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Archive for February, 2009

Dusting Off the Runners for Cancer

Friday, February 27th, 2009

marathonjerseyMy sister was the one that issued the challenge.

After announcing on Twitter that she and my mom had signed up for the Sun Run, the trash talk began. It didn’t take long for my brother and I to respond to the taunting, and then I upped the stakes. So presently, four members of my immediate family are prepping to run the Sun Run on May 3rd. And since I am confident that I will cross the line ahead of my sister, the challenge isn’t an athletic one at all.

Now while we force ourselves to train (in the case of Wes and I, at least) for the race and try to get fit enough that we save face with our times over the 10 km, we are racing to see who raises the most money for charity as well. The Sun Run is not a charity event per se, but the Behan Family is making it one, in our own way. Each of us is selecting our own charity, and raising funds in our own way for that cause.

I have decided to raise funds for the BC Cancer Foundation. It is the fight against cancer that is my real motivation, and not just the sibling rivalry, I assure you. Normally I default to supporting a children’s charity, but cancer seems determined to become a most loathed adversary, indeed. My Grandfathers have both had cancer scares (their lives saved by surgery) and my Grandmother succumbed to Leukemia a few years ago. My friend Derek has battled cancer publicly; an awareness campaign that has affected me several times with his candid disclosures. And recently, my uncle (still a young man) received the dreaded diagnosis- malignant. I’m sure you don’t have to think very hard to recall a family member, friend or co-worker whose life has been affected as well. So ask you to join me in fighting this most heinous disease.

I’ve set up a page where people can donate to the BC Cancer Foundation directly and help me reach my fund raising goal.

As many people know, my sister and I ran a marathon two years ago, and blogged about our adventures. During our training, I started using some cool online tools to help track our progress, including MapMyRun. Back then, we were trying to invent new 15 and 17 mile training runs. Now it is a mere 10k, and I’m content to just circle the park near my house:

That’s enough talk. Time to get to training. And time for you to make a donation. Nothing would be better motivation for me than that.

Help Build a Web Ad Case Study

Wednesday, February 4th, 2009

ballsadhackMy friends from Adhack.com have just launched a new campaign called “Show us Your Balls.”

The campaign is meant to draw attention to their “People Powered Ads” services for ad creators and ad buyers, ad what better way to do that than with a campaign of their own. The best part is, they’re letting everyone get involved. Here is a more detailed description of the promotion, including an invitation to write the script for the follow-up to this initial teaser video:The campaign is meant to draw attention to their “People Powered Ads” services for ad creators and ad buyers, ad what better way to do that than with a campaign of their own. The best part is, they’re letting everyone get involved. Here is a more detailed description of the promotion, including an invitation to write the script for the follow-up to this initial teaser video:

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Adhack will shoot the follow-up video based on the winning script, and some lucky brand will get its own user-generated ad campaign.

    In their own words:

    AdHack wants you to Show Us Your Balls! We’ve created part 1 of an awesome video campaign for …. You decide!

    Watch the video then write the script for the sequel. We’ll film to the top script and promote your contribution.

    AdHack founder James Sherrett says, “The brands that succeed in the world of open advertising harness the power of hearing what passionate, powerful consumers have to say. These are the folks who benefit most from commissioning AdHack commercials and advertisements. They have the balls to let go.”

    And of course, all the follow up, mp3s of audio, avatar creator and chance to write the script for the sequel video are at http://adhack.com/balls

I like the fact that this one campaign accomplishes so much:

  • It’s a great campaign for Adhack, to better familiarize people with their product and services
  • It becomes a great campaign for a lucky brand when the contest is done
  • It will serve as an excellent case study of online video ads and their effectiveness when all is said and done.

The future of advertising is now. What are waiting for?