-in sheet for your garage sale? I bet the planner has one in their car. The i-dotter and t-crossers, the planners are the glue for the team.


I am sure there are a few more, feel free to leave some comments about what you might think. When you are looking to build your team, remember not to get stuck in the rut of just where you originally started it. Family and friends can join your church or business team, or your company can sign on to help you with your family team. Go out and find the right crew, and the months towards Relay become some of the best memories you'll have, even after an event

We had about 40 people at the team captains meeting last night. I want to thank everyone who was able to make it.


MEETING NOTES:
1. We started with some committee information. Billy Reese, our publicity chair, compiled a list of local media and ways to get information about your fundraisers or team events in with those places. Billy even set up a permanent spot with the Olympian, so you just log in and add your Relay related information. For a copy you can email Billy Reese.

2. The American Cancer Society is hosting a Fundraising Forum this Saturday from 9:30-11:00AM at Group Health where we hold our meetings. This is a semi-regional event so people from all over the South Sound are invited, its put together by the American Cancer Society's divisional team to help people build up their Relay fundraising abilities. It would be worthwhile for anyone who might want to meet some other team captains and get some new ideas.

3. The American Cancer Society also brought their Quality of Life staff, Jessi Sanders, down to talk about patient services in Thurston county. More on that in another post!

4. We encouraged everyone to use this blog. Which I suppose if you are reading this, totally worked.


EVENT UPDATES:
The goal this year, is to KEEP EVERYONE at the track as much as possible and providing high levels of entertainment and food to make it happen.

1. We made sure you knew that this year, there would be a major upgrade in the way we do food service. Dirty Dave's will be putting a spaghetti feed for the event on Friday night, there will be a Pancake feed on Saturday morning, and a Red Robin chicken bbq on Saturday afternoon. All of this has been donated, the fee for the meals (about 5 dollars) goes right to the Relay. We're hoping this cuts down on the people hauling grills and tons of food to the event and instead, focuses on the things that help continue to push us to our goal and support our sponsors.

2. There will be RELAY OLYMPICS. An event hourly that will require you to field a team member in order to qualify. Those will be set in advance and can be part of your night planning.

3. There will be a DJ this year to play all night and MC a lot of our events. We're looking to cut back on the bands.

4. Getting to your tent site will be easier than ever be for. Paulsons will be donating some ATV's to help us get your stuff to your tent site, and we will be opening another gate, allowing you to pull up at a set time, unload and then move your car. No more dragging things down the dirt road.


I spent a bit of last night putting together a workshop on team member recruitment. I will post this seperately.