Notes From Our October Meeting

We know everyone can't always make it to the Committee and Team Captains Meetings, so we've decided to post the meeting notes here for review!  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask. 

This week, we will review our October meeting.

Our first meeting was October 12th.  Our 2011 Relay netted $115,000 in donations (a total of $134,000 was raised, and $19,000 went toward expenses).  We had 45 teams, more than 530 participants registered, and 90 survivors.  Our 2012 Relay goals are $125,000 in net income and 97 survivors.  We confirmed that this year's Relay will be held from 3 PM on Friday, June 15th to 9 AM on Saturday, June 16th.  At the time, we discussed returning to Bridgewater-Raynham or moving Relay to West Bridgewater High School.

We reviewed the Leadership Chart and Committee Structure, and everyone who attended completed a volunteer interest slip.  If you are interested in being a part of the committee or taking on a volunteer role, please let us know and we will forward a copy of the slip for your review. 

We decided to purchase http://www.relaybridgewater.org/ to provide an easy to remember directly link to the Relay For Life Bridgewater, Lakeville, Middleborough page.  We also considered creating a QR code which, when scanned with a smartphone app, would bring up the mobile website.  We will follow up on this after the Mini-Relay University in November.

Relay Summit was attended by Melissa, and this year they focused on volunteer recruitment.  We also discussed the idea of Mini-Relay at the local elementary schools, as this will be run specifically by volunteers at the specific schools.  We also had a Save The Date for Mini-Relay University for 11/19 which focused on pumping up the committee and embracing social media.

We talked about having more volunteers and recruiting through the schools and social organizations.  We put together a list of places to contact (the high schools, National Honor Societies, Boy Scouts, the churches, etc.).  And we also need to reach out ot the National Team Partners for 2012. 

We discussed the post-Relay survey results.  In particular, we discussed the entertainment/DJ/sound system, the weather, concessions/food/beverage, CERT involvement, Lions involvement, and Floating Luminaria Lanterns.  This link goes to a YouTube video from the Yalobusha County Relay in Water Valley, MS.  You can see the Lanterns at the 44 second mark.

Specifically, we discussed how we need to upgrade the sound system to make sure everyone can hear, how we should consider a large board to show the theme laps, how we need to have more concessions and food this year (which may be covered by the Lions involvement!), and how we probably won't be able to use the CERT volunteers if we move Relay to West Bridgewater.  We also discussed the parking at West Bridgewater, the access to the track, and whether we would be able to use A&A Metro as our shuttle.  We did discuss the idea of having a raindate, considering the weather for last year.  Unfortunately, that just isn't possible or practical with all of the logistics.

Next week, we will post our November notes. 

**Our next committee meeting is December 13th at 6:15 PM at St. Basil's Chapel in Bridgewater.  We look forward to seeing you there!**

Don't forget to follow us on Facebook! You can also reach the website at http://www.relaybridgewater.org/ or email us at relaybridgewater@gmail.com.