Special Events

Keep tweens excited about the VERB Scorecard campaign by offering a variety of special events. Your partners/vendors can host smaller scale special events at their facilities or businesses just for VERB Scorecard holders, such as special hours just for tweens, tween dances and other exclusive perks.

On a grander scale, community-wide special events are great opportunities for tweens, and can increase awareness of the issues among parents and other adult influencers. Design special events to keep tweens and parents thinking about physical activity well after your VERB Scorecard campaign. Rotate tweens through fun and cool activity stations, while parents can sign-up their children for physical activity classes, teams, programs and camps at separate registration tables staffed by your partners/vendors.

However, community-wide special events are labor intensive and should only be undertaken if you have sufficient staff and partner support, and can assure a good crowd by holding the event where tweens naturally convene, having programs that serve youth transport large numbers of tweens to the event or having sufficient promotion to draw large numbers.

Some previous campaign communities have piggy-backed their VERB Scorecard event with an existing community event to simplify the organizing process. Be sure that there is a natural relationship and complementary goals with any event with which you collaborate. With this approach, the workload for your planning team may be lighter: set up a table and/or tent, collect VERB Scorecards, distribute small prizes and hold the grand prize drawing.

However, your planning team’s ability to draw large numbers of tweens relies absolutely on the other event organizers’ ability to market the event and draw a crowd. Also, a tie-in with another event could lessen the brand identity of your campaign among your target audience (i.e., your VERB Scorecard campaign could be perceived as The Other Event’s Scorecard campaign).

Kick-Off Events

A rousing kick-off event is a great way to launch your campaign, distribute VERB Scorecards, create buzz among youth and generate media attention for the campaign. Multiply the effect with several kick-off events held throughout your community.

Grand Finale

Motivate and inspire tweens with a spectacular grand finale event designed just for them. Tweens can redeem their completed VERB Scorecards, pick up their small prizes and anticipate winning big in the grand prize drawing.

Make the grand prize drawing the pinnacle of the exhilarating event. Local celebrities, athletes and radio/television personalities that are cool to the tweens add interest to the grand prize drawing. Make sure your emcee is experienced and comfortable on the microphone and keeping the crowd engaged. Radio personalities and sports announcers have worked well for previous campaign sites. Keeping this part of the event short works well for energetic tweens. Finish with active fanfare, like letting tweens run the bases of a baseball diamond, swim a lap, do the wave or high-five the celebrities.

Promotional Concepts and Ideas

Borrow promotional concepts and ideas on the VERB Scorecard Campaign CD-ROM to host special events throughout your campaign. Use a promotional concept to coordinate your kick-off or grand finale events, or mix special promotions throughout your campaign schedule. And, participation in these events can count toward VERB Scorecard completion.

Longest Day of Play

The Longest Day of Play (LDOP) celebrates the Summer Solstice (usually around June 21st) as not only the longest day of the year, but the longest day of play. Take advantage of the daylight and have activities for tweens late into the evening, giving the event a special feel.

In one previous campaign community, three different LDOP events were offered: one at a church, one at a community center and another at a YMCA. Each LDOP event was held in a different part of town with a different segment of the population, and was organized by a different partner to distribute the workload.

Make It Up

Make It Up promotions develop a child’s imagination as they participate in physical activities. The VERB Scorecard Campaign CD-ROM has game ideas to get you started, but don’t stop with these games! Challenge your kids to come up with their own games and activities.

Anytime/Doubletime

Take 2 VERBs, Make 1 Game and GO! That’s the idea behind Anytime/Doubletime. Play VolleyHackey: tweens kick a footbag (HackeySack®) over a lowered volleyball net or limbo stick to score points just like a volleyball game. Try BirdieBall: Dial up the fun on the diamond by replacing the baseball with a birdie, and the gloves and bats with badminton rackets.

Anytour

Be active, anywhere, anytime, with anything – that’s the message you can convey with your own Anytour. Various activity stations, staffed with energetic and enthusiastic high school or college students, give tweens a chance to move in creative ways. Play trashcan ball or use sockballs for footbags (HackeySack®). It’s amazing how laundry baskets, brooms and duct tape balls can keep tweens active for an extended time period.

Activity Ideas for Your Promotional Events

Special Event Ideas from Previous Campaign Sites

Sarasota, Florida launched their campaign with a well-attended dance at the public library.

A member of the Bowling Green, Kentucky coalition provided his roller skating rink at no charge to host their campaign kick-off. This same coalition hosted a special event for a group of tweens in their own neighborhood.

Henderson, Kentucky held an Amazing Race event in partnership with their State Park Association. Tweens were divided into teams and used clues, canoes and trails to race to the finish line. This campaign site also tied-in their grand finale to an existing annual event in the community.

Winchester, Kentucky implemented a less labor intensive grand finale event. VERB Scorecard holders and their families were treated to a free swimming party after regular pool hours. The prize drawing was held at the end. Tweens gave this grand finale swim high marks for fun.