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Organizing an AFSP National Survivors of Suicide Day Conference Site

October E-Bulletin



National Survivors of Suicide Day is Saturday, November 20th



Over 210 of you have registered conference sites – thank you. If you haven’t already done so, please Register Your Site as soon as possible to add it to the list of participating cities.

The 2010 step-by-step guide has detailed instructions on how to organize a site, but if you have any questions or concerns, please be in touch. We are here to help.

« GETTING READY

If you haven’t done so already, the following are high priority items:

· Publicize, Publicize, Publicize! Local publicity is essential to attract attendees For ideas, sample fliers and more, see the Publicity Toolkit in the appendix at www.afsp.org/survivorconference.

· Give your local technical organizer the 2010 Technical Information Sheet.

· Place any orders for brochures or books from the AFSP Online Store no later than Friday, October 29th. (Sites outside of the continental U.S. will need to place orders no later than Friday, October 22nd.)

« FINALIZE ‘DAY OF’ LOGISTICS

As you know, the only requirement for the day is to show AFSP’s 90-minute broadcast. You are serving the community simply by organizing a place for survivors of suicide loss to gather together in healing. Any other aspects of your conference– local speakers, food, discussion groups, activities – are optional. A list of ideas can be found in the appendix at www.afsp.org/survivorconference.

Prepare opening comments. The Primary Organizer (or a volunteer) should offer a short welcome, explain the purpose of the day (see Key Messages*) and give a quick overview of what attendees can expect. This sets the tone for the rest of the day. You don’t have to be a polished speaker to give a sincere welcome, but do practice a bit with colleagues, friends, loved ones, or a mirror if you aren’t used to public speaking.

Candle Lighting Ceremony. The opening of the broadcast includes a candle lighting ceremony, and all sites are warmly invited to participate. You’ll need two candles in candlestick holders, and matches. If your location does not allow open flames, you can use flameless candles, which are available for purchase from stores like Target and Kmart.

Volunteers. Make sure all your volunteers have assigned tasks for the day and that they are wearing something (a pin, ribbon, or nametag) so that attendees know who the volunteers are. Thank your volunteers in your opening and/or closing remarks.

Finalize plans for greeting and registration. First impressions count. We highly recommend having at least 1 greeter at the door, and a table of at 2 volunteers who can greet attendees warmly, take down registration information (at a minimum - name, mailing address, email address), answer questions, direct people to restrooms, and hand out materials and optional items like name tags or color-coded ribbons/beads that signify loss relationship. (For details on optional items, see Ideas for Local Programming in the appendix at www.afsp.org/survivorconference.) It is very important to have enough people at the registration table so that signing in and welcoming goes smoothly. Attendees will feel more relaxed if they see that everything is well-organized and under control. It is also helpful to have someone at the registration table throughout the day to answer questions.

We hope to hear from you if you have any questions or concerns.

Thanks, and take good care,

Joanne and Rebecca

Joanne Harpel, Director of Survivor Initiatives -jharpel@afsp.org or 212-363-3500 ext. 32
Rebecca Thorp, Survivor Initiatives Manager - rthorp@afsp.org or 212-363-3500 x33.



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American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

120 Wall Street, 22nd Floor
Phone (212) 363-3500

New York, NY 10005

Fax (212) 363-6237

www.afsp.org