Advertising

Advertising is key to the success of a weekend retreat so start as early as possible.  At the bottom of this page you will find links to several documents related to advertising which you can download and modify for your event.

Key strategies

  1. The flyers are key.  Big letters at the top help people spot it from across the room.  Leave an information number (don’t give the location of the event as you don’t want people showing up without being screened). See attached examples.
  2. Get the flyers everywhere!  Especially in the waiting and examining rooms in the cancer clinics, the chemo units, the surgeons' offices, the radiation suites, the in-patient wards.  These are best posted 4-6 months in advance as many patients will only have one follow-up visit during this time.
  3. Email the flyer (or better if you have a budget – mail them) to major support groups, the Cancer Soceity, to the disease specific groups.  Ask these other organizations to post the flyer on their website.
  4. Ask all your facilitators to put them up around town.
  5. University or hospital email groups are wide-ranging.
  6. Send out a Public Service Announcement (PSA) – the university / hospital / major organization have a list.  Send this out early as they will run this information in multiple venues.  Stress that you need the information out well in advance of the weekend.
  7. Approach the media with your idea early – especially if it’s a first time event. Ask them to publish the article or piece in advance of the event but promise to give them a follow up as well. You’ll need to OK this with the Public Relations department beforehand – it’s not an issue for them as this is a good news story and will make you all look good.  They may want to interview a patient so either decide to decline or ask a patient beforehand and clear it with your boss. 
  8. You can send posters to doctors' offices – Go to the yellow pages and  search for doctors who are in large group practices.  Choose one name from the list and send her/him a set of posters (see attached). Do the same for all regional hospitals and send a note to the public relations department (see attached).
  9. Send a flyer to everyone associated with cancer treatment, psychology, psychology, rehab, palliative care- you get the idea.
  10. Do a presentation for the nurses +/- oncologists at their rounds.  Ask the heads of oncology departments to email your flyer to all of the oncologists.
  11. Included is a radio Public Service Announcement.  Leave a message on the radios talkback line and hopefully they will play it.

 

Downloadable documents

NOTE: To download documents, right click on the document name and select 'Save As'.

Example flyer

Example flyer #2

Email asking others to advertise – attach your flyer to this email.

Doctor letter – enclose posters with this letter.

Hospital letter  - ask them to post flyers.

Public service announcement / media release – send this to public radio / tv stations.  Usually organized by a public relations specialist.