Facilitator Guide
Luminaria Chair
Breakout
Relay University
2010 -2011
Luminaria Chair Breakout
Relay U 2010 -2011
Module Overview
Audience:
Luminaria Chairs and their committee members
Recommended group size: 10 - 50
Objectives:
To understand the importance of creating an emotionally impactful luminaria
ceremony and maximizing sales through strong communication to participants
Time Required: 1 hour 15 minutes
Preparation:
Room Set-Up:
U-shape with participants sitting on the outside or round tables.
Table in front of the room for facilitator materials, handouts, etc.
Decorations
Flip Chart and Easel.
Allow sufficient time to:
Create flipcharts.
Copy and distribute handouts.
Decorate the room.
Welcome participants.
All preparation should be completed at least 30 minutes before the session.
Materials:
Quotes to decorate the walls
Balloons or other decorations
Markers
Tape
Boom box playing music
Two flip chart pads
Candy
2
Luminaria Chair Breakout
Relay U 2010 -2011
Icons
Facilitator creates a flip chart.
Facilitator shows a video
Exercise performed by participants; or activity lead by facilitator
Information in a PowerPoint slide
Facilitator asks a question of participants.
Indicates a very important point that needs to be addressed
Handout*
*Note—anytime you see this icon it indicates there should be a
corresponding document listed^ as a handout. All handouts will be inserted
as full documents at the end of the guide in the order in which they are to be
referenced during the breakout.
3
Luminaria Chair Breakout
Relay U 2010 -2011
Prepared Flip Charts:
Welcome
Welcome to the Luminaria Breakout
Agenda
Welcome/Introductions
Icebreaker
Role of the luminaria chair
Promotion and maximizing sales
Creating an emotionally impactful ceremony
Objective
To understand the importance of creating an emotionally impactful luminaria
ceremony and maximizing sales through strong communication to participants.
Ground Rules
Silence cell phones
No sidebars – shhhhhh
Appreciate comments and opinions of others
Participate fully and have fun!
Parking Lot
Flipcharts for key point #1:
Responsibilities
Recruit Subcommittee
Attend event committee meetings
Promote and sell luminaria
Plan an emotionally impactful ceremony
Work with staff partner
Subcommittee
Pre-event sales coordination
On-site sales coordination
Promote and sell luminaria
Team liaison
Ceremony coordinator
Design coordinator
Supplies Needed
Lunch-size white paper sacks
Dry sand
Candles or glow sticks
Permanent waterproof markers
Lighters
Optional: Sandwich bags, labels, tools for decorating
4
Luminaria Chair Breakout
Relay U 2010 -2011
Flipcharts for key point #2
Luminaria Ceremony Pre-Event Promotion
Set up a display booth
Conduct a “mini” ceremony
Work with a local newspaper
Create a one-page flyer
Give forms to team captains.
Luminaria Ceremony ‘Day Of” Event Promotion
Include the ceremony time in your event program
Make announcements leading up to the ceremony
“HUSH” paddles or “HUSH” Angels
How do you promote the luminaria ceremony in your community? At your
event? (other than the title, this flipchart will be left blank to record comments)
What are some ways you promote and sell luminaria in your
community? At your event? (other than the title, this flipchart will be left blank
to record comments)
What are some ways you complement your luminaria sales? (other than
the title, this flipchart will be left blank to record comments)
Flipcharts for key point #3
Elements of a Luminaria Ceremony
Introduction
Speaker
Poem/Music
Luminaria Lap
Speaker
Upbeat, Celebratory, Music
Tips for your Luminaria Ceremony Speaker
Be brief
Don’t memorize script
Prepare notes
Project Voice
Don’t rush
Relax
How do you organize your ceremony the night of your event?
5
Luminaria Chair Breakout
Relay U 2010 -2011
(other than the title, this flipchart will be left blank to record comments)
What are some things you include in the luminaria ceremony at your event
(other than the title, this flipchart will be left blank to record comments)
Call to Action
6
Luminaria Chair Breakout
Relay U 2010 -2011
Facilitator Agenda: Luminaria Chair Breakout
________________________________________________________________
Welcome/Introductions, Agenda review, Objectives 5 minutes
Icebreaker 10 minutes
Role of the Luminaria Chair 15 minutes
Promotion and Maximizing Sales 15 minutes
Emotional & Impactful Ceremonies 25 minutes
Review, Wrap-Up, Call to Action 5 minutes
7
Luminaria Chair Breakout
Relay U 2010 -2011
Welcome/Introductions, Agenda review, Objectives
(5 minutes)
________________________________________________________________
Welcome / Introductions
Facilitators introduce themselves and share why they work/volunteer for the American
Cancer Society.
