"Tomorrow is the first blank page of a 365 page book. Write a good one.”
- Brad Paisley
As we begin a new year, and look at the 12
months of planning ahead of us as activities professionals, it can be both
overwhelming and exciting! I'd like to share a few ways that I look at
this situation.
First, I review last year's successes and
add the programs that I want back onto the new year's calendar. This is a good base
for raising the bar for your programming because you are starting off with what
was well received. Only take the best and leave the other activity ideas in the
past.
Next, I take a look at ideas that are
sitting on my desk in my to-do pile. These ideas include entertainers that I
want to book, places that we should go to, class ideas, etc. etc. I pull
out the ideas that I am really interested in and start penciling them onto my
calendar where I think that they will work best. I make a note on the
information according to what I penciled on my calendar. At this point, I
either start making calls or leave it until later to call. If you have a good
volunteer, it would be a perfect project for them to take on.
And lastly, I put in my special events. In
my community I host a theme party every other month. In the past, I've had
ideas that are suggested, are community favorites, or that I've created on my
own. This year, I am going to try another approach. I work with a few different
talent agencies, and my plan is to contact them and ask them to suggest one or
two of their most unique entertainers. I will then build my theme night around
the show. This is different from the way that I usually do things, and most
likely the way you do them too.
I encourage you to take home your calendar
book and the ideas that you have on your desk or in your file cabinet, and
spend some time making a year's plan. Do it in January because after the year
starts it might be tough to carve out the time to do it. Maybe you just do the
first 6 months and see how it goes. Another option that has worked for me in
the past is, when I am on outing such as a casino trip, I take my calendar and
ideas folder with me. If my gambling money runs out and I have already been
around and checked on the residents on the outing and they don’t need me, I
find a quiet place to sit down and open my mind to the possibilities that I can
add to my calendar. I know that when I pencil in my ideas when I am not
pressured to come up with ideas, that my calendar looks better. Also, it is
great to turn the page of the calendar and see that some of your work is
already done for you!
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