The American Cancer Society's Relay For Life

College Relays - Fundraising Development

Fundraising Development for College Relays.  Recorded at the American Cancer Society University Summit.

Relay For Life and COUNTRY Financial

Discussion between COUNTRY Financial executives and American Cancer Society National Corporate Team Program Directors about getting your local COUNTRY Financial employees involved in your local Relay For Life event.

Relay For Life & Starbucks Team Captain Kickoff

Discussion between Starbucks executives and American Cancer Society National Corporate Team Directors about getting your local Starbucks employees involved in your local Relay For Life event.

College Relays - Leadership Development

Leadership Development for College Relays.  Recorded at the American Cancer Society University Summit.

College Relays - Event Development

Event Development for College Relays.  Recorded at the American Cancer Society University Summit.

Survivorship - Engage

6th (and final) podcast from the National Survivorship Development Conference.

Survivorship - Survive

5th Podcast from the National Survivorship Development Conference.

Survivorship - Opportunity

4th podcast from the National Survivorship Development Conference.

Survivorship - Honoring Survivors

3rd podcast from the National Survivorship Development Conference.

Survivorship - Survivor Development Sub-Committee

2nd podcast from the National Survivorship Development Conference.

Survivorship - The Cancer Journey

From the National Survivorship Development Conference.

Jamaican Cancer Society 2007

The History of the American Cancer Society

Relay For Life and Wal-Mart & Sam's Club

Discussion between Wal-Mart & Sam's Club executives and American Cancer Society National Corporate Team Program Directors about getting your local Wal-Mart & Sam's Club employees involved in your local Relay For Life event.

Relay For Life and Wachovia

Discussion between Wachovia executives and American Cancer Society National Corporate Team Program Directors about getting your local Wachovia employees involved in your local Relay For Life event.

Relay For Life and United Community Bank

Discussion between United Community Bank executives and American Cancer Society National Corporate Team Program Directors about getting your local United Community Bank employees involved in your local Relay For Life event.

Relay For Life and Target

Discussion between Target executives and American Cancer Society National Corporate Team Program Directors about getting your local Target employees involved in your local Relay For Life event.

Relay For Life and Starbucks

Discussion between Starbucks executives and American Cancer Society National Corporate Team Program Directors about getting your local Starbucks employees involved in your local Relay For Life event.

Relay For Life and PriceWaterhouseCoopers

Discussion between PriceWaterhouseCoopers executives and American Cancer Society National Corporate Team Program Directors about getting your local PriceWaterhouseCoopers employees involved in your local Relay For Life event.

Relay For Life and Nucor Steel

Discussion between Nucor Steel executives and American Cancer Society National Corporate Team Program Directors about getting your local Nucor Steel employees involved in your local Relay For Life event.

Relay For Life and LA Weight Loss

Discussion between LA Weight Loss executives and American Cancer Society National Corporate Team Program Directors about getting your local LA Weight Loss employees involved in your local Relay For Life event.

Relay For Life and American Airlines

Discussion between American Airlines executives and American Cancer Society National Corporate Team Program Directors about getting your local American Airlines employees involved in your local Relay For Life event.

Relay For Life and Delta Air Lines

Discussion between Delta Air Lines executives and American Cancer Society National Corporate Team Program Directors about getting your local Delta Air Lines employees involved in your local Relay For Life event.

Relay For Life and UPS

Discussion between UPS executives and American Cancer Society National Corporate Team Program Directors about getting your local UPS employees involved in your local Relay For Life event.

Relay For Life and dressbarn & maurices

Discussion between dressbarn & maurices executives and American Cancer Society National Corporate Team Program Directors about getting your local dressbarn & maurices employees involved in your local Relay For Life event.

Relay For Life and Bank of America

Discussion between Bank of America  executives and American Cancer Society National Corporate Team Program Directors about getting your local Bank of America employees involved in your local Relay For Life event.

Relay For Life and KPMG

Discussion between KPMG  executives and American Cancer Society National Corporate Team Program Directors about getting your local KPMG employees involved in your local Relay For Life event.

Relay For Life and JBS Swift & Company

Discussion between JBS Swift & Company executives and American Cancer Society National Corporate Team Program Directors about getting your local JBS Swift & Company employees involved in your local Relay For Life event.

Relay For Life and JELD-WEN

Discussion between JELD-WEN executives and American Cancer Society National Corporate Team Program Directors about getting your local JELD-WEN employees involved in your local Relay For Life event.

Relay For Life and Alegent Health

Discussion between KPMG executives and American Cancer Society National Corporate Team Program Directors about getting your local KPMG office involved in your local Relay For Life event.

Check out this Blog: Boobs on Ice

Here is a great blog post from a volunteer who recently found out about the American Cancer Society's Relay For Life and Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walks.