Welcome to the Luminaria Chair Breakout!
Agenda Review
Facilitator will review the agenda items listed on the agenda flipchart.
Agenda
1. Welcome
2. Your Role as Luminaria Chair
3. Maximizing Sales through communication
4. Creating Emotional & Impactful Ceremonies
5. Wrap Up & Call to Action
Objectives
Facilitator will review the objectives listed on the objectives flipchart.
Objective
To understand the importance of creating an emotionally
impactful luminaria ceremony and maximizing sales through
strong communication to participants
Icebreaker (10 minutes)
Ask each person to stand, give their name, what Relay they are with and what one
thing they do well with regards to their luminaria ceremony (this could include how
they promote luminaria, day of sales, ceremony speakers, music, etc)
8
Luminaria Chair Breakout
Relay U 2010 -2011
Agenda Topic #1: Your Role as Luminaria Chair
(15 minutes)
________________________________________________________________
The luminaria ceremony is a ceremony of remembrance and hope. It symbolizes a time to
grieve for those that we have lost, to reflect on our own cancer experience or that of those
closest to us, and to find hope that tomorrow holds the promise of a cancer free world.
There are few things more challenging than joining a committee, being given a title, and
then not having a clear understanding of what your job is going to entail. Serving as the
luminaria chair comes with many challenges, but it is a rewarding experience.
Let’s talk about your responsibilities in relation to your role as luminaria chair.
A: Responsibilities:
Recruit subcommittee members and work with them to ensure the planning and
implementation of the Luminaria ceremony and securing the volunteers needed
such as special speakers, special music, choirs, etc.
Attend the Relay For Life event committee meetings and maintain
communication with your subcommittee.
Determine ways to promote and sell luminaria prior to and at the event. Work
with your publicity chair to identify and secure free advertising or sponsorship of
advertising for luminaria donation ads.
Plan an emotionally impactful ceremony
Work with your staff partner on a basic budget, items you will need, on
development of your luminaria form/brochure, establishing a donation amount for
luminaria, and the ordering of materials.
B: Your Subcommittee:
As the chairperson of the luminaria committee, it is very important that you realize a
subcommittee is an essential part of the Luminaria ceremony, sales, and production of
luminaria bags. It is recommended that you have a minimum of 5 committee members
and include as many others as needed based on the size of your event. It is a good idea
to involve those who are creative and organized on your committee.
Some ideas for subcommittee members include:
Pre-event sales coordination – this person would work to promote and sell
luminaria outside of the team efforts
On-site sales coordination – this person promotes the sell of luminaria on the day
of event and works the onsite luminaria tent
Set Up / Clean Up – these volunteers would work on securing donation or purchase
of sand and candles, as well as filling the bags and placing them around the track.
Once Relay is over, this group would facilitate the clean up of the sand, candles and
bags.
9
Luminaria Chair Breakout
Relay U 2010 -2011
Team liason – this person would work with teams on promotion and sales of
luminaria.
Ceremony Coordinator – this person would develop and plan the luminaria
ceremony and is often the luminaria chair.
Design Coordinator – this person would track the listing of names “in memory of”
and “in honor of” and would make bags for each.
Group Participation:
ASK: Does anyone want to share what their luminaria sub-committee looks like or how
they recruit volunteers to serve on their sub-committee?
C: Supplies
We can’t have a successful Relay without knowing what we need at the event or having all
of the supplies on hand. The same applies to the luminaria ceremony. To make luminaria,
you need:
Lunch-size white paper sacks – fold bag down at least two inches from the top.
This allows for ventilation, and it helps the bag stay upright. NOTE: These bags
can be purchased via your staff partner.
Dry Sand – fill two cups of sand per luminaria to hold the bag down and to protect
the bag from the candle. TIP: Make sure the sand is dry; otherwise your bag will
burst
Candles, Glow Sticks or battery operated lights – these will need to last 8 – 9
hours depending on when your event starts clean up of bags.
Permanent waterproof markers – write names on sacks after you have folded the
top down, but before you put the sand inside.
Lighters – 10 – 12 depending on how many luminarias you are lighting. TIP: Ask
each team to bring a lighter and help with the lighting of luminarias.
Optional Supplies:
o Snack size sandwich Ziploc bags – if your Relay expects rain or would like
quicker clean up, pre-pack sand in these bags
o Cheap paper plates – place under your luminaria bag. If you have wet or
damp bags or your venue doesn’t allow you to dump the sand out, the plate
controls the mess and helps with quicker clean up.
o Items/Tools for participants to decorate bags at Relay – scissors, glitter,
construction paper, glue, tape, pencils, markers, etc.
Group Participation:
ASK: Would anyone like to share what processes they have in place for designing and
filling bags (i.e. some events use canned food in place of sand and donate the cans to
a food pantry, some events have colored bags to represent “in memory of”, brown
sacks for pets, etc)?
10
Luminaria Chair Breakout
Relay U 2010 -2011
Agenda Topic #2: Promotion and Maximizing Sales
(15 minutes)
________________________________________________________________
To ensure a quality luminaria ceremony for your participants, you should focus on making
the Luminaria Ceremony the “center” of Relay. You can make your ceremony more
meaningful through strong communication to participants and the community. At team
captain meetings, don’t just say “the ceremony will happen at 9:00,” explain why it is such
a meaningful part of Relay and provide them with the details of the ceremony. Same goes
for placing an ad in the local paper, don’t just place a luminaria order form in the paper,
give details about the ceremony they are purchasing the luminaria for.
We all know that luminarias are about remembering individuals in our lives who have
battled cancer. They are about celebrating, remembering and fighting back. But, does
your community know this?
Promoting the luminaria ceremony prominently to team captains, survivors and the
community is key to it’s success. Let’s talk about ways to promote the luminaria ceremony
before and during your event.
A: Promotion Pre- Event
Set up a display booth in key areas around town (WalMart, Malls, Grocery Stores,
Dry Cleaners, etc)
Conduct a “mini” ceremony at a Kickoff or Team Captain meeting
Work with a local newspaper to write a story about the ceremony and what it
represents
Create a one-page flyer with detailed information and ask for it to be included in
church bulletins
Give forms to team captains and/or include them in their team captain packet.
Include details about the ceremony on your luminaria order form.
B: Promotion At Event
Include the ceremony time in your event program
Make announcements leading up to the ceremony
To ensure that participants are respectful during the ceremony, provide your
committee with “HUSH” paddles and strategically place them around the track. A
similar concept to this is strategically placing “HUSH” Angels around the track.
Participants will only be respectful during this time if you let them know they need to
be and why.
Group Participation:
ASK & Flipchart: How do you promote the luminaria ceremony in your community?
At your event?
11
Luminaria Chair Breakout
Relay U 2010 -2011
C: Maximizing Sales
Now that we have talked about how to promote the luminaria ceremony, we need to make
sure we have luminaria lining our track, as they are an integral part of the ceremony and
create the ambience for the overall experience. We do not need to solely rely on team
captains promoting and selling luminaria.
It is important that you and your subcommittee develop a plan to help maximize luminaria
sales, with both team captains and the community. When developing your plan, remember
to think outside the box and go beyond the bag. Since the ceremony is a time of reflection
and healing, consider offering a place where this can be done in quite solitude such as a
memory garden (a canopy tent lined with trees, plants and Christmas lights with benches
for participants to sit on).
Group Participation:
ASK & Flipchart: What are some ways you promote and sell luminaria in your
community? (display booths, church bulletins, dry cleaner bags, online, etc.)
ASK & Flipchart: What are some ways you complement your luminaria sales? (i.e.
additional $5 participants can purchase a rose to be laid down beside their bag, $25 to
have a tiqui torch behind their luminaria bag, $5 to place a photo on the bag, etc.)
12
Luminaria Chair Breakout
Relay U 2010 -2011
Agenda Topic #3: Creating an emotionally impactful ceremony
(20 minutes)
________________________________________________________________
A: Ceremony Structure
The Luminaria Ceremony provides participants with an opportunity to grieve, reflect on
their own personal cancer experience, and to find hope. The ceremony is structured to
take participants on an emotional journey similar to that of the cancer experience. It is
essential that the ceremony is quiet and reverent, and that it gradually builds so it ends on
a note of inspiration and hope. This ceremony is often referred to as the Ceremony of
Hope. It is not too long, usually about 30 minutes.
The ceremony begins with an introduction from the Luminaria chair to set the stage. The
chair will share the meaning behind the luminaria, introduce any speakers/activity, and
close with a moment of silence to allow participants a moment of quite reflection. A
speaker will follow the moment of silence by sharing his or her story about their cancer
experience. It is recommended you ask someone who is a former caregiver who has lost
someone to take part in your ceremony as a speaker.
