Organize an Event – A Planning Guide
Choose Event Activities – Choose a Program

The type of program you choose will determine the necessary preparations. However, as applicable, remember to arrange for a stage, podium, platform, power source, microphone and sound system, lighting, extra bulbs, projector and screen, presentation materials, TV and media player, extension cords, and an educational resource table/exhibit area with information on treatment, support, etc. The following ideas may be helpful in developing your winning program:

• Schedule entertainment and speakers. Consider including local and national celebrities who have been affected in some way by cancer. Registered events can access a searchable Speakers Bureau Roster online.
• Choose an emcee. A local news anchor may be willing to serve in this capacity.
• Healthcare providers such as physicians, nurses, and social workers can make good speakers. A local oncologist may be willing to briefly describe new cancer treatments and current research efforts.
• Invite community leaders to participate, particularly those who have been affected by cancer. Possibilities include the governor and/or spouse, mayors, county board chairpersons, city council presidents, local sports heroes, entertainers, and patient advocates.
• NCSD is an ideal event to be supported by local government in the form of a proclamation. Write and call the mayor or governor, asking him or her to designate Sunday, June 6, 2010, as National Cancer Survivors Day in your city or state (see Sample Letters). A ceremony incorporating the proclamation signing is a good way to attract media attention. Ask the mayor or governor to read and sign the proclamation at the ceremony or to send a representative.
• Ask a musician to write a song honoring cancer survivors and perform it at your NCSD celebration.
• Invite an author of a cancer-related book to speak, and give away autographed copies of the book as door prizes.
• Consider drawing your entertainment from among survivors rather than using professionals.
• Survivors can share messages of hope by telling first-person stories, reading journal entries, reciting poems aloud, or giving a comic monologue about dealing with cancer.
• Instead of, or in addition to, a main speaker, have several survivors briefly share their stories.
• To encourage survivor participation, have the event emcee walk through the crowd with a microphone, allowing survivors to address the audience.
• Create a slideshow featuring photos of past events or of survivors before, during, and after treatment.
• Organize a panel of long-term survivors to discuss cancer survivorship issues and answer the questions of newly diagnosed survivors and their families.
• Use the occasion to honor oncology staff members and other professionals who are retiring.
• Invite local support group leaders to share coping strategies.
• Ask a minister to give an invocation or to speak about the spiritual side of coping.
• Produce a play or drama about dealing with cancer, with survivors and/or healthcare professionals as the actors, or ask
a repertory company or acting class to present an appropriate cancer-related drama.
• Ask each participant to bring a bell and conclude the program with a bell ringing ceremony.
• Break the ice with games such as “Dress Up Your Leader,” using items provided in a mystery bag.

Organize an Event | Choose Event Activities | Choose a Program | Find a Speaker