The week of We Day is always exciting – especially if it’s your first time. I put together 14 things that you need to do BEFORE your first We Day. And for those of you lucky enough that this is not your first We Day, here’s a refresher.
1. Get a good night’s sleep. I totally understand what it’s like to be so excited the night before We Day that you can’t imagine sleeping. Count sheep…or coins…whatever it takes. You’ll need all the energy you can get.
2. Learn the We Day Dance. Throughout the day the entire stadium will be out of their seats and on their feet doing it. It’s so cool be part of 20,000 of us doing it together.
3. Bring non-perishable food items to donate. There will be donation boxes throughout the stadium. If you’re going to We Day, you know how important it is to support your local community.
4. Bring all of the used batteries in your house that you’ve been collecting to dispose of safely. At We Day a new campaign is being launched called Zinc Saves Lives and for every battery collected at We Day, a child will receive zinc that will keep them healthy.
5. Wear comfortable shoes. It’s a long day and you’ll be on your feet dancing, cheering and when you have time, you’ll want to walk around and see some of the booths set up in the corridors of the stadium.
6. Bring some money – you’ll want to buy a rafiki or a We Day t-shirt.
7. Charge your phone or your camera – you’ll be using it all day.
8. Sign up for We365 – there will be moments throughout the day where you’ll be asked to use it if you can.
9. If you’re on Twitter find and follow all of the We Day speakers. They’ll be tweeting throughout the day and you’ll be able to hear from them what they are seeing, feeling and experiencing throughout the day too. Follow the We Day hashtags to connect with other change-makers in the crowd. Share what you’re seeing and feeling so that your friends who aren’t at We Day can connect too. Follow: @WeDay @CraigKielburger @Spencer2theWest @AshleyRose_FTC and me @ThatHannahAlper. The official hashtag is #WeDay.
10. Do your homework. Take some time and learn a bit about some of the speakers who will be on the We Day stage. Knowing a bit about their background and history will make seeing them speak even more special. Check out the full lineup for your We Day. Make friends with the people around you. We Day is a great time and place to make new friends who you have things in common with. A good way to break the ice is to ask questions like “who are you most excited to see today?” or “what did you do to earn your way to We Day?”
11. Tell your friends and family what We Day is all about and why you’re going. Share your inspiration, motivation and excitement with them. This stuff is contagious. Let them know that We Day will be live-streaming all day and they can tune in and watch online.
12. Watch the We Day “Born out of a Dream” video. It will get you ready (as if you’re not already).
13. Thank the volunteers, We Day team and sponsors – We Day couldn’t happen without them
14. Be proud – you’ve obviously done great things to earn your seat at We Day. You’ve worked hard to reach your goals whether that has been about raising awareness or raising money. Come on in, we’ve been waiting for you.
Hey Hannah,
Hope you remember me… (from twitter) (awkward silence)(@angelabi23) and omg thank you so much like seriously I was so amazed and how sweet you are to make a post for us first timers. You are so kind and have such a sweet soul. So glad I found ur blog or else I would be somewhere other then going to We Day right now. I was so inspired I made a post. I was wondering if you would check it out because I mean why not? I linked it down below just in case you wanted to check it out. By the way I mentioned you in the post so i`t`s probably already in your feed. They`res not enough words to describe how thankful I am to you and your hard work. Coming home to a post by you always cheers me up and having 140 characters on twitter is not enough to tell you how much you have inspired me. Hope to stay in contact with you over twitter and blogging over the years. For the tenth time good luck for We Day. You`ll do great, can`t wait to see you out there.
Abi 🙂
Forgot to metion my blog URl: http://justcallmeabi.wordpress.com/
Hi! Thanks so much for posting this! I went to We Day for the first time this year and it was amazing! I saw you speak and actually saw you when you came to the section where my group was sitting! It was an awesome day! Thanks 🙂
Well descriptive article. I am fond of dancing and the points you mentioned so amazing and nice. In the ninth point you give a way to connect to you. I will definitely join we day. Thanks for sharing. Also Thank you for sharing this amazing video.