Following the speaker or another appropriate activity, it is suggested that all participants
walk around the track in a silent lap. This part of the ceremony provides participants the
opportunity to grieve. There should be no music or speakers during the first half of this
lap. As walkers reach the half way point, it is recommended that a poem is read or soft
music played.
A second song should follow the poem and be of a mood and tone that continues the
feeling of hopefulness. The ceremony closes with the main speaker returning to the stage
and leaving participants feeling inspired and ready to continue fighting back against the
disease. You ceremony should conclude with an upbeat celebratory song.
B: Ceremony Speaker Tips
Interactive Activity: Divide the room into groups of two or three and have each person
tell the other two what is their favorite TV show and why. (give them about 2 minutes – or
less if you observe that they finished this quickly)
ASK two or three people in the room to share their answer with the group (Grey’s
Anatomy, Dancing with the Stars, American Idol???)
SAY: Think about why are you hooked? (Refer the answers the participants shared a few
moments ago) Those emotional hooks are what keep you in front of the tube week after
week – and then leave you in May looking forward to the next season.
13
Luminaria Chair Breakout
Relay U 2010 -2011
But what if they only filmed one episode? You watched it, liked it and then tuned in next
week only to find that it is the same thing all over again. What would happen? At some
point, you most likely would get bored with it and go on to something else.
Relay is a lot like that and so is the luminaria ceremony. People don’t stop coming to an
event because it is great – because they are hooked, they stop coming because they find
that it is the same thing year after year. And that is disappointing.
It is important that your luminaria ceremony have an emotional impact on all participants.
The luminaria ceremony can often make or break a participant’s experience at Relay, as it
incorporates all of the reasons for their attendance. It often elicits a strong emotional
response that lasts long after the event is over and keeps people returning to Relay year
after year.
To ensure an quality, emotionally impactful luminaria ceremony, consider the following tips
when prepping your speakers:
1. Be Brief -- People are interested in personal stories…to a point. The temptation is
to give every detail, but less is really more. Limit what your speakers say to 3 to 5
minutes so their words have more impact.
2. Don’t memorize script – but don’t completely ad lib, either
Even experienced speakers take time to script their remarks or condense their
thoughts into key points. Encourage them to not read directly from their script
.
3. Prepare notes – Once their talk is written and fine-tuned…they need to think about
what they will use for the actual presentation. Outline of key points or a full script?
4. Project voice. Adjust the microphone so they are speaking directly into it
What good is a dynamic speaker if they can’t be heard? Projecting their voice
doesn’t mean yelling. They should stand up straight and let their voice resonate
from their diaphragm – not their throat.
5. Don’t rush! Speak slowly and use pauses
Nervous speakers often talk too fast. Encourage them to slow down and add
pauses for emphasis, giving the audience time to reflect. While they have a time
limit, they’re not in a race.
6. Relax and remember that passion maters
Passion is contagious, so they should let their enthusiasm show. Realize that the
audience wants to hear their story.
14
Luminaria Chair Breakout
Relay U 2010 -2011
C: Luminaria Ceremony Idea Sharing
Group Participation:
ASK and Flipchart (5 minutes): How do you organize your luminaria set-up the night
of your event?
ASK & Flipchart (5 minutes): What are some things you include in the luminaria
ceremony at your event (HOPE in bleachers, bag pipers, name scrolling, hush angels,
outside the box ideas, etc.)
15
Luminaria Chair Breakout
Relay U 2010 -2011
Review, Wrap-Up, Call to Action
(5 minutes)
________________________________________________________________
Review the objectives of this session to make sure you have come full circle with
your audience. Make this part of the breakout interactive enough as to not lose
participant attention.
Just as a quick recap of everything, I want to run back through our objective to be sure that
we covered what we hoped to cover.
To understand the importance of creating an emotionally impactful luminaria
ceremony and maximizing sales through strong communication to participants
Do you feel that we have accomplished this objective?
Thank everyone for their participation in this session and for all of the great ideas they
shared.
Ask participants for closing comments/questions.
Call to Action:
As we wrap up today, I leave you with this challenge: Implement one new idea into your
luminaria sales efforts and one new idea into your luminaria ceremony this year – just one
each. I know that you’ll score big!
For additional resources on the luminaria ceremony, log on to RelayForLife.org. Ask your
staff partner for the Luminaria guidebook or find it online on the High Plains page of
RelayForLife.org
Handouts
16