Help make RenewFest 2018 a festival to remember

Would you like to help shape our cross-faculty/unit, employee-oriented personal renewal initiative, RenewFest? Interested in sharing your great ideas?

Employee volunteers from all campuses are needed to assist with planning RenewFest 2018, a legacy event originating in February 2017 as part of the University of Calgary's 50th anniversary. RenewFest is an employee-focused initiative supported by the Campus Mental Health Strategy (CMHS). Volunteers will work collaboratively to help build a festival program in one of the working committees (listed below), most of which align to one of the four themes of RenewFest.

February 2017’s RenewFest attracted more than 1,000 employees to 37 active living and workshop-type events. A small but dedicated group of employees orchestrated a series of activities in a short span of time, including a bonfire with hot chocolate.

“We had a very brief turnaround time between when we decided our staff needed this break and when we had to pull it off,” admits Dominque MacDonald, manager, active living and one of a group of five core volunteers. “But we did it, it was very successful and we were super excited to carry it forward into next year. For the Campus Mental Health Strategy to recognize the difference this may make to the well-being of staff is a wonderful bonus.”

Thanks to a successful application to the 2017 CMHS’s Grants program, 2018’s festival will be held during Reading Week in February 2018 (Tuesday, Feb. 20 to Friday, Feb. 23). Volunteers will be needed for committee work from September 2017 to March 2018. Committee meetings will be approximately one hour long, twice per month, with the possibility for extra meetings as necessary in January and February 2018. Meetings may be held during work hours and participation will require advance manager approval.

If you have great ideas for inspiring others — we want to hear from you.

Working Group Opportunities

• Get Active Working Group: This collaborative and inclusive working group will create, plan and run a variety of active sessions that get UCalgary employees moving. Many of last year’s events took place in the Kinesiology complex and we need your help to expand, to have Get Active events across all our campuses.
• Get Inspired Working Group: We need individuals with great ideas that inspire. What inspires you? How does the university contribute to your sense of purpose, and what types of activities can we develop that will contribute to inspiring faculty and staff? Our focus will be creating RenewFest events and opportunities in support of the Campus Mental Health Strategy, well-being, inclusiveness, compassion and inspiration.
• Get Connected Working Group: This working group will design, plan and execute RenewFest activities which connect employees to a sense of campus community and to each other. Events and activities will focus on encouraging inclusiveness and appreciation. For example, last year we had a bonfire in the quad on main campus, topical workshops and “surprise and delight” initiatives.
• Get Organized Working Group: Join this working group to create workshops to encourage staff to structure or restructure their environment at work or home to help unclutter their minds and lifestyles. Last year’s activities included hands-on events around healthy eating, decluttering email inboxes, and coping with workload stress. 
• RenewFest Communication Working Group: Share the exciting developments around RenewFest by spreading the word — through great stories, photos and engaging our UCalgary community on social media and on a web page. This group will uncover the best about RenewFest and find ways to raise the profile of the many events so everyone can take advantage of the opportunities.

The University of Calgary’s Campus Mental Health Strategy is a bold commitment to the importance of mental health and well-being of our university family. Our vision is to be a community where we care for each other, learn and talk about mental health and well-being, receive support as needed, and individually and collectively realize our full potential. If you think you need help, please visit resources here. If you think someone you know needs help, find more information here.