So You Wanna Throw a Health Fair

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2 So You Wanna Throw a Health Fair Company health fairs are a standard wellness initiative. And for good reason. They re an easy way for employers and employees to focus on healthy lifestyles both in the workplace and at home. This guide is intended to be a comprehensive starting place for any company looking to put on a health fair event. We ll cover your goals and objectives with your health fair, organizing and selecting your vendors, choosing enticing door prizes and free giveaways, and what kinds of activities your health fair should have. 2

3 Table of Contents Goals & Objectives..4 Organizing Your Plan...5 Promotion...7 Vendors. 10 Activities...14 Giveaways & Prizes Budget...20 Your Next Steps.. 23 Further Reading..24 3

4 Goals + Objectives In order to know if your event has been a success, you ve got to have some goals in mind. What do you want your health fair to accomplish? Health fairs can look completely different from one organization to the next, depending on each company s culture and business values. Come up with some key metrics to capture during your health fair. Tying them to current company values is a great way to make your health fair a seamless program. Here are some outcomes you could consider: Number of attendees Number of employees who sign up for certain programs Level of awareness about upcoming initiatives 4

5 Organizing Your Plan Health fairs come with a lot of moving parts, so your best bet is to divide and conquer. Identify key areas of oversight and who will be in charge of each area. If you have a wellness team, you can split the areas up among everyone involved. For companies with a smaller team, multiple areas may be assigned to each person. Keeping track of who s doing what will be a key part of a smoothly-running event. Key Areas to Delegate Soliciting sponsorship Vendor outreach Activities and events planning Budget and reimbursement procedures Employee outreach and promotion Parking considerations Insurance Food Volunteers 5

6 Health fairs come with a lot of moving parts. Your best bet is to divide and conquer. 6

7 Promotion Ok, you ve got a plan. You have some killer sponsors showing up. You re on your way to throwing a pretty amazing health fair. Now you need to get the word out to your employees, so you can move toward your goal of having a healthier office. Internal promotion of your health fair event is a critical part of planning. Unfortunately, if you build it, they will come doesn t always work in real life. You ve got to do some leg work so make your event enticing. Here are a few ideas on getting the word out. 7

8 Ways to get the word out Each organization has a method of communication that works best, so start there. Here are some ideas for galvanizing your workforce: Paystub stuffers campaign Company newsletters Breakroom banners Intranet messages Desk flyers All-hands meetings Posters Health fair passports are another great idea that generates a lot of attention. The idea is simple: create passports for each of your employees. Each station stamps the passport after a presentation. The more stamps you get, the more you win. People love this. And after it s all said and done, send your employees evaluation forms. These are invaluable for learning how to make your next health fair even better. 8

9 Unfortunately, if you build it, they will come doesn t always work in real life. 9

10 Vendors To really make your health fair something employees get excited about, you'll want to offer something a little different from the standard fare. Consider bringing in more creative vendors who will make the experience more than just a typical health fair. Great vendors will have tons of health fair experience, so they'll know what will draw a crowd to their booth. Experienced vendors will also know how to provide valuable information to your attendees in fun and memorable ways. The key to a successful company health fair is making it a fun and memorable experience. The best way to do that is by having the right vendors and the right activities. 10

11 Offer different levels of participation for your vendors. The difference between a sponsor and a vendor is cold hard cash. To become a sponsor of your event, outside vendors can pay a fee in exchange for logo representation in your health fair marketing. It's also important for your company to offer some activities as well, rather than just relying on the vendors to provide all the fun

12 Health fair vendor ideas American Heart Association American Red Cross American Lung Association Your county health department Local gyms and personal trainers Bike shops Fire department Insurance companies Massage therapists Personal trainers Supplement and vitamin companies Sports drinks brands Nutritionists 12

13 The difference between a sponsor and a vendor is cold hard cash. 13

14 Activities Everyone s favorite part of health fairs is the fun and informative activities that take place. Typically, a large portion of the activities that happen at health fairs are based on what each vendor brings. And that s a great start. But don t make the mistake of relying on your vendors to make the health fair successful. Some of these activities might be covered by your vendors, but if not, find a way for your own team to provide these kinds of activities. 14

15 Health fair activity ideas Blood pressure screening Health risk assessments Bicycle repair and commuter safety workshop Nutrition demos for making healthy snacks and lunches Pull-up / push-up challenge Rock wall challenge Yoga demonstration Tips on urban container gardening Smoking cessation commitment sign-up Hearing tests Meditation session On-site chair massage Scavenger hunt Encourage attendees to visit several vendor booths by organizing a scavenger hunt. Give attendees a checklist of things to find or booths to visit. They can get a stamp from each booth when they complete a certain task, like do 5 jumping jacks or name 3 vegetables high in calcium. Once their card is filled with stamps, they can submit their name to win that fabulous door prize. 15

16 Don t make the mistake of relying on your vendors to make your health fair successful. 16

17 Giveaways + Prizes In order to make an impact, company health fairs need to draw employees in. A great way to do this is to offer enticing door prizes and giveaways. In addition to getting valuable health information, your employees can walk away with a stash of goodies. Who says bribery doesn t work? Check out this list for some great health fair giveaways ideas. Nothing gets bodies in the door quite like a can't-bemissed door prize. Encourage attendance at your next health fair with these door prizes ideas: Each employee who completes a stress test can be given a Fitbit to help them continue to track their activity levels. A stack of best-selling personal health books can be a great gift for employees who want to get intellectual about their health Gift certificate for some nutritious meals prepared by a personal chef Gym equipment such as kettleballs, yoga mats, and medicine balls 17

18 Expensive raffle ideas If possible, offer a big raffle prize to get people excited about the health fair. Talk it up weeks in advance to build anticipation. Then draw the raffle winner towards the end of the event. Here are some pricier giveaways that will draw attendance to your health fair: Mountain bike or road bike ipad mini with itunes gift card for wellness apps 12 personal training sessions at a local gym 12 full-body therapeutic massage sessions from a local massage therapist These are the classic health fair giveaways. They re cheap but useful: Pillboxes Personal hand sanitizer sprays Reusable ice packs Fully stocked first aid kit Stress balls in fun shapes Mini footballs and basketballs to keep people active Water bottles Doubled 401(k) contribution for 1 year 18

19 Employees walk away with a stash of goodies. Who says bribery doesn t work? 19

20 Budget The budget for your health fair will determine a large portion of the kinds of activities and gifts you can provide. But you can make your money stretch by making informed decisions. If you have data from employee questionnaires, that can give you an idea of where to start. Get feedback on what interests your employees about health and wellness. Spend money wisely by using employee survey data to inform how you spend your health fair budget. If most employees want to learn more about easy exercises to do at home, put some money on that, to ensure the interest is already there before you try drawing employees in. 20

21 Each committee should be given a budget amount to incorporate in their plan. Keep in mind the costs of decorations, refreshments, prizes, rental fees for tables/chairs, printing costs, etc. The more donations can be solicited, the better it will be for your budget. Give donors an option to be a sponsor of your health fair when they donate goods or services equivalent to a certain financial level

22 Spend money wisely by using employee survey data to inform how you spend your health fair budget. 22

23 Your Next Steps Putting on a successful company health fair is a rewarding experience that encourages your employees to lead heathy lives. Following the event, make sure each vendor, sponsor, volunteer, and committee member is sent a thank you letter. In your letter, include the outcome numbers of your event number of attendees, total number of vendors, amount of money raised, if applicable, etc. Document the experience to make next year s event flow smoothly. You ll be better able to tackle problems if you took notes on how the event went the year before. 23

24 Further Reading Workplace Wellness The Worst Advice We ve Ever Heard About Workplace Wellness Corporate Wellness Ideas: 5 HR Leaders on What Works Best [video] Company Culture The Culture of Company Culture [infographic] 10 Best Corporate Retreat Ideas: Building Culture Off-Site Office Chair Massage 3 Ways Corporate Massage Lowers Employee Turnover 10 Signs You Should Invest in Corporate Massage Therapy About Us Incorporate Massage is a corporate massage company that provides in-office chair massage to businesses across the country. Since 2010, our company has doubled or tripled in size each year as we work to de-stress America s workforce. Our dedicated team of professional massage therapists work in companies of all sizes in every business sector from Fortune 500 company break rooms to small town elementary school teacher lounges. 24