Those of you who've followed my blog for a while or actually know me in real life know that 2009 marked the year of the first Invisible Children Challenge - and it was EPIC (to use a typical "Invisible Children" word...seriously, just watch some of the live feeds and videos...they say EPIC every two seconds...haha).
I'm trying to re-create that magic this Spring by hosting my second and this University's first Invisible Children Challenge. We're asking students (student organizations, residence hall floors, area councils, etc.) to form teams that will compete to see how can be most successful in their awareness and fundraising campaigns. You can get points for showing the Invisible Children documentaries, organizing fundraisers and book drives and supporting campus-wide Invisible Children initiatives.
Oh, for those of you who aren't familiar with Invisible Children: it's an organization that tries to raise awareness about the longest running war in Africa and free Joseph Kony's child soldiers. (http://www.invisiblechildren.com)
But anyway; the Challenge is supposed to kick off on February 1 and then goes until April 1, where it'll end with the traditional Benefit Concert. And as Feb. 1 gets closer, I'm getting more and more nervous. So far, we've got two teams; well, at least there's two teams that I know about even though they still need to fill out the registration form. My goal is to get at least 10 teams. That's what we had last time. And yes, granted, last time, a lot of teams didn't form until half-way through the competition and about a month prior to the Benefit Concert, but still.... This waiting is driving me crazy. I just want to know that I'll have enough teams and that this event isn't going to flop. So I spent quite a bit of time this weekend sending individualized e-mails to student organizations (service and social justice organizations, club sports - since those have to do community service, and anyone else who's mission slightly relates to Africa or human rights); I managed to send 64 e-mails in the past 24 hours. So now it's back to waiting. Yikes. I'm not a very patient person...haha.
Please keep your fingers crossed for me that we'll reach my goal of 10 teams; and preferably sooner rather than later.
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Hey just wanted to let you know that I stumbled across your blog in my Google Alerts for Invisible Children. I used to be a Roadie.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to hear more about what you're trying to plan at the University!
Hey! You were a roadie? That's awesome.
ReplyDeleteOur plan is to have student groups (student organizations, club sports teams, sororities and fraternities, residence hall floors, RA staffs, etc.) form teams. Teams will compete to see who can raise the most awareness and funds for Invisible Children - for example, they'll host a screening of an Invisible Children Movie and they'll get a point for each student who attends; if they do a fundraiser, they get a point for every dollar they raise. The competition will go on for two months; then we'll host a Benefit Concert where we'll give students some more information about Invisible Children as well as announce the champions of the Challenge.