She is a great writer, and her post keeps you engaged.  For those of us who have been around for a while, this post gives us a refreshing view and the allows us to remember what it was like when we  first learned about these events.

RelayForLife.org/SharingHope.tv Music Contest Results

This is a bit overdue, but 'tis better late than never:

The results of the RelayForLife.org/SharingHope.tv Music Contest are in. 

Over the month of November, many talented Relay For Life volunteers shared their gift with us by sending in their own original music.  The music was written, composed, and performed by our very own volunteers. They were given the opportunity to  compete in our own version of Relay Idol. Many Relays across the country have incorporated their own version of "Relay Idol" during their actual Relay Events - and the first Music Contest on RelayForLife.org was a resounding success.  There were 15 song entries in less than two weeks, and 285 votes cast in the last two weeks of November.

The top two songs will be featured on the American Cancer Society's newest website, SharingHope.tv, a site where volunteers can share videos, music, and pictures with each other. SharingHope.tv will launch very soon, and everyone is invited to join.  At RelayForLife.org, we encourage you to join and use SharingHope.tv to help you post videos and pictures on RelayForLife.org.  By uploading your content to SharingHope.tv, you'll be able to copy the embed file and post it to RelayForLife.org...just like bringing it in from Youtube. 

But enough with the shamelss self-promotion of our own website - - let's get on with the winners of the the RelayForLife.org/SharingHope.tv Music Contest.  (Geez, I'm feeling like Ryan Seacrest where I keep teasing you with who the winners are, and then stalling until...after the break).

After 2 weeks of competition and 285 votes, the top two songs that will be featured on SharingHope.tv and RelayForLife.org are:

1st place (84 votes): Expect A Miracle - Thomas Calanni

2nd place (82 votes): Everything - Jason Sartain

If participants voted more than once, only one vote was counted for that participant.  Any votes cast after November 30 were not counted.

Relay For Life and Best Buy

Here is a link to the podcast for Best Buy.  You can also subscribe to the American Cancer Society's Relay For Life podcast series on iTunes!

Relay For Life National Corporate Team Program, Best Buy

Relay For Life National Corporate Team Program

RelayForLife.org has been busy recording podcasts during the last couple of months.  Soon, these will be available via iTunes for you to download on your iPod (and we won't leave out the Zune Marketplace).

The first podcast to be published is the introduction to the National Corporate Team Program podcast series.  The podcast will explain everything!

Raise Money for the American Cancer Society with your Internet Searches

A newly launched Internet search engine from the American Cancer Society, www.SearchToFight.org, will enable consumers to help raise money to fight cancer when they are searching the Internet. SearchToFight.org works like most traditional search engines by providing individual search results to users anywhere in the world. The site is different from other search engines as when Internet users search and click on sponsored advertisements generated from their specific search results, the Society will receive a significant portion of the income generated from the ad placements.

SearchToFight.org is the first search engine to benefit only one nonprofit organization. While there are other search engines that allow users to choose a nonprofit to which direct funds raised by their search activity are allocated, SearchToFight.org exclusively benefits the American Cancer Society’s efforts to fight cancer by funding cancer research, providing prevention and early detection information, advocating for all people to have access to screening and treatment, and offering free programs and services that improve the quality of life for patients and their families.

Relay For Life Music Contest

The American Cancer Society is planning to launch a new website, called SharingHope.tv.  The site will allow American Cancer Society volunteers upload and share their own videos, music, and photos.  As part of the grand opening of the site, RelayForLife.org has teamed up with SharingHope.tv for the first ever National Relay For Life Music Contest. 

Volunteers from across the country have been given the opportunity to record their own original songs (Relay-themed, of course) and submit them for the contest.  The winning song(s) will be featured on SharingHope.tv and announced on RelayForLife.org.

You can vote for your favorite song by going to the RelayForLife.org/SharingHope.tv Music Contest Voting Page!

American Cancer Society Successes

On my blog on RelayForLife.org, I posted what I would consider to be some really good information that would help to answer one of the most common questions posed to the American Cancer Society.

My post, American Cancer Society Successes, offered links to a page on cancer.org where American Cancer Society successes are posted. The page lists all of the successes of the American Cancer Society since its conception - which helps offer answers to the question: What are you doing with all of the money you raise?

Newly Awarded Extramural Research Grants Announced

Here's a bit of American Cancer Society news that is exciting.  Many people ask what we do with the money that is raised through Relay For Life.  And there's never an easy way to answer that question because we do so much with it.  But, one thing that most people automatically respond with is that "we fund cancer research."  How general can we be?  Well, that time has passed.  I'm excited to post this new information that was just released today:

At its September 6-7, 2007 meeting, the American Cancer Society Council for Extramural Grants awarded 109 national research and training grants totaling $52,614,000.  Of the grants 91 are new and 18 are renewals of previous grants.  All of the grants go into effect January 1, 2008.  The council also approved 87 research grant applications that could not be funded due to budgetary constraints.  These so-called "pay-if" grants represent work that passed the Society's multi-disciplinary review process, but go beyond the Society's current funding resources.

To learn more about the American Cancer Society's Research Grant program, click here.

Cancer-Fighting Salad

That's right, lettuce has been hitting the gym lately, and found a few friends who are willing to take on cancer.  The mighty team has been seen on plates around the country, and hanging out in bars (salad bars, that is) waiting to hitch a ride on the next prevention-minded eater.

This was taken from an article, Cancer Proof Your Life, by Denise Foley on msn.com.  I thought it would be nice to share with RelayBlogger readers...

"Can you spot the cancer fighters at the salad bar?  Build yourself some powerful protection with these ingredients..."

Leafy Greens
Shredded Carrots
Tomatoes
Beans
Fish, yes fish (salmon, perhaps)
Vinaigrette Dressing (or mix your favorite vinegar w/ olive oil)
Citrus Peel (shred a little over the top)

Just be sure to include these ingredients to your salads to help lower your risk for several different types of cancer, including breast cancer, prostate cancer, ovarian cancer, skin cancer, and colorectal cancer).

To read the full article on msn.com, click here.

From the Top, please

It seems that this blog has had more than one author, and posts are less frequent than solar eclipses.  But I believe that Erin Anderson said it best in an earlier post when she said, "This blog represents a lot of work."  A LOT!!  The biggest reason for the delay in posts has been an extraordinary amount of work on www.RelayForLife.org and the hiring of a new Online Content Manager for RelayForLife.org (me).

The American Cancer Society does recognize the value of keeping this blog on life-support...and maybe even giving it a jolt of energy to let it get up and thrive once again.  With the American Cancer Society's commitment to futuring an innovation, we are lucky to be able to continue to try new things and evaluate the effectiveness of them.

Pardon me - I should probably introduce myself, huh?  My name is Jeff Montegut and I am the new Online Content Manager for www.RelayForLife.org.  My job is to manage and maintain the content that appears on www.RelayForLife.org, keeping the community fresh and up-to-date for American Cancer Society volunteers and for anyone interested in becoming involved with Relay For Life.  As part of my responsibilities, I will be the one posting in this blog.  That doesn't mean that Erin won't pop in every now and then for a cameo appearance!

Our new vision for this blog is to utilize it to keep you informed of the latest news coming from the American Cancer Society, Relay For Life, RelayForLife.org, and general cancer information.  And, as I mentioned before, keep an eye out for Erin to continue to provide technical information - as we value your comments, emails, and feedback on all issues!

We hope that Christopher Dover's vision is being realized from when he created this blog - that we now have an Online Community (RelayForLife.org) with more than 15,000 members and growing.  We have successfully implemented the concept of Online Fund-raising through our E-Revenue Department, allowing each individual Relay For Life event to have its own fund-raising website.   We are developing a new online video/music/file sharing website for our volunteers, and the Relayblogger will continue to post.

So, keep the comments coming and share this blog with anyone you think might be interested in it.  We're excited to be here - and we hope you have a chance to visit RelayForLife.org!

Moving Along

Things on www.relayforlife.org are moving along very well. We have over 2,000 members that have signed on since August. We will be adding American Cancer Society content to the site in February, to make it more of one-stop for Relayers.  Please feel free to offer your feedback about the site in our feedback forum .  Keep on Relay-ing! ~Erin

Web 2.0 - it means more than blogging

Lately it seems the Internet buzz word I keep hearing on the street is Web 2.0. Anyone who has anything to do with technology must be tired of it by now. I know I am. Why should we even care about Web 2.0? All it really means is anyone with a computer and an Internet connection can contribute to the landscape of the World Wide Web. And everyone, including your grandmother has a blog, discussing her latest knitting accomplishments. So, in an effort to get a feel for this shift in the Web, I had the opportunity to attend the NetSquared Conference last month, put on by TechSoup and Compumentor. The tag-line for the conference was: “remixing the web for social change.” As the eCommunity builder for American Cancer Society this seemed like something right up my alley. More than fifty non-profit/charity organizations attended this two-day grassroots meets techie conference at the Cisco campus in Santa Clara, California.

Throughout the conference there were many discussions on how to use tools to develop eCommunities to mobilize people quickly. And the reality is non-profits can effectively leverage the powerful and flexible tools available on the Net to develop blogs, forums, online fundraising, photo sharing and mashups. It no longer seems necessary to wait for months to launch a Website. It’s possible to use available open source (free) software to set up a site in a matter of hours, at little or no cost to the organization. With the development of module-based platforms organizations can easily access Web tools with little technology support. I found the open source topics incredibly interesting since American Cancer Society is pursuing an open source solution to develop the eCommunity platform using Drupal.

As the eCommunity movement moves into the mainstream (i.e. MySpace, Friendster) its important to note that just because you create a site for people to communicate and congregate it doesn’t mean they will. Organizations will need to offer an environment that builds trust, offering transparent communication, which allows all to participate through simplistic methods. With Web 2.0 individuals now have the ability to speak for themselves, rather than organizations speaking on behalf of their assumed users (constituents). Really what it comes down to; is the humanization of the Internet. And, it feels like a grassroots movement with a techie spin.

Now I Know

First of all I would like to thank Christopher Dover for introducing me! As many of you know I just started working on building eCommunities for American Cancer Society.  In the next few months I will be sharing developments and asking for feedback.

I just read the last post on bloggingforacause about not knowing what to say when you have a friend suffering from cancer. And, my response is it never gets easier. I learned that today. A friend of mine is watching her sister-in-law wasting away in a cancer induced coma. Her whole family is just waiting to find out when she will pass. All you can offer is an ear or a shoulder. One thing my friend asked, is loosing your mom better when you are a young child or an older child? It’s never better- you want every moment possible with your parent and there is no good time to loose anyone. My friend also reminded me why taking care of the caregiver is more important later. When you are a caregiver every day is filled with the needs of your loved one. Then your loved one dies, what do you do? For a while your friends, family and acquaintances gather around you. Then a year or so later everyone is back to their routine and think you are too. We all know it’s not that simple- the grieving continues.

RelayBlogger is back

So if anyone is reading this you will have noticed that this blog has been inactive for quite some time. I haven’t deleted it for a couple of reasons, the most important of which is that this blog represents a lot of work. I wasn’t quite ready to let all these posts disappear just yet. The other reason this is still around is that the ACS is continuing to evaluate and work towards a revamped Relay For Life web presence.

Much of this work is being done by Erin Anderson, eCommunity Mobilization Manager.  Erin is overseeing the development of the new Relay For Life website and as part of all this work is going to be using RelayBlogger. I am glad someone will be taking care of my poor neglected blog for me. Who knows, it might even motivate me to blog occasionally if I know someone is going to be reading this!

 

More on Share Your Story

Marnie Web points to this interview with Patricia Goldman concerning Share Your Story.  Makes for a good read. 

Note how community-driven fundraising has developed despite it not being a primary goal of the site.

craigslist

I used craigslist to find a place to live here in Breckenridge, CO.  I found it very easy to use and got solid responses to my queries.

I think Relay For Life volunteers could be found by advertising on this immensely popular online classifieds website.  In fact in the bay area the American Cancer Society is already doing it.   Did I mention it is free?

Look at the number of posts looking for volunteers in Atlanta alone.  While it is hard to determine the level of response to these ads you have to assume that there wouldn't be 3 or 4 ads per day if no one was responding.

Yahoo + Del.icio.us = ?

  Luminaria - 2 - photo by Rowan Tabusa 
  Originally uploaded by Relay For Life.

Yahoo has bought Del.icio.us

I wonder what this will mean for Flickr? (Also owned by Yahoo)  Together these sites comprise the best known examples of social bookmarking.   Could we see some integration here?

Me and Trish used del.icio.us a while a go to share links relating to blogging, Relay For Life and nptech.  Was quite useful for sharing things we had discovered.  This purchase rekindled my interest in various del.icio.us tags.  Here are a few in no particular order or relevance.

ACS
Cancer  (Notice bloggingforacause.com on there. Go Trish!)
RelayForLife
Nonprofit

Maybe it is time for ACS employees, supporters, volunteers, etc to start tagging more extensively.  I have suggested in the past that Relay For Life participants and volunteers could use tagging as a way to point out RFL-related material to ACS bloggers but there are numerous other possibilities.  And with the del.icio.us FireFox extension tagging is now easier than ever.   I especially like being able to right click on a link to tag it.

Geeks on Ice

 

Geeks on Ice: an event that would fit me perfectly.  And it raises money for Relay For Life!

Too bad I don't live in

Canada

and my ice skating ability is reminiscent of emperor penguins sliding around on their stomachs.

Livefree.Smokefree

Oops!, as Lisa's comment on "Today's the Day" reminded me, I didn't cross post this from my other blog.  Bad, Trish!

Anyway, Do take the time to check this out. It's a great site.
....

Visit the ACS's Eastern Division's Livefree.SmokeFree site and,

Vote for America's Next Smokesperson.
Read a Quitters Blog
Take a peak at the Confessions of a Quitter
Play "The Smokeout" Game
Get the Livefree.Smokefree. wrist band and
Find out how last year's quitters are doing

Today’s the day!

Today is the Great American Smokeout and I want to remind you to visit the College Students’ Blogs I mentioned previously to show your support.