This series of activity packets is designed for several purposes. One of the most important is that (especially new) groups are sometimes intimidated by the task of putting on an event. Flying blind into the intricacies of a soul auction or a protest rally is no fun. These packets try to break down and simplify the steps to activities to make them more manageable, and to give you a better idea of how and what they're doing.

Another use of the activity packets is to clue you into the wide variety of things to do; you don't have to continuously oscillate between speaker, debate, speaker and meeting. While these packets cover some of the most common activities, they really only scratch the surface of what's possible. We highly encourage you to use these activities as branching-off points, as spurs to even more creative and exciting possibilities.

That ties into the final purpose of the activity packets - to facilitiate intergroup, even intergenerational collaboration and sharing. These packets came together from an extensive combing of group websites and news articles, as well as short interviews with a number of group leaders past and present. However, one intern can't possibly get all of the best practices out there, or even all of the relevant information. We really hope that your groups can help others by commenting on these packets, updating and correcting them, and suggesting new ideas.

Looking for help planning out your year's events?  Check out the Group Event Planning Guide (contributed by Nick Wallin of CASH) and our Sample Year.

Meta-Packets

These groupings of packets illustrate how to utilize several activity packets when planning a large event.

Activism Meta-Packet - Demonstrations, Protests, & Lobbying
Service Meta-Packet - Service Project & Collaboration Ideas
Social Events Meta-Packet - Student Group and Community Building
Speakers & Debates Meta-Packet - Resources, Topic Ideas & Planning Checklist
Darwin Day Meta-Packet - Resources, Ideas, Descriptions of Past Events
National Day of Reason Meta-Packet - Resources, Ideas, Descriptions of Past Events
Discussion Meetings Meta-Packet - Resources, Meeting Topics, Discussion Meeting Strategies (Coming Soon)

The individual activity packets are listed below: