Planning Candle Light Vigils
For more information contact:
Legislative Affairs Director
1902 Association Dr.
Reston, VA 20191
(703) 620-6600 x211
METHODS
The first task in holding a candle light vigil is to bring a team of five to six people together, to help split the work load. Ideally you should find one person for each of the following tasks.
- A speaker coordinator should be in charge of reserving a location (including filling out necessary paper work for permits), and contacting speakers.
- Publicity coordinator should be in charge of advertising the event, including making and hanging posters, contacting area hospitals, and other organizations.
- A logistics coordinator should be in charge of any supplies, i.e. transporting and setting up sound equipment, any drinks, or food.
- Chapter coordinator should be a central contact for chapter officers, or liaisons to chapters.
Next pick a tentative time, date, and location. Next try to pick three potential sites for the speaker coordinator to look into reserving. Remember to find out when sunset is when planning your vigil!
MATERIALS
Ideally the project should be sponsored by a consortium of chapters that can all contribute a small amount of money for expenses. Expenses should not exceed $300. If you get six chapters to help, that would only be $50 each.
Expenses may include the following:
- $150 Battery powered PA system rental
- $40 Candles ($30 for 200 6" candles with drip guards), and flashlights
- $50 Advertising, copying costs.
- free-$50 Permits for demonstrations (yes please check to see if you need one)
- Any food or refreshments
You should try to avoid giving away honoraria. Most universal health care speakers will speak for free if their expenses are covered. If you serve food or any other refreshments, try and get them donated.
The work needed to prepare the vigil should be shared. However it is always a good idea to select a coordinator that can serve as a chair and a chapter that is ultimately responsible for unfinished tasks.
If you try and book a representative remember that they are usually very busy, and often have multiple appointments. Never let the success of your event ride on their appearance. Always adjust your schedule to maximize the number of medical students and physicians attendees, rather than a congressional speaker. If you have a large turn out, the event will be a much bigger success than if you have a member of congress speak. Congressional offices can almost always supply a staff member to read something on a representative's behalf.
It is important to get word out to chapters as soon as possible, so that they can begin assisting with planning. Be sure to include physician organizations as partners for the event. We listed a few organizations that you may want to approach in our contacts section. Other organizations to approach include local groups or members of the American Public Health Association, the American Nurses Association, the American Medical Women's Association, the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association, the National Association of Social Workers, and the National Medical Association.
THE POSITIONS
Speaker Coordinator
Your first job is to secure a location for the event to take place. Refer to our regional list for suggested sites. Your site may be:
- A hospital that cares for a large uninsured, or underserved population.
- A park area that contains a large amount of traffic in the evening.
- City hall, or another similar building.
- A memorial or statue of significance to the underserved. Look for sites that can provide the following:
- A rain location.
- High visibility to the public.
- Something visually attractive for the media to shoot.
- Easy accessibility and sufficient parking.
To reserve you must first locate the appropriate person. For hospitals, it might be a good idea to call either a public relations department, or a special events office. For public grounds, contact a park service, police, or city hall.
Once you have secured an area, you can begin to look for speakers. Again please refer to the list that we provided for each region. You should look for one or two speakers that will help attract a large audience. Try and keep your speaker list diverse. Ideas for speakers include:
- A representative with a strong record on health care reform.
- A physician, nurse, social worker or allied health professional that has been active in providing care to underserved communities, or in health reform.
- An AMSA national officer.
- A patient that wishes to speak about their experience with the health care system.
Try getting in touch with speakers as soon as possible. Most speakers, especially a member of congress, they will want to know right away where and when they will be speaking, so secure a location as soon as possible. We have included a sample letter from our Chicago candle light vigil.
|
Date The Honorable Danny Davis Dear Representative Davis, On behalf of the American Medical Student Association (AMSA), it is our pleasure to invite you to speak at the AMSA and Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP) Candlelight Vigil for the Uninsured. The event will take place on November 6, 1999 at 6:00 p.m., during AMSA's fall regional workshop at Rush Medical College in Chicago. The vigil will take place at Pasteur Park 1836 W. Harrison in Chicago a small park across the street from Cook County Hospital. Our regional workshop will include hundreds of medical students from 27 medical schools in the region. We were hoping that you would be available to speak at the vigil about the plight of the uninsured and how Congress can affect a solution for this growing problem. I have enclosed a copy of our flyer promoting the event. We expect 100-300 medical students, physicians, and members from the community to participate in the vigil. We commend your support for health care reform and hope that you will be able to attend to inspire area medical students and physicians as well as members of the community to become more active in the struggle for universal health care. AMSA is the nation's largest, independent, student-run organization, with nearly 30,000 physicians-in-training members from over 150 medical schools across the country. Founded in 1950, AMSA is committed to improving health care and healthcare delivery to all people, promoting active improvement in medical education, involving its members in the social, moral and ethical obligations of the profession of medicine, assisting in the improvements and understanding of world health problems, contributing to the welfare of medical students, interns, residents and post MD/DO trainees, and advancing the profession of medicine. To find out more about our organization and its mission, please refer to our web page at, http://www.amsa.org, or call me at (703) 620-6600, ext. 211. Thank you for your time and consideration. We look forward to hearing from you. Sincerely, Josh Rising |
Logistics Coordinator
Your job is to help acquire, deliver, and setup supplies for the vigil.
PA Systems
Try to avoid handheld systems. They are rarely clear. Get at least a 50 watt system. ALWAYS test the system BEFORE leaving the rental store. Talk with your speaker coordinator to find out if the vigil location has access to electricity. If it is available, get permission to use it, and make sure that it will be turned on during the vigil. If electricity is not available, you will have to either rent a battery powered PA system, or rent a small generator.
- The Expensive Way
Rental stores will usually have some type of PA system. PA system costs will vary from $80 - $300 for a small system, so shop around. Reserve the system as soon as possible, especially if there is no deposit. - The Cheap Way
Find a friend that has the right equipment. Contact a local union, faith group, or another organization that may be able to lend you their equipment. Always test the equipment well before the event.
Candles
You probably want to avoid specialty-shop aroma therapy candles. Religious supply shops sell bulk candles at a fairly cheap rate. 6"-8" candles with cardboard drip guards should be sufficient. Check the yellow pages for candle shops that supply bulk candles, or look under religious supplies. If the store allows returns on unopened boxes, you may want to buy an extra box.
Food
It is usually a good idea to avoid bringing large amounts of food, or to avoid bringing food entirely if possible. Food can significantly bring up costs. Coffee, or hot chocolate should be sufficient. If the weather looks like it will be cold, it would be a good idea to advertise that hot drinks will be served. Your school, or a faith group may have a portable coffee dispenser that you could borrow. You can also visit local coffee shops to see if they would be willing to donate coffee. Always remember to bring trash bags to help clean up.
Publicity Coordinator Your job is to design materials to promote the event, and to distribute them to chapters and other interested organizations. The end of your work should be focused towards having every single medical student see information about the event at least six times. The success of the event hinges upon your ability to inform the public and the media about the event and to attract them to it.
For assistance in your PR efforts, contact:
AMSA's Director of Public Relations
(703) 620-6600 x207 or pr@amsa.org
Your first task is to design a flyer to be distributed directly to people. Try and keep it as simple as possible and try to develop the flyer as soon as possible. Remember to have at least the following information:
- American Medical Student Association (not AMSA) and all other supporting organizations listed on the flyer.
- A list of speakers and their titles. If speakers have not confirmed yet, write (invited) next to their name.
- The location of the vigil. Use a street address, and a descriptive address identifying a known landmark.
- Your contact information, i.e. telephone number, or e-mail.
Have the chapter coordinator mail a set of flyers to each chapter officer, or chapter contact to stuff them inside student mailboxes. Check to see if they can help defray copying costs.
Next, take the vigil flyer, and eliminate any information that is not essential, and increase all of the font sizes. This is your new candle light vigil sign. Make sure that your sign is easy to read from a distance, otherwise it is worthless. Include the a brief title describing the event, the location and the speakers, in VERY large font. Ask chapter coordinator to tell their contacts to place flyers somewhere near the signs. Include a "for more information contact:" and your telephone number or e-mail.
Visit and advertise in as many sites as possible when regulations allow. Target high traffic areas, such as by entrances to large rooms, bulletin boards or a busy hallway.
Target sites include:
- hospitals, especially the vigil site;
- bookstores, coffee houses, supermarket bulletin boards;
- allied health professional schools, i.e. nursing, social work, physical therapy, dental and public health schools;
- health related offices, i.e. department of public health, social work institutions;
- churches and other faith groups.
Contact your local newspaper, and ask how much ads cost, or if they would be willing to donate space, or if they could cover your event. Contact local radio stations, and ask them if they can plug your event on the air.
Chapter Coordinator
Your task is to help educate and recruit members at each chapter in your area to attend the vigil. The best way to do this is to establish a contact person that will be able to devote a few hours over the course of the event to get word out to members. Find out if your contact has copy machine access. If they do, send them a copy of the flyer and ask them to stuff as many student mailboxes as possible. Send them a few copies of signs and ask them to hang them up in highly visible locations. Boxes should ideally be stuffed twice. Once to announce the event, early in planning, and then a second time shortly before the event.
Ask the chapter contact to make announcements about the event in the following order: Try to make it to this meeting to provide an overview of the vigil.
- 2 months before the event, announce an organizational and information meeting.
- 1 month before the event have a speaker come in to give a presentation on the uninsured.
- 2 weeks before the event make announcements every few days until the event.
- 1 week before the event have a final organizational meeting.
- The day before the event try and hold some type of brief lunch time discussion.
The meeting 2 months before the vigil should be focused on providing information to people that are already interested in working for universal health care. Goals for the meeting include:
- Scheduling a time for a speaker to come in to talk about national health insurance, or the uninsured. Since this is an important date pick it carefully so that you can maximize attendance.
- Dividing tasks, including stuffing mailboxes, making announcements to the class, and arranging for transportation to the vigil if necessary.
- Decide what type of support your chapter will be able to provide the vigil. Some chapters will be able to donate money for rentals, others may be able to help with supplies, or help in advertising the vigil.
The meeting a month before the vigil should be used to help raise awareness among students in the class. Bring in a speaker to who can talk about the uninsured and national health insurance. Call Physicians for a National Health Program if you need contact information for speakers in your area.
Physicians for a National Health Program
332 S. Michigan, Suite 500
Chicago, IL 60604
Tel (312) 554-0382
Fax (312) 554-0383
pnhp@aol.com
CONTACTS FOR VIGIL SPEAKERS
Contact the LAD at (703) 620-6600 ext 211, or lad@amsa.org. I will be able to suggest a list of speakers in your area. Contact these organizations early and ask them to participate in the vigil as well. Most organizations would be more than happy to advertise
Contact Physicians for a National Health Program for speakers on national health insurance in your area. They can also recommend a physician that will be able to speak at the vigil.
Physicians for a National Health Program
332 S. Michigan, Suite 500
Chicago, IL 60604
Tel (312) 554-0382
Fax (312) 554-0383
pnhp@aol